omandailyobserver

TUESDAY | AUGUST 2, 2016 | SHAWWAL 28, 1437 AH
VOL. 35 NO. 262 | PAGES 32 | BAISAS 200
Editor-in-Chief
ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI
Oman Establishment for Press, Publication and Advertising
PO Box 974, Postal Code 100, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
MASTERFUL DJOKOVIC TAKES TORONTO TITLE P27
SOLARCITY TO BE ACQUIRED BY TESLA FOR $2.6 BILLION P17
OMAN
Two Emiratis die in
Haima accident
MUSCAT: The Royal Oman Police said
that two people (UAE nationals) died
and six others were injured in a road
accident which took place in Haima on
Monday morning. The police said that
the vehicle carrying an Emirati family
lost control, which led to the tragic
accident. According to an official source,
the family was coming from Dhofar
Governorate when their vehicle lost
control on the highway before reaching
Haima, which led to the death of the
father and one of his sons. Rest of the
family members, who suffered medium
to light injuries, were airlifted to a
hospital in Nizwa for treatment.
Deal for more flights
to Saudi cities
MUSCAT: Oman Air and Saudi Arabian
Airlines have signed a codeshare
agreement covering services between
Muscat and four destinations in
Saudi Arabia. Effective from June 29,
customers were able to book flights
through either airline for services
between Muscat and Riyadh, Dammam,
Jeddah, or Medina. Oman Air operates
two daily flights between Muscat and
Riyadh, two daily flights between
Muscat and Jeddah, up to two flights per
day between Muscat and Dammam.
REPORT ON P18
REGION
First US anti-IS
air raids in Libya
TRIPOLI: US warplanes on Monday
carried out air strikes on positions of
the IS group in the Libyan city of Sirte
for the first time, the country’s unity
government head announced. “The first
American air strikes on precise positions
of the IS organisation were carried out
today, causing heavy losses in Sirte,”
prime minister Fayez al Sarraj said in a
televised speech. In Washington, the
Pentagon said the raids were launched
in response to a request from the unity
government. REPORT ON P13
INSIDESTORIES
6
FALSE MEGAQUAKE ALERT
SHAKES JAPANESE CAPITAL
P
11
INDIAN STATE CHIEF MINISTER
QUITS OVER TENSIONS
P
It is an idea seldom
put into action in
Oman, but three guys
did it. Coinciding with
Salalah’s khareef
season, Mustaffa al
Alawi, Ahmed al
Shaibani and Saif al
Salami hitchhiked their
way to what is
considered the
country’s biggest
tourist attraction
without spending
anything.
NEW GRADE FUEL: M91 grade of petrol will
be available for sale only from November
P31
STAFF REPORTER
MUSCAT
First Haj flight to leave on August 28
KABEER YOUSUF
MUSCAT
GROWING
Pilgrims are requested to
keep track of dates and
procedures for travel to the
holy land. A total of 11,200
pilgrims, including 550
expatriates, are expected to
perform Haj this year.
ABDUL AZIZ AL GHAFRI
Ministry of Endowments and
Religious Affairs
NUMBERS
2.1 million passengers
use bus services
STAFF REPORTER
MUSCAT
August 1: Mwasalat said that it
transported over 2.1 million passengers
on all its routes in Muscat since the
launch of operations on November 22
last year until the end of last month.
At the rate of 10,000 passengers a
day, the company ferried the highest
number of passengers, 300,000 in July
this year, which also included the rush
during Eid holidays.
As per the estimates, Ruwi-Mabela
route was the most patronised with over
a million passengers followed by RuwiWadi Kabir with 600,000 passengers
and Ruwi-Wadi Adei with 200,000
passengers. Among the routes that
were launched in the second quarter
of this year, Ruwi-Amerat transported
around 122,000 passengers, followed
by the Ruwi-Muttrah route with 72,000
passengers.
As part of the efforts to encourage
tourism in the Sultanate, especially with
THE FALAJ KEEPER OF LIZAGH P29
Production of
regular petrol
rises 175 pc
HITCHHIKING
TO SALALAH
August 1: The first chartered flight
from Oman to Mecca this year will
take off on August 28 with a highlevel delegation consisting of officials
from the Ministry of Endowments and
Religious Affairs, Ministry of Culture
and Heritage, Royal Oman Police
(ROP) and other officials, according to
ministry sources.
The delegation will be led by Nasser
al Azri and assisted by Humaid al
Amri. It will assist the pilgrims until
September 6, when the last Oman
Air flight with pilgrims is expected to
www.omanobserver.om
editor@omanobserver.om
regards to the Tourism Festival, the
company has increased the number of
services to Salalah from three to five,
with a daily seating capacity of 225 seats
a day. The company will operate the Al
Khoud-Sultan Qaboos University route
during the third quarter of this year, to
be followed by Muscat-Duqm service in
the same period.
The company has floated a tender for
the supply of new buses to strengthen
the existing services and replace some
of the older buses in its fleet.
TURN TO P5
arrive in Saudi Arabia.
“The first flight with pilgrims along
with delegates from various ministries
will take off on August 28.
“The last flight will leave (from
Muscat) on September 6. We will
start sending out information and
guidelines on travel and performing
Haj to pilgrims by next week,” Abdul
Aziz al Ghafri from the ministry told
the Observer.
A total of 11,200 pilgrims, including
550 expatriates, are expected to
perform Haj this year through the
ministry, he said.
TURN TO P5
Squid fishing
season begins
ZAINAB AL NASSRI
MUSCAT
August 1: The official season
for squid fishing, spanning a
six-month period from August
1 to January 31, began in the
Sultanate on Monday.
Squid fishing is an important
pursuit in the waters off the
governorates of South Al
Sharqiyah, Al Wusta and Dhofar,
with fishermen operating in
groups to harvest this marine
species.
Freshly harvested squid
fetches as much as RO 4 per kilo
in local markets, although the
bulk of the catch is exported to
markets in Asia and Europe.
TURN TO P5
August 1: As per the latest estimates,
production of the regular petrol (M90)
has increased by 175 per cent during
the first half of the current year to reach
3.28 million barrels, compared with
1.19 million barrels during the same
period last year.
These figures were released by
National Centre for Statistics and
Information (NCSI), as the committee
in charge of studying the prices of
petroleum products deferred the
marketing of M91 petrol to November
for technical reasons.
The earlier deadline for the
availability of the new grade petrol was
said to be from this month.
Fuel
marketing
companies
have confirmed to the Observer
that the demand for regular fuel
had considerably risen since the
deregulation of prices from February
this year. Earlier, the demand for regular
used to be only occasional among few
customers.
However, super petrol (M95) output
recorded a 21 per cent decrease during
the period, taking production to 8.95
million barrels as against previous year’s
11.38 million barrels, according to latest
data issued by the NCSI.
Domestic sales of M90 petrol went
up 265 per cent to 2.82 million barrels
during the period, as against 772,000
barrels last year, while M95 petrol
declined 21 per cent to 8.88 million
barrels from previous year’s 11.20
million barrels.
Domestic sales of aviation fuel oil
grew by 15 per cent to 2.17 million
barrels, while gas oil fell eight per cent
to 8.83 million barrels.
LPG sales in the local market posted
a 22 per cent rise to touch 1.08 million
barrels during the comparable periods.
Also, this year, the Sultanate didn’t
export any petrol in the first six months,
even as its export of M90 petrol touched
429,000 barrels during the same period
1ST QUARTER PETROL SCENE
(M90) sales
Output
%
RISE
SUPER (M95)
sales
2.82
million
barrels
Output
8.88
million
barrels
%
DROP
REGULAR (M90)
production
Quantity
produced
3.29
%
RISE
SUPER (M95)
production
million
barrels
Quantity
produced
8.95
DROP
%
million
barrels
Graphics: Observer
of 2015.
At the same time export of aviation
fuel oil rose 27 per cent to 465,000
barrels, compared with 365,000 barrels
last year. LPG exports however fell 53
per cent to 481,000 barrels, while export
figures stood at 1.01 million barrels last
year, during the first two quarters.
Export of benzene went up 61
per cent to 108,000 MT, while that
of paraxylene rose 41 per cent to
333,000 MT. Polypropylene exports fell
drastically by 74 per cent to 19,000 MT.
During the first six months of the
current year, gas oil output fell two
per cent to 10.44 million barrels, while
production of aviation fuel oil declined
four per cent to 2.31 million barrels.
LPG production suffered a
significant 25 per cent downfall at 1.28
million barrels.
RUSSIAN COPTER SHOT DOWN IN SYRIA
Yemen govt team quits talks
15
PRO-REFUGEE ACTIVISTS CLEARED OF
DISRUPTING GREEK MASS
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WEATHER TODAY
MUSCAT
MAX: 400C
MIN: 300C
SALALAH
MAX: 260C
MIN: 240C
SUNRISE 05.35 AM
PRAYER TIMINGS
FAJR: 04:12
DHUHR: 12:12
ASR: 15:36
MAGHRIB: 18:48
ISHA: 20:18
NIZWA
MAX: 420C
MIN: 270C
KUWAIT CITY: Yemen’s government
delegation to peace talks left Kuwait
on Monday after the rebel side rejected
a draft peace plan proposed by the
United Nations, its representatives
said.
“We now leave Kuwait... but are
not quitting the consultations and not
ending them before August 7,” said
the delegation head, Foreign Minister
Abdulmalek al Mikhlafi.
UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh
Ahmed set August 7 as the date for
winding up the talks that began
April but have failed to achieve any
breakthrough towards ending Yemen’s
conflict.
“We will return any minute... if
the other side agrees to sign” the UN
proposal, which was accepted by the
government but rejected by the rebels,
Mikhlafi told reporters at Kuwait
airport.
Government
delegation
spokesman Mohammed al Emrani
earlier said: “We are leaving today
after having completed our part in
the talks. The ball is now in the rebels’
court.”
The delegation was returning
to Riyadh, where it is based, after
informing the UN envoy that it was
ready to sign the proposed peace plan,
Emrani said. — Reuters
Security personnel inspect the wreckage of a Russian helicopter which had been shot down in the north of Syria’s rebel-held
Idlib province, Syria, on Monday.
REPORT ON P13
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Al Rafd Fund and Al Zubair Group
2
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
T U E S DAY l A U G U ST 2 l 2 0 1 6
sign MoU to help entrepreneurs
MUSCAT: Al Rafd Fund signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
with Al Zubair Group for subsidizing
entrepreneurs financed by the Fund.
The agreement was signed by
Mohammed bin Saif al Amri, Director
General for Subsidy and Entrepreneurs at
Al Rafd Fund, and Ali Shakir Business and
Partnership Development Manager at Al
Zubair Small Enterprises Center.
As per the MoU, beneficiaries of the
financing provided by Al Rafd Fund will
be guided to benefit from the technical,
administrative and training services
provided by Al Zubair.
The applications nominated by Al
Zubair Enterprise will be also considered
as per the terms and conditions in force. Al
Zubair Group will also provide a number
of free of charge training programmes
for entrepreneurs in several fields, in
coordination with Al Rafd Fund. Priority
will be given to those who benefit from
the finance programmes for purchases and
contracts. The agreement also provides for
the sharing of information from different
organizations to streamline the procedures
to get the required finance from these
organizations.
The agreement comes as part of the
efforts done by Al Rafd Fund to subsidize
entrepreneurs and enhance cooperation
with the public and private organizations
to provide entrepreneurs with the
conducive environment that helps them
address the challenges facing them while
trying to develop their business.
The agreement, which comes within
Al Rafd Fund’s new trend, enhances
80/20 Plan, which subsidizes and
develops
entrepreneurs’
projects.
— ONA
New logo for municipal elections
MUSCAT: The Ministry of Interior
launched on Monday a logo for
the Municipals Councils’ second
term elections. The logo includes a
number of symbols and words that
are linked to the aims of the election
process.
The logo is characterized by
simplicity of design and clarity.
— ONA
post materials through Muscat Post
Offices and other post offices in the
Sultanate.
Those interested in this stamp and
the history of post in the Sultanate
may visit the headquarters of Oman
Post Company. Philatelists may
collect the special stamps form Ruwi
Post Office. —ONA
Omani student scores
highest grade at
Portsmouth University
PORTSMOUTH: Scholarship
student Sami bin Khalaf al
Kalbani achieved the highest
grade in the British University
of Portsmouth in MSc program
majoring in communications
and network engineering and
the best student in a graduation
project in the batch.
Sami bin Khalaf al Kalbani
said in a statement to Shabibah
Daily that the idea of the
project is to design and plan
communications link in the
microwave frequency range
in the Sultanate by using
(MIMO) technology and
therefore this link is capable
of sending a data transmission
speed of up to 1 gigabit per
second, using one frequency
MUSCAT: The number of commercial aquaculture projects
applications by individuals amounted to nearly 17 applications
in various stages of approvals. The projects value RO 234 million
with average production of approximately 35,000 tonnes of
various marine creatures.
Dawood bin Suleiman al Yahya’ee, Director of Aquaculture
Development Department at the Ministry of Agriculture and
Fisheries, said in a press statement for Al Roya “newspaper that
applications could be submitted for commercial aquaculture
projects, land and sea, on Sunday, August 7 and that those
projects are intended for Omani institutions and companies
wishing to establish commercial aquaculture projects.
He added that the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries
offers several locations allocated for the commercial aquaculture
projects in the Governorates of Muscat, South Al Sharqiyah and
Al Wosta.
He added that registration extends for a period of one
month between August 7 and September 8. He pointed out that
the commercial aquaculture projects entering the large scale
project stage, based on modern technology applications and the
increase of fish production, so as to contribute to the expansion
of fish production base where natural fish areas complement the
aquaculture projects in providing the local markets with fish
products and to import the excess quantities to outside markets
and increase the national income.
Private school fee burns hole in parents’ pockets
YAHYA AL SALMANI
MUSCAT
Stamp to mark golden
jubilee of Oman Post
MUSCAT: Oman Post Company
issued a commemorative stamp to
mark the golden jubilee (The 50th
anniversary) of the Omani post
services.
The new stamp commemorates
the 30th of April 1996, as the post
services had been completed and
ready for receiving and sending
Fisheries projects worth
RO 234 m under process
only.
He
added
that
telecommunications operators
in the Sultanate (Omantel and
Ooredoo) are able to use this
technology in their microwave
networks to transfer data (data
transmission speed of up to 1
gigabit per second) as a quick
solution to reduce the high cost
price of the purchase prices of
radio frequency licenses.
Further, it is a technical
solution to increase the
efficiency gain system, so that
the operators will be able to
create microwave links for
longer distances and the use of
smaller sizes of antennas in the
communications towers.
— ONA
August 1: Plenty of private schools
dot the Sultanate, yet parents struggle
to educate their children. Reason: the
school fees is beyond their reach.
As per the latest statistics from the
Ministry of Education, there are 574
private schools in the Sultanate, with
218 located in Muscat Governorate
alone. The Ministry of Education has
granted official permission to help the
private sector invest in education. Its
objective is to minimise ‘overload’ of
students in public schools.
Bader Awlad Thani, who enrolled
his children in a private school in 2008,
said: “I did my best to educate my
children in a private school in Muscat.
The fee was RO 1,500. The school
management has been raising the fee
every year.”
On the positive side, he says the
school has qualified staff and it holds
extracurricular activities that test their
skills. “When my children reached
Grade 6, I felt I could not afford the
fees, which have risen 40 per cent in the
last six years,” says Bader.
Unable to afford the fees, he
transferred his children to a nearest
public school. He feels the situation has
reached a point where “it’s no longer
preferable to send my children to a
private school”.
He wants the Ministry of Education
to discuss the fee issue with the private
school managements.
Buthainah al Mahruqi, another
parent, is facing a similar situation.
“My eldest daughter has been going to
one of the best international schools in
Oman for six years now. The school has
been increasing the fees by 5 per cent
every year. Last year, it raised the bus
fees claiming the government insisted
on a having a chaperon on all routes.”
While she has no complaints about
Bader Awlad Thani
the quality of education at the school,
her grouse is why raise the fees every
year, and who is monitoring it.
According to Buthaina, private
schools provide a great opportunity
for parents to communicate with the
administration staff and make it a
priority to involve parents. “This can be
felt during the regular parent-teacher
meetings and social events that help
reinforce parent-child relationships,”
she said.
“But private school managements
have become greedy. Fees for
kindergartens up to Grade 6 is between
RO 2,000 and RO 3,000. The fee is
almost the same as in Australian or
New Zealand universities. I think there
is no control over these schools — the
reason why they have been raising the
fees so often,” said Buthainah.
According to Ahmed al Khulaifeen,
private schools have many advantages.
“The dedication of teachers and a
safe environment are main reasons
why parents prefer private schools.
A majority of private schools have
a reputation for maintaining high
standards. They offer students a wide
range of arts programmes, sports, and
math and science programmes that
public schools do not focus on.”
The current situation, however, can
be described as a “cumulative effect”, he
Buthainah al Mahruqi
Ahmed al Khulaifeen
ACADEMIC BUILDINGS READY
IN SALALAH, SOHAR, NIZWA
MUSCAT: The Ministry of Higher Education has constructed a number of
projects, including academic buildings, at the Colleges of Applied Sciences in
Salalah, Nizwa and Sohar, according to Dr Abdullah bin Juma al Shaqsi, assistant
director-general of planning and development at the ministry.
The ministry also built multi-purpose halls at the Colleges of Applied Sciences
in Salalah and Ibri, besides student service buildings at the Colleges of Applied
Sciences in A’Rustaq, Ibri and Sur.
As for the e-systems, he said the ministry plans to obtain ISO 2700 certification
this year. The plan also includes developing and upgrading a number of
e-applications and programmes. —ONA
said. Describing his plight, Ahmed said:
“Two years ago, I enrolled my younger
sister in an international school in
Muscat. I wanted her to get the kind of
education which would guarantee her a
better future. Yet, we found it difficult to
cope due to steep fee hike. At the same
time, transportation costs rose 15 per
cent. Now, I have to pay RO 530 every
month for the rest of the academic year
(eight months).”
The fee hike has forced Ahmed to
transfer his sister to another private
school, which is not so expensive.
Ahmed wants the Ministry of
Education to decide the percentage of
fee hike instead of allowing schools to
raise it arbitrarily. “They should realise
that besides the education fees, parents
should also pay the transportation fees,
which comes to around RO 800 in some
private schools in Muscat.”
Omani parents prefer to enrol their
children in private schools since the
class strength is small. They are also
good at instilling discipline in children
compared with public schools. Steep fee
rise is the only complaints parents have
against them. They want inspection
teams to investigate the matter.
Qatari team views Muscat Municipality experience
Iranian minister visits
Royal Opera House
MUSCAT: Dr Morteza Sarmadi,
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister,
on Monday visited the Royal Opera
House (ROH) Muscat.
The Iranian official toured ROH
Muscat, which was built over an
area of 80,000 square meters.
He was briefed on the Arab and
Islamic architecture of the House,
which is considered as a tourism
landmark that includes a market
for displaying fine arts and crafts
products.
During the tour, the Iranian
official familiarized himself with
the role of the House in the cultural
field and its presentation of highlevel classic art. — ONA
MUSCAT: Mohsin bin Mohammed al Shaikh,
Chairman of Muscat Municipality, on Monday met
with Mohammed bin Abdullah al Rumaihi, Minister
of Municipality and Environment of Qatar, and his
accompanying delegation.
The visit comes within the framework of enhancing
means of joint cooperation between the two brotherly
countries in fields of municipal work, as well as viewing
the Sultanate’s experience in field of public hygiene,
parks management, urban planning, projects planning
and integrated management of solid waste.
Khalifa bin Nasser al Seyabi, Acting Director General
of Projects, gave a presentation on the strategy of Muscat
Municipality in the field of developing and expanding
roads network, its management and maintenance,
besides its vision, which is represented in establishing
modern and economic safe roads network to keep pace
with needs of the Governorate of Muscat.
The delegation was also briefed on the experience of
the Municipality in the field of afforestation and parks,
in addition to its strategies in roads and public squares.
The meeting was attended from the Qatari side by
members of the delegation, which comprised officials
in Ministry of Municipality and Environment and the
Qatari Public Works Authority, the Qatari ambassador
to the Sultanate and officials form Muscat Municipality.
— ONA
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NO CONGESTION: Supply is so high that accommodation is available on demand in most hotels and service apartments in the city
SERVICE APARTMENTS EASE
SALALAH’S KHAREEF RUSH
KAUSHALENDRA SINGH
SALALAH
August 1: Accommodation this Khareef season
is not an issue in Salalah as a large number of
furnished houses, furnished hotel apartments
and star hotels are available catering to all
segment of tourists. And the visitors need not
bother much about the prices also.
The supply is so high that the accommodation
is available on demand in most of the hotels and
service apartments in the city. There has been 20
to 30 per cent correction in prices as well. It is
not that the accommodation is available due to
not many people are coming, but even due to the
stark reality that the footfall this year is much
higher than previous years.
An NCSI (National Centre for Statistics and
Information) report suggested 40 per cent surge
in Khareef visitors untill July 25 compared with
last year’s footfall during the same period.
“The number of visitors rose to 215,128 as of
July 18, from 153,780 visitors last year. The NCSI
statistics indicates that 39,949 visitors reached
Salalah by air as against 175,179 who arrived by
road,” said the NCSI report.
An interesting factor this year is the number of
domestic visitors, which rose up to 142,258 from
last year’s 92,877. Meaning thereby that there has
been 53.2 per cent increase in domestic visitors
this year. Significantly visitors from other Arab
countries stood at 6,886 from last year’s 4,577,
which indicate 50.4 per cent rise in the number
of visitors from other Arab countries.
Despite this the city does not look congested
and not many people are seen in the city. The
question is ‘where did the people go?’ The answer
lies in the Salalah city’s expansion in the east and
west directions.
Many new houses have come up in Dahariz,
Saada and Auqad North and South besides a
few new economy hotels that have come up in
Central Salalah, New Salalah and Sanaiya areas.
According to a rough estimate, not less than 700
new housing projects were ready for occupation
before Khareef in the in the heart of Salalah
city, while many more have displayed boards of
‘furnished house for rent’ in places like Dahariz,
Saada, Sahalnoot, North and South Auqad.
Many housing units have come up in Saada
and Sahalnoot in recent years. Most of the houses
in these areas are new, as an estimated number of
7,000 houses are ready in these areas. Similar is
the case with other new areas where development
can easily be seen in terms of new roads, food
outlets, bank branches and shopping areas.
Those who come to Salalah along with big
families love to go for furnished apartments,
because these flats offer all basic facilities along 30 and 80 depending upon space and facilities.
with kitchen and basic utensils. Such flats are There are apartments, which are also offering Wispread all over Salalah and are available now Fi service to lure visitors.
between RO 20 and 40, unlike last year’s price of
These apartments suit to budget and
Global film contest
on climate action
MOZA SAID
MUSCAT
August 1: A Film4climate Global Video Competition 2016 has been announced
for all directors and film-makers by the Connect4Climate Community.
Participants in the age group 14 to 35 years can produce a public service
advertisement which is less than a minute or a one-to-five-minute video on
climate action.
Videos or advertisements should have a personal climate change narrative, what
climate change means to you, what you are doing to resolve climate challenges
and your message to
the world on climate.
The submissions should
emphasise what people
around the world are doing
to promote action, offer
new solutions and inspire
change. Participation can
be individual or a team of
five can participate in the
competition. The jury will
comprise 18 film, climate
and
communication
professionals. Entries will
be judged on following
criteria: content, technical
expertise and innovation, originality and impact. A total of eight awards will be
presented based on judgment criteria.
Film4Climate is a global initiative committed to mitigating environmental
impact of film production as well as raising awareness about climate change
through cinema. The Connect4Climate programme receives support from the
Italian and German governments as well as from the private and public sectors,
and academia. Connect4Climate launched the Film4Climate Global Video
Competition to inspire film-makers to highlight climate solutions and good
practices around the world.
TAYMORA AL GHAWI
MUSCAT
August 1: The Equestrian Week
concluded with
the endurance
competition in Dhofar.
Participants had to cover a distance
of 80 km, which was divided into three
stages: red stage (30 km), white stage
(30 km) and green stage (20 km). Before
the competition began, all participating
horses underwent a veterinary
examination.
Clayed horse (owner Ghaleb Awad)
came first with a time of 4.30 hours. It
was led by AbduRahman al Basrawi.
Lord horse (owner Said al Rawas) came
second with a time of 5.04 hours. It was
led by Salim al Rawas. Dhubyan horse
(owner Mohammed al Rawas), ridden
by Ghanem al Rawas, came third with a
time of 5.05 hours.
Shaikh Ahmed Mubark al Hadri, the
Ash’shura Council member from Salalah,
the patron of the event, honoured the
winners of both individual and binary
competitions.
The Equestrian Week was organised
by Oman Equestrian Federation in
collaboration with Dhofar Municipality
as part of the Salalah festival.
Said Khamis al Balushi, chairman
of the jury at the competition, said:
“Oman Equestrian Federation worked
a lot to organise the competition in
Salalah. Results of the competition were
excellent. We would like to thank the
organisers and everyone who supported
the competition.”
convenience of the people, mainly the Arabs.
They come with families, cook at home and
enjoy Salalah in its totality. They do not have to
depend on outside food and the new locations
38,842 visitors
to Al Baleed,
Samahram sites
SALALAH: The number of visitors to the Al
Baleed and Samahram Archaeological sites
in July stood at 38,842 visitors, according to
statistics from the Department of Frankincense
Land Sites at His Majesty the Sultan’s Adviser’s
Office for Cultural Affairs.
Al Baleed Archaeological Park and
Frankincense Land Museum received 23,828
visitors, while Samahram Archaeological Site
received 14,755 visitors, Wadi Dokka received
229 visitors and Wbar Archaeological site
received 30 visitors.
The Office of His Majesty the Sultan’s Adviser
for Cultural Affairs is developing a number
of archaeological sites and providing them
with utilities to serve the goals of cultural and
archaeological tourism in the Governorate of
Dhofar. — ONA
like Saada and Dahariz have all the basic facilities
like shops, supermarkets, restaurants and banks
are available close by.
For their movement also these locations suit
them as they cover most of the tourist points
by using the highway without experiencing any
problems of the city. “All of us are coming from
big cities. So there is no charm in visiting the
city which is generally crowded. We are here to
have the best of Salalah which is its climate and
we enjoy more by being away from the main
city,” said Ali who came from UAE and staying
in Dahariz along with his family.
Mohammed, another visitor from UAE,
adopts smart ways to enjoy Salalah. He is a
frequent visitor to Salalah during Khareef
season. He keeps on changing furnished
apartments. “I come to Salalah for around 15
days. Some days I live in Central Salalah then I
move to New Salalah and for me more location
are available in Saada, Dahariz and Auqad. This
year I hired apartments in Saada and Dahariz
due to the fact that the Salalah city has become
crowded and these areas have lots of open
space. Plus the houses are new and cheaper
than those available in Central Salalah and New
Salalah,” he said.
Salalah, thus has many more accommodation
options and everyone seems happy due the fact
that the Khareef this year is likely to be longer
and more intense.
Equestrian Week ends with
endurance competition
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4
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
T U E S DAY l A U G U ST 2 l 2 0 1 6
RAINS IN
WILAYATS
Heavy-to-moderate rains fell in a number of
wilayats on Monday, resulting in overflow of the
wadis. In the Governorate of North Al Sharqiyah,
heavy rains lashed the Wilayat of Al Mudhaibi.
Oman Meteorological Department had recently
forecast rain in the coastal areas of Dhofar
Governorate and adjoining mountains on Tuesday.
SKILLS
SMEs’ feasibility study results released
SHOW
EXPO ON STUDENTS’
PROJECTS OPENS AT
SQU TOMORROW
MUSCAT: “The Omani First Exhibition
for Scholarship Students’ will be opened
at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) on
Wednesday under the auspices of Salim
bin Nasser al Aufi, undersecretary,
Ministry of Oil and Gas. The exhibition
will host several scholarship students’
projects, innovations and researches.
Projects will be showcased in
three main areas: engineering,
sciences & mathematics, and health &
environment.
The engineering projects to be
displayed can be used in different
industries across Oman. The exhibition
will showcase six projects each in
mathematics & sciences, and health &
environment.
A committee represented by experts
in innovations and scientific research
will select the top three projects which
would be awarded.
Al Khathab bin Issa al Busaidi,
a student of Electrical Engineering
College, State of Oregon University
and an organiser of the exhibition, said:
“The idea (of the exhibition) came from
scholarship students studying in Oregon
University (USA) as a way of spending
time during summer holidays through
innovative and useful activities.”
The objective is to encourage Omani
youth to invest their abilities and
skills in innovation and creativity in
different scientific areas, and to raise
SALALAH: The results of a study on
Technical Support and the Prospects of
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Sector in the Sultanate: Dhofar
Governorate as a Model, was announced
during a press conference held at Hilton
Salalah Hotel on Monday.
The conference was held under the
auspices of Dr Badr Othman Malallah,
Director of the Arab Planning Institute
(API) in Kuwait in the presence of
Abdullah bin Salim al Rowas, Head
of Oman Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (OCCI) Dhofar Branch.
Nayef bin Ahmed al Shanfri, Head
of Education and Training Branch
Committee at OCCI Dhofar Branch and
Head of the Study Team in the Sultanate
delivered a speech during which he said the national economy and through a
that cooperation between API stems memorandum of understanding (MoU)
from the belief in the role of small and that was signed in 2014 at the Institute.
medium enterprises (SMEs) in boosting
He said the MoU focused on the idea
of producing an analytical study based
on the survey of SMEs and reviewing
the reality and the future prospects
of this important sector, down to the
most important challenges, constraints
and the development of plans and
appropriate solutions to address them.
The press conference reviewed the
results of the study that consisted of five
main chapters, including the discussion
of the reality of micro, small and medium
enterprises sector in the Sultanate, as
well as reviewing the role of the OCCI,
financing and non-financing institutions
in supporting the development of this
sector, in addition to the discussion of
the business environment and easiness
of doing business in the Sultanate.
The press conference also discussed
Chapters III and IV of the results of the
study, which focused on the reality of
the projects sector, needs, and the role
of OCCI to meet these needs, directly
or indirectly, in addition to reviewing a
proposal to establish a technical support
unit. — ONA
Volunteer team aids
productive families
The objective is to encourage
Omani youth to invest their
abilities and skills
in scientific areas
their awareness on the importance
of exploring job opportunities in
scientific research. It encourages them
to start their own business by using
their academic knowledge credit and
abilities. The exhibition gives them
a chance to meet people from both
private and public sectors.
ISG students trek to the Himalayas
MUSCAT: A team of eighteen students from
Indian School Al Ghubra embarked on a trek to
the Himalayas on May 25 to June 4. They were
accompanied by Juthika and Murugan.
The tour was en route Dharamsala, a very
picturesque yet bustling city. The students pitched
tents for the night on the banks of beautiful Kakeri
Lake. The hike uphill offered a breathtaking bird’seye and view of the most enchanting mountain
peaks.
The students also participated in some
adventure packed activities like rock climbing,
river crossing and rappelling. They actively
involved themselves in the ‘Clean Himalayas’ drive
which brought them closer to the pristine beauty
of the mountain ranges.
This enthusiastic team also became the first
ever team from ISG to scale the height of 18,000
feet above Lake Glacier. The trip offered a huge
learning experience and left everlasting memories
for each student. With the wonderful exposure to
nature the trek helped the students imbibe core
values of team work, leadership, confidence and
responsibility.
MUSCAT: A workshop on ‘Techniques to support
productive Omanis families’ was organised by the Masarah
volunteer team from Ibri.
The initiative was an effort to “foster good relations”
between consumers and Omani families in the field of dairy,
handicrafts, clothes and other products.
“We don’t want people to feel they are not effective,” said
Mohammed al Yaqoobi, the team leader, adding: “We want
them to know people are there to help and support their
efforts.”
Thirty families representing three volunteer teams were
willing to extend help. Bader al Sawafi, the founder of Al
Masarah volunteer team, led the session.
Bader said the participants included the young and
the old. They had to find “creative ideas to support” these
families. “Members learned the techniques to help productive
families at exhibitions and charity events,” he said.
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SQU students make robot that aids surgeries
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
T U E S DAY l A U G U S T 2 l 2 0 1 6
AMANI NASSER
MUSCAT
August 1: A robot has been designed
by a group of engineering students
from Sultan Qaboos University
(SQU) that could revolutionise the
way surgeries can be performed or
infections can be treated.
The device, a robot-assisted
needle-steering device developed
by the mechanical engineering
students from SQU, can be used for
performing heart surgeries, treating
lung infections or diagnosing deep
bone fractures.
According to Majed al Amri, one
of the project members, the device
“helps avoid medical mistakes” and
facilitate surgeries, especially those
related to the heart. “Its purpose
The device ‘helps avoid
medical mistakes’ and
facilitate surgeries,
especially those related
to the heart
First Haj flight to Squid fishing season begins
leave on August 28
FROM PAGE 1
For pilgrims going by road,
the last day of Dhul Qa’ada
(September 2) is the last date
of arrival, while those coming
by flight have been set a
deadline of fourth of Dhul
Hijja (September 6).
The ministry has asked
pilgrims to have necessary
documents for entry into
Saudi Arabia, failing which
they would face legal
proceedings.
“Pilgrims are requested
to keep track of dates and
procedures for travel to the
holy land,” said the ministry.
The ministry had earlier
reduced the number of Haj
contractors by one-fourth. A
total of 54 contractors were
appointed recently to serve
Omanis, three for Arabs and
four for other expatriates to
prevent crowding in Mecca
and avoid accidents during or
after the rituals.
A total of 230 companies
specialised in Haj affairs
have been divided into three
groups, according to Al
Ghafri.
This year’s Omani Haj
Mission to Saudi Arabia
will have five divisions:
supervising/medical
delegations, ROP delegation,
media delegation and scout
delegation.
The supervising delegation
will make all arrangements
for Omani pilgrims’ camps in
the sacred sites of Mina and
Arafat.
Besides, 13 companies
specialised in helping Haj
pilgrims from the country
have been temporarily barred
from carrying out operations
after they were found violating
terms and conditions specified
by the ministry.
FROM PAGE 1
Given the Sultanate’s lengthy coastline
overlooking the Sea of Oman and the
Arabian Sea, fishing is an important
economic activity that supports the
livelihoods of tens of thousands of Omani
fishermen living along the coast. This
occupation also provides an important
supply of fish to local markets, urban areas
as well as export markets. Oman is one of
the largest fish producers in the region and a
net exporter of fish and fish products.
The government has made a strong
commitment to developing this sector in a
competitive and sustainable manner that is
in line with the social, economic, cultural
and historic values of the country.
It has put in place guidelines for
regulating marine fishing in its waters by
designating seasons for fishing kingfish,
lobster, abalone, and squid, while also
setting penal-ties for violators.
Article 7 of the Marine Fishing Law states
that fishing boats and fishermen are not
allowed to practice fishing without a license
or a permit from the relevant authorities.
The license should have details about the
boat specifications, fishing implements, on
number of staff on board on each fishing
trip.
The permit should also specify fishing
areas, seasons, and types and quantities of
live marine catch that the permit-holder is
licensed to harvest.
Offenders are liable to be fined not less
than RO 300 and not more than RO 5,000.
Jail terms ranging from one to three months
are also prescribed.
2.1 million passengers use bus services
FROM PAGE 1
A total of 118 new buses will join the fleet over
the next year, including 85 buses for Muscat
and 33 for long-distance services.
The company will introduce e-ticketing
services, an integrated communication centre
and online services with latest features. The
company said that, given the economic
and social development that is witnessed in
the country, public transport will play a key
role in various activities such as education,
commerce, recreation and tourism along with
its positive impact on the economic and social
level of the Sultanate.
The company urged everyone, especially
the citizens, to use public transport because
of the economic benefits to the individual
and society with regards to reduction in traffic
congestion and noise and other types of
pollution.
is to prevent obstacles and reach
the desired target accurately with
minimum damage to the tissue,” he
said.
The robot has a telescopic support
sheath and it receives feedback from
a ‘sensor’. Its weight makes it stable
and resist motor vibration.
Al Amri said it can be used for
both diagnosis as well as treatment.
5
“For years, researches have been
conducted and different techniques
used to improve accuracy in surgical
procedures because the human body
is sophisticated, he said.
“There is no plan to showcase
the project in any hospitals as yet.
However, we plan to display it to
some companies outside Oman,” he
added.
asia
asia
Taipei apologises to indigenous people
6
Indonesia, Malaysia leaders meet
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak
met for a bilateral meeting at the presidential palace in Jakarta on Monday. The
meeting focused on boosting relationship between the two countries.
T U E S DAY l A U G U ST 2 l 2 0 1 6
CORRECTING MISTAKES: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen will head panel to investigate past injustices
TAIPEI:
Wearing
traditional
dress from feather headdresses to
loincloths, members of Taiwan’s
indigenous
community
met
President Tsai Ing-Wen on Monday
as she made a landmark apology for
centuries of suffering including the
loss of ancestral lands.
Tsai, the island’s first leader with
aboriginal heritage, will personally
head a committee to investigate past
injustices as part of government
efforts to ease tensions with the
native community.
“I apologise to the indigenous
people on behalf of the government,
offering our deepest apology for the
suffering and injustice you endured
over the past 400 years,” she said in
speech.
“We need to look at history
seriously and speak the truth,” she
said, adding that apologising was
“another step forward”.
The indigenous community —
which makes up about two per cent
of Taiwan’s 23.5 million people —
have seen their traditional culture
eroded since immigrants started
arriving from China centuries ago.
Much of their land is now
President Tsai Ing-Wen greeting representatives, dressed in traditional clothing, from each of the island’s 16
recognised tribes, at the Presidential Office building in Taipei. — AFP
designated national park, leading
to clashes over hunting, fishing and
foraging in areas where permits are
needed.
Aboriginals have also complained
of developments on their ancestral
land, which campaigners say make
up two-thirds of the island, were
approved without seeking their
views.
Tsai pledged to increase
the autonomy of aboriginal
communities, restore their lost land
rights and protect tribal languages.
But for dozens of aboriginals
protesting outside the presidential
office on Monday morning, her
promises were not enough.
STAR OF FORMATIONS
“The apology was well said and
very touching, but her proposals for
action don’t meet our expectations,”
said Mayaw Biho, an indigenous
activist from the Amis tribe, who
had camped out overnight.
Since coming to power in May,
Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party
(DPP) has not made legislation
HONG KONG: Hong Kong hunkered down on
Monday as Typhoon Nida swirled towards it, with
more than 100 flights cancelled and schools closed,
and Guangzhou in neighbouring mainland China
issued its top storm alert.
Hong Kong was expected to raise a “T8” storm
signal — the third-highest — on Monday evening as
the storm edged closer to the city, packing winds of
120 kilometres per hour.
Guangzhou, the capital of neighbouring
Guangdong province where Nida was expected
to make landfall on Tuesday, issued its first-ever
red alert for storms, with schools and outdoor
work suspended. Cathay Pacific and its subsidiary
Dragonair cancelled all of their flights in and out of
Hong Kong for 16 hours.
“Typhoon Nida moves closer to Hong Kong,” a
statement jointly issued by the two airlines said on
Monday.
“Flight departures and arrivals at Hong Kong
International Airport on Monday will be suspended
from 10 pm until 2 pm” on Tuesday.
That will include more than 100 flights, said a
S Korea says North hacked
government e-mails
Veterans of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) navy stand in formation of a star and the
Chinese characters ‘August 1’ on top of a mountain ahead of China’s ‘Army Day’ in Luoyang. — Reuters
SEOUL: Seoul prosecutors on Monday
accused North Korea of hacking into
the e-mail accounts of dozens of South
Korean government officials this year,
the latest in the series of suspected cyber
attacks by Pyongyang.
Investigations showed a “suspected
North Korea-operated group” attempted
to hack into the e-mails of 90 people —
including officials at the foreign, defence
and unification ministries — from January
to June, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office
said in a statement. “The passwords of 56
accounts were stolen,” the statement said.
The hackers set up 27 phishing sites
in January posing as popular portals like
Google and South Korea’s Naver, as well
as government and university websites, to
steal the passwords.
The prosecutors said the malicious
codes used in the latest attack were the
same as the ones used by North Korea in
previous attacks on the South.
A probe is still ongoing to see if any
confidential information may have been
leaked. The latest cyber attack comes just
days after South Korean police said the
North stole the personal data of over 10
million customers at South Korean online
shopping mall Interpark. — AFP
False megaquake alert shakes Tokyo
TOKYO: A false warning of a
megaquake about to strike Tokyo
was issued by Japan’s weather
agency and quickly cancelled on
Monday, but not before terrifying
users of a smartphone app who
received it.
Users of the Yurekuru disaster
warning app were told that
a magnitude 9.1 earthquake
was about to hit the sprawling
metropolis shortly after 5 pm
(0800 GMT) with an alert reading
“Earthquake! Earthquake!”.
But the expected shaking never
came and the phones of nearby
users of similar early warning apps
remained silent.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency
promoting indigenous rights a
priority in parliament, he said.
“It’s unfair. It’s not being taken
seriously,” he said.
Indigenous people remain a
marginalised group in Taiwanese
society, with wages about 40 per
cent below than the national
average, as well as a higher rate of
unemployment.
Tsai on Monday listed numerous
wrongs done to the indigenous
population, including storing
nuclear waste on Yami tribe’s land
on Orchid Island.
“We have been protesting for
over 30 years,” said Capen Nganaen,
an 80-year-old Yami representative
wearing a loincloth, who spoke after
Tsai. “I hope Taiwan’s government
and the president will truly deliver
on the promises made in this
apology,” he said.
Tsai and the DPP came to power
after winning a landslide victory
in January over the Kuomintang
(KMT). The Indigenous Peoples
Basic Law was adopted in 2005,
during the DPP’s last reign, but
critics say actions to amend relevant
laws have stalled. — AFP
Hong Kong
flights cancelled
as Typhoon
Nida approaches
had sent and immediately
withdrawn the alert, but the
cancellation did not reach some
app operators in time, a spokesman
for the agency said.
“We are now investigating how
the false information was sent out,”
he added.
The agency’s website later said
that it received the quake data
from a seismometer east of Tokyo.
“When I saw the Yurekuru app
screen, I prepared to die,” read a
tweet in Japanese from one user.
“Yeah okay this was fake but
it scared the hell out of me,” said
another in English.
Yurekuru is a popular disasterwarning app in quake-prone Japan,
and its operator says at least five
million people have downloaded
it. Such apps became popular in the
aftermath of a massive undersea
earthquake that struck the country
in March 2011.
The magnitude 9.0 quake
sent a tsunami barrelling into
Japan’s northeastern coast, leaving
more than 18,000 people dead
or missing, and sending three
reactors into meltdown at the
Fukushima nuclear plant.
A nationwide drill is held
annually on September 1, known in
Japan as Disaster Prevention Day,
which comes on the anniversary of
the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake
that killed more than 100,000
people and levelled Tokyo.
Japan sits at the junction of
four tectonic plates, but most
earthquakes, even moderately
strong ones, do little major damage
nowadays thanks to rigid building
codes.
Due to the mistaken warning,
which was also sent to some
transportation operators, a small
number of subway and commuter
train lines in Tokyo were briefly
stopped. —AFP
A young girl watches while a couple poses for their
wedding photos on a promenade overlooking
Victoria Harbour during a “T3” storm signal raised
for Typhoon Nida in Hong Kong on Monday. — AFP
spokeswoman for Cathay Pacific, the city’s flag carrier.
Hong Kong authorities shut kindergartens and
special needs learning institutions on Monday.
“Local winds are expected to strengthen
significantly around dusk,” said a weather bulletin.
“There will be squalls, heavy rain and rough seas
after sunset. There may be flooding in low-lying
areas.”
Those living in the storm’s projected path when
it reaches mainland China have been told to prepare
three days-worth of food and other essentials,
Xinhua news agency reported, citing the National
Commission for Disaster reduction.
The southern cities of Zhuhai and Shanwei have
also issued red alerts, while nearby Shenzhen had
issued a yellow one — the third most severe.
More than 220 flights out of Guangzhou, Shenzhen
and Zhuhai airports would be cancelled before the
storm passed over Tuesday, the Sohu news portal said.
Nearly 2,000 workers constructing the Hong
Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge were evacuated on
Monday morning, and more than 2,000 others
working on an offshore oil platform were relocated
on Sunday evening, Xinhua said.
Nida brought strong winds and torrential rains to
the northern Philippines over the weekend.
Southern China has been hard-hit by storms this
summer. —AFP
The scheme was a major catalyst in months of debilitating protests that led to the military takeover
Yingluck rice scheme cost Thailand $8 billion: junta
BANKOK: Thailand’s military rulers
on Monday said a rice subsidy scheme
by the government it ousted cost the
state more than $8 billion, adding
former leader Yingluck Shinawatra
should be personally sued for the loss.
Yingluck, Thailand’s first female
premier, was booted from office by a
court days before army chief Prayut
Chan-O-Cha seized power in May
2014.
The rice scheme was a major catalyst
in months of debilitating protests that
led to the military takeover.
She has since been retroactively
impeached over the scheme and
is currently undergoing a separate
criminal negligence trial which could
see her jailed for up to 10 years.
Now the junta says it will push a
civil damages case against her and
some key former ministers.
The former premier denies
“A fact-finding committee panel...
has found that the damage cost of rice
wrongdoing and says the
pledging scheme was 286.6 billion
scheme was a genuine
baht ($8.2 billion),” Panada Disakul,
attempt to help rice farmers,
a minister to the Prime Minister’s
Office, told reporters, the first time
mainly in the poor, populous
a hard figure has been given for the
and long-neglected north
losses.
Yingluck, whose older brother
and northeast. But the
Thaksin Shinawatra was booted out as
policy led to a 40-per cent
premier by a 2006 coup, is accused of
fall in Thai rice exports.
failing to halt rampant corruption in Yingluck Shinawatra
the multi-billion dollar subsidy.
She is expected to appear in court
The scheme offered farmers nearly Shinawatras’ key support base in the
on Friday to begin laying out her double the market rate for their crop, country’s northeastern rice bowl.
defence in the ongoing criminal trial. pumping billions of dollars into the
But the programme was panned
by critics as financially ruinous and a
naked attempt at vote-buying by the
Shinawatra clan.
The former premier denies
wrongdoing and says the scheme was
a genuine attempt to help rice farmers,
mainly in the poor, populous and
long-neglected north and northeast.
But the policy led to a 40-per
cent fall in Thai rice exports after the
government hoarded rice in a bungled
attempt to push up its global price to
fund the policy.
That led to massive stockpiles as
markets turned away from the Thai
grain, costing the country its title as
the world’s top rice exporter.
Yingluck says the case against her
is a politically motivated attack on
her family who are loved among rice
farmers.
The
Shinawatra’s
electoral
dominance over the past decade has
rattled Thailand’s Bangkok-based
elite.
The siblings are the figureheads
of Thailand’s democracy movement,
which has floundered for nearly a
century under an arch-royalist elite
desperate to retain power.
Fearful of a political comeback, the
junta has tried to tangle Yingluck in
legal rulings. Economists have also
accused the junta of adopting some
of the Shinawatras more populist
fiscal policies, including paying above
market rates for rubber amid a global
price slump. — AFP
subcontinent
subcontinent
i
Taliban truck bomb rocks hotel for
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
T U E S DAY l A U G U S T 2 l 2 0 1 6
LONG
foreigners in Kabul, guests unhurt
TERROR STRIKE: The 7-hour gun and grenade assault following the attack highlights the insecurity
KABUL: A Taliban truck bomb blasted
through a hotel for foreigners in Kabul on
Monday, triggering a seven-hour gun and
grenade assault that highlighted growing
insecurity in a city still reeling from its deadliest
attack for 15 years.
The guests and staff of the Northgate hotel
escaped unharmed. But one policeman was
killed after the truck bomber paved the way
for two other armed insurgents to enter the
heavily guarded facility near Kabul airport. The
powerful bombing rocked much of the Afghan
capital, leaving a huge muddy crater and piles
of scorched debris strewn at the compound,
which was previously attacked in July 2013.
“A truck bomb packed with explosives
struck the outer wall of the hotel,” said Kabul
police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi. “One
policeman lost his life and three others were
wounded but none of the hotel staff or guests
were hurt. Three Taliban fighters including the
truck bomber were killed.”
The attack comes days after the IS group
claimed twin bombings that left 80 people
dead in Kabul, the deadliest attack in the city
since the Taliban were ousted from power
in 2001. Afghan commandos set up a tight
security cordon around Northgate as sporadic
grenade explosions and gunfire shook the area
after the attack began around 1:30 am.
Local TV station Tolo cited a source inside
the facility as saying that all the staff and guests
— including 11 foreigners — hunkered down
in safe rooms throughout the night.
It added that Nato special forces had
overseen the clearance operation at the
Northgate, a luxury enclave which had been
fortified with blast walls, watchtowers and
sniffer dogs. Tremors from the bombing rattled
Afghan security personnel investigate the site after a powerful truck bomb targeting a hotel used by foreign contractors exploded on the
outskirts of Kabul on Monday. — AFP
windows across the city. It also cut a power
line that supplies electricity to half of Kabul,
according to the city’s main utility.
“The blast was so strong that it startled
everybody out of their beds,” Abdul Mohib,
a resident of the neighbourhood, said. “The
children were shocked. We all left the house
screaming and shouting as our windows were
shattered.”
WB gives $100 m for Lanka’s
economic reforms
COLOMBO: The World Bank has approved a $100-million
credit from the International Development Association (IDA) to
support the Sri Lanka’s economic reforms programme, officials
said on Monday. “Sri Lanka has been making steady progress
on economic reforms, with the government aiming to create
one million new jobs through a reform package focused on
improving the country’s competitiveness, transparency and
macroeconomic stability,” the report quoted a statement by
the World Bank as saying. A World Bank study, the Systematic
Country Diagnostic, has highlighted the need for Lanka to
move from “a largely inward looking and public sector driven
economy” to one that can tap the potential of private sector.
13 PIA employees arrested for
bid to smuggle drugs
ISLAMABAD: Thirteen Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)
employees were arrested in connection with a failed attempt to
smuggle 6 kg of heroin to Dubai from Lahore.
“Some PIA employees have been taken into custody in
connection with the heroin smuggling to Dubai. If found guilty,
strict action will be taken against them,” PIA spokesman Daniyal
Gilani told Dawn online on Sunday. A PIA flight was to leave for
Dubai on Saturday from Lahore when the Anti-Narcotics Force
received information that a huge quantity of heroin was being
smuggled through the flight. — IANS
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid
said insurgents armed with rocket-propelled
grenades and other weapons blasted their way
into the compound after the truck bomb went
off.
The militants are intensifying their annual
summer offensive after a brief lull during the
holy fasting month of Ramadan, which ended
in early July. The previous attack on the hotel
compound also involved a Taliban truck bomb
followed by a gun siege. Nine people were
killed, including four Nepalese.
The IS twin bombings on July 23 tore
through crowds of minority Hazara protesters
as they gathered to demand that a major power
line be routed through the central province of
Bamiyan, one of the most deprived areas of
Afghanistan. — AFP
INNINGS
Veteran parliamentarian
Anwar Cheema passes away
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s
former federal minister
for production Chaudhry
Anwar Ali Cheema passed
away on Monday at the age
of 81. He suffered a cardiac
arrest on Saturday and was
shifted to a Lahore hospital,
but could not survive.
His funeral prayers were
offered at the local sports Anwar Ali Cheema
stadium and were attended by
politicians, lawyers and people from other walks of life.
He was laid to rest in his native village Chak 35-SB.
His Qul will be held on August 2 at 10 am at his residence
here.
Cheema had been an MNA from NA-67 (formerly
NA-50) for seven consecutive terms from 1985-2013.
He was known to be a companion of Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif but parted ways and joined the PML-Q
when Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz
Elahi formed the party with the blessings of former
president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf.
His son’s father-in-law is Chaudhry Tajamal Abbas, a
first cousin of Chaudhry Shujaat, due to which he shifted
loyalties from PML-N.
In the 2013 general elections while contesting for
an eighth term as MNA, he was defeated by PML-N
candidate Dr Zulfiqar Bhatti, the same candidate he had
defeated in the 2008 polls.
He was born on January 1, 1935 in Sargodha and did
his graduation from Government College, Lahore.
He was recruited as naib tehsildar in 1961 but quit
in 1974 and subsequently started his political career by
contesting elections of the District Council member
where he remained vice chairman and chairman till 1987.
During his tenure as the chairman he contested from
NA-50 and was elected MNA in non-party-based polls;
he was also named “Shahenshah-i-Tameerat” by locals
for launching several development projects.
National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq
and Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi condoled
Cheema’s death with his family. — Internews
None claim bodies of Bangladesh Nepal President calls for new
government formation
terrorists even after a month
DHAKA: The bodies of five
hardliners behind a deadly attack
on a Bangladesh cafe have still
not been claimed a month later,
police said on Monday, as tens of
thousands took to the streets to
protest against extremism.
Relatives of the men have
spoken of their shock and horror
at learning of their involvement
in the siege in Dhaka’s Gulshan
neighbourhood, in which 20
hostages were killed — many of
them hacked to death.
On Monday tens of thousands
of university and college students
across the country stood in
silence and formed human
chains in front of their schools.
“No terrorism, we want peace.
We want life without fear,” read
one banner at a women’s college
in Dhaka.
Authorities have launched a
nationwide campaign to shame
those behind the attacks.
Clerics have been asked to
preach against killings.
Police said the bodies of
nine other men allegedly from
the same group who were shot
when police launched a raid on
a militant hideout on July 26 are
also still being stored at a state
hospital.
No relatives came to us or
officially applied for the bodies
of the 14 extremists,” Dhaka
Metropolitan Police spokesman
Masudur Rahman said.
Sohel Mahmud, a forensic
doctor at the Dhaka Medical
College Hospital, said several
families had come to identify the
bodies.
“But no one wanted to take
them home for burial,” he said.
Police gave no official
reason, but officers speaking on
condition of anonymity said the
parents of the extremists were
overwhelmed with guilt.
Six of the young men were
from well-off Dhaka families,
among them 18-year-old Rohan
Imtiaz.
His father Imtiaz Khan
Babul said he was “stunned and
speechless” to hear of his only
son’s involvement in the carnage
and apologised to the nation.
Abdus Salam said his brother
Mohammad Abdullah, one of
the nine killed in the shootout
with police, had betrayed the
family and his country.
“That’s why we don’t want to
take his body,” he told reporters
last week. — AFP
KATHMANDU: Nepal President
Bidya Devi Bhandari on Monday
called on the political parties to form a
new majority government after efforts
to install a new government based
on consensus failed on Sunday. The
President’s Office sent a letter to the
Nepal Parliament on Monday, urging
it to begin the process for the election
of a new Prime Minister on majority
basis as the seven-day deadline given
to the parties for consensus expired on
Sunday without any headway.
Speaker’s press adviser Babin
Sharma said the Speaker has received
a letter from the President’s Office
regarding the election of a new Prime
Minister as per Article 305 and Article
299(3) of the Constitution.
Parliament is preparing for the
election of the Prime Minister on
Wednesday, Sharma said.
A panel to be headed by the Secretary-
The bill gives authorities power to impose penalties on people seeking to exercise basic human rights
Defamation bill: Maldives rejects pressure
MALE, Maldives: The Maldives brushed
off warnings from Western governments on
Monday that a new defamation bill risked
undermining basic freedoms on the troubled
honeymoon islands, accusing its critics of
hypocrisy.
After a joint statement from Western
missions urging President Abdulla
Yameen’s administration to “return to
the path of democracy”, the government
countered that the same countries had their
own legislation which limited freedom of
expression.
“The Joint Statement seeks to advance
a notion of freedom of expression that is in
fact restricted in four out of the five countries
which are signatories to the statement,” the
foreign ministry said in a statement.
“These countries have criminalised
defamation and have enacted such statutes.
Similarly, 23 out of the 28 member states of
the EU also have criminalised defamation.”
The reaction came after the United States
7
These countries have
criminalised defamation and
have enacted such statutes.
Similarly, 23 out of the 28
member states of the EU also
have criminalised defamation.
The bill risks being, if passed, a
serious setback for freedom of
speech in the Maldives
led calls on Yameen to withdraw the bill,
saying it gave authorities the power to impose
severe penalties on people seeking to exercise
basic human rights.
“The defamation bill that has been
introduced in the Maldivian parliament risks
being, if passed, a serious setback for freedom
of speech in the Maldives,” said the statement
issued by the US Embassy.
“It will allow severe penalties to be
imposed on those who wish to exercise their
democratic rights and freedoms, as enshrined
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights.”
The missive was supported by the Sri
Lanka-based diplomatic missions of Britain,
Germany, Norway, the Netherlands and the
European Union, which have responsibility
for the Maldives. Australia too issued a
similar statement. The Maldivian statement
said the bill, if approved, would be referred
to an all-party panel for further review
before becoming law. “The government, as
it has consistently reiterated, welcomes the
opportunity to engage with its international
partners,” it said.
“However, it does expect those partners
to be constructive and responsible in their
actions.”
Maldivian police arrested 16 journalists
in April for protesting against the bill, which
seeks to criminalise defamation and proposes
heavy fines and jail terms for offenders.
Independent media institutions fear it
could be used to stifle freedom of speech on
the islands, whose pristine seas and white
sandy beaches are a popular draw for wealthy
Western tourists.
The Indian Ocean archipelago adopted
multiparty democracy in 2008 after three
decades of autocratic rule by Yameen’s half
brother, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
But it has been gripped by turmoil since its
first democratically-elected leader Mohamed
Nasheed was toppled in 2012.
Nasheed, whose jailing last year on terror
charges has been widely criticised by the West,
has since secured political asylum in Britain
after travelling there for medical treatment
while on prison leave. — AFP
General of Parliament will conduct the
election for the Prime Minister and,
according to parliamentary procedure,
aspiring candidates shall have to register
their names on Tuesday.
CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman
Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda — who
is supported by the Nepali Congress,
the largest party in the House — is all
set to become the new Prime Minister.
The second largest party CPN-UML
is also fielding its candidate for the
Prime Minister’s post and it is likely
that deputy parliamentary party leader
Subash Chandra Nembag will contest
the election.
K P Oli, the outgoing PM, who is also
the Chairman of CPN-UML, is unlikely
to contest. After Prime Minister Oli
tendered his resignation on July 24,
President Bhandari had called on the
parties to form a new government on
the basis of consensus. — IANS
Harry Potter mania
grips Karachi
KARACHI: Muggle parents were dragged out of bed by
their children on Monday morning to attend the official
launch of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a two-part
play by J K Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, at Liberty
Books in Clifton’s Dolmen Mall.
Originally a West End play for London’s Palace Theatre
which premiered this summer, the book is the eighth story
of the Harry Potter series. It takes place 19 years after Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows where the boy who survived
(Harry Potter) defeats He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named aka
Lord Voldemort in an epic battle. The cursed child, it is said,
primarily focuses on Potter as an employee of the Ministry
of Magic and his son, Albus Severus Potter.
The book, which was released on July 31 all over the world
— the same day as Potter’s birthday, was officially released
at a launch party at Dolmen Mall. Parents, their children,
students, teachers and professionals started arriving at the
mall at around 10 am dressed as witches, wizards and their
favourite character from the series. Uraiba and her cousin
Tasheel, dressed up as Bellatrix Lestrange, said that they
were very excited to be a part of the Harry Potter world.
“I have always been a fan of the series and was upset when
the launch party for Deathly Hallows was cancelled at the
last minute due to security issues,” said Uraiba. — Internews
analysis
analysis
l
8
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T U E S DAY l A U G U ST 2 l 2 0 1 6
THE MAN WHO STUDIED
THE WISDOM OF STARS
LAKSHMI KOTHANETH
lakshmiobserver@gmail.com
T
o read a book authored by Ahmad bin Majid al Sa’di or to even look at it is such a
wonderful experience. This specific book, which is on display, is the Major Noon
an Nuniyah al kubrah from 1157 AH/1744 CE. The book is ink on paper, but the
transcriber is unknown. This on its own is a very special treat among many other
artefacts (close to 7,000) which are on display at the National Museum in Muscat.
There was a time when sailors totally depended on the wind directions and
star positions. Indian Ocean must have been his play ground and navigation was
a game to him is what one wants to conclude while reading his works. He was
an expert on monsoon winds and trade routes. His father apparently was also an
accomplished sea traveller, so navigation must have been a natural instinct.
The question is whether this historical figure, whom sailors of the past and
present look up to, is well celebrated today?
Of course history book tells you that he could have been the person who
guided Vasco da Gama to India. Was it a fruitful venture? Or did he have second
thoughts? Then again experts also argue that by the time Vasco da Gama arrived,
Ahmed bin Majid had retired from his sea ventures.
Should the Master Navigator’s book be translated into more languages and
published more? At a time when the world needs role models than ever before,
here is one person who has excelled in his profession as a navigator as well as a
poet. Being a writer and scholar is what has ensured us the delight of reading
his books that truly display his knowledge on oceanography. Ahmed bin Majid,
like his predecessors from the region, followed the North Pole unlike the sailors
from the West who kept track of the route with the help of Sun. In his writings, he
explains how one gathers information from birds, clouds, stars and other features.
We can only wonder whether these enchanting celestial features miss that
generation of navigators and sailors. What would be Ahmed bin Majid’s reaction
if he were to see the marine pollution and the effects of global warming?
Looking back, they were using everything that was natural — from the wood
to build the dhow to cotton for sail and the ropes instead of nails. In other words,
everything was organic, unlike today when a shipwreck brings in a whole lot of
plastic to the shore waiting to be cleared up.
The navigator would have been definitely able to enlighten us about the marine
life and the beaches that were popular with the turtles and the birds, and while
some chose to travel on land he chose the ocean. He saw the world sailing across
meeting people and experiencing cultures.
It all proves the importance of writing and recording. Luckily, these works are
preserved and we get to see it at the National Museum in Muscat.
Interviewing Ahmed bin Majid would have been a unique experience.
The traveller’s works are available in international museums in other countries.
The adventurer would be indeed surprised to learn about the millennials and the
importance given to luxurious life styles or even to realise that there is quite a bit
of trade that is done on cyber space. He would, however, be happy to note that
the sea route still thrive and has its demand as it continues to be considered as an
essential part of trade.
So when I look at the book enclosed in a glass case, it is only a wish that I
could read what is written in Arabic. Just to reflect on his experiences and relive
the world it used to be once upon a time. Never would he have imagined there is
a precious resource that lay under the land that would economically become the
path breaker for the countries of the region. This resource interestingly enough
thrives on the very ocean that he mastered to reach their markets.
The Major Noon is exhibited at the Marine History Gallery with a setting of
replicas of dhows and even the detailed explanations. It is a heritage that everyone
must experience because it is part of human history. People of the past lived
depending on each other sailing across to reach other coasts, and it is not just
hundreds of years. The archaeological findings from Ras al Jinz prove that trade
links flourished 5,000 years ago with the Indus Valley Civilisation. Probably they
looked at the horizon and they found it beckoning them.
Brightening homes in Kenya
BENSON RIOBA
V
The whole M-KOPA kit, including the television set,
iolet Mwikali’s new television has not just brought costs about $530, and customers make an initial payment
entertainment to her home. It has ushered in peace, too.
of up to $79, followed by instalments of as little as $1 a day.
“The whining has stopped now. I was put on the spot
Kit owner Raphael Makau said the $148 minimum fee
for a while as my two children went to the neighbours’ to levied upfront by the Kenya Power and Lighting Company
watch television,” Mwikali said as she adjusted her new 16- to connect a home to the national grid was too expensive.
inch solar-powered television.
It would have taken him years to afford access to
Mwikali is one of many residents of Lukenya in electricity were it not for the solar kit, he said.
Machakos County, east of Nairobi, who have bought
Makau also likes the convenience of making his daily
televisions from M-KOPA Solar, a Nairobi-based company payment to M-KOPA through his mobile phone.
that sells solar-powered products in places not connected
Jesse Moore, M-KOPA’s chief executive, believes poorer
to the national energy grid.
nations will lead the way in switching
The digital flat-screen television,
to green energy use.
added to the product line in February,
“In Africa, (we are going) directly
comes with a solar panel and a
from limited energy connections
portable battery that also controls Television reaches less
straight to renewable,” he said.
a lighting unit and has a socket for
According to Moore, the company
than a third of Kenya’s
charging mobile phones.
has sold over 6,000 television sets, and
Margaret Nduge, another solar adult population on a daily
plans to scale up production to meet
TV owner, said she had long resigned
rising demand. The company hopes
basis, with the rest lacking
herself to never being hooked up to
to reach 3 million households out
power or a TV set, according of the 5 million yet to be connected
the national electricity grid.
Before buying the solar kit, Nduge to 2015 data from the
to the grid in Kenya, Moore told the
used a generator for power, but it was
Thomson Reuters Foundation.
smoky and noisy, and the cost of fuel Kenya Audience Research
Target areas are mainly rural
Foundation cited by M-KOPA. because many residents there are
was a drain on her finances.
“My neighbours didn’t believe that
poor and need affordable energy
I could afford to power my house
products. Allowing payments via
silently,” she said.
mobile money transfer helps attract
The solar television works even
customers, Moore added.
when there is little or no sun, she said, allowing her to keep
Consumers are already identifying improvements they
up with her favourite channels and the national news.
would like to see in the next generation of solar products.
The battery lasts for four hours when used for lighting Mwikali wants enhanced battery life to expand the amount
and watching TV simultaneously.
of time she can use her TV, because the current four hours
Television reaches less than a third of Kenya’s adult is not enough for her family’s needs.
population on a daily basis, with the rest lacking power or
Makau echoed the suggestion, saying he is sometimes
a TV set, according to 2015 data from the Kenya Audience forced to use backups such as kerosene lanterns when the
Research Foundation cited by M-KOPA.
solar battery runs out in the evenings.
ANC faces losses in vote that could reshape South African politics
JOE BROCK
A
metal sculpture overlooks the ocean on
South Africa’s southern coast, showing
Nelson Mandela with his fist triumphantly
thrust into the air and a sweeping line of
diverse figures waiting to vote.
The monument in Port Elizabeth,
capital of the Nelson Mandela Bay
municipality, commemorates the jubilant
day in 1994 when South Africa held its first
multi-racial elections, overwhelmingly
voting the African National Congress
(ANC) and Mandela into power.
At local elections this week, the
atmosphere is expected to be far
more subdued, with ANC supporters
increasingly frustrated at a lack of jobs
and basic services as Africa’s most
industrialised country teeters on the
edge of a recession, and disenchanted at
perceived corruption in the ruling party.
Opinion polls suggest the vote on
Wednesday could herald a sea change in
South African society and politics.
The ANC could lose major cities it has
held virtually unchallenged since the end
of white-minority rule 22 years ago. Such
an historic reversal could reshape the
political playing field ahead of the 2019
general election, and may also embolden
President Jacob Zuma’s rivals within the
ANC to challenge him.
With a quarter of South Africa’s
potential workforce unemployed and the
jobless rate among black people aged 2024 at almost half, millions of voters say
their lives have barely improved since the
ANC won power in 1994.
With a quarter of South
Africa’s potential workforce
unemployed and the jobless
rate among black people aged
20-24 at almost half, millions
of voters say their lives have
barely improved since the ANC
won power in 1994.
Many supporters are switching
allegiances to the main opposition
Democratic Alliance (DA), bolstering
its attempts to attract black voters and
shake off its image of a party that chiefly
serves the interests of the minority white
community. This kind of defection — an
unthinkable prospect in years gone by
— is now being considered across the
country, even in symbolic heartlands like
Nelson Mandela Bay.
“In past elections the DA wouldn’t dare
to come here,” 25-year old IT graduate
Zodwa Twani said from a rundown
township in Port Elizabeth where DA
placards line the streets alongside images
of President Jacob Zuma.
“I loved the ANC but now they only
focus on themselves, not the people.
Mandela would have been ashamed,”
Twani added, standing in a pot-holed
street in a ward where the ANC won 80
per cent of the vote five years ago.
The ANC won 52 per cent at the 2011
local election in Mandela Bay municipality
overall, compared with the DA’s 40 per
cent, but opinion polls suggest it could
struggle to win a majority on Wednesday.
African National Congress supporters during the party’s traditional Siyanqoba rally
ahead of Wednesday’s local municipal elections in Johannesburg.
— Reuters
a a ys s
analysis
analysis
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Dirty, deadly and no cleaner legacy from Rio Games
BRAD BROOKS
R
io de Janeiro’s air is dirtier and deadlier than
portrayed by authorities and the Olympics’
promised legacy of cleaner winds has not
remotely been met, an analysis of government
data and Reuters’ own testing found.
Brazil declared in its official bid for the
Olympic Games, which open on Friday, that Rio’s
air quality was “within the limits recommended
by the World Health Organization.”
That was not true when Rio won the right to
host the Games in 2009 and it is not true now.
Rio for years has surpassed WHO limits for the
most dangerous air pollutant — called particulate
matter (PM) – spewed from millions of vehicles
clogging the city’s roads.
Thousands die annually in Rio’s metropolitan
area of 12 million people because of complications
related to the air. People exposed to the pollution
have higher risks of lung cancer, heart attacks,
strokes, asthma and other diseases.
“This is definitely not ‘Olympic air’,” said Paulo
Saldiva, a University of Sao Paulo pathologist and
member of the WHO committee that set tougher
global pollution standards in 2006.
“A lot of attention has been paid to Rio’s water because the particulate matter has a diameter
pollution, but far more people die because of air of 10 microns or less, seven times smaller than
pollution than the water,” he said. “You are not that of a human hair.
obligated to drink water from Guanabara Bay but
That means Rio has the dirtiest air of
you must breathe Rio’s air.”
any Olympic host city since scientists began
Rio’s
contaminated
consistently tracking PM 10
Olympic waterways have
in the late 1980s, with the
drawn attention as the city
exception of Beijing in 2008.
suffers endemic levels of
Tania Braga, head of
gastrointestinal diseases from a
sustainability and legacy for
lack of sewage collection.
Thousands die annually the Rio Olympics organising
Reuters recently reported
committee, said air quality
in Rio’s metropolitan
that Rio’s Olympic water
cannot be judged on PM data
venues and favourite beaches area of 12 million people alone and other pollutants are at
also tested positive for drug- because of complications low levels.
resistant “super bacteria.”
Saldiva dismissed that,
related to the air.
But there has been no talk
saying “the health damages
of Rio’s air pollution, threeassociated with PM pollution
quarters of which is caused by
are the most severe of all
exhaust fumes from the 2.7
pollutants” and, because of that,
million vehicles on its roads, according to Rio Rio’s air is of poor quality.
state’s environmental protection agency, Inea.
The WHO says on its website that “PM affects
Its data shows that since 2008, Rio’s air has more people than any other pollutant,” that
consistently been two to three times above outdoor pollution caused 3.7 million premature
WHO’s annual limit for PM 10 — so called deaths worldwide in 2012 and that those deaths
were due to exposure to PM 10.
The UN body did not respond to requests for
comment on Rio’s air quality.
Using the WHO’s methodology on estimating
mortality, Saldiva calculates some 5,400 people
died in Rio because of air pollution in 2014, the
most recent year that data is available.
By comparison, Rio’s infamous murder levels
resulted in 3,117 deaths last year.
From 2010 to 2014, metropolitan Rio had an
annual average PM 10 reading of 52 per cubic
metre of air, according to Inea statistics. The
WHO’s limit for the annual average is 20.
Jamie Mullins, a professor of resource
economics at the University of MassachusettsAmherst, estimates that for every 10 units
above the WHO limit on PM 10 levels, track
athletes across all events see their performances
diminished by 0.2 per cent.
Mullins based that calculation on an
examination of nearly 656,000 results from
US track athletes over eight years, and the air
pollution during each.
During the Beijing Olympics, the PM 10 level
was 82 — well above Rio’s.
A FEAR FOR FUTURE
ADAOBI TRICIA NWAUBANI
H
Hillary Clinton takes a selfie with a supporter at the David L Lawrence Convention Centre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
eld for months by the Nigerian government and confined to a house in
the capital for the foreseeable future, Amina Ali, a schoolgirl who was
rescued after two years in Boko Haram captivity, may never be the girl
she once was, her mother fears.
Amina, one of more than 200 girls abducted from a school in Chibok
in April 2014, and her four-month-old baby were rescued in May near
Damboa in the remote northeast, by soldiers working together with a
civilian vigilante group.
After a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, in the hope she
would shed light on the fate of the other kidnapped girls, Amina has
since been held in a house in the capital Abuja for what the Nigerian
government has called a “restoration process”.
But her mother, Binta Ali, who has spent the last two months in the
house, is concerned about Amina’s welfare and future.
“Before she was kidnapped, she wanted to further her education,”
Binta told the Thomson Reuters Foundation from Chibok, having
briefly returned there to seek medical treatment.
“But now she is afraid of schooling, and she wants to be close to me
at home,” said Binta, adding that Amina wants a sewing machine so that
she can start a business making clothes.
“She did not want to see him,” Binta said, adding that the teacher had
stopped visiting after she complained about him.
Garba Shehu, Buhari’s spokesman, said that Amina’s confinement in
the house had nothing to do with religion.
Boko Haram kidnapped 219 girls from their school in Chibok,
northeast Nigeria, in April 2014, as part of their seven-year-old
insurgency to set up a religious state in the north that has killed some
15,000 people and displaced more than 2 million.
Some girls escaped in the melee but parents of those still missing
accused former president Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s then leader, of
not doing enough to find their daughters, whose disappearance sparked
a global campaign #bringbackourgirls.
Binta said she was shocked to hear about the hardships faced by her
daughter as a captive of the group.
Amina and the other girls, starving and with nothing to cook with,
resorted to eating an entire bag of beans and maize raw.
“I cannot imagine how a human being can eat raw maize and beans
like a goat,” Binta said. Amina also told her mother how some of the
kidnapped girls had died in captivity, while others suffered broken legs
or went deaf after being too close to explosions.
— Reuters
Clinton’s ‘Rust Belt’ tour courts working class
IVAN COURONNE
H
illary Clinton took a bus tour across the
US “rust belt” region this weekend in a
quest to win over white, working class
voters who tend to support populist
Republican Donald Trump.
With her husband ex-president Bill
Clinton in tow, the former first lady, top
diplomat, ex-senator and now Democratic
presidential candidate took her seat on a
blue bus that meandered over 1,000 km
from Philadelphia to Columbus, Ohio.
Here on this green and hilly landscape
steel mills have been closing since the late
1970s, and many factories have shuttered
since the 1990s. The 2008-2009 recession
further aggravated despair, and the
following economic recovery has produced
only a fraction of jobs that pay as much as
the lost industrial ones.
“I understand that there are people who
feel like the economy is not working well for
them,” Clinton said at a rally in Harrisburg
last Friday.
“But I understand that. Because I’m not
satisfied with the status quo, are you?” she
asked, joined by Bill Clinton and her vicepresidential running mate Tim Kaine.
If elected, Clinton promises to
implement what she says is the biggest jobs
programme since World War II, focused on
manufacturing and infrastructure.
Nevertheless “there’s a lot of mistrust
of Hillary Clinton, and it comes from Bill,”
who signed the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), said John Russo, a
labour expert from the region currently at
Georgetown University.
“The working class has been pretty
angry on trade issues given the many
manufacturing-related jobs that have been
lost because of NAFTA,” Russo said.
said at a rally in Johnstown.
Few anticipated the massive loss of US
Trump has broken with the Republican
manufacturing jobs — mostly to lower Party’s age-old free-market orthodoxy and
waged Mexico — after Bill Clinton signed gone protectionist, cashing in politically on
this region’s malaise over lost industrial jobs.
Trump blames the losses on Bill Clinton
and his trade deals, and claims that it will
be the same under Hillary Clinton. Ohio
and Pennsylvania are key “swing states” in
November’s presidential race.
In Pittsburgh, a historic steel
Winning one or the other, or both, could
city that has largely shifted
be crucial to a Republican or Democratic
to being a medical and
White House victory.
By increasing white voter turnout,
educational centre, Clinton
Trump could counter Clinton’s lead in large
slammed Trump for doing
cities like Philadelphia or Cleveland, where
African-American voters who tend to vote
nothing for working class
Democratic are concentrated.
Americans. She quipped
Near Pittsburgh, which Hillary Clinton
that his Trump brand
visited on Saturday, lies Monessen,
population 7,500 — a shadow of what the
ties are made in China.
town was when two huge steel plants were
open there, employing some 22,000 people.
In 1962, president John F Kennedy made
the trip in this Democratic stronghold to
praise its industrial strength.
NAFTA into law in December 1993.
In June, it was Donald Trump’s turn
In time many of those same jobs moved — and he came to declare “US economic
to even lower wage countries in Asia.
independence” in a vitriolic speech decrying
US manufacturing jobs continued to globalisation.
haemorrhage in the following years.
“We are going to put American-produced
In Pittsburgh, a historic steel city that steel back into the backbone of our country.
has largely shifted to being a medical and This alone will create massive numbers of
educational centre, Clinton slammed jobs,” Trump said.
Trump for doing nothing for working class
From his office overlooking the
Americans.
Monongahela River, Monessen Mayor
She even quipped that his Trump brand Louis Mavrakis, 79, tries to stay positive
ties are made in China.
as he mentions that some 400 vacant
“So Donald Trump says he wants to make homes set to be razed.
America great again. He can start by actually
Mavrakis is a Democrat who has never
making things in America again,” Clinton voted Republican.
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Moments with the prime minister
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
Aaryan Balaji, a young mountaineer, makes a courtesy call on Prime Minister
Narendra Modi in New Delhi yesterday.
T U E S DAY l A U G U ST 2 l 2 0 1 6
IN BRIEF
Govt tables supplementary demands in LS
NEW DELHI: The government on
Monday sought parliament’s nod for
additional spending of Rs 1.03 lakh crore,
though the cash outgo will only be Rs
20,948.26 crore.
“Approval of parliament is sought to
authorise gross additional expenditure
of Rs 1,03,013.74 crore. Of this, the
proposals involving net cash outgo
aggregate to Rs 20,948.26 crore and
gross additional expenditure,” a finance
ministry document tabled in Lok Sabha
said. Presenting the Supplementary
Demands for Grants for 2016-17 in
the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley sought parliament’s approval
for transfer of Rs 5,000 crore towards
National Employment Guarantee Fund
and Rs 1,000 crore for providing funds to
Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves for
Sovereign Strategic Crude Oil Reserve at
Vizag, Mangalore and Pudur.
The Demands for Grants also include
Rs 40,000 crore as Ways and Means
Advance to Food Corporation of India
(FCI) to meet the working capital
requirements towards procurement
of food grain for targeted public
distribution system. — IANS
Thousands pay homage to Rakesh Siddaramaiah
MYSURU: Thousands of people on Monday bid farewell to Rakesh, elder son
of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who died in Brussels last week, at the
exhibition ground in the city, about 150 km from Benglauru.
“As scheduled, the cortege carrying the mortal remains of Rakesh was brought
here in a special aircraft from Bengaluru after it was flown from Brussels by an
Emirates Airlines flight earlier in the day,” an official said. Siddaramaiah, his wife
Parvathi, their daughter-in-law and younger son Yathindra accompanied the cortege
from Brussels. The body will be taken on road to T Katur, about 40km from here, for
the last rites at Siddaramaiah’s farmhouse in the evening.
Besides state Governor Vajubhai Vala, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha
Mallikarjun Kharge, former BJP Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, state ministers,
lawmakers and leaders of political parties offered floral tributes to the departed soul.
Holding back tears and with folded hands, an emotional Siddaramaiah stood by
the cortege and expressed gratitude to all the people who came to the venue for
paying respects to Rakesh and sharing his grief over the personal tragedy. Elaborate
security arrangements were made by the district authorities to regulate the flow of
mourners in thousands and prevent any untoward incident. — IANS
SC asks ex-UP CMs to vacate accommodation
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on
Monday directed six former Chief
Ministers of Uttar Pradesh to vacate
within two months the accommodation
provided to them by the state
government. A bench headed by
Justice Anil R Dave said the former Chief
Ministers have no right to occupy the
premises which they must vacate.
The six former Chief Ministers are
Kalyan Singh, Rajnath Singh, Mulayam
Singh Yadav, Mayawati, Narayan Dutt
Tiwari and Ram Naresh Yadav.
The bungalows occupied by the
former Chief Ministers are located
on Lucknow’s posh Mall Road and
Vikramaditya Marg.
The top court order came on a
petition by NGO Lok Prahari challenging
the validity of 1997 Ex-Chief Minister
Allotment of Residence Rule.
Lok Prahari contended that the
rule was without statutory basis and in
breach of Uttar Pradesh Minister Salaries,
Allowances and other Facilities Act, 1981.
— IANS
Govt to evacuate 10,000 Indians
stranded in Saudi Arabia: Sushma
CONCERNS: Sushma says the govt will ensure the workers get their pending payments
NEW DELHI: India will ensure that
none of the Indian workers abroad
go hungry because they do not have
work, External Affairs Minister Sushma
Swaraj said on Monday, adding that the
government will bring back citizens
stranded in Saudi Arabia after the
companies they were working for shut
down. The minister was responding
to concerns raised by members in the
Rajya Sabha.
On Saturday, the minister had said
over 10,000 Indians in Saudi Arabia
and Kuwait were facing a “food crisis”
because of economic hardships. “Large
number of Indians have lost their jobs in
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
The employers have not paid wages
(and) closed down their factories,” she
had tweeted.
On Monday, she informed members
of the upper house that food has been
distributed to the workers, and Minister
of State for External Affairs V K Singh
was going to Saudi Arabia to get the
workers back.
“Government has taken this issue
very seriously. When I got to know
workers are without food and water, I
contacted Indian embassy at Riyadh and
(consulate at) Jeddah and told them to
distribute free ration.
I also urged the local Indian
community to assist them,” she said.
“I am personally monitoring it and
need a report every hour,” she said.
“I am satisfied today that at quarter
to three, I got a message that food has
been distributed in all five camps,” the
minister said.
SCHOOL DURING RAINS
We have contacted foreign
and labour offices. The rule
is that embassies cannot
give emergency exit visa if
employer does not give a
no objection certificate
SUSHMA SWARAJ
Foreign Minister
Sushma Swaraj said the government
will bring the workers back to India.
“Ration for 7-10 days has been given.
But this is not a permanent solution.
There companies have been shut.
We cannot leave them there...we have
to get them back,” she said.
“We have contacted foreign and
labour offices. The rule is that embassies
cannot give emergency exit visa if
employer does not give a no objection
certificate.
We told them the employer is not
there so how can we get no objection
certificate,” the minister said.
She also said that the government will
ensure the labourers get their pending
payments.
“I am sending General V K Singh
there. He will talk to (Saudi) foreign
office and labour office and will get them
home.”
The minister added that no Indian
labourer abroad should go hungry and
the Indian government will ensure this.
“Any Indian labourer outside the
country, if he does not have work,
government takes the responsibility that
he will not sleep hungry,” Sushma Swaraj
added.
According to reports, 10,000 Indian
workers were laid off in Saudi Arabia
after growth slowed in the country,
triggered by the negative effects of
falling oil prices.
The workers were left without any
money to buy food or travel back to
India
Singh is leaving for Saudi Arabia to
oversee the operation, she said.
She received the last report at
2.45am, she said and informed the Lok
Sabha that ration for 10 days had been
distributed in all the five camps. “I am
personally monitoring the situation.”
As some opposition members in
Lok Sabha raised some questions,
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan disallowed
them, saying “She (Swaraj) has done
everything. She has done really good
work. Nobody has worked this much.”
Swaraj’s response also drew praise
from the Chair and members in the
Rajya Sabha. Swaraj made the statement
in the Lower House amid the din
created by Andhra Pradesh MPs, who
were demanding special category status
for the state.
Senior BJP member L K Advani,
who was sitting next to Swaraj, was
seen requesting Andhra members with
folded hands to allow her to speak.
The workers were mostly employed
by Saudi construction companies, and
were laid off amid a slowdown in the
industry due to low global oil. — IANS
Amit Shah gets relief from SC
A man carries schoolchildren through a flooded street during monsoon rains in Mumbai. — Reuters
NEW DELHI: In a breather for
Amit Shah, the Supreme Court on
Monday dismissed a plea by social
activist and former bureaucrat Harsh
Mander challenging the BJP President’s
discharge in the alleged staged killing
of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his aide
Tusliram Prajapati.
Sohrabuddin was killed by Gujarat
Police on November 26, 2005, in an
allegedly staged shootout. Two days
later, on November 28, his wife Kausar
Bi was killed. His aide Tulsiram Prajapati
was murdered December 28, 2006.
Shah was Gujarat’s Minister of State
for Home when the killings took place.
A bench of Justice S A Bobde and
Justice Ashok Bhushan rejected the plea
by Mander, who had challenged the
Bombay High Court order rejecting his
plea against the discharge of Amit Shah
on the grounds of his locus standi to do
so.
“Where a person genuinely aggrieved
moves the court, it takes a different
colour, and when another person who is
not even remotely connected (moves the
court),” it takes a different dimension,
said the bench.
Saying that it could not keep the
question of locus that open that
anybody could intervene in the matters,
even when directly aggrieved parties
are not coming forward, the bench said:
“This man’s brother withdraws, and you
are coming up.”
The court was referring to
Rubabuddin Sheikh — brother of
Sohrabuddin Sheikh withdrawing his
petition before Bombay High Court
challenging the discharge of Amit Shah
in the case. However, senior counsel
Kapil Sibal, appearing for Mander, said:
“Court can’t close its eyes to everything.”
He cited several judgments
including one by the constitution bench
as he argued that under law, a person
not remotely aggrieved by the crime
too can knock the door of the court to
seek justice in a criminal case in larger
interest of society.
Opposing Mander’s plea, senior
counsel Harish Salve, appearing for Amit
Shah, cited another set of judgments
to contend that an unconnected third
party had no locus to knock the doors of
the appellate courts in a criminal matter.
— IANS
The medical department has also announced precautionary measures to check the outbreak of diseases
Floods trigger epidemic fears in Meghalaya
TURA (Meghalaya): Diseases may
break out in the flood-hit areas of
Meghalaya if precautions are not taken,
health authorities said.
“There are already cases of some
people in the flood areas suffering from
diarrhoea and dysentery but our medical
team visiting these areas has been able to
provide immediate treatment,” Marwin
Sangma, the medical chief of West Garo
Hills district, told IANS.
“We have already activated all our
medical teams and they are visiting all
the relief camps to take stock as we are
apprehending that many water-borne
diseases might break out in the floodhit areas once the water-level starts
receding,” he said.
The medical department has also
announced precautionary measures to
check the outbreak of diseases.
The floods have affected more than
one lakh people in 258 villages after
the swollen Brahmaputra and Jingiram
rivers submerged many villages under
Phulbari, Rajabala, Singimari, Paham,
Bhaitbari and Hallidayganj areas.
Three people — a young woman and
two minors — died in the floods, while
two others are suspected to have been
washed away by the high currents of the
flood water.
The flood waters also swept away
livestock, foodgrain and houses, besides
damaging standing crops, roads and
bridges.
“A mobile medical team had already
visited the flood-affected areas and
distributed ORS (oral rehydration
solution) and anti-diarrhoea medicines
to the affected people,” Sangma said.
According to medical experts, waterborne diseases like diarrhoea, cholera
and gastroenteritis can break out if
proper care is not taken by the state
administration.
“Post-flood is a critical period.
People should boil food and water and
‘People should boil food
and water and above all
should maintain cleanliness
to avert any type of health
hazard, said Marshal
Lamare, a medical expert
above all should maintain cleanliness to
avert any type of health hazard,” said
Marshal Lamare, a medical expert.
Public Health Engineering (PHE)
officials have distributed chlorine tablets
and bleaching powder to prevent any
outbreak of water-borne diseases.
“We are providing safe drinking
water and other essential commodities
in the form of rice, dal and salt to all the
people in the affected areas,” West Garo
Hills District Magistrate Pravin Bakshi
said.
Bakshi said temporary pit latrines
have been constructed near relief camps
and 110 boats have been requisitioned
for carrying relief materials to the
affected areas.
Construction of tube wells in the
worst hit flood affected areas has been
ordered after a survey and drinking
water supply has been managed for the
relief camps by PHE, he said.
Chief Minister Mukul Sangma had
conducted an aerial survey of the flood-
affected areas.
National Peoples Party President
Conrad K Sangma, who represents
Tura in the Lok Sabha, urged the state
government to ensure supply of essential
commodities and safe drinking water
to the affected people besides taking
immediate steps to prevent outbreak of
water-borne diseases.
“I have visited almost all the floodhit areas and the immediate plea of
the affected people was to ensure food
supplies,” Sangma said.
Bakshi said supply of essential items
including ready to cook food, chiwra
(flattened rice flakes) and jaggery, baby
food and kerosene oil is being supplied
to the relief camps.
He said a state disaster response
force (SDRF) team from Shillong,
consisting of 13 personnel, has reached
Phulbari and will be stationed there for
emergency relief and rescue works and
other contingencies.— IANS
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OMANDAILYOBSERVER
T U E S DAY l A U G U S T 2 l 2 0 1 6
GOOD HOPE: After many days some normal activity was witnessed as more private vehicles
and pedestrians were seen on many roads
Amid curfew and shutdown,
Kashmir shows improvement
SRINAGAR: Sporadic clashes between
stone-pelting mobs and security forces
at some places notwithstanding, the
overall law and order situation in the
Kashmir Valley showed signs of marginal
improvement on Monday with some
normal activity seen in the Srinagar city.
Two protesters were injured when
security forces opened fire at an unruly
mob in Qazigund area of Anantnag
district.
“The injured persons were admitted
to hospital where doctors said both of
them were out of danger,” a police officer
said.
Meanwhile, a 60-year-old man,
injured in clashes in Anantnag district
last week, died in the hospital on Monday,
taking the toll in the current cycle of
violence in Kashmir to 51.
Although restrictions remained in
place in the old city and some uptown
areas in Srinagar, after many days some
normal activity was witnessed as more
private vehicles and pedestrians were
seen on many roads.
Senior separatist leader Syed Ali
Geelani took part in a separatist-called
anti-India graffiti campaign.
He painted an anti-India slogan on a
wall in uptown Hyderpora area.
Separatists have asked people to paint
anti-Indian graffiti and slogans on walls
and roads as part of the peaceful protests
during the ongoing shutdown in the
Kashmir Valley.
Authorities imposed curfew and
restrictions in most parts of the valley to
GST Bill to be taken
up on Wednesday,
Cong for more talks
NEW DELHI: The government has
listed the GST bill for discussion in the
Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, hoping
it will be passed through consensus,
but the opposition Congress said that
consultation is still on over the issue and
an agreement is not yet finalised.
In view of the development, the BJP
has issued whip for all its Rajya Sabha
members to be present in the house for
the next three days.
“The GST bill is listed for Wednesday.
We hope it will be passed through
consensus,” Parliamentary Affairs
Minister Ananth Kumar told reporters
here. The government had initially
planned to take up the Goods and
Services Tax bill on Tuesday but opted
to delay it by a day so that parties have
enough time to talk to their members.
The “mood is in favour of passing
the bill”, said Ananth Kumar, adding
that talks are being held with different
political parties as the bill concerns
all the states. The Congress said it was
prepared to accept every reasonable
solution but added that the consultation
is still on.
— IANS
A Kashmiri woman walks behind concertina wire during a curfew in downtown Srinagar. — Reuters
maintain law and order.
The valley has been reeling under
officially imposed curfew and the
separatist-called protest shutdown for
24 days now since Hizbul commander
Burhan Wani was killed in a gunfight
with the security forces on July 8.
Hotels, houseboats and guest houses
are all deserted as tourists have left the
valley because of the present cycle of
violence. Educational institutions, banks
and post offices have also remained shut
during this period although essential
services are exempted from both curfew
and the separatist shutdown, and have
been functioning in the valley.
Traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar and
Srinagar-Leh national highways moves
only during the night as protesters keep
these highways blocked during the day,
defying curfew restrictions.
The number of pilgrims arriving daily
for the ongoing Amarnath Yatra has
also been drastically reduced, but so far
2,18,000 pilgrims have paid obeisance to
the deity inside the holy cave, while 21
yatris have died of natural causes during
this year’s pilgrimage.
Meanwhile, the proscribed Jamatud-Dawa’s (JuD) charity wing Falahe-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF), led by
Hafiz Saeed, on Monday announced it is
sending a caravan to Jammu and Kashmir
packed with daily essential requirements
for the people hit by the current unrest
there.
— IANS
Anandiben Patel resigns
as Gujarat chief minister
AHMEDABAD: The chief minister
of Gujarat and a long-time confidante
of Prime Minister Narendra Modi
resigned on Monday, as protests by the
low-caste Dalit community threatened
to hurt the standing of the ruling party.
Anandiben Patel, who served as the
state’s first woman chief minister, posted
the resignation letter on her Facebook
page. She said the decision was driven
by the fact that she was almost 75 years
old, the age at which Modi expects
ministers to retire.
Modi appointed Patel as his
successor in Gujarat, his home state, in
2014. He had run the state for 13 years
— an era of rapid industrial growth that
his BJP successfully pitched to voters as
a “model” to bring prosperity to India’s
1.3 billion people.
But Patel’s standing weakened after
a series of caste-driven protests, which
could be politically damaging for Modi.
They have also disrupted parliamentary
proceedings and may affect state
elections in Gujarat and the northern
state of Uttar Pradesh in 2017.
About 25,000 member of Dalit
community have staged protests since
four young Dalit men were stripped and
beaten in public after they were seen
skinning a cow. The youths said the cow
was dead.
Meanwhile, President Amit Shah
said on Monday that he will place before
the party’s parliamentary board — one
of the BJP’s apex decision-making
forum — a letter from Gujarat Chief
Minister Anandiben Patel asking the
leadership to relieve her of her post.
“The spirit that she has expressed,
we will place it before the parliamentary
board. The next course of action will
follow accordingly,” Shah said here.
He indicated that the parliamentary
board would also take a decision on the
AIADMK sacks MP
Sasikala Pushpa
STUCK IN A BLOCK
Commuters and their vehicles stand in a traffic jam in New Delhi. — AFP
CHENNAI/NEW DELHI:
AIADMK General Secretary
and Tamil Nadu Chief
Minister J Jayalalithaa on
Monday dismissed the
party’s Rajya Sabha member
L Sasikala Pushpa from the
party.
In a statement issued
here, Jayalalithaa said Sasikala Pushpa
acted against the party’s principles and
code of conduct and also in a manner
that defamed the party.
The dismissal comes after Pushpa
slapped DMK’s Rajya Sabha member
Tiruchi Siva at Delhi airport two
days back. Jayalalithaa said Pushpa
is dismissed from Monday from all
party posts and also from the basic
membership of the party.
Party members were asked not to
have any contact with her. Pushpa is
different from Jayalalithaa’s close aide
Sasikala Natarajan.
Pushpa told reporters that she
slapped Siva several times as
he was making some nasty
remarks about Jayalalithaa.
However, Siva later told
reporters that he was hit only
once.
It was reported that
Pushpa was asked by
Jayalalithaa to explain her
behaviour and the reasons for assaulting
Siva.
Pushpa on Monday alleged in the
Rajya Sabha that she was facing a
“life threat” and that she was being
“compelled to resign”.
“I fear threat to my life. I am
being compelled to resign from my
constitutional post by my leader, for
whom I have much gratitude.”
According to reports, Sasikala visited
AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa’s residence
on Sunday. “In Tamil Nadu I have no
safety...I need protection,” Sasikala said
but other AIADMK members protested
against her remarks.
— IANS
With no news or phone access, the Delhi CM will undergo a 10-day vipassana course with meditation sessions
Kejriwal on 10-day Himalayan meditation course
DHARAMSALA:
Delhi
Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is here
to attend a ‘vipassana’ session, will not
be allowed to meet anyone during the
10-day meditation course or access to
newspapers or mobile phone, an official
said on Monday.
Kejriwal, who arrived here in the
morning, was received by a large number
of Aam Adami Party activists and party
leaders at the airport.
He will stay in the Himachal
Vipassana Centre in Dharamkot — a
tourist spot on the suburbs and close
to the Dalai Lama’s abode — till August
12, centre in-charge Pawan Sharma
said. Sharma said the 10-day ‘vipassana’
course would begin on Tuesday and
continue till August 11.
Kejriwal would return to Delhi the
following day. Vipassana is one of India’s
most ancient meditation techniques.
During the course, Kejriwal would
stay without his staff.
“Nobody would be allowed to meet
Kejriwal during the course.
Even his security would not stay with
him at the centre,” Sharma added.
Kejriwal’s day would begin at 4
am and he would retire at 9.30 pm. In
between, there would be meditation
sessions.
The participants would pose queries
to their teachers at specified intervals
during the course, Sharma said.
The participants will be served simple
meals, comprising rice and dal.
There would be no access to
newspapers, television and mobile
phone.
According to the centre, the 10day course is an introductory one to
vipassana where the technique is taught
step-by-step every day.
Kejriwal arrived by a SpiceJet regular
flight from Delhi at 1.15 pm. “I am here
just for meditation,” the Chief Minister
told reporters at Gaggal airport in
Kangra district.
State Transport Minister G S Bali was
also travelling in the same flight.
The Congress government in the
state has extended him a state guest
status and he was received by Deputy
Commissioner Ritesh Chauhan.
State AAP leader and former MP
Rajan Shushant said his visit boosted the
morale of the party cadre in the state.
Meanwhile, apart from police
deployed for security duties, the Goa
exchequer bore expenses of Rs 500 for
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s
first visit to the state on May 22, the
government told the assembly on
11
Monday. This amount was spent on a
bouquet presented to the AAP convener.
In a reply to a question by Nuvem
MLA Francisco Pacheco, Protocol
Minister Dilip Parulekar said 82 police
personnel were deputed for Kejriwal’s
security during his May visit.
“... the chief minister was received
and see(n) off at the airport. He has not
availed of accommodation at the state
guest house. The state government has
presented flower bouquet amounting to
Rs 500 on his first visit,” Parulekar said
in a written reply.
Pacheco had asked for “the total
amount of expenditure incurred by the
(Goa) government during Kejriwal’s
visits to Goa — on May 22 and June 28.
— IANS
Shah praised the work of
Anandiben Patel, saying she
had taken forward the work
done by Narendra Modi as
Chief Minister
new Chief Minister.
Referring to the contents of the letter,
Shah said Patel had written that the new
Chief Minister will need time to prepare
for the assembly polls expected by the
end of next year.
He said the state will also be hosting
the Vibrant Gujarat summit in January
next year.
Shah praised the work of Anandiben
Patel, saying she had taken forward the
work done by Narendra Modi as Chief
Minister.
“She has had a successful tenure,” he
said.
In a Facebook post in Gujarati,
Patel on Monday called upon the BJP
leadership to “relieve” her from her
present responsibilities in keeping with
the party’s laudable tradition of leaders
who turn 75 vacating their posts.
— IANS
MONTHLY HIKE
LPG price hiked,
non-subsidised
LPG cut by Rs 50
NEW DELHI: In a move to cut
subsidies, state-run oil marketing
companies (OMCs) has hiked the
price of subsidised LPG by Rs 1.93 per
cylinder.
A 14.2 kg subsidised cooking gas
cylinder will now cost Rs 423.09 in
Delhi as against Rs 421.16 earlier.
LPG rates were last hiked by Rs
1.98 on July 1.
The monthly increase in LPG rates
is along the lines taken towards the
deregulation of diesel in November
2014, which was preceded by raising
the fuel rates by 50 paise a litre every
month.
In case of kerosene for public
distribution, OMCs have been allowed
to raise the price by 25 paise a litre
each month for 10 months.
The second such hike was effective
from the midnight of Monday.
Instead, the price of non-subsidised
LPG, which consumers buy after
exhausting their quota of 12 cylinders,
was on Monday cut by Rs 50.50 per
14.2-kg cylinder.
Non-subsidised LPG now costs Rs
487 in Delhi as compared to Rs 537.50
per cylinder earlier.
The price of aviation turbine
fuel (ATF), or jet fuel, was also cut
on Monday by 4.2 per cent, or Rs
2,080.5 per kilolitre (kl) at Delhi, to Rs
47,206.68.
The reduction follows five straight
monthly increases in prices.
ATF rates vary at different airports
because of variable local sales tax.
Amid the recent fluctuation in
global crude oil prices, the Indian
basket of crude went below the $40
mark on Friday as per official data,
closing trade at $39.90 per barrel.
Meanwhile, the petroleum ministry
has pegged the under-recoveries,
or losses, for August on account of
subsidising kerosene at Rs 11.49 per
litre.
— IANS
t eworld
the
o d
world
l
Australian family in Scottish
12
Simone Gbagbo trial delayed
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An Ivory Coast court on Monday adjourned Simone Gbagbo’s trial for crimes against humanity until October
10, after the former first lady complained she was too tired to proceed. “When I sent for the defendant this
morning, she made it known that she was very tired and she asked us to take account of her counsel’s request to
let her rest,” state prosecutor Ali Yeo told the court in Abidjan.
Highlands faces deportation
HIGH HOPE: Gregg and Kathryn Brain are hoping for a last minute job offer
EDINBURGH: An Australian family
living in the Scottish Highlands face
deportation on Monday if a highprofile bid to comply with UK visa
requirements fails.
Gregg and Kathryn Brain are hoping
for a last minute job offer or a British
interior ministry extension allowing
them to stay, with their seven-year-old
son Lachlan, after a deadline on their
visa extension runs out at midnight.
The Brains moved from Brisbane
to Scotland in 2011 on Mrs Brain’s
temporary student visa, which then
allowed her to seek work afterwards as
part of a British government-backed
scheme to help shore up an ageing and
shrinking population in the Highlands.
Visa rules were then changed,
however, with an eye to addressing voter
concerns on immigration in the UK as a
whole. Immigration was at the centre of
Britain’s June vote to leave the European
Union.
“One option is that there is mercy
and compassion, and the Home Office
(interior ministry) decides to offer an
extension or find another way that
they can stay,” Scottish lawmaker Kate
Forbes, who is helping the Brains, said.
The family’s campaign to stay in
Scotland, where their son has learned
The Brains argue that their case is exceptional because the rules were changed
after they arrived.
the ancient Scots language Gaelic, led
them to a meeting with the devolved
Scottish government First Minister
Nicola Sturgeon, who personally
appealed to the British government on
their behalf in May.
An offer of work at a local distillery
for Kathryn Brain, who studied Scottish
history, was withdrawn last month
after it became unclear whether it
fulfilled immigration and employment
Kuwait raises
petrol prices by
more than 80pc
KUWAIT CITY: The Kuwaiti cabinet on Monday
decided to raise petrol prices by more than 80 per
cent from September 1 as part of economic reforms
aimed at countering falling oil revenues.
A statement after the weekly cabinet meeting
said the price of low octane petrol will rise by 41 per
cent to 28 US cents a litre while high grade petrol
will increase by 61 per cent to 35 cents.
It also decided to raise the price of environmentally
friendly low-emission “ultra” petrol by 83 per cent
to 55 cents a litre.
These are the first increases in heavily subsidised
petrol prices in the OPEC member for almost two
decades.
The Gulf state liberalised the prices of diesel and
kerosene in January 2015 and revises their prices
monthly.
Kuwait is the last country among the energy-rich
Gulf Cooperation Council states to increase the
price of petrol.
The Kuwaiti cabinet said a government
committee will revise the new petrol prices every
three months depending on international oil prices.
In April, parliament approved a governmentsponsored bill to raise electricity and water prices
paid by foreign residents and businesses, but
exempted citizens.
This increase, the first in almost 50 years, will
take effect from September next year. — AFP
regulations.
The legal complexities of the visa
system meant more time was needed for
job offers to be vetted for their suitability
in resolving their predicament, Forbes
said.
“The fear has always been that
to grant too many extensions to
the Brains would set a precedent.
But we know there were few, if any,
other individuals in the same boat as
the Brains because the scheme was
scrapped in 2012,” Forbes said.
Having run down their savings as
well as donations from well-wishers
while trying to find a solution, the
family is now surviving on the charity
of neighbours, Gregg Brain, a health
and safety expert, told the BBC.
The Brains argue that their case is
exceptional because the rules were
changed after they arrived.
The Home Office noted the family
had already been given three grace
periods of temporary leave to remain.
A spokeswoman for Prime Minister
Theresa May said: “We recognise the
strength of feeling on this case but
there is a need to follow the rules,
follow the process, and to date they
have not lodged a visa application with
the (interior ministry).”
If they are sent back to Australia,
Gregg Brain said, the family will
have to work hard to pay off debts
accumulated while trying to resolve
their situation.
“Brisbane is not Mogadishu ... but we
would be going back to homelessness,
jobless and indebtedness,” he added.
“It would take us the best part of 10
years to pay off our debts.” — Reuters
PLAYFUL AT RIO
Zimbabwe police arrest
war veterans’ leader
HARARE: Zimbabwean police on
Monday arrested another senior
member of the war veterans’ association
in a growing crackdown on critics of
President Robert Mugabe after a series of
rare protests.
Mugabe, 92, who has ruled since 1980,
has faced a groundswell of opposition in
recent months as the country’s moribund
economy collapses and the government
struggles to pay its workforce.
The
war
veterans,
previously loyal supporters
of the president, released
a highly critical statement
two weeks ago attacking
Mugabe as “dictatorial”
and accusing him of
being unable to address
Zimbabwe’s problems.
A new non-partisan
opposition
movement
known as #ThisFlag has also galvanised
anti-government sentiment in Zimbabwe,
where security forces have crushed signs
of dissent for decades.
Victor Matemadanda, SecretaryGeneral of the Zimbabwe National
Liberation War Veterans Association
(ZNLWVA), was taken away by police
at a court hearing of a colleague facing
charges of insulting Mugabe.
A correspondent saw detectives
take Matemadanda from a group of
independence war veterans, who had
gathered outside the court for the bail
hearing of association spokesman
Douglas Mahiya.
Matemadanda was put in the back
seat of a truck flanked by detectives, and
driven off.
“When we find out who the people
were... the punishment will be severe,”
Mugabe said last week, referring to
unsigned authors of the war veterans’
statement.
The police spokeswoman was not
available to comment on any charges
against Matemadanda.
Scores of sympathisers
and rights activists attended
Mahiya’s court hearing
in Harare on Monday,
including former vicepresident Joice Mujuru,
now the leader of a new
opposition party.
Police
in
anti-riot
gear stood guard at the
court entrance while war veterans sang
songs protesting against Mahiya and
Matemadanda’s arrest.
Mahiya was granted $300 bail and
released.
Last month, a one-day strike shut
down offices, shops, schools and some
government departments as people
protested over an economic crisis that has
delayed salaries for civil servants and the
military.
More than 90 per cent of the
population is not in formal employment
after years of economic decline under
Mugabe’s rule. — AFP
New wing part could
reveal MH370 clues
A girl plays in a display at the Switzerland house, Rio Olympics, Brazil, on Monday. — Reuters
Nigerian behind $60m online fraud network arrested
LAGOS: A Nigerian behind an online fraud network which engineered scams worth more than $60
million has been arrested in southern oil city of Port Harcourt, Interpol said on Monday.
“The 40-year-old Nigerian national, known as ‘Mike’, is believed to be behind scams totalling more
than $60 million involving hundreds of victims worldwide,” the international police organisation said
in a statement.
“In one case, a target was conned into paying out $15.4 million,” Interpol said, indicating that the
arrest was carried out with the support of Nigeria’s anti-graft agency the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC). — AFP
SYDNEY: Australian MH370 search
authorities are hopeful a wing part
found in Tanzania will shed light on
how the flight crashed, amid a lack of
public information on debris found a
year ago. As the underwater hunt far off
Australia’s west coast draws to a close
without any sign of the plane, there has
been speculation the flight’s final resting
place may be outside the current search
zone in the southern Indian Ocean.
The Malaysia Airlines jet was
carrying 239 passengers and crew when
it disappeared en route from Kuala
Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.
The first debris linked to MH370
— a two-metre-long (almost sevenfoot) wing part known as a flaperon —
washed up on the French Indian Ocean
island of Reunion a year ago.
But it has remained in the hands of
French investigators, leaving questions
unanswered on how the airliner entered
the ocean.
“We have also seen some analysis
from the French that suggests that
it’s a possibility that (the flaperon)
was in a deployed state,” Peter Foley,
the Australian Transport and Safety
Bureau (ATSB)’s head of MH370 search
operations, told Channel Nine late on
Sunday.
A deployed state, which means the
flaperon was extended for landing,
could suggest that someone was at the
controls — the “rogue pilot” theory —
when the aircraft entered the water.
Investigators have considered all
scenarios, but alternative possibilities
could potentially have debris fields
three times the current search zone,
ATSB’s former chief Martin Dolan said
in March.
The current area was defined under
the “most likely” scenario that no-one
was at the controls and the plane ran
out of fuel.
But Foley told the commercial
broadcaster that if the pilot was still in
control of the plane or control-ditched
the aircraft, it could potentially have
had an extended range of flight.
A team of Italian scientists said last
month the debris zone may be a further
500 kilometres north.
Foley said he was hopeful the
wing part found off Tanzania, which
is in Canberra for analysis and was
confirmed by Australia on Friday to
be “highly likely” from MH370, could
reveal how the plane crashed.
“We are looking to see whether or
not we can work out whether that flap
was extended at the end of flight...
it suggests a different end-of-flight
scenario,” he said. — AFP
Somali-born Muhaydin Mire said during the rampage that he was doing it ‘for my Syrian brothers’
IS-inspired London Tube knifeman jailed for life
LONDON: A paranoid schizophrenic
knifeman who tried to behead a
commuter in a London Underground
station in an IS-inspired attack was
sentenced to life behind bars on Monday.
Somali-born Muhaydin Mire, 30,
said during the rampage that he was
doing it “for my Syrian brothers”.
Mire attacked random stranger Lyle
Zimmerman with a rusty knife as the
56-year-old musician walked through
Leytonstone Tube station in east London
on December 5.
Zimmerman suffered serious injuries
but recovered well after the attack.
Last month a jury convicted Mire of
attempted murder.
He was sent on Monday to begin his
sentence at the top-security Broadmoor
psychiatric hospital, where he was
already being detained for treatment.
Mire will serve a minimum of eight
and a half years before he can possibly be
considered eligible for release.
At the Old Bailey Central Criminal
Court in London, judge Nicholas
Hilliard said he accepted that Mire was
suffering from paranoid schizophrenia
at the time of the attack.
But he said he was also in no doubt
that Mire was motivated by the conflict
in Syria.
“Because Muslims were being
bombed in Syria, he was going to attack
civilians here,” said Hilliard, the recorder
of London.
Hilliard said he was sure that the
“extremely serious violence” was
intended “to intimidate at least a section
of the public” in order to advance a
“religious and extremist
cause...
namely...
extremism”.
“This was an attempt
to kill an innocent
member of the public
for ideological reasons
by cutting his throat
in plain sight for
maximum impact,” he
said.
Hilliard said had the knife blade not
broken from the handle, “it is hard to
see that Mr Zimmerman would have
survived the attack”.
Mire forced Zimmerman to the
ground and repeatedly kicked his head
before trying to cut his throat. He also
lashed out at other
passers-by
before
police shot him with
electric stun guns.
Mire
pleaded
guilty to attempting
to wound four other
Tube passengers. He
was sentenced to two
years’ imprisonment
on each count, to run
concurrently with his life sentence.
Mire’s mobile phone contained a
graph showing US and coalition air
strikes on the IS group and images of IS
hostages before they were executed by
having their throats cut.
The out-of-work minicab driver also
had images of Lee Rigby, a British soldier
who was murdered by extremists in a
beheading attempt in southeast London.
Mire has battled mental illness for
years and suffered his first psychotic
episode in 2006, the court heard.
A month before the Leytonstone
station attack, doctors referred him to
the mental health services, saying he had
paranoid delusions that he was being
followed by the security services.
His family were due to send him back
to Somalia the day after the attack.
Mire, wearing a white T-shirt and a
blue tracksuit top, showed no emotion
throughout the sentencing.
“London is a safer place with Mire
behind bars,” said Commander Dean
Haydon, of the police Counter Terrorism
Command.
“Whilst Mire was not accused of
terrorist offences it would appear
from comments he made at the time
of the attack and the content he had
downloaded on his phone that he
may have been inspired by terrorist
propaganda.”
He said police were working tirelessly
at “stopping people getting drawn into
terrorism and violent extremism in all
forms as well as prosecuting, disrupting
and deterring extremists”. —AFP
region
o
region
i
Commandos who tried to seize Erdogan captured
Emergency simulation exercise
Palestinian rescue workers took part in an emergency simulation exercise in
the border city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Monday.
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13
OVERNIGHT OPERATION: Rogue commandos were seized after a two-week manhunt; plotters will beg to be killed, says minister
ISTANBUL: Turkish special forces
captured a group of rebel commandos
who tried to seize or kill President
Tayyip Erdogan during a failed coup,
and a government minister said plotters
would “never see God’s sun as long as
they breathe”.
Drones and helicopters pinpointed
the location of the 11 fugitive
commandos in forested hills around the
Mediterranean resort of Marmaris after
a two-week manhunt, an official said
on Monday. They were part of a group
that attacked a hotel where Erdogan was
holidaying on the night of the July 15
coup bid.
The operation took place overnight,
after the government tightened its
control over the military by dismissing
over 1,000 more soldiers, widening the
post-coup purges of state institutions
that have targeted tens of thousands of
people.
Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci
said coup plotters would bitterly regret
FRESH
based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen
for the coup bid and has vowed to rid
state institutions of his influence. But the
extent of the purges, and suggestions that
the death penalty could be reintroduced,
Yildirim admitted there may have
been some unfair treatment in the
have sparked concern in Western
state sector.
capitals and among rights groups.
“There must definitely be some
Gulen, who lives in self-imposed
among them who were subjected
exile in the United States, has denied
to unfair procedures,” he said in
involvement.
comments published by state-run
The United States’ top military official,
Anadolu news agency.
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
“We will make a distinction
Joseph Dunford, was due to meet Prime
between those who are guilty and
Minister Binali Yildirim in Ankara on
those who are not.”
Monday after visiting the Incirlik air
Echoing his tone, Deputy Prime
base in southern Turkey, used by the USMinister Numan Kurtulmus said: “If
led coalition for bombing raids in Syria.
there are any mistakes, we will correct
More than 230 people were killed
them”.
— AFP
in the attempted coup, many of them
civilians, and more than 2,000 injured.
Erdogan was almost killed or captured,
Usak over the weekend.
officials close to him have said, an
“They will not hear a human voice outcome which could have tipped
again. ‘Kill us’ they will beg,” he said.
Turkey into conflict.
Erdogan blames followers of US— Reuters
Some dismissals may be ‘unfair’
Members of Patriotic Party shout slogans as they demonstrate against the visit of US
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph F Dunford in front of the US
Embassy in Ankara on Monday. — Reuters
trying to overthrow Turkey’s democracy, night after night.
in words reflecting the depth of anger
“We will make them beg. We will
among the thousands of Turks who have stuff them into holes, they will suffer
attended rallies to condemn the coup such punishment in those holes that
ISTANBUL: Turkey admitted on
Monday there may have been some
“unfair” treatment in its post-coup
crackdown as it voiced anger with
Germany for barring President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan from addressing a
rally in Cologne.
Retaliating after a military
attempt to unseat him, Erdogan has
launched a purge that has seen tens
of thousands people suspended
from their jobs and almost 19,000
detained.
Apparently responding to
widening international alarm about
the crackdown, Prime Minister Binali
they will never see God’s sun as long
as they breathe,” Zeybekci was quoted
by the Dogan news agency as telling an
anti-coup protest in the western town of
South Sudan
minister quits,
calls for
regime change
ATTACK
US launches first anti-IS
air raids in Libya’s Sirte
TRIPOLI: US warplanes on Monday
carried out air strikes on positions of
the IS group in the Libyan city of Sirte
for the first time, the country’s unity
government head announced.
“The first American air strikes on
precise positions of the Daesh (IS)
organisation were carried out today,
causing heavy losses... in Sirte,” prime
minister Fayez al-Sarraj said in a
televised speech.
In Washington, the Pentagon said
the raids were launched in response to
a request from the unity government.
“At the request of the Libyan
Government of National Accord,
the United States military conducted
precision air strikes against ISIL targets
in Sirte, Libya, to support GNAaffiliated forces seeking to defeat ISIL
in its primary stronghold in Libya,”
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook
said, using another name for IS.
The US strikes in Sirte “will continue”,
Cook added without elaborating.
President
Barack
Obama
authorised the bombings following
recommendations from top Pentagon
officials, and the strikes are “consistent
with our approach to combating ISIL
by working with capable and motivated
local forces”, Cook added.
“The US stands with the international
community in supporting the GNA as
it strives to restore stability and security
to Libya,” he said.
The Tripoli-based GNA launched
an operation in May to retake the IS
bastion of Sirte, the hometown of slain
dictator Muammar Gaddafi which the
militants have controlled since June
2015.
Sarraj stressed that the US strikes
were carried out in coordination with
the military command centre of proGNA forces, and that no foreign troops
would be deployed in Libya.
“This has allowed our forces on
the ground to take control of strategic
positions,” he said. — AFP
A fighter of Libyan forces allied with the UN-backed government runs for cover
with another fighter while carrying a wounded fighter during a battle with IS
militants in Sirte on Sunday. — Reuters
Lam Akol addresses a news
conference in his office in Ethiopia’s
capital Addis Ababa, on Monday.
— Reuters
Men inspect the wreckage of a Russian helicopter that had been shot down in the north of Syria’s rebel-held Idlib
province on Monday. — Reuters
Five dead as Russian military
helicopter downed in Syria
BEIRUT: A Russian military
helicopter was shot down over Syria
on Monday, killing all five people on
board in the single deadliest incident
for Moscow since it intervened in
the war. The attack came as Syrian
opposition fighters and their militant
allies battled government forces
outside Aleppo in a bid to ease the
regime’s siege of rebel-held parts of
the northern city.
Russia’s
defence
ministry
announced the downing of the
helicopter, which it said was carrying
three crew and two officers.
“A Russian Mi-8 military
transport helicopter was shot down
from the ground after delivering
humanitarian aid to Aleppo,” the
defence ministry said in a statement
quoted by Russian news agencies.
The Kremlin said all five people
on board were assumed dead.
“As far as we know from the
information we’ve had from the
defence ministry, those in the
helicopter died, they died heroically,
because they were trying to move the
aircraft away to minimise victims on
the ground,” Kremlin spokesman
Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
It was not immediately clear who
was responsible.
The incident was the deadliest
single attack on Russian forces
in Syria since Moscow began its
intervention in support of President
Bashar al-Assad’s government last
September. It brought the total
number of members of the Russian
forces killed in Syria to 18.
The Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights, a Britain-based
monitor, said the helicopter had
come down along the administrative
border between Idlib province in the
northwest and neighbouring Aleppo.
— AFP
ADDIS ABABA: A South Sudanese
minister and opposition figure resigned
on Monday saying a peace deal
designed to heal the troubled young
nation was dead, while calling for
President Salva Kiir’s unity government
to leave power.
Lam Akol was agriculture minister
in Kiir’s administration and also
announced he was quitting as longtime
leader of the opposition Sudan People’s
Liberation
Movement-Democratic
Change (SPLM-DC) party.
“There is no more peace agreement
to implement in Juba,” Akol said at
a press conference in the Ethiopian
capital, Addis Ababa.
“All of us agree that the regime in
Juba must change,” he added.
Akol was the president’s only
serious challenger in a regional
election held in 2010, the year before
the semi-autonomous region known
as Southern Sudan seceded and gained
full independence.
He has also long opposed rebel leader
Riek Machar, whose forces clashed in
recent weeks with government troops
loyal to Kiir. — AFP
UN says govt efforts to accelerate execution of militants could result in innocent people being put to death
Iraqi PM orders probe into alleged graft in weapon deals
BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister
Haider
al-Abadi
ordered
an
investigation on Monday into
allegations of corruption in weapons
deals that risk re-igniting a political
crisis ahead of planned military moves
to retake Mosul from IS.
Infighting over anti-corruption
measures, which stalled government
activity for several months and
sparked clashes between protesters
and security forces in Baghdad earlier
this year, threatens to slow momentum
to recapture Mosul and capitalise on
battlefield gains against the ultrahardline militants.
Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri
denied charges of corruption made at a
closed parliament session by Defence
Minister Khaled al-Obeidi, who later
said on his official Facebook page that
he had details of blackmail relating to
weapons contracts.
Obeidi provided no evidence in
the online post, and it was not clear
if the session would be broadcast. A
separate message said several MPs were
suspected of similar crimes.
Abadi said in a statement that he
had directed the Integrity Commission,
a government body tasked with
fighting corruption, to investigate the
accusations.
Obeidi had been summoned to
parliament to respond to allegations of
graft in the Ministry of Defence, which
has been accused of wasting billions of
dollars in public funds and weakening
the armed forces to the point where
they collapsed in 2014 in the face of IS.
“What happened today was a
charade in order for the questioning not
to be held,” Jabouri said in a televised
news conference following the session.
IS seized a third of Iraq two years
ago but has since been pushed out of
many of those areas by militias and a
military that is slowly being rebuilt with
the support of a US-led coalition.
Meanwhile, the United Nations
said on Monday that Iraqi government
efforts to speed up execution of IS
militants following a Baghdad bomb
attack that killed 324 people could
result in innocent people being put to
death.
“(It is) all too easy to permit such
atrocities to stoke the fires of vengeance.
But vengeance is not justice,” UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid
Ra’ad al-Hussien said in a statement.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi,
facing pressure following the Baghdad
suicide bombing last month claimed by
IS, ordered an investigation into delays
in executing prisoners found guilty of
terrorism-related charges.
“Given the weaknesses of the
Iraqi justice system, and the current
environment in Iraq, I am gravely
concerned that innocent people have
been and may continue to be convicted
and executed, resulting in gross,
irreversible miscarriages of justice,”
Zeid said.
The statement said UN monitoring
has revealed “a consistent
failure to respect due
process and fair trial
standards, including a
reliance on torture to
extract confessions.”
— Reuters
Iraqi Prime
Minister Haider
al-Abadi
americas
Icymi
14
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14 Zika cases:
Florida asks for
emergency aid
MIAMI: Florida now has 14 people
who likely contracted the Zika virus
from mosquitoes in the Miami area,
and the state needs emergency help
from the federal government, officials
said on Monday.
Governor Rick Scott announced
10 new cases of locally transmitted
Zika, in addition to four made public
by the department of health on Friday.
The cases mark the first time the
Zika virus, which can cause birth
defects and is considered particularly
dangerous for pregnant women,
is known to be spreading via local
mosquitoes in the United States.
Over 1,600 cases of Zika have been
previously reported in the US, but
most were brought by travellers who
were infected elsewhere. The virus can
also spread by sexual contact.
The US Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) are expected
to issue “a notice to women who are
pregnant or thinking of becoming
pregnant to avoid unnecessary travel
to the impacted area that is just north
of downtown Miami,” Scott added in a
statement.
Officials still believe the
transmission is confined to a squaremile area north of Miami, a popular
arts and restaurant district known as
Wynwood. — AFP
VIOLENT CRIME
Man pleads guilty
to plotting to
attack US Capitol
CINCINNATI: An Ohio man on
Monday pleaded guilty to plotting to
attack the US Capitol with guns and
bombs and faces up to 30 years in
prison.
Christopher Cornell, 22, dressed
in black-and-white striped jail
clothes and shackled, pleaded guilty
in US District Court in Cincinnati
to attempted murder of government
officials, possession of a firearm to
commit a crime and attempting to
provide material support to the IS
militant group.
A fourth charge of solicitation
to commit a violent crime will be
dismissed at his sentencing on October
31, said one of his attorneys, Eric
Eckes. Cornell, who mainly answered
the judge’s questions with “yes ma’am”
and “no ma’am” responses, faces
five years to 30 years in prison and a
lifetime of supervision.
Another Cornell attorney, Martin
Pinales, said after the hearing that the
guilty plea was in the best interest of
his client. “At the sentencing hearing,
all the facts will come out, and those
will be instrumental in the sentencing,”
he said.
Cornell, of Green Township,
Ohio, near Cincinnati was arrested in
January 2015 and accused of plotting
an attack using pipe bombs and bullets.
He pleaded not guilty. — Reuters
Trump feud with slain soldier’s
parents roils White House race
NEW FEUD: The problem has become a flash point of the White House race that pits Trump against Hillary
WASHINGTON: Donald Trump’s
confrontation with the parents of a slain
Muslim American soldier escalated on
Monday, shaking the US presidential
campaign amid Republican Party
outcries over the real estate tycoon’s
comments about the couple.
The feud has become a flash point
of the 2016 White House race that
pits Trump against Democrat Hillary
Clinton.
It has dominated the news cycle ever
since Pakistani immigrant Khizr Khan
galvanised the Democratic National
Convention last Thursday with a tribute
to his dead son in which he rebuked
the Republican nominee for having
“sacrificed nothing” for the country.
Trump defended himself on ABC’s
“This Week,” insisting he had made “a
lot of sacrifices” while suggesting that
Khan’s wife, who stood silent on the
convention stage as her husband spoke,
had not been allowed to talk.
Then on Monday, Trump renewed
his assault, tweeting: “Mr. Khan, who
does not know me, viciously attacked me
from the stage of the DNC and is now all
over TV doing the same — Nice!”
Now, the families of 23 other slain
US soldiers have called on Trump
to apologise for his “repugnant and
personally offensive” remarks.
“We feel we must speak out and
demand you apologise to the Khans,
to all Gold Star families, and to all
Americans for your offensive, and
frankly anti-American, comments,” they
said in an open letter.
Army captain Humayun Khan was
killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq in
2004.
Khizr Khan, father of Humayun S M Khan who was killed while serving in Iraq with the US Army, gestures as his wife looks on
during the fourth and final day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
— AFP File Picture
Trump’s sustained hostility toward
the Khans — alarming in part because
criticism of Gold Star families of war
dead has traditionally been off limits
in American political discourse — has
received bipartisan condemnation
including from Senator John McCain, a
former prisoner of war once mocked by
Trump for being captured in Vietnam.
“I cannot emphasise enough how
deeply I disagree with Mr Trump’s
statement,” McCain said in a lengthy
statement. “While our party has
bestowed upon him the nomination, it
is not accompanied by unfettered license
to defame those who are the best among
us,” he added.
“I hope Americans understand that
BOOSTING TIES
Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet and Slovakia’s President Andrej Kiska walk past the honour guard inside the government
palace La Moneda in Santiago. — Reuters
the remarks do not represent the views
of our Republican Party, its officers, or
candidates.”
Unequivocal condemnation also
rained down from Republican House
Armed Services Committee Chairman
Mac Thornberry, who said he is
“dismayed at the attacks” on the Khans.
The top two Republicans in Congress
released carefully crafted statements
denouncing the remarks, although
without mentioning the name of Trump,
who has urged a ban on Muslims
entering the country.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell said on Sunday in the thick
of the feud that “Captain Khan was an
American hero.”
“And as I have long made clear, I
agree with the Khans and families across
the country that a travel ban on all
members of a religion is simply contrary
to American values.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan also said
he rejects such a religious test.
Speaking of Captain Khan, Ryan
said “his sacrifice — and that of Khizr
and Ghazala Khan — should always be
honoured. Period.”
With the two sides slinging
criticism, Khan on Sunday assailed
Trump as a “black soul” who lacks the
moral compass or temperament to be
president. — AFP
Venezuela authorities to
rule on referendum call
CARACAS: Venezuelan electoral
authorities are due to announce
on Monday whether they will let
the opposition pursue its bid for a
referendum on removing the crisis-hit
country’s President Nicolas Maduro
from power.
The National Electoral Council
(CNE) left the opposition hanging last
Tuesday after its original deadline for a
ruling on the matter passed.
The council must rule on whether
Maduro’s opponents have successfully
gathered the required 200,000
signatures on a petition for the leftist
leader to face a recall vote.
The opposition needs a green light
from the CNE to move on to the next
stage of the long and winding process.
They want to oust a president
they blame for food shortages,
hyperinflation and mounting chaos
gripping Venezuela.
Instead of giving them an answer on
Tuesday, the electoral authorities testily
said they “will not accept pressure.”
They scheduled a meeting for
Monday to consider their auditors’
report on the opposition’s petition.
The CNE said it would make an
announcement around 2000 GMT.
The centre-right coalition behind
the referendum push, the Democratic
Unity Roundtable (MUD), accuses the
electoral authority of being in bed with
Maduro.
But they are hoping pressure
from Venezuelans desperate over the
collapsing economy will force the
government’s hand.
“There are two options at this point:
common sense and sanity, or the crisis
drags on and the country is going to
explode at any moment,” said MUD
lawmaker Julio Borges, the legislative
majority leader. — AFP
The hot air balloon company is not in touch with the relatives of those killed in the crash as it is being probed by US investigators
Texas hot air balloon firm halts operations after deadly crash
AUSTIN: The company whose hot air
balloon crashed in central Texas on
Saturday, killing 16 people including
its owner, said on Monday it was
suspending operations following one
of the deadliest balloon accidents on
record.
The balloon, flown by Heart of
Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides chief pilot
and owner Alfred “Skip” Nichols, hit a
power line, setting its basket on fire, and
plummeted into a pasture near Lockhart,
about 30 miles south of the state capital
Austin, killing all aboard.
In a statement on its Facebook page,
the company expressed its condolences
to those killed in the crash.
There are simply no
“There are simply no words to
words to express our
express our profound sadness at this
event that has taken away so many of our
profound sadness at
loved ones,” it said in a Facebook post.
this event that has taken
The company said it has not been in
contact with the relatives of those killed away so many of our loved
in the crash as it is being probed by US ones.”
investigators.
The names of the passengers killed
FACEBOOK PAGE OF HEART
have not been officially released but
OF TEXAS AIR BALLOON RIDES
social media posts and local media
reports indicate the victims included a
couple celebrating their 23rd wedding
Aerial television footage showed
anniversary with a balloon ride at flattened remnants of the red, white
sunrise.
and blue balloon, adorned with a yellow
smiley face wearing sunglasses.
The US National Transportation
years
ago
Safety
Board
two
recommended greater oversight of the
hot air balloon industry, said Robert
Sumwalt, who is heading the federal
agency’s investigation of the accident.
It was the deadliest crash involving
a hot air balloon in the Western
Hemisphere, according to the Balloon
Federation of North America. There
have been six complaints lodged with
the Better Business Bureau of Texas
against the company, with one customer
saying it delayed in paying refunds after
repeatedly cancelling rides. — Reuters
eu ope
eur
europe
Pro-refugee activists in Greece freed
Romanian ex-PM loses doctorate over plagiarism
Former Romanian prime minister Victor Ponta had his law doctorate
withdrawn on Monday after being accused of plagiarising his thesis, the first
such case in the country, the education ministry announced.
FOR A CAUSE: 19 activists given suspended 6-month prison term for refusing fingerprinting
THESSALONIKI: A Greek court on
Monday released 26 anarchists who
had disrupted a Sunday Orthodox
church service to protest against refugee
evictions, a judicial source said. The
activists had ran into the Thessaloniki
cathedral on Sunday, scattering leaflets
that read “Solidarity with the refugees”,
before they were taken into custody by
anti-riot forces.
Among those arrested were nine
foreigners from Austria, Britain,
Germany, Morocco, Spain and
Switzerland.
The Thessaloniki court threw out
charges of “disturbing a religious
gathering”.
However, 19 of the activists were
handed suspended six-month prison
sentences for refusing to be fingerprinted
by police. The ruling is suspended over a
three-year period.
The protest came after city
authorities last week forced refugees
out of three buildings where they had
been squatting, including an orphanage
belonging to the diocese.
An incendiary device was also set off
earlier on Sunday outside the company
that demolished the orphanage. Nobody
was hurt.
A number of abandoned buildings
in Athens and Thessaloniki in recent
months have been taken over by
anarchists and groups helping migrants
and refugees to find shelter.
Disruptions loom
as Air France strike
hits 150 flights
PARIS: Air France cancelled 150
flights in and out of Paris on Monday
on the sixth day of a strike by flight
crew, airport sources said, as unions
warned of more disruption at the
height of the holiday travel period.
The carrier said it would cancel
some 10 per cent of domestic flights on
Monday, but would maintain almost
all long-haul services and 85 per cent
of its medium-haul flights from the
main Charles de Gaulle hub.
Two cabin crew unions are
demanding management extend
a labour accord on rules, pay and
promotions.
Christophe Pillet for the SNPNCFO cabin crew union said a further
stoppage could come as early as
next week, estimating up to 280,000
passengers would be affected by the
past week’s stoppage, costing the
carrier some 100 million euros. “We
shall meet by the end of the week to
decide on what course to take,” said
Pillet as the company said it will
operate 90 per cent flights on Tuesday.
“Management made the choice
to break off social dialogue — we
never closed the door on negotiation,”
added Pillet of a dispute which saw
management limit the extension of a
labour accord expiring in October to
17 months rather than three to five
years as the unions wish. — AFP
Activists gather outside the courthouse of Thessaloniki on Monday. A Greek court released 26 anarchists who had disrupted a
Sunday Orthodox church service to protest against refugee evictions, a judicial source said. The activists had ran into the
Thessaloniki cathedral on Sunday, scattering leaflets that read “Solidarity with the refugees”, before they were taken into
custody by anti-riot forces. — AFP
Official estimates say more than
2,000 refugees are currently living in
such squats, mostly former schools.
While
the
left-wing
Greek
government has been quietly tolerant
of the squatters, local authorities have
taken a harsher stance, warning of
health and safety hazards.
Ever since Balkan nations on the
migrant trail closed their borders earlier
this year, the Greek government has
been struggling to cope with a buildup of new arrivals prevented from
continuing their journey further north
into Europe.
Greece is currently hosting some
57,000 people, mainly Syrian refugees.
Public health watchdog has warned
that many of the camps in the country
— often created out of abandoned
industrial facilities and warehouses —
are overcrowded and ill-suited as longterm accommodation.
— AFP
Attacks a blow to tourism in France
PARIS: Recent terror attacks have
dealt a new blow to France tourism
which has yet to recover fully from the
bloody assaults in Paris in January and
November last year.
Arrivals by air slumped 8.8 per cent
compared with the same period in 2015,
in the week following the July 14 attack
in Nice, the country’s second most
visited city after Paris, Xinhua news
agency cited a statistical agent as saying.
Meanwhile, hotel reservations in
the French Riviera, the Mediterranean
coastal region where Nice is located,
have dropped as much as 30 per cent in
the weeks after the Bastille Day attack
that killed 84 persons, according to the attacks in Paris on November 13 last
country’s economy ministry.
year that left 130 people dead and over
The tourism sector has been 250 injured.
struggling for months since the deadly
The carnage on Nice’s famed
seaside boulevard has hit the business
particularly hard because the summer
season — “the golden period” — was
just getting into full swing but the attack
wiped out all the positive effects.
Cancellations jumped by 20 per cent
and were expected to rise further after
July 26 Church attack in Normandy.
A spate of terrorist attacks across
Europe has already shaken people’s
confidence in the safety and stability of
the region.
In the first half of 2016, 19 countries
that use the euro have seen the worst
economic performance since the 2008
financial crisis.
Tourism, which accounts for 10 per
cent of economic activity in the EU, has
been considered as a glaring hope for
the overall recovery. — IANS
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
T U E S DAY l A U G U S T 2 l 2 0 1 6
15
Spanish court suspends
independence
resolution in Catalonia
MADRID: Spain’s Constitutional
Court on Monday annulled a
resolution by Catalonia’s assembly
to press ahead with independence,
deepening a stand-off between
separatists in the northeastern region
and the central government.
The court had already ruled
against a similar motion passed by
the Catalan parliament last year,
but regional lawmakers passed a
second one last week, saying it would
pursue its plan to detach from Spain.
The court said it had suspended
the resolution for five months,
after which point it could be made
permanent or lifted.
The heightened tensions between
the caretaker government of Prime
Minister Mariano Rajoy and Catalan
leaders come at a delicate time
for Madrid where politics remain
in limbo after two inconclusive
general elections failed to produce a
majority. Conservative leader Rajoy
might need the support of regional
parties, including pro-independence
ones in Catalonia, to let him form
a government, by abstaining in
confidence votes. Spain has had only
a caretaker administration since
December.
Increasing the friction, the
central government is also trying to
see if it can bring criminal charges
against the speaker of the Catalan
parliament, Carme Forcadell, for
allowing the assembly to hold last
week’s independence vote.
Support for the separatist
movement in Catalonia, a region that
accounts for almost a fifth of Spanish
economic output, surged during the
economic crisis of recent years and
has strengthened again in the last few
months, polls show. — Reuters
Anthrax outbreak in Russia, boy dies
MOSCOW: A 12-year-old boy has died in an anthrax outbreak in remote far northern
Russia while dozens have been hospitalised on suspicion of infection, the region’s
governor said on Monday. The Yamalo-Nenetsky region, some 2,000 kms northeast of
Moscow, has been under quarantine for a week after the deadly bacterium infected at
least nine nomadic reindeer herders and their animals.
“I’ve been told of the death of a boy in our hospital. I have no words to express my
feelings,” governor Dmitry Kobylkin said. It was the first outbreak of anthrax since 1941
in the sparsely populated region, which authorities blamed on a heatwave that melted
permafrost and exposed an infected reindeer corpse.
“The infection showed its cunning. Returning after 75 years, it took away a child’s
life,” said Kobylkin.
A total of 72 people, 41 of them children, have been hospitalised on suspicion of
infection in the main city of Salekhard.
So far nine have tested positive for anthrax, including the boy who died, the
regional authorities said on Monday. More than 2,300 reindeer have been killed
in the outbreak in the region where more than 250,000 of the animals roam, the
authorities said. The authorities said they were carrying out vaccinations of people and
reindeer and giving those who visited the quarantine area antibacterial medicines.
The infection was identified on June 25 after numerous deaths among reindeer, the
sanitary medicine service for the region said on Monday.
Romania’s ex-Queen dies at 92
BUCHAREST: Former Queen Anne of Romania died on Monday in a Swiss hospital
at the age of 92, the royal house said in a statement. Anne and her husband, former
king Michael of Romania have been living in Aubonne, Switzerland since 2004, visiting
Romania during the holidays and for official functions. They had been married for 68
years. Earlier this year, the royal house said Michael, who is 94, has withdrawn from
public life due to illness after undergoing surgery for leukemia and cancer. — Reuters
UK continues to seek close ties with China despite N-deal delay
LONDON: Britain will continue to
seek a strong relationship with China,
a spokeswoman for Prime Minister
Theresa May said on Monday following
the decision last week to delay approval
of a partly Chinese-funded nuclear
reactor project.
The last-minute decision to review
the building of Britain’s first new nuclear
plant in decades, has raised concerns
that May could alter the trajectory set by
her predecessor avid Cameron towards
closer ties with China, particularly on
the issue of Chinese investment in UK
infrastructure. But May’s spokeswoman
said it was natural for the incoming
government to want to look at the plans
in detail, adding that Britain still valued
its ties with China.
“With the role that China has to play
on world affairs, on the global economy,
on a whole range of international issues,
we are going to continue to seek a strong
relationship with China,” she said.
Under plans drawn up by Cameron,
French utility EDF and Chinese partner
China General Nuclear would be
responsible for the £18-billion ($24
billion) cost of the project, while Britain
has committed to pay a minimum price
for the power generated by the plant for
35 years.
Chinese
Foreign
Ministry
spokeswoman Hua Chunying said they
had “noted” the British decision and
called for the project to go ahead.
China “hopes that Britain can reach
a decision as soon as possible, to ensure
the project’s smooth implementation”,
she added, without elaborating.
A former colleague of May said on
Saturday she had previously expressed
concern about the national security
implications of the planned Chinese
investment.
Asked whether national security
would play a part in the review of the
Hinkley Point nuclear project, the
spokeswoman declined to comment on
the review process, other than to say that
it would look at all component parts of
the deal. China’s official Xinhua news
agency published an English-language
commentary saying China would not
tolerate “unwanted accusations” about
its investments in Britain. Xinhua said
people might think Britain was trying to
erect a wall of protectionism.
This “will surely stain its credibility
as an open economy and might deter
possible investors from China and other
parts of the world in the future”, read the
commentary, which is not a government
statement but offers a reflection of
official thinking. — Reuters
Bankers still face the same pressure to make profits no matter what, says the former star staffer of UBS
Jailed rogue trader in UK warns fraud could happen again
LONDON: Kweku Adoboli, the rogue
trader jailed in 2012 for the biggest fraud
in British history, has said his crimes
could be repeated because bankers still
faced the same pressure to make profits
“no matter what”. A star trader on the
Exchange Traded Funds desk at UBS’s
London office, Adoboli lost the Swiss
bank $2.3 billion after trading far in
excess of his authorised risk limits and
booking fictitious hedging trades to hide
his true exposure.
He was given a seven-year jail term in
November 2012 and was released from
prison last year. He has been banned
from working in financial services but
speaks about his experiences for free
at banking compliance conferences. “I
think it could absolutely happen again,”
he said in interviews with the BBC
broadcast on Monday.
“The young people I’ve spoken to,
former colleagues I have spoken to, are
still struggling with the same issues, the
same conflicts, the same pressures to
achieve no matter what.”
During his trial, Adoboli said
everything he did was to make profits
for UBS and was in line with the bank’s
culture, but prosecutors said he told
elaborate lies to cover up his reckless
and fraudulent trading. After 11 weeks
of evidence, a jury convicted him of two
counts of fraud.
UBS was fined £30 million ($40
million) for systems and control failures
and the trial was embarrassing for the
bank, but the jury rejected Adoboli’s
argument that he had been tacitly
authorised to break the rules to make
However, he argued that the banking
industry had failed to learn from when
things went wrong because it had a
tendency to try and blame individuals
rather than face up to profound cultural
problems and hold senior managers
accountable. “Culture is being set at very
senior levels of the industry and those
responsible for setting that culture are
as responsible for what the outcomes
are as those who push the buttons at the
coalface,” he said.
Adoboli, who does not have British
citizenship, is fighting deportation to his
native Ghana and is not allowed to work
in Britain.
Kweku Adoboli
Supporters have launched a crowdprofits. “I accept I was found guilty of a funding appeal on the FundRazr website
crime that had dishonesty central to it,” to help him fund his legal battle to stay
said Adoboli, now 36.
in Britain. They have raised £14,446 so
far.
“I’m trying to achieve something
positive from the experience that I’ve
been through but I face deportation
from the UK in a way that would mean
that I’m not able to continue doing
this work of sharing the story,” he said.
“I unreservedly apologise for what
happened... I went to prison for it,”
Adoboli said.
The son of a United Nations official,
Adoboli spent part of his childhood
in the Middle East before arriving in
Britain aged 12 and attending a private
Quaker boarding school where he did so
well he was chosen to be “head boy”.
Confident, articulate and hardworking, he initially thrived at UBS
and was selected for the bank’s “Ascent”
programme for future leaders.
But from 2008 onwards, he
started using illicit trading methods,
culminating in a concealed risk exposure
of $12 billion in August 2011. His desk’s
authorised risk limit was $100 million
during a day’s trading.
He argued at the trial that he had
become de-sensitised to the enormity of
the numbers due to burnout.
After losing control of the situation,
he threw in the towel in September 2011,
owning up in an email to the bank that he
had hidden short positions in Eurostoxx
and DAX index futures that turned out
to be worth a staggering $8.75 billion.
After UBS frantically unwound the
positions, the scandal had cost it $2.3
billion and a drop in its share price of
more than 10 per cent on the day of
Adoboli’s arrest. — Reuters
world
o dinpictures
p ctu es
panorama
16
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
T U E S DAY l A U G U ST 2 l 2 0 1 6
NEW IDENTITY: Thailand Election Commission’s mascot holds a poster beside an
elephant during a campaign ahead of the August 7 referendum in Ayutthaya
province, north of Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday. — Reuters
WELCOME TO OUR FESTIVAL: A file picture of a Tibetan Buddhist monk with an elaborate headdress poses for a photo at a local festival in Yushu, in the northwestern Chinese
province of Qinghai. The festival held since the 1990s lasts for around five days. It was suspended for several years following a 2010 earthquake in Yushu which killed
some 2,700 people. — AFP
HOW TO STAY COOL: Lemurs eat watermelon to cool off as the city’s temperatures remained
above 38 degrees Celsius for 10 days in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.
— Reuters
ALL DRESSED TO PLEASE: Indian artiste Korakula Munesh dresses as Maha Kali before
performing in a final procession during the Bonalu festival at the Sri Akkanna
Madanna Mahankali Temple in Hyderabad on Monday. The eleven-day ‘Bonalu’
festival sees ritual offerings of food and dancing made to Maha Kali, who is
honoured mainly by women during the event. — AFP
GRACEFUL PADDLE: A swan, backdropped by reeds, swims on one of the lakes
inside Vacaresti wetlands, in Bucharest, Romania. — Reuters
LINE AND LENGTH: Volunteers walk between Coca Cola branded tables near the main press centre and broadcast centre at Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Monday.
— Reuters
BACK MASK: Actors and singers perform during the opera “La Traviata” by Giuseppe Verdi, directed by Louis Desire and
conducted by Daniele Rustioni, on Sunday in Orange, southern France, during the Choregies d’Orange festival, dedicated to
opera, lyrical art and symphonic concert. — AFP
FEEDER OF MANY: An Afghan farmer harvests fresh wheat grains in a field on the outskirts of Herat. — AFP
TUESDAY | AUGUST 2, 2016 | SHAWWAL 28, 1437 AH
business
CRUDE OIL PRICE
Oman Crude ---------------$ 40.56
Brent Crude -----------------$ 42.77
Light Crude -----------------$ 40.88
CURRENCY RATES (RO 1)
GOLD PRICES
US Dollar------------------------------------------------ 2.60
Euro --------------------------------------------------------2.32
British Pounds ----------------------------------------1.96
Indian Rupee ------------------------------------- 173.47
Pakistan Rupee ---------------------------------- 272.47
Philippine Peso --------------------------------- 122.21
Oman 24 Kt per gram --------------------------RO 17.20
Oman 22 Kt per gram --------------------------RO 16.50
UAE 24 Kt per gram -------------------------AED 163.50
UAE 22 Kt per gram -------------------------AED 153.75
SOURCE: MALABAR GOLD AND DIAMONDS
BIZ BUZZ
Nanoco signs deal
with Merck
LONDON: British quantum dots maker
Nanoco Group Plc said it had entered
into a non-exclusive licence deal with
Merck for the German drugmaker to
use its technology in digital displays,
sending its shares up as much as 10 per
cent. Nanoco has been hunting for a new
licensing deal for the past few months
since it switched from exclusive to nonexclusive its deal with Dow Chemical Co
for commercial production of quantum
dots to be used in digital displays.
Under the licence, Merck would be
able to immediately start marketing
Nanoco’s cadmium-free quantum
dots and ultimately establish its own
production facility, Nanoco said in a
statement on Monday. — Reuters
UK grocer Morrison
slashes prices
www.omanobserver.om
editor@omanobserver.om
GULF STOCK MARKET
Muscat ------------------------------------------------- 5,680.70
Abu Dhabi-------------------------------------------- 4,580.15
Dubai --------------------------------------------------- 3,515.22
Qatar -------------------------------------------------- 10,603.96
Kuwait ------------------------------------------------- 5,540.98
Bahrain ------------------------------------------------ 1,115.62
Saudi --------------------------------------------------- 6,345.73
Ambitious plan to kick-start car industry in Oman
EMBRYONIC INDUSTRY: Sigit Oman Automotive Group, in which OIF has a large stake, plans portfolio of investment
CONRAD PRABHU
MUSCAT
Aug 1: Helping lay the foundations for
an automotive sector in the Sultanate,
Sigit Oman Automotive Group (SOAG),
a multinational auto component
manufacturer in which the sovereign
wealth fund Oman Investment Fund
(OIF) has a large stake, has unveiled
plans for a sizable portfolio of local
and international investments designed
to position Oman at the centre of an
international supply chain serving the
global auto industry.
Sigit Oman Automotive Group,
which was launched a year ago to drive
the development of automotive-based
economic activities in the Sultanate,
owns Italian-based international auto
parts manufacturer Sigit, which operates
a string of plants in Europe and North
Africa. The company has also partnered
with a number of renowned technology
providers to offer parts for the worldwide
household appliances manufacturing
industry.
According to SOAG’s Chairman,
the Group’s Board of Directors met in
Picture for illustration only
Muscat recently to approve a strategic
five-year plan that effectively paves
the way for the emergence of a future
automotive industry in Oman.
“The Vision 2020 endorsed by the
Board enshrines a strategy that seeks to
underpin the development of an auto
sector in Oman over the long-term,”
said Pierangelo Decisi, whose family
founded Sigit in 1966.
“It has approved a plan for the
establishment of two projects in Oman:
one is a plastic moulding plant that will
manufacture auto parts, and the other is
a household appliances facility that will
be set up in partnership with a globally
renowned brand. Both ventures are
strategic to the vision of a future auto
industry in Oman,” the Chairman
added in exclusive comments to the
Observer.
Additionally, SOAG’s Board has
green-lighted proposals for setting up
an array of new Sigit-branded auto parts
factories, notably in Britain, Romania
and Tunisia, as well as a second facility
in Morocco. These investments are
set to dramatically ramp up SOAG’s
international footprint, which now
includes plants in Italy, Poland, Serbia,
Spain, Russia and Morocco.
SOAG’s Vision 2020 investment
plan supplements parent company
Oman Investment Fund’s (OIF) broader
strategy to jumpstart the development
of an auto industry in the Sultanate —
part of a concerted drive to diversify the
nation’s predominantly hydrocarbonbased economy.
OIF is currently partnering with
Iran’s Khodro Industrial Group in
setting up a car assembly line at Duqm
Special Economic Zone (SEZ). More
recently, the wealth fund announced a
partnership with Qatari-owned Karwa
Automobiles for the establishment of an
auto assembly plant at Duqm with an
investment of $160 million.
According to Dr Fabio Scacciavillani,
OIF’s Chief Economist, SOAG’s growth
strategy is at the heart of a “holistic and
long-term approach” adopted by OIF in
germinating the growth of a future auto
sector.
“Sigit has built strong and enduring
relationships with reputable car
makers and multinational appliance
manufacturers going back several
decades. Brands such as Renault, VW,
Fiat, Electrolux, and so on, cannot do
without supplies from reliable parts
makers like Sigit. OIF’s goal is to leverage
Sigit’s brand equity to put the Sultanate
on the global map as it prepares to lay the
foundations for a future auto industry in
Oman,” Dr Scacciavillani explained.
Also pivotal to this strategic goal
is Pierangelo Decisi’s international
pedigree as an auto industry veteran.
Aside from his role as Chairman of Sigit
Oman Automotive Group, Decisi is also
vice president of the Italian Association
of the Automotive Industry (ANFIA),
an influential trade association that sets
industry benchmarks and ensures that
factories meet quality specs.
All of these elements bode well for
the success of an automotive sector
taking root in the Sultanate, an industry
that is also expected to prosper on the
back of free trade pacts concluded by
Oman with the Greater Arab region,
United States, and the Gulf Cooperation
Council.
SolarCity to be acquired
by
Tesla
for
$2.6
billion
Didi to buy Uber China ending
New company would be worth around $35 billion
LONDON: Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc
is cutting the prices of 1,045 items by an
average of 18 per cent in a bid to squelch
fears that the UK’s vote to leave the
European Union will lift shoppers’ bills.
The reductions are the latest round
in a price war among Morrison and the
other major UK supermarket chains —
Tesco Plc, J Sainsbury Plc and Wal-Mart
Stores Inc’s Asda — which are fighting
competition from discounters Lidl and
Aldi. It’s at least the third major round
of cuts this year by Morrison. Since the
Brexit vote, which prompted a plunge
in the pound, consumer confidence has
fallen on concerns that retailers would
raise prices in response. — AFP
costly battle between start-ups
London issues first
offshore rupee bond
LONDON: India’s HDFC bank on
Monday issued the first ever offshore
rupee-denominated bond in
London, a landmark celebrated by
officials keen to highlight Britain’s
international business prowess
despite Brexit.
The HDFC, India’s largest provider
of housing finance, raised Rs 30
billion ($450 million) by issuing socalled “masala” bonds.
The 3-year bond, which carries
an 8.33 per cent yield (interest rate),
was four-times oversubscribed. “It
(the bond) represents a major vote of
confidence in London as the leading
global financial centre and is further
proof that Britain is a great place to
do business,” said new British Finance
Minister Philip Hammond. — AFP
SAN FRANCISCO: Didi Chuxing, the
dominant ride-hailing service in China,
said it will acquire Uber Technologies
Inc.’s operations in the country, ending
a battle that cost the two companies
billions as they competed for customers
and drivers.
Didi will buy Uber’s brand, business
and data in the country, the Chinese
company said in a statement. Uber
Technologies and Uber China’s other
shareholders, including search giant
Baidu Inc, will receive a 20 per cent
economic stake in the combined
company. Didi founder Cheng Wei and
Uber Chief Executive Officer Travis
Kalanick will join each other’s boards.
The truce brings to an end a bruising
battle between the two companies for
leadership in China’s fast-growing ridehailing market. Uber has been spending
at least $1 billion a year to gain ground
in China, while Didi offered its own
subsidies to drivers and riders to build
its business.
“Didi Chuxing and Uber have
learned a great deal from each other
over the past two years,” said Cheng,
who is also CEO, in the statement. “This
agreement with Uber will set the mobile
transportation industry on a healthier,
more sustainable path of growth at a
higher level.”
Didi’s valuation after the deal will be
$35 billion, said people familiar with the
matter, asking not to be named because
the details aren’t public.
Last year, China’s ride-hailing leaders
Didi and Kuaidi joined forces, creating a
homegrown juggernaut to fight off Uber.
The merged company Didi Chuxing
brought together backers Alibaba Group
Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd,
the country’s most valuable Internet
businesses.
Apple Inc joined in this year with a
$1 billion investment in Didi, in a round
that valued the company at about $28
billion. The Chinese government passed
a new rule last week that legalized ridehailing services, paving the way for
further expansion of these businesses.
Uber’s investors had been clamouring
for the company to sell off its China
assets and focus on more promising
opportunities. Uber has lost more than
$2 billion in the country, people familiar
with the matter said. Meanwhile, Uber
was profitable in developed markets in
the first half of 2015, the people said.
“As an entrepreneur, I’ve learned
that being successful is about listening
to your head as well as following
your heart,” Kalanick wrote in a blog
post obtained by Bloomberg before
publication. “I have no doubt that
Uber China and Didi Chuxing will be
stronger together.”
The deal is subject to government
approval. While the combination of
the top two players in a market would
often raise regulatory scrutiny, officials
will have to determine the range of
competition. — Bloomberg
NEW YORK: SolarCity Corp board
members approved a $2.6 billion
buyout from Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors
Inc in the solar industry’s biggest deal
to date.
Tesla agreed to pay $25.37 a share
in stock for the largest US rooftop solar
company, according to a statement
Monday. Analysts have said the price is
too low and investors have questioned
the wisdom of Musk combining his
electric-car maker with the cleanenergy company. The agreement allows
SolarCity to solicit competing takeover
offers through September 14, the
companies said.
The vote will now go to Tesla and
SolarCity shareholders. That excludes
Musk, who as chairman and the largest
investor in both companies recused
himself when he announced the offer
June 21. Other SolarCity directors
have excluded themselves from voting:
Musk’s cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive,
the co-founders of SolarCity, as well as
JB Straubel and Antonio Gracias, who
also have ties to both companies.
Musk initially offered SolarCity
investors $26.50 to $28.50 a share
in Tesla stock, saying the combined
company would become a cleanenergy giant providing electric vehicles
powered by solar rooftops and battery
storage systems.
SolarCity board members Nancy
Pfund and Donald Kendall Jr were
chosen to consider Tesla’s bid. All the
other directors have connections to
Tesla. Evercore advised Tesla, and
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz was its
legal adviser. The financial adviser to the
special committee of SolarCity’s board
was Lazard Ltd and its legal adviser was
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
The French oil giant Total SA paid
$1.6 billion for a 60 per cent stake in
SunPower Corp in 2011.
Kendall doesn’t have a connection to
Tesla. Pfund, a managing partner at the
venture capital company DBL Investors,
was an early backer of both Tesla and
SolarCity and served as an observer
on Tesla’s board before its initial public
offering. — Bloomberg
insideoman
business
b
i
18
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
T U E S DAY l A U G U ST 2 l 2 0 1 6
Advent buys 50pc stake in InVentiv
Advent International will buy a 50 per cent stake in US pharma research firm inVentiv
Health Inc. that will value the pharmaceutical services firm at $3.8 billion, and make it a
co-owner of the business with Thomas H. Lee Partners LP. The two private equity firms
said in a statement that they’ll be equal equity owners in inVentiv.
BankDhofar posts 15.64pc net profit growth in H1
MUSCAT: BankDhofar continues its
significant growth in all areas during
the first half of 2016, with the total
assets improving to RO 3.80 billion
($ 9.9 billion) at the end of June 2016
as compared to RO 3.39 billion ($8.8
billion) at the end of June 2015 recording
a growth of 12.1 per cent year on year.
The bank with its proven fundamentals
on quality, prudent lending showed
good growth of 13.60 per cent to reach
RO 2.84 billion in net Customer Loans,
Advances and Financing as at June 30,
2016 increased from RO 2.50 billion
as at June 30, 2015. To supplement this
loan growth, the Customer Deposits
mobilised, grew by 4.56 per cent to
reach RO 2.75 billion at June 30, 2016
compared to RO 2.63 billion at June 30,
2015.
The total operating income including
the non-funded income such as fees and
commissions, foreign exchange profit,
investment etc. grew by 22.57 per cent to
reach RO 67.29 million for the half year
ended June 2016 compared to RO 54.90
million first half last year.
Operating Cost to Operating Income
ratio for first half of 2016 improved
to 40.91 per cent from 45.21 per cent
first half of 2015. This reiterates that
our revenues are growing faster than
Net provisions for loan impairment
cost and the continued efforts for cost increased 135.77 per cent to RO 8.37
optimisation.
million year-to-date June 2016 compared
to RO 3.55 million year-to-date June
2015. Impairment of available for sale
investments was RO 0.70 million as
against RO 0.93 million during last
year same period from domestic equity
market movements.
The Net Profits of the Bank for the
first half of 2016 reached RO 26.17
million as compared to RO 22.63 million
achieved in first half of 2015 showing a
strong year-on-year growth of 15.64 per
cent.
The earnings per share (EPS) for first
half 2016 are RO 0.013 as compared to
RO 0.013 achieved first half 2015.
Bank’s Islamic Banking window,
Maisarah Islamic Banking Services
sȩ2/ȩMȩNETȩPROlTȩFORȩTHEȩlRSTȩHALFȩOFȩ
sȩ-AISARAHȩ)SLAMICȩ"ANKINGȩ3ERVICESȩPOSTSȩ
PCȩYEARONYEARȩINCREASEȩINȩNETȩPROlT
continued the trend of showing strong
growth in assets, customer deposits and
profitability. Year-on-year, total assets
increased by 50.39 per cent to RO 358.73
million at June 2016 from RO 238.53
million at June 2015. The gross financing
portfolio has grown to RO 259.80 million
at June 30, 2016 from RO 174.24 million
at June 30, 2015, an increase of 49.10 per
cent. The strong growth in financing is
supported by 35.58 per cent year-on-year
increase in customer deposits, reaching
RO 195.63 million June 2016 compared
to RO 144.29 million at June 30, 2015.
Non-performing financing continued to
stand at Nil.
Maisarah Islamic Banking Services
reported a strong 61.39 per cent yearon-year increase in net profit before tax
of RO 2.069 million compared to a net
profit before tax of RO 1.282 million
year-to-date June 2015.
Oman Air inks codeshare pact Bank Muscat Twitter account sets
benchmark for customer service
with Saudi Arabian Airlines
BUSINESS REPORTER
MUSCAT
Aug 1: Oman Air and Saudi Arabian
Airlines have signed a codeshare
agreement covering services between
Muscat and four destinations in
Saudi Arabia. Effective from June 29,
customers were able to book flights
through either airline for services
between Muscat and Riyadh, Dammam,
Jeddah, or Medina.
Oman Air operates double-daily
flights between Muscat and Riyadh,
double-daily flights between Muscat
and Jeddah, up to two flights per day
between Muscat and Dammam and
daily flights between Muscat and
Medina. The airline deploys Boeing
737s on services to Riyadh, Dammam
and Medina, whilst B737s, Airbus
300s, and Boeing 787 Dreamliners are
deployed on services to Jeddah.
Saudi Arabian Airlines operates
regular flights throughout the week
from Riyadh, Jeddah, and Medina to
Muscat, using Airbus 320 aircraft.
Aboudy Nasser, Senior Vice President
Network and Revenue Management, at
Oman Air said:
“I am delighted to announce that
Oman Air and Saudi Arabian Airlines
have signed a codeshare agreement
which covers flights between Muscat,
the capital of the Sultanate of Oman,
and four destinations in the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia.
“This new partnership will deliver
even greater choice and convenience
for customers of both airlines. Not
only can tickets be simply booked
via travel agents, www.omanair.
com or www.saudiairlines.com, but
customers of both airline can now
access two complementary networks
of exciting international destinations.
Furthermore, Saudi Arabian Airlines
shares Oman Air’s commitment to
the highest standards of hospitality,
service and onboard product, ensuring
a consistently enjoyable passenger
experience for all. It is a pleasure to
be working alongside Saudi Arabian
Airlines and we look forward to a long
and prosperous partnership.”
Khalid A Albassam Vice President
Network & Revenue Management at
Saudi Arabian Airlines added: “We are
proud to be working in partnership with
Oman Air, as a result of this codeshare
agreement. There is a natural synergy
between the national carriers of our
respective countries and customers are
sure to appreciate the increased choice
and convenience that this codeshare
offers.
“In addition to beautiful and
fascinating domestic destinations, both
Saudi Arabian Airlines and Oman
Air offer access to very significant
international networks, which will
delight business and leisure travellers
alike.”
This new codeshare agreement
represents an important element of
Oman Air’s strategy to increase the
choice, convenience and connectivity
that the airline offers its customers.
In addition to expanding its network
to approximately 75 destinations by
2020, Oman Air has entered into a
number of codeshare partnerships,
with various reputed international
airlines. Such agreements enable Oman
Air’s customers to enjoy increased
frequencies on a number of established
routes, as well as access to a wide range
of destinations in Asia, Australasia,
Africa and Europe.
MUSCAT: The first dedicated social
media account in the banking sector in
Oman for customer service, launched by
Bank Muscat has evoked strong response
addressing customer requirements
within the fastest possible response time.
In step with its innovative customercentric strategy, the interactive customer
care Twitter account @bankmuscatcare
reflects the latest trends in banking and
facilitates real time communication with
customers.
Dedicated to responding to customer
inquiries and feedback, the unique
customer care account is managed
by the bank’s Customer Experience
Department. The team addresses
customer queries and comments every
day between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm.
The bank also utilises the social media
account to engage customers through
surveys, questionnaires and awareness
campaigns on the bank’s products,
services and activities.
Committed to top-notch customer
service, Bank Muscat accords priority
for building key relationship with
customers. Aimed at enhancing
customer experience, especially with
the tech-savvy youth, the new facility
is in response to the high demand
for customer service via social media
as many customers prefer to interact
on social media as a main channel of
communication.
Ensuring privacy, Bank Muscat
customers are not required to share any
personal information while interacting
on the customer care account and will
be only asked for specific information
such as name and customer ID through
direct messages.
Bank Muscat offers seamless
customer interaction through a variety
of channels, including website, email,
Call Centre and Internet banking.
Enquiries and feedback are channelled
through a Feedback Management
System
(FMS)
for
appropriate
action by relevant departments and
branches. The Customer Experience
department follows up on all issues
and communicates the responses to
customers.
Strengthening customer relations,
Bank Muscat regularly organises focus
group meetings with customers in all
parts of the Sultanate. A cross-section
of customers is invited to such meetings
and encouraged to speak their mind
wherein genuine customer feedback
is obtained on the bank’s products and
services.
To benchmark customer service
in Oman, Bank Muscat has engaged
a Cyprus-based consultancy firm to
do ‘mystery shopping’. As part of this
regular exercise, mystery shoppers
visit Bank Muscat branches and also
competitor banks. This helps to evaluate
the customer care standards maintained
by the bank.
The bank’s state-of-the-art Call
Centre offering integrated voice
response (IVR) facility allows customers
to avail a host of services. The Call
Centre operations reflect the bank’s
commitment to excellence in providing
innovative banking service. A keen
perception of customer requirements
enable the bank to develop innovative
products and services in line with the
current and emerging needs.
Lexus RC F shines in Nürburgring endurance race AIB employees complete
E-Learning Programme
MUSCAT: Lexus RC F is one of the
world’s most powerful luxury sports
coupe. This 2-door coupe is engineered
to offer enthusiasts some of the most
thrilling moments behind the wheel.
Recently, the Lexus RC F car number
36, driven by Takeshi Tsuchiya, Tatsuya
Kataoka, Kazuya Oshima, and Takuto
Iguchi, successfully completed this
famous endurance race held in the state
of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The
Lexus RC F was entered by GAZOO
Racing alongside the experienced
TOM’S racing team, a partnership that
was formed with the aim of learning
from the passion and know-how of the
veteran TOM’S mechanics.
Ten years of hard work nurturing
the right team is providing a new
springboard for helping to build everbetter cars. This year, GAZOO Racing
entered the Lexus RC F for the 44th 24
Hours of Nürburgring endurance race
and the car took 24th place overall and
finished first in the SP-PRO class.
Speaking on the occasion, team
representative Akio Toyoda, said, “Ten
years have passed since we drove our
first 24 Hours of Nürburgring. Since
then, our drivers, mechanics and
support staff have joined together as a
team each year with the aim of racing as
many laps as possible.”
Mr. Toyoda added, “Over the last ten
years, the efforts of GAZOO Racing have
been supported by fans from around the
world. We have succeeded thanks to
the hard work and leadership of many
people who committed themselves to
seeing things through and refused to
give up no matter what difficulties they
faced. Our efforts to create ever-better
cars and to nurture the people to achieve
this are never-ending.”
MEC felicitates Grade 12 meritorious students
SOHAR: In an initiative launched by
Dr Mohammed al Zadjali. member of
Shura Council, Sohar representative,
and sponsored by Majan Electricity
Company (Member of Nama Group),
ceremony of awarding general diploma
students in grade 12 for the academic
year 2015/2016 was held on Saturday in
Majan Hall in Sohar under the auspices
of Dr Said al Rubai, Secretary-General
of Education Council.
This initiative aims to award general
diploma students in grade 12 who got 90
per cent and above, and it is considered
the first nationwide initiative of its kind
that shed light on excellent students and
create a competitive environment in the
future among general diploma students.
About this initiative, Ibrahim al
Farsi, Senior Manager of Customer
Affairs in Majan Electricity Company
said such participations come under
Majan’s strong belief in the prominent
role played by the students in building
the society and in the renaissance and
progress of Oman.
Rashid al Bahri, Head of
Communication and Branding Section
in Majan, also gave a small speech
during the ceremony about the major
educational programmes and awareness
activities undertaken by the company
to encourage students through the
adoption of new styles and techniques
that help them in acquiring knowledge
on different issues related to electricity
services such as energy conservation,
electrical safety, environment, and
meter reading.
The ceremony witnessed an
attendance of a large number of
governmental and private bodies,
parents, social media influencers, and
journalists. Majan is also very eager
in participating in these activities and
programmes as it is considered an
integral platform to activate its social
responsibility role and to confirm its
commitment to strengthen the bonds
of communication with the local
community.
MUSCAT:
Alizz Islamic Bank
has announced that a number of
its employees have completed an
E-Learning Programme it launched
recently to enhance their skills and
knowledge related to the Islamic
banking field.
The E-Learning Programme, which
comprises several banking modules,
was organised as part of the Alizz’s
plans to invest in human capital
development and make the best use of
the latest technological developments.
The programme is also aligned to
its strategy to enhance employee
competence to ensure the delivery of
exceptional customer service.
Moosa al Jadidi, Deputy General
Manager and Head of Retail Banking
at Alizz Islamic Bank, said: “This
programme demonstrates our keen
efforts to develop the capabilities of our
employees and ensure that they possess
robust Islamic banking skills required
to ensure customer satisfaction,
transparent transaction process and
delivery of premium services.”
The E-Learning Programme is
developed to provide staff members with
an in-depth knowledge of theoretical
concepts as well as the practical skills
they need to successfully implement the
bank’s plans, which focus on delivering
unique Sharia-compliant services, he
added.
As part of its key strategy to create
future leaders, Alizz Islamic Bank
develops various Islamic banking
and business programmes targeting
employees who demonstrate a high level
of commitment to self-development.
Alizz Islamic Bank is one of the first
specialised Islamic banks in Oman.
With an aim to offer customers an
enriching banking experience designed
for today’s modern world, the bank
has focused its investments on human
capital and cross-cutting technology to
ensure the delivery of exceptional and
responsive customer service.
omaninternational
business
IndiGo looks to slow Airbus A320neo deliveries
IndiGo, the biggest customer for Airbus Group SE’s A320neo jets, is considering slowing deliveries of
the single-aisle aircraft to give supplier Pratt & Whitney more time to upgrade the model’s engines. The
Indian carrier may seek the delivery slowdown “to allow Pratt & Whitney to catch up on the production
of upgraded engines,” InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., which operates the airline, said.
China July factory
activity unexpectedly
dips on softer orders
A worker looks on at a BYD assembly line in Shenzhen, China. — Reuters
BEIJING:
Activity
in
China’s
manufacturing
sector
eased
unexpectedly in July as orders cooled
and flooding disrupted business, an
official survey showed, adding to fears
the economy will slow in coming
months unless the government steps
up a huge spending spree.
While a similar private survey
showed business picked up for the first
time in 17 months, the increase was
only slight and the much larger official
survey on Monday suggested China’s
overall industrial activity remains
sluggish at best.
Both surveys showed persistently
weak demand at home and abroad
were forcing companies to continue
to shed jobs, even as Beijing vows to
shut more industrial overcapacity that
could lead to larger layoffs.
And other readings on Monday
pointed to signs of cooling in both the
construction industry and real estate,
which were key drivers behind betterthan-expected economic growth in the
second quarter.
The official Purchasing Managers’
Index (PMI) eased to 49.9 in July from
the previous month’s 50 and below the
50-point mark that separates growth
from contraction on a monthly basis.
Analysts polled by Reuters predicted a
level of 50.
While the July reading showed only
a slight loss of momentum, Nomura’s
chief China economist Yang Zhao
said it may be a sign that the impact
of stimulus measures earlier this year
may already be wearing off.
That has created a dilemma for
Beijing as the Communist Party seeks
to deliver on official targets, even
as concerns grow about the risks of
prolonged, debt-fuelled stimulus.
“The government has realised the
downward pressure is great but they’ve
also realised that stimulus to stimulate
the economy continuously is not a
good idea and they want to continue
to focus on reform and deleveraging,”
Zhao said.
Heavy flooding, particularly along
the Yangtze River, contributed to July’s
manufacturing contraction along with
slowing demand and the cutting of
overcapacity in some industries, the
statistics bureau said. — Reuters
BoE prepares to cut rates
into uncharted territory
LONDON: The Bank of England looks
ready to cut interest rates for the first
time since 2009 on Thursday, seeking to
stop Britain’s vote to leave the European
Union from kicking the country into
recession.
It may even go a step further and
pump billions of pounds into financial
markets.
Economic surveys have pointed to
a sharp slowdown since the BoE wrong
footed markets just over two weeks
ago, when it kept rates on hold while it
considered a bigger, unspecified package
of stimulus, which policymakers said
was likely in August.
Manufacturing figures on Monday
showed the most widespread downturn
since early 2013. Earlier survey data for
the much larger services sector pointed
to the sharpest contraction since 2009.
There is a chance these reports reflect
a knee-jerk reaction to the vote, so the
question the BoE faces this week is how
aggressively to react.
BoE chief economist Andy Haldane
said he wanted to use “a sledgehammer
to crack a nut”, but another policymaker,
Kristin Forbes, said the central bank
should stay calm and not rush into
a decision until more hard data was
available.
Most economists polled by Reuters
expect the BoE to cut interest rates by at
least a quarter percentage point to 0.25
per cent, and almost half say it will restart
its quantitative easing bond purchase
programme, on hold since late 2012.
“If you’re heading towards a waterfall,
it is better to start paddling than to wait
until you’re at the edge,” said Bank
of America Merrill Lynch economist
Robert Wood, who previously worked as
a BoE forecaster.
Wood said looser monetary policy
would take months to help the economy.
He predicts the BoE will announce £50
billion of asset purchases on top of the
375 billion of government bonds bought
between 2009 and 2012.
Others say the BoE’s Monetary
Policy Committee might be concerned
more QE at a time of record-low global
bond yields could have unpredictable
consequences for banks and markets.
“Taken at face value, recent survey
data point to a significant recession.
However, there may be some element of
a knee-jerk reaction and the MPC may
wish to wait for more data before making
such a big call,” HSBC economist Simon
Wells said. Surveys carried out in the first
half of July may reflect the temporary
political disarray as David Cameron
stepped down as prime minister and
the Conservative Party hunted for a
successor. Some data, including the
BoE’s own in-house research, point to a
fairly modest reaction to the referendum.
— Reuters
MUSCAT SECURITIES MARKET
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
T U E S DAY l A U G U S T 2 l 2 0 1 6
19
international
business
Soft US data hits dollar in Asia but markets rally
20
HCL Infosystems posts Rs 350m net loss
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
HCL Infosystems said that it posted net loss of Rs 350 million for the AprilJune quarter of 2016-17. In a regulatory filing to the BSE, the company said that
the total revenue in the quarter under review was at Rs 11.48 billion, which is a
growth of 7 per cent quarter-on-quarter.
T U E S DAY l A U G U ST 2 l 2 0 1 6
New Australian Stock Exchange CEO Dominic Stevens (R) appears at a photo call with ASX Chairman Rick Holliday-Smith after
the announcement of Stevens’ appointment to the position in Sydney, Australia, on Monday. — Reuters
HONG KONG: Fading expectations of
a US interest rate rise this year hit the
dollar and boosted stocks in Asia on
Monday, although Shanghai equities
took a hammering from weak Chinese
manufacturing data.
Friday’s report showing the world’s
number one economy expanded just
1.2 per cent year-on-year in April-June
poured cold water on speculation the
Federal Reserve will raise interest rates
before year-end.
It also came hours after the Bank
of Japan disappointed investors by
deciding against ramping up its stimulus
programme.
The two events stung the greenback,
which ended on Friday just above the
102 yen mark, well down from levels
around 106 yen touched the day before.
In afternoon Asian trade, the
dollar edged up slightly against the
Japanese currency to 102.47. But it
lost ground against the South Korean
won, Indonesian rupiah and Malaysian
ringgit, which jumped 0.8 per cent.
“The (US growth) was a massive
miss, so I’m not surprised by the huge
dollar sell-off that ensued,” Thomas
Averill, a Managing Director in Sydney
at Rochford Capital, told Bloomberg
News.
“The immediate risk at the moment
China new home prices rise faster in July
BEIJING: Price rises for new homes
in China accelerated in July from the
previous month, a survey showed on
Monday, with some buyers possibly
prompted by moves in some cities to
curb prices.
The average price for new homes
in 100 major cities increased 1.63 per
cent month-on-month in June to 12,009
yuan ($1,814) per square metre, the
China Index Academy (CIA) said in a
statement.
That was faster than June’s 1.32 per
cent.
Real estate is a key sector for China’s
economy, the world’s second largest and
a vital driver of global growth.
Some cities including the commercial
hub Shanghai have introduced or hinted
at policies to tighten the market after
property and land prices surged in their
localities, the CIA said.
The messages “have impacted on
market expectations to some extent”, it
said, apparently indicating consumers
rushed to buy.
Beijing has introduced several
policies to try to revitalise the sector as
economic growth weakened, including
reducing minimum down payment
requirements, cutting transaction taxes
and providing incentives for migrant
workers to buy homes.
The policy loosening led prices
in some big cities to rise this year as
pent-up demand was unleashed. But at
the same time the country has a huge
inventory of unsold new homes, mostly
in third- and fourth-tier cities.
The government has vowed to
take “specialised” measures to tackle
diverging trends in different regions.
“The overall home price in the 100
cities is expected to continue to rise
steadily against the backdrop of policies
to stabilise prices and control risks in
multiple ways,” said the CIA. — AFP
Galvani Bioelectronics 55pc owned by GSK, 45pc Verily
GSK, Google parent forge $715m
bioelectronic medicines firm
LONDON: GlaxoSmithKline and
Google parent Alphabet’s life sciences
unit are creating a new company
focused on fighting diseases by targeting
electrical signals in the body, jumpstarting a novel field of medicine called
bioelectronics.
Verily Life Sciences — known
as Google’s life sciences unit until
last year — and Britain’s biggest
drugmaker will together contribute
£540 million ($715 million) over
seven years to Galvani Bioelectronics,
they said on Monday.
The new company, owned 55 per
cent by GSK and 45 per cent by Verily,
will be based at GSK’s Stevenage
research centre north of London, with
a second research hub in South San
Francisco.
It is GSK’s second notable investment
in Britain since the country voted to
leave the European Union in June. Last
week it announced plans to spend £275
million on drug manufacturing.
Galvani will develop miniaturised,
implantable devices that can modify
electrical nerve signals. The aim is to
modulate irregular or altered impulses
that occur in many illnesses.
GSK believes chronic conditions
such as diabetes, arthritis and asthma
could be treated using these tiny devices,
which consist of a electronic collar that
wraps around nerves.
Kris Famm, GSK’s head of
bioelectronics research and president
of Galvani, said the first bioelectronic
medicines using these implants to
stimulate nerves could be submitted for
regulatory approval by around 2023.
“We have had really promising
results in animal tests, where we’ve
shown we can address some chronic
diseases with this mechanism, and
now we are bringing that work into the
clinic,” he said.
“Our goal is to have our first
medicines ready for regulatory approval
in seven years.”
GSK first unveiled its ambitions in
bioelectronics in a paper in the journal
Nature three years ago and believes it is
ahead of Big Pharma rivals in developing
medicines that use electrical impulses
rather than traditional chemicals or
proteins.
The tie-up shows the growing
convergence of healthcare and
technology. Verily already has several
other medical projects in the works,
including the development of a smart
contact lens in partnership with the
Swiss drugmaker Novartis that has
an embedded glucose sensor to help
monitor diabetes. — Reuters
is for a bit of further weakness in the
US dollar on the moderated monetary
tightening view.”
Forex traders are expecting Japanese
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to outline
Tuesday details of the government’s 28
trillion yen stimulus announced last
week.
The likelihood of US interest rates
remaining low supported Asia’s equity
markets, however.
Japan’s Nikkei ended up 0.4 per
cent, having recovered from early losses
fuelled by the strong yen, while Taipei,
Manila and Singapore posted healthy
gains.
Hong Kong closed up 1.1 per cent,
Sydney ended 0.5 per cent higher and
Seoul jumped 0.7 per cent.
But Shanghai ended down 0.9 per
cent after China’s official purchasing
managers’ index of manufacturing
activity indicated the sector shrank last
month.
It was the first time since February
that the official figures have shown a
contraction. Economists surveyed by
Bloomberg News had predicted it would
flat-line. The data is the latest bad news
on the world’s number two economy,
which is growing at its slowest rates in a
quarter of a century.
“The economy is at the tipping point
right now and there is a downward
trend,” said Shen Jianguang, Chief Asia
Economist at Mizuho Securities Asia
Ltd in Hong Kong.
“The government seems to be
concerned about bubbles now so policies
are trending tighter.”
Unusually, the private Caixin
BIZ BRIEF
Japan’s Mitsubishi
UFJ profits hit by
negative rates
TOKYO: Japanese banking giant
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group said
on Monday its April-June net profit
dived by nearly one-third as negative
interest rates and market turbulence
dented its bottom line.
The drop mirrored similar falls
at rivals Sumitomo Mitsui Financial
Group and Mizuho Financial Group
which reported their results last week.
Mitsubishi UFJ’s net profit tumbled
32 per cent from a year ago to 188.9
billion yen ($1.84 billion) in the three
months through June, its fiscal first
quarter.
That was well below the average
225 billion yen average estimate of
analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Japan’s biggest banks have been
warning that negative rates are
squeezing their lending margins since
the unpopular policy was announced
in January.
The country’s central bank
surprised markets with the move,
which was designed to boost lending
to people and businesses and stoke
growth in the wider economy.
Under the plan, commercial banks
are effectively charged for keeping
excess Reserves in the Bank of Japan’s
vaults, giving them an incentive to
lend more.
But it was widely criticised as
a desperate bid to prop up Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe’s faltering
economic growth blitz, dubbed
Abenomics.
Bankers were among the policy’s
biggest critics, including Mitsubishi
UFJ’s chief executive Nobuyuki Hirano,
who warned it would hurt companies’
finances as they battle to drive up
already sluggish lending.
Years of ultra-low interest rates
have pressured profitability and
pushed Japan’s lenders to seek new
business overseas.
On Friday, the BoJ announced
some tweaks to its massive stimulus
plan but held off taking rates further
into negative territory, sparking a rally
in bank shares. — AFP
Saudi Arabia cuts oil price to Asia
as battle with Iran heats up
DUBAI: Saudi Aramco, the world’s
largest oil exporter, lowered the
pricing terms for Arab Light crude
sold to Asia by the most in 10
months, signalling Saudi Arabia has
no plans to back down while Opec
rival Iran tries to regain market
share amid a global oversupply.
State-owned Saudi Arabian
Oil Co said it will sell cargoes of
Arab Light in September at $1.10
a barrel below Asia’s regional
benchmark. That is a pricing cut
of $1.30 from August, the biggest
drop since November, according to
data compiled by Bloomberg. The
company was expected to lower the
pricing by $1 a barrel, according to
the median estimate in a Bloomberg
survey of eight refiners and traders.
Iran
has
boosted
crude
production 25 per cent this year and
aims to reach an eight-year high for
daily output of 4 million barrels by
the end of the year. Customers in
Asia account for the largest share
of Iran’s new sales, according to
shipping data. Asian demand for
crude is stalling as refineries from
Singapore to China and South Korea
are cutting operating rates amid a
slump in margins and rising supply
from state-owned giants, which can
draw on large crude inventories that
have built up over the past two years
of low prices.
Brent crude has climbed 17 per
cent since the start of the year on
supply disruptions from Nigeria to
Canada. Prices are still 12 per cent
lower in the past year. Saudi Arabia
led the November 2014 decision
by the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries to maintain
production levels to drive out
higher-cost producers.
All other official selling prices
for Asian clients were reduced.
The biggest cut was by $1.60 for
Extra Light crude. Pricing for
Light and Extra Light grades for
US clients was cut, by 20 cents and
40 cents, respectively, while the
Medium and Heavy grades were
unchanged. Aramco raised the
pricing of all grades except Extra
Light to northwest Europe and the
Mediterranean. — Bloomberg
purchasing managers’ index, which the first expansion since February 2015.
focuses on small companies, was more
In early European trade London rose
positive than the official figure — 0.5 per cent, Frankfurt gained 0.9 per
showing a surprise jump and marking cent and Paris added 0.7 per cent. —AFP
Beijing calls for UK N-project to proceed
BEIJING: China on Monday called for Britain to proceed with a nuclear power plant
project partly invested in by a Chinese firm, saying the project had firm support from
London, after Britain’s new government said it would review it again.
The plan by France’s EDF to build two reactors with financial backing from a
Chinese state-owned company, China General Nuclear Power Corp, was championed
by Prime Minister Theresa May’s predecessor, David Cameron, as a sign of Britain’s
openness to foreign investment. But just hours before a signing ceremony was due
to take place on Friday, May’s new government said it would review the project again,
raising concern that Britain’s approach to infrastructure deals, energy supply and
foreign investment may be changing.
May was concerned about the security implications of a planned Chinese
investment in the Hinkley Point nuclear plant and intervened to delay the project, a
former colleague and a source said on Saturday.
In a statement sent to Reuters, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua
Chunying said they had “noted” the decision.
“I would like to stress that this project was agreed upon by China, Britain and
France in the spirit of mutual benefit and cooperation, and win-win cooperation, and
has always had the strong support of Britain and France,” Hua said.
China “hopes that Britain can reach a decision as soon as possible, to ensure the
project’s smooth implementation”, she added, without elaborating. — Reuters
Thailand’s consumer prices continue climbing, albeit at a considerably slower
pace, in July on the back of higher fresh food prices, the Commerce Ministry
said on Monday. According to the latest report, the country’s headline
consumer price index inched up 0.10 per cent in July from a year ago, but
eased 0.35 per cent on a monthly basis. — Reuters
Veolia net profit hit by restructuring charge
PARIS: Waste management firm Veolia said on Monday a restructuring charge bit
into first-half net profit but had already improved its operational performance in a
challenging economic climate.
Net profits at the French company, which also specialises in water distribution,
energy, recycling and operating public transportation systems, fell by 28.8 per cent to
251.2 million euros ($280 million), almost entirely due to the 95-million euro charge to
restructure its French water management unit where 430 jobs are to be cut.
However current net income, which strips out one-off charges, rose by 6.4 per cent
to 341.7 million euros, beating the average of 291 million euros expected by analysts
surveyed by FactSet financial data reporting service.
Chief Executive Antoine Frerot expressed satisfaction with the results.
“We continue to see the benefits of strict management, with savings ahead of our
plan, which translated into further margin improvement and an increase in all our
results,” he said. Sales slid 2.9 per cent to 11.95 billion euros due to adverse changes
in currency exchange rates and a fall in energy prices. With stable exchange rates, the
decline in activity was limited to 1.0 per cent.
However EBITDA, a measure of operating profit, increased by 3.2 per cent of 1.58
billion euros due to ongoing efforts to cut costs. At constant exchange rates, it rose by
5.6 per cent. — AFP
p
pers
p
pective
business
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
T U E S DAY l A U G U S T 2 l 2 0 1 6
21
*Ireland moves fast to lure financial jobs from UK
BREXIT EFFECT
I
rish recruiters are already
filling jobs for financial services
firms which are shifting some
operations from the United
Kingdom, with Dublin moving
fast to steal a march on rivals
just a month after Britons voted to leave
the European Union.
While France has begun courting
bankers with new tax breaks for
expatriates and Frankfurt, Amsterdam
and Luxembourg are also making
pitches, Ireland is presenting itself as
the only English-speaking country that
offers a base in the euro zone and a
future in the EU.
Before the June 23 referendum, the
government warned that a departure
of Ireland’s nearest and biggest trade
partner from the EU would pose “a
major strategic risk”, with exporters to
Britain particularly worried. But Brexit
also presents opportunities for Ireland,
which has decades of experience in
attracting multinational investment, and
it is determined to seize them.
Ireland is already one of the world’s
largest centres for “back office” banking
functions such as settling transactions,
many of them farmed out from London
— Europe’s financial capital but whose
future outside the EU is beset by
uncertainty. On top of that, Ireland hosts
a growing financial technology industry.
Some headhunters say it’s too early
to spot any definite trend. Nevertheless,
Dublin-based Sigmar Recruitment is
more than doubling its own workforce,
hiring 150 extra staff over the next
two years to handle foreign demand
that was already increasing before the
referendum and has accelerated since.
“We have two particular projects
relocating from the UK and then maybe
another three that were considering two
to three locations across Europe... and
those have all gone in Ireland’s favour,”
said Robert Mac Giolla Phadraig,
Sigmar’s Chief Commercial Officer. “The
headcounts for some of the projects are
anywhere between 50 and 200.”
He said that Sigma now has to
find candidates for a total of 1,500 to
2,500 positions, mainly from US and
European firms. The jobs are in many
areas including internal departments
that ensure firms are complying with
regulatory rules on managing their
financial risk, as well as financial
technology and IT support.
MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN
EVER:
A major opportunity for
Ireland is the risk to London-based
operations if Britain loses access to the
EU’s “passporting” arrangement, which
allows businesses regulated in member
states to sell financial services across
Europe.
Beazley Plc, which manages
six Lloyd’s of London syndicates,
said last week it was working to get
European insurance licences for its
Irish reinsurance business. British asset
manager M&G Investments, the fund
arm of insurer Prudential, is also looking
at expanding its operations in Dublin.
Brightwater, another specialist Irish
financial recruiter, has got go-aheads
France, Germany and
Benelux have also begun
courting bankers with new
tax breaks for expatriates.
from bigger companies, mostly banks,
for jobs in the “low hundreds” moving
from Britain, according to head of
marketing Eileen Moloney.
Other firms are at an earlier stage
of planning, such as DueDil, a financial
technology start-up employing just
under 100 people in London that was
looking at expanding into Europe
regardless of the referendum result.
“What Brexit does is it makes us reevaluate the distribution and types of
teams we would be hiring,” Co-founder
and Chief Executive Officer Damian
Kimmelman said. Kimmelman gave
inside sales — those made over the
phone or online rather than face-to-face
with clients — as an example.
“Should we hire our inside sales
(team) in the UK or should we hire
them in Ireland? Ireland’s always been
attractive as a hub for inside sales, but it
becomes even more attractive now than
it was before,” he said, adding that his
firm could be employing 20 people in
the country within a year.
TRICKLE, NOT A TORRENT:
The pick up in Ireland has coincided
with flagging recruitment in Britain
even before the referendum, due to
uncertainty over its outcome. British
recruiter Hays said net fees in the UK
and Ireland fell 4 per cent on a like-forlike basis in the quarter to end-June, but
taken alone, fees in Ireland grew 22 per
cent.
Randstad, the world’s second largest
employment services company, has
seen a low level of hiring in the British
financial sector, its CFO said.
The state agency in charge of
attracting foreign direct investment
(FDI) to Ireland reports similar trends
to the recruiters.
“From our end, Brexit is coming up
in all our discussions with clients and
potential clients,” said Martin Shanahan,
the chief executive of IDA Ireland which
reported a pick up in jobs in the first half
of the year following record growth in
2015.
“The most significant increase is in
financial services. We’ve seen a major
increase in traffic into Ireland over
the past number of weeks across all
areas — banking, insurance, funds and
payments — wanting to talk to us about
possibilities.”
Shanahan, who oversees a strategy
responsible for around 190,000 jobs or
almost one in every 10 Irish workers,
also sees opportunities in the technology
and pharmaceutical sectors and expects
it will be well into next year before
the full impact becomes apparent.
Companies hunting for the right talent
in Ireland, where unemployment has
halved to 7.8 per cent since 2012 amid a
sharp economic recovery, will still have
abundant choice, if initial inquiries are
anything to go by. — Reuters
*Helicopter money talk takes flight as *Sony’s profit surprise
DEFLATIONARY PRESSURE
MONETARY FINANCING
Bank of Japan runs out of runway
T
he Bank of Japan’s review
of its monetary stimulus
programme promised for
September has revived
expectations it could
adopt some form of “helicopter money”,
printing money for government
spending to spur inflation.
The BoJ disappointed market hopes
on Friday that it might increase its
heavy buying of government debt or
lower already negative interest rates,
cementing the view that it is running
out of options within its existing policy
framework to lift prices and end two
decades of deflationary pressure.
With little to show for three years of
massive monetary easing, economists
say BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s
“comprehensive assessment” of policy
could push it into closer cooperation
with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who
announced a fiscal spending package
worth more than 28 trillion yen ($275
billion) on Wednesday in a bid to
kickstart growth.
“The comprehensive review might
be the first step towards further
collaboration with the government,
hinting at helicopter money,” said Daiju
Aoki, economist at UBS Securities.
“The government could issue 50year bonds, and if the BoJ makes a
commitment to hold them for a very
long time, that would be like helicopter
money.” The helicopter money metaphor
for the aggressive printing of new money
was first used by American economist
Milton Friedman in 1969 and cited by
former US Federal Reserve chairman
Ben Bernanke in 2002 as a scheme that
could fight deflation.
Some economists, however, fear
it could trigger hyperinflation and
uncontrollable currency devaluation.
Speculation that Japan might take
that path reached fever pitch earlier
in July when Bernanke met Abe and
Kuroda in Tokyo, though policymakers
quickly tried to damp down such talk.
PRESSURE RESPONSE: In the
highlights Hirai’s
gaming-led renaissance
S
A man runs past the Bank of Japan (BoJ) building in Tokyo.
narrowest sense, a government can
arrange a helicopter drop of cash by
selling perpetual bonds, which never
need to be repaid, directly to the central
bank.
Economists do not expect this in
Japan, but they do see a high chance
of mission creep, with the BoJ perhaps
committing to buy municipal bonds
or debt issued by state-backed entities,
giving its interventions more impact
than in the treasury bond market, where
it is currently buying 80 trillion yen a
year of Japanese government bonds
(JGBs) from financial institutions.
“Compared with government debt,
these assets have low trading volume and
low liquidity, so BoJ purchases stand a
high chance of distorting these markets,”
said Shinichi Fukuda, a professor of
economics at Tokyo University.
“Prices would have an upward bias,
so even if the BoJ bought at market
rates, this would be considered close to
helicopter money.”
Other options include creating
The government could issue
50-year bonds, and if the
BoJ makes a commitment
to hold them for a very long
time, that would be like
helicopter money.
a special account at the BoJ that the
government can always borrow from,
committing to hold a certain percentage
of outstanding government debt or
buying corporate bonds, economists say.
With the BoJ’s annual JGB purchases
already more than twice the volume of
new debt issued by the government,
Japan has already adopted something
akin to helicopter money, said Etsuro
Honda, a former special adviser to the
Cabinet and a key architect of Abe’s
reflationary economic policy.
But it has not been enough to stop
consumer prices falling in June at their
fastest since the BoJ began quantitative
easing in 2013.
Ahead of its July 29 policy meeting,
sources had indicated that the BoJ was
leaning towards standing pat because
it planned no major changes to its
consumer price forecasts.
But then Abe announced his
unexpectedly large spending package
two days earlier, which was notably
lacking in details on how to fund it.
Prominent cabinet ministers promptly
piled in with public comments urging
the BoJ to follow the government’s lead.
In the event, the BoJ made what
economists called a token response by
increasing its purchase of exchangetraded funds to 6 trillion yen, but it
resisted pressure to buy more bonds,
and it kept interest rates at minus 0.1
per cent. But the results of that pressure
could finally show up in September’s
review, after it has had time to come up
with a more detailed plan to cooperate
with Abe’s fiscal push. — Reuters
ony Corp’s resurgent games division helped the Japanese
conglomerate blow past quarterly results expectations, vindicating
Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai’s (pictured) growing focus
on media and entertainment.
Sony, which in years past has scaled back in businesses from phones to
TVs, posted a surprise profit for the June quarter. It more than doubled
operating income from the sale of PlayStations and software, a particularly
optimistic signal given the company’s next marquee products haven’t yet
come to market. Sony is looking to cement its lead over Microsoft Corp
and Nintendo Co by launching a virtual-reality headset in October in the
US, as well as a souped-up version of the PS4 potentially before the end of
the year. The twin gadgets mark Hirai’s long-term effort to dominate the
industry with the PlayStation division, which he helped launch in 1994
before being tapped as CEO.
“Nothing short of fantastic, especially given that the market has been
expecting a loss,” Amir Anvarzadeh, Singapore-based head of Japanese
equity sales at BGC Partners Inc, said in an e-mail. “The big takeaway was
the games business. Profit there more than doubled and that’s even before
PlayStation VR launch in October,
which will be a huge shot in the
arm for hardware sales.”
Sony reported net income of
21.2 billion yen ($205 million)
in the quarter through June,
compared with the average analysts’
expectation for a 39 billion-yen loss.
The firm maintained its forecast for
annual profit of 80 billion yen.
The strength in games is helping investors look past the impact from
the Kumamoto earthquakes, which shut the primary manufacturing site
for image sensors that power digital cameras. On Friday, Sony lowered
its estimate for operating losses from the earthquakes to 80 billion yen
for this fiscal year, from 115 billion yen as recovery efforts wrapped up a
month earlier than expected.
Quarterly revenue from that division rose 15 per cent 330.4 billion yen
and profit more than doubled to 44 billion yen. It sold 3.5 million PS4
consoles in the quarter, and kept its annual outlook for sales unchanged
at 20 million units. Last month, Sony raised revenue and margin targets
for the PlayStation business next fiscal year, as it expects a push into music
and video streaming on its gaming network to boost user growth.
“They’re releasing more software and the time is now to harvest profits,”
said Hiroyasu Nishikawa, an analyst at Iwai Cosmo Securities Co. “The
first year might be a bit tough for VR, but in the long run it will contribute
to profits. And by prolonging the life of the PS4, profits should grow.”
Elsewhere, the company trimmed its full-year overall sales forecast to
7.4 trillion yen from 7.8 trillion yen, partly because of currency impacts
on businesses including games. Prior to the earnings release, the company
announced it would sell its batteries division to Murata Manufacturing
Co. A price wasn’t disclosed but Sony warned losses were possible and that
they weren’t reflected in Friday’s figures. — Bloomberg
TUESDAY l AUGUST 2, 2016 l SHAWWAL 28, 1437 AH
editor@omanobserver.om
www.omanobserver.om
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•‹––‹‰”‘‘ǡ–™‘–‘‹Ž‡–•ƒ†
kitchen near the healthcare
centre of North Al Ghubra at
RO 320. 95548774.
VILLA for rent in Wadi Kabir,
3 bedrooms, 1 sitting room
and parking. 95829205,
99071071.
·····
·····
SHOP in Seeb market.
95250300/ 99110600/
24182000.
AL Hikmani for
HAJ and UMRAH
Ȅ‹–ŠƒŠ‘•–‘ˆ
services including
–Š‡ˆ‘ŽŽ‘™‹‰ǣ
Hiring luxurious
coaches, arranging
™‡‡Ž›–”‹’•ǡ
preparing visas
ˆ‘”‡š’ƒ–•ƒ–
cost-effective
price, including
transport, housing,
meals and visits to
shrine locations.
Land and air
trips weekly.
99311310,
24566016,
99361982,
99707248,
99322124.
Available on UNBEATABLE prices
·····
TWO„‡†”‘‘ϐŽƒ–„‡Š‹†
German Embassy nearer
to Al Nahdha Hospital.
99203954.
·····
HP2130
3 in 1 Printer
RO 10.900 only
All Cartridges also
available
on UNBEATABLE prices
AII HP, Epson, Canon,
Lexmark, Samsung
Cartridges also available
comsuply@omantel.net.om
·····
GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!!
For Rent
FLAT for rent in Maabela
3 master rooms.
96088926.
·····
A FLAT in South Al
Maabela consists of 3
„‡†”‘‘•™‹–Š–‘‹Ž‡–•
for each room + sitting
”‘‘ƒ†‹–…Š‡™‹–Š
air-condition. The flat is
‡ƒ”ƒ’—„Ž‹…™ƒ–‡”
•‘—”…‡ƒ†‹‡š…‡ŽŽ‡–
location. 99700408.
SHOWROOM in Al
Khoudh Market for rent.
94887300.
A FLAT in North Al Hail
…‘•‹•–•‘ˆͶ„‡†”‘‘•™‹–Š
toilets for each, sitting
room and kitchen.
99700908.
·····
FLATS ˆ‘””‡–‹ŽŠ—™ƒ‹”ǡ
Al Hail, Wadi Kabir, Al Falaj,
ƒ†—––”ƒŠǤ
99119699/ 95250300/
24813002.
·····
·····
ͳȌʹ„‡†”‘‘•ǡʹ„ƒ–Š”‘‘ǡ
kitchen, living room, store
™‹–Š•’Ž‹–—‹–‹”
…‘†‹–‹‘‡”‹—™‹‡š
”‘ƒ†ǤʹȌƒ•‡‡–ͷͺͲ
•“—ƒ”‡‡–”‡ȋ‡™„—‹Ž†‹‰ȌǤ
Contact. 99833369.
Required
AN apartment consists of
–™‘„‡†”‘‘•ǡ–™‘–‘‹Ž‡–•ǡ
a kitchen and a living room
is offered for rent in
Sidab. 99455397,
99181929.
APARTMENTS for rent:
1. First apartment: four
rooms, four toilets, big living
room and big kitchen. 2.
Second apartment: four
rooms, four toilets, big living
room and big kitchen. PS:
™ƒ–‡”ƒ†‡Ž‡…–”‹…‹–›„‹ŽŽ•‘
–Š‡‘™‡”…Šƒ”‰‡•Ǥ‘–ƒ…–
99459204.
·····
FLAT ˆ‘””‡–‹Žƒ™ƒŽ‡Š
South. 3 bedroom + 3
toilets + 1 family hall + 1
kitchen. Monthly rent RO
270, for family only. Contact.
99882551.
·····
ǧfloor house behind
German University of
Technology in Halban is
offered for rent. The house
·····
contains 4 bedrooms, living
NEW ƒ’ƒ”–‡–‹—™‹‡ƒ” room, a kitchen and 3 toilets.
91239119.
church consists of 2 rooms
™‹–Š‹–•ˆƒ…‹Ž‹–‹‡•Ǥ‘–ƒ…–Ǥ
·····
94664635, 95850345.
TWO ‡™ƒ’ƒ”–‡–ˆ‘””‡–
·····
in Al Qurum near Mina al
Fahal. Contact. 94664635,
LUXURIOUS villa for
95850345.
rent near Mina al Fahal
consists of 5 bedrooms, 2
·····
living rooms, 3 kitchens, 7
FULLYˆ—”‹•Š‡†ʹ
bathrooms, laundry room,
yard. Monthly rent RO 1,500 ƒ’ƒ”–‡–‹ŽŠ—™ƒ‹”
+ guarantee cheque. Contact. ͵͵™‹–Š’”‹˜ƒ–‡‡–”ƒ…‡Ǥ
99842992. 10 am - 6 pm
94664635, 95850345.
·····
ʹflat in Al
Ghubra near Oman Oil 18
November Street, RO 330
monthly. 99333479 or
95215360.
·····
VILLA for rent in North Al
Hail consists of 4 bedrooms
™‹–Š–‘‹Ž‡–•ˆ‘”‡ƒ…Š”‘‘Ϊ
majlis. 99760908
·····
·····
2-STOREY villa in South Al
Maabela consists of majlis, 4
„‡†”‘‘•™‹–Š–‘‹Ž‡–•ˆ‘”
each + 2 sitting rooms and
kitchen, located near a public
™ƒ–‡”•‘—”…‡Ǥ‘–ƒ…–
999700908
A COFFEE •Š‘’™‹–ŠƒŽŽ
equipment in South Al Hail
‡ƒ”ƒ‹ŽŽ™ƒ‹”
School. 99469900.
·····
NEW villa in Al Khoudh 6 is
offered for rent. The premise
comprises 6 bedrooms, male
majlis, female majlis, a split
unit air-conditioned family
living room and 8 toilets.
99668686.
·····
ELFAYED for sedative
investment in Salalah
introduces the best price
and utilities, for rent:
—’‡”ˆ—”‹•Š‡†ϐŽƒ–•ǡ
daily, monthly and yearly.
98035135/ 96177304/
91788999.
·····
·····
SINGLE„‡†”‘‘ϐŽƒ–ǡŽ
Š—™ƒ‹”ƒ†Ž
Š—„”ƒǡ
family only. 92967853.
ͳƬʹflats for
”‡–ƒ–—™‹ƒ†Ž
Khoudh. 93994402,
93994403, 24834644.
·····
WE have 5 outlets offered
ˆ‘”Ž‡ƒ•‡‹‹–›‘ˆ‹œ™ƒƒ–
the public road and near the
compound of the governor
of Al Dakhliyah. They are
of a total area of 350 sqm.
Š‡ƒ”‡ƒ…ƒ„‡‡š–‡†‡†
if desired to be 650 sqm
as 6 other outlest adjacent
to the block are ours also.
92232592.
·····
FLATS for rent in Salalah
European design, farm
˜‹‡™ǡ‰‘‘†•‹–—ƒ–‹‘‹
the centre near the sea,
‡™ϐŽƒ–•Ǥ92181524
WhatsApp.
·····
VILLA in Seeb near Dreams
Resort and close to the sea.
95250300/ 99110600/
24182000.
A FAMILY ϐŽƒ–‹Ž‡”ƒ–ǣ
™‘„‡†”‘‘•ΪƒŒŽ‹•Ϊ
•‹––‹‰”‘‘Ϊ–™‘–‘‹Ž‡–•
ȋϐ‹”•–ϐŽ‘‘”Ȍƒ–ʹͲͲǤ
99329949.
VILLA ‹Žƒ™ƒŽ‡ŠȋͷȌǡ
5 rooms + toilets + majlis
and family living room.
92880977.
SEMI ˆ—”‹•Š‡†ʹƬ͵
ˆŽƒ–•ƒ–ƒ—•Š‡”Ȅ‡ƒ”
Atlas Hospital. 99348493/
93200424/ 24502254.
ʹ™‹–Š
toilets, one sitting room
™‹–Š–‘‹Ž‡–Ǥ‘–ƒ…–Ǥ
993803465.
ONE ϐŽ‘‘”Š‘—•‡‹
Al Hail and 2km from
Wave Muscat, contains 4
bedrooms, living room, a
kitchen and 2 toilets, RO
300. 99077722.
·····
·····
·····
·····
·····
·····
CLASSIFIED SECTION:
·····
Ruwi: 24792-792
·····
·····
ȍ͵
VILLAS for sale/
rents KABIR/AL
Ȍǡ
ȋŠ‘’•Ȁ‘ˆϐ‹…‡•
for rent/ Al
Š—™ƒ‹”Ȍ
(Flats for rent/
ƒ†‹ƒ„‹”ȌǤ
ͻ͸ͷͻ͸͵ͶͺǤ
COMPUTER SUPPLIES
For Rent
NEW flats for rent at
Darsait near to Ministry
of Sports, Mumtaz area.
The flats includes:
™ 1 living room
™ 2 bedroom
™ Kitchen
™ 3 Toilets
™
˜‡”›”‘‘™‹–Š•’Ž‹–
A/C
™
‹‰Š“—ƒŽ‹–›ϐ‹‹•Š‹‰
‡–’‡”ϐŽƒ–‹•
RO 340/-. Interested
candidates please
contact: 92225523.
·····
For Sale/Rent
GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!!
Umrah/Haj
GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!!
SPECIAL Rates on
New Cars & 4 WDs
Car For Rent
PEST CONTROL
OMAN CO. LLC.
GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!!
Rent a Car
·····
·····
Ali al Maashari: 99639264 ali.almashari@omandaily.om
Mohammed al Rashdi: 99841230 m.alrahdi86@yahoo.com
CERTIFIED Fumigator
™Š‘…ƒŠƒ†Ž‡ƒŽŽ
types of fumigation
services for a reputed
Trading Company in
Muscat. Should have
relevant educational
“—ƒŽ‹ϐ‹…ƒ–‹‘ǡ
…‡”–‹ϐ‹…ƒ–‡•ǡ
‡š’‡”‹‡…‡‹
fumigation service,
good co-ordination
skills and having
driving licence.
Interested candidates
ƒ›ˆ‘”™ƒ”†–Š‡‹”
™‹–Š…‘’‹‡•
of educational
…‡”–‹ϐ‹…ƒ–‡•ƒ†™‘”
‡š’‡”‹‡…‡™‹–Š‹ͳͲ
days to: almarooj@
omnatel.net.om
·····
FREE
INFORMATION
ABOUT ISLAM
If you would like
to know more
about
Islam, please
call:
Tel : 99425598,
99250777,
99353988,
99253818,
99341395,
99379133,
For ladies:
99415818,
99321360, 99730723
Or visit:
www.iicoman.om
www.islamfact.com
94501166
DIRECT: 24649595 — FAX : 24649590
c ass fieds
classi
eds
CLASSIFIEDS
23
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
T U E S DAY l A U G U S T 2 l 2 0 1 6
Situation Vacant
URGENTLY required
experienced MEP
Engineers and
Estimators. Contact
95229608, 93214092
or gulfemaar@gmail.com
·····
WANTED A Bilingual
Sales Executive, with 3
to 4 years experience &
driving licence. Should be
dynamic and capable of
planning sales forecast,
…ƒŽŽ•ƒ†”‡’‘”–•ǤŽ—‡…›
in Arabic must. Email CV to
˜‹Œƒ›̷„‹‰ŽŽ…‘ƒǤ…‘
·····
WANTED Sales Engineer —
A reputed trading company
dealing with agency products
in Oil & Gas, petrochemicals
and power sectors, is looking
for a sales engineer having
an experience of 2-3 years in
dealing with piping materials,
valves, instrumentation
‹–‡•ǡ…ƒ„Ž‡•ǡϐŽƒ”‡’ƒ…ƒ‰‡•
etc. Having valid Omani
driving licence and only those
candidates who can get a NOC
from the current employer
may apply with a photograph
in the resume to: eng2cvob@
gmail.com
·····
A CONSTRUCTION company
looking for a Project
Engineer with minimum
5 years experience, able to
handle all type of construction
works. Contact details: Email:
hopeoman01@gmail.com
90699920
·····
WE are looking for civil
engineer should have 6 years
experience and can manage
and supervise in construction
site. 99332131/ 24185238.
Email: style123@omantel.net.
om
·····
REQUIRED urgently a
Quantity Surveyor (PreTender) with minimum
ϐ‹˜‡›‡ƒ”•‡š’‡”‹‡…‡Ǥ‘”
reputed excellent grade
civil construction company.
Please forward the CV to the
following fax number: 00968
24836811.
·····
THE White Pearl Enterprises
urgently need experienced
beautician lady & henna
artist for a beauty salon in
Bausher. They should be
honest and hardworking.
Limas Beauty Centre. If
you are interested, please
99350707 or 99250707.
REQUIRED 3-5 years
experienced marketing/
sales engineer for a well
reputed company in Oil &
Gas sector. GCC experience
and driving licence
preferred. Please send CV
to hroman@gmail.com
·····
REQUIRED registered
Omani Nurse (MoH
licence) with experience of
5 years and ready to work
‹–Š‡‘‹Žϐ‹‡Ž†ȋ†‡•‡”–Ȍ
with 14 days/14 days
rotation for the position of
Clinic Manager.‘”‘”‡
details please contact Dr
Ghazwan 93280260
or send CV to:
medicalinformation2016@
gmail.com
·····
·····
URGENTLY required
Expatriate Heavy Duty
Drivers, JCB Operators
with valid Omani licence.
Send your CV to gdsoman@
gdsoman.com. Contact:
ͻͻͺͻͲͲ͹͸ǡͻ͵ͺͻͶͲͳͺǡƒšǣ
24590866.
·····
1. AC maintenance and
servicing.
2. ”‹†‰‡ǡ™ƒ•Š‹‰
machine and dish
washer repairing.
3. Painting and cleaning
services. 4. Electrical,
plumbing and carpentry
work 97014234,
99447257, 24504281.
·····
AL SUMRI AC
maintenance. We are
ready to repair and
install all types of
Air-Conditioner within
Muscat Governorate.
94301888.
·····
Situation Wanted
OMAN experienced
Indian Lawyer, (35) BA,
Arabic, LLB, MBA. Knows
English, Arabic. Looking
for suitable position in
Ž‡‰ƒŽϐ‹”‘”…‘’ƒ›Ǥ
Presently working as
a legal adviser. NOC
available. 97351649.
E-mail: advocatesharaf@
gmail.com
·····
ACCOUNTANT, Indian male,
B.Com, 10 years experience in
Oman with D/L, specialised
‹ƒŽŽ›ͻƬ‘…—•ǡ—’–‘
ϐ‹ƒŽ‹•ƒ–‹‘Ǥ‘…ƒŽ…Ž‡ƒ”ƒ…‡
ƒ˜ƒ‹Žƒ„Ž‡Ǥ‡”–‹ϐ‹…ƒ–‡‹•
attested in Oman.
99622639.
A REPUTED building material
showroom in Al Khuwair is
looking for general manager
with minimum experience of 10
›‡ƒ”•‹–Š‡•ƒ‡ϐ‹‡Ž†Ǥ‹†Ž›
91408823 for interview
appointment
AZOOZ House of truest
Providing all type
of workers skill and
—•‹ŽŽ‡†ˆ”‘‹Ž‹’‹‘ǡ
Sri Lanka, India and
Bangladesh. Email:
deing651@hotmai.com
95330209/ 24831448.
·····
·····
·····
AZOOZ House of truest
Providing domestic
servant, cook and
babysitters, from
‹Ž‹’‹‘ǡ”‹ƒƒǡ
India and Bangladesh.
95330209/ 24831448.
RESIDENT in Oman for 20
years, 10 years experience
in procurement, Omani
Government tenders,
setup marketing plans
and strategies, importing,
‘”‰ƒ‹•‹‰’”‘Œ‡…–•ƒ†
events, holding British
passport enable for
“—‹…–”ƒ˜‡Ž–‘ϐ‹ƒŽ‹•‡
businesses, have car and NOC
94123939
HIGH Pressure Trading
ǡ›†”‘ϐŽ‘™ǡŽ‘‘‹‰ for
Accounts Clerk and PRO with
one or two years experience in
Sohar kindly send your CV with
‡š’‡…–‡†•ƒŽƒ”›ƒ–ǣƒŽœ—Žϐ‹̷
eim.ae
·····
A NEW medical complex in Izki
required medical staff:
- 2 General doctors.
- 1 Specialist obstetrician
and gynaecologist.
- 2 Paediatrician and
specialist.
- 1 Dermatologist.
- 1 Spec phys
otorhinolaryngology.
- 2 X-Ray technicians.
- 2 LAB technicians.
- 2 Pharmacists.
94359172.
·····
·····
ABU Sultan Trad.
Steel fabrication workshop
shade store gate car parking
skib tank, all type of steel
making. 923200920
Nazam. Barka Industrial
Area.
·····
REQUIRED Staff for cafe and
restaurant in Muscat. Send CV
to: Reham_228@hotmail.com
Reply all or forward more
MAINTENANCE: 1. AC
Maintenance & Servicing;
ʹǤ”‹†‰‡ǡƒ•Š‹‰ƒ…Š‹‡
& Dish washer repairing; 3.
Painting & cleaning services;
4. Electrical & Plumbing
Carpentry work. Contact:
99447257, 97014234,
24504281.
·····
·····
OMANI public relation
manager/ marketing
manager required for an
‘ˆϐ‹…‡‹–Šƒ‹„ƒǤ—ŽŽ–‹‡Œ‘„Ǥ
Omani citizens with healthcare
“—ƒŽ‹ϐ‹…ƒ–‹‘‘”ƒ”‡–‹‰
experience only need to apply
with English CV and photo to:
arabhealth@alhakkim.com
WE offer you the Business
Services: Maintenance of
buildings and villas for
paint and carpentry and
decoration works and
installation of material water
proof and cleaning services
building management and
leasing of real estate (Out
motto is to provide quality
in all our business). Muscat
Renaissance Development
and Investment.99070093.
·····
REQUIRED Marketing/
PR Manager for a modern
restaurant group in Oman.
”‘ϐ‹…‹‡–‹ŽŽ—•–”ƒ–‘”ƒ†
Photoshop. Charismatic,
”‘ƒ…–‹˜‡ǡ…”‡ƒ–‹˜‡ƒ†ϐŽ‡š‹„Ž‡Ǥ
·····
Excellent writing/editing
WANTED expat with at least
skills. Degree in relevant area.
Ž—‡–‹‰Ž‹•ŠǤ Send CV to
a diploma in accounting or
ϐ‹ƒ…‡™‹–Šƒ–Ž‡ƒ•–͵›‡ƒ”•‘ˆ marketingpr2016@gmail.com
experience in a construction
company working in GCC.
To apply email your CV to:
abdullah.alhinai86@gmail.
com
Services
·····
A LEADING international
…‘’ƒ›‹–Š‡ϐ‹‡Ž†‘ˆ
information technology
headquarter in Ruwi seeks
an Omani female (secretary)
holder of general diploma
…‡”–‹ϐ‹…ƒ–‡ƒ†ƒ”‡•‹†‡–‘ˆ
Wilayat Muttrah. The CV is
emailed to rm.allawaty@gmail.
com
·····
URGENTLY required Building
Technician. 98111363.
·····
SUBCONTRACTORS required:
SME contractors interested
in telecom side — civil and
underground telephone cable
laying work — may contact
Mr S Ravi 99424605 or
Mr Sayed.99358733 of
National Telephone Services
Co LLC.
PRIVATE medical centre
in Mudhaibi requires
females physicians in
the following specialties:
Obstetrics and gynaecology
1, Dermatologists &
Cosmetologist 1, Dentist
1, Pharmacist 1, Nurses 3
93553245.
·····
·····
·····
PROVIDES all kinds of legal
works, LLC registration,
agreements, contracts.
Takes all kinds of cases of
companies.97351649.
·····
Ad agency background —Art
Director/Sr Graphic Designer
•‡‡•Œ‘„Ǥ”ƒ†‹‰ƒ†
print media with NOC. Please
contact 96148101
·····
INDIAN female, 24 years, MBA
ȋ‹ƒ…‡ƒ†ȌǡǤ‘
(Computer Application),
currently on family visa,
looking for suitable placement
‹†‹ǡ‘”‹ƒ…‡Ǥ
Contact: 93839846, e-mail:
abniesunny92@gmail.com
·····
20 YEARS experienced
GCC, Electrical Engineer/
’”‘Œ‡…–ƒƒ‰‡”Ǥš’‡”‹‡…‡
in GIS substation, EHV, MV,
LV system and oil & gas
ƒ†‹ˆ”ƒ•–”—…–—”‡’”‘Œ‡…–•Ǥ
NOC available. Oman D/L.
97928445, t.siva.rao16@
gmail.com.
·····
Situation Wanted
LOOKING for suitable
placement, Indian female,
Master in computer
application with 11 years
of experience in data
warehousing, Teradata
and date modelling
looking for suitable
placement in Muscat.
91192543. E-mail:
priyakthomas@gmail.com
·····
INDIAN, male, BE in Electrical
and electronics with Post
Graduate Diploma in Power
Systems (Transmission
and distribution), seeks
placement. Presently in Oman
on visit. Contact 94669679.
E-mail: prsabarish@gmail.
com
·····
INDIAN male graduate Civil
Engineer from Muscat college,
holding 2 years employment
visa and D/L, seeks
suitable placement. Contact
99315714.
·····
INDIAN male, age 25, looking
for suitable placement in sales
and marketing. Having 2 years
of Indian experience. Contact
97939084, 97351786.
E-mail: mohammedusr126@
gmail.com.
·····
INDIAN male, B.Tech (ECE)
MBA (HR), 2 years of
experience CCNA, CCNP and
hands on practice on LINUX,
MCSE, looking for suitable
Œ‘„ǡ’”‡•‡–Ž›‘‡’Ž‘›‡–
visa, release available. Contact
email: syedvizarat7@gmail.
com 95584814
·····
INDIAN Commerce graduate
™‹–Š‹ƒ…‡ǡŠƒ˜‹‰
9 years experience seeks
suitable placement. Contact
0096893655079,
00919916317946
·····
AUTOCAD Civil Draftsman,
having experience in road
’”‘Œ‡…–•Ǥ”‡’ƒ”‹‰’Žƒ
ƒ†’”‘ϐ‹Ž‡ǡǧ and
structural drawings. E-mail:
casper_c100@yahoo.com
94034544.
·····
USED CARS FOR SALE
MERCEDES Benz C180 Model 2009 (234677Km run)
‹‰‘‘†”—‹‰…‘†‹–‹‘ˆ‘”•ƒŽ‡Ǥ—”–Š‡”ǡ›—†ƒ‹
Sonata car Model 2003 (305684Km run) and Mazda
323 car Model 2001 (585273Km run) - for sale on asis-where-is basis. These can be inspected at NTS Camp
in Ghala.
Manpower
WE provide cleaning and
loading staff. MODERN
SPARKLE LLC. +968
95367541.
·····
FRIENDS MANPOWER:
‹Ž‹’‹‘Š‘—•‡ƒ‹†•
and all kinds of workers.
ʹͶͶͺͻʹ͸ͺ‡ŽǣȀƒšǣ
24478153, 92462496.
·····
l-Sinani
Manpower — labourers &
housemaid from Indonesia,
Kenya, Uganda and other
countries. Al Suwaiq. To
communicate 26713500,
26713600.
·····
a) Carpenter -2 nos.
b) Mason - 5 nos.
c) Steel Fixer - 3 nos.
d) Helper - 5 nos.
e) Tile Mason - 5 nos.
please send email to
recruitment.irtcc@gmail.com
or call: 91 70 86 07
·····
AN MBA with more than 10
years of sales & marketing
experience in Gulf and 1.6
years in Oman in electronics
& appliances division. Having
Omani driving licence, NOC
available. 91298641
·····
INDIAN male, 23 years PG
Dip in Petroleum Engineering
and B.Tech in Mechanical
Engineering Holding UAE
driving licence, seeks suitable
placement immediately.
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Indian female, 10 years
business and IT experience
in sales and marketing,
consulting, product
management rules in banking
and sustainability currently
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development and also
having experience on events
and exhibitions. Currently
in Muscat on family visit
visa. Abhishek Ganguly.
91912078, ganguly1508@
gmail.com
·····
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male, 28 years, having 3
years experience in general
Industry and construction
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OSH Academy 48 hours,
ϐ‹”‡•ƒˆ‡–›ƒ†–™‘
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in Commerce. 93107730.
imranazeem934@gmail.com
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Situation Wanted
INDIAN male, 24 years civil
engineer working in Oman,
NOC available professional
in building design, seeks
Œ‘„Ǥ90342980. Email:
marvinthomas06@gmail.com
·····
INDIAN female, IT graduate,
BE (Hons) Systems
Administration with 2 years
experience in teaching,
seeks suitable position
in education/training
industry, communication.
96447091. fatimahaq24@
outlook.com
·····
MBA, HR Marketing (male
26), 3 years experience in
Noor Islamic Bank (UAE),
1 year HR Coordinator
looking for suitable
placement. 901462412,
mabeenkottekaran@gmail.com
·····
ACCOUNTANT (Indian
female, 30 years), well
experienced, B.Com with
computerised accounting
packages, presently on
ˆƒ‹Ž›˜‹•ƒǡŽ‘‘‹‰ˆ‘”ƒŒ‘„
in Salalah. 99087175.
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INDIAN male 23, BCom,
IATA (Cargo), 1 year
experience, good computer
skills, looking for suitable
position in cargo/
admin/accounts/back
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nihalsiddheeque@gmail.com
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INDIAN graduate civil
engineer from Muscat
College in 2015 with D/L,
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Intersted parties may contact on 99259157/ 93891398.
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on or before 4th August 2016 with security deposit.
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appliances, IT products,
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INDIAN male 25, 2 years
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spare parts/sales. Knows all
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····
INDIAN male B Com,
seeks suitable placement
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·····
PAKISTANI graduate, safety
‘ˆϐ‹…‡”Šƒ˜‹‰͵›‡ƒ”•
experience in general industry
and construction. Also having
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INDIAN female with nearly
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· · · ··
INDIAN 20 years experience
in Oman as Personal
••‹•–ƒ–Ȁˆϐ‹…‡ƒƒ‰‡”Ȁ
Administrator/ Commercial
š‡…—–‹˜‡ǡ•‡‡•Œ‘„
change. Release available.
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‡š’‡”‹‡…‡ǡŽ‘‘‹‰ˆ‘”ƒŒ‘„
‹ƒ……‘—–•ȀŽ‘‰‹•–‹…•ϐ‹‡Ž†Ǥ
93884951.
·····
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mechanical engineer, fresher,
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95020044.
·····
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single colour , four colour
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·····
Lost
JALIKA Akatur has lost
Bangladeshi passport No
Ͳ͹ͷ͸͵͹ͲǤ‹†‡”’Ž‡ƒ•‡
handover to ROP.
·····
MASROOR Ali Akhtar has
lost Pakistani passport No
ͳ͹ͻ͸ͻ͸ͳǤ‹†‡”’Ž‡ƒ•‡
handover to ROP.
·····
IZHAR Š‡†ƒœ‹Ž has
lost Pakistani passport No
ͳͳ͸͹ͶͶͳǤ‹†‡”’Ž‡ƒ•‡
handover to ROP.
·····
SAEK Keuom Saek has lost
Bangladeshi passport No
Ͳʹͷͻͷͻ͵Ǥ‹†‡”’Ž‡ƒ•‡
handover to ROP.
·····
Guest House
QURUM BEACH
HOTEL24564070.
·····
international
business
b
i
24
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
T U E S DAY l A U G U ST 2 l 2 0 1 6
Taiwan recession lifts on Q2 GDP growth
Taiwan came out of recession in April-June, data showed, as a pick-up in the island‘s key
electronics sector helped end a run of three successive quarterly contractions. The 0.69 per cent
year-on-year growth beat expectations and comes after newly elected President Tsai Ing-wen
pledged to kickstart growth, including establishing a ‘Silicon village’ for Asia.
Vodafone uses voiceless Africa
plans to get tech-savvy youth
I
It’s not easy being grains when
investors bet on price demise
I
nvestors have turned against
three of the largest US crops,
betting that timely rainfall will
further swell grain supplies
and exacerbate price drops.
Hedge funds and other money
managers are now holding a record
wager on further declines for wheat,
have increased their bearish outlook
on corn and dumped bets on a soybean
rally for a seventh straight week. A
combined measure on the big three US
crops turned negative last week for the
first time in three months.
The Bloomberg Grains Subindex
plunged 10 per cent in July, the most
since the same month of 2015. While
worries of continued heat and dry
weather across the US Midwest lifted
crop prices in June, timely July rains
proved favourable. Corn conditions
climbed during the critical pollination
period, soybean ratings stayed high and
the harvest of winter wheat added to a
global glut.
“The backdrop heading into this year
was one where you had adequate grain
stocks across the world, particularly in
corn and wheat,” said Matt Campbell, a
risk-management consultant at INTL
FCStone in West Des Moines, Iowa.
“If there wasn’t going to be a relatively
significant weather problem, this was a
year where it was going to be tough to
sustain a meaningful rally.”
Bearish Bets
The combined position across the
three crops turned net-short to 74,033
contracts in the week ended July 26,
according to Commodity Futures
Trading Commission data published
three days later. That compared with
While worries of continued
heat and dry weather across
the US Midwest lifted crop
prices in June, timely July
rains proved favourable.
Corn conditions climbed
during the critical pollination
period, soybean ratings
stayed high and the harvest
of winter wheat added to a
global glut.
a net-long holding of 7,724 a week
earlier and is the first bearish outlook
since mid-April. The Bloomberg Grains
Subindex is down 4.2 per cent in 2016.
The US is coming off back-to-back
years of bumper corn and soybean
production, and the world is saddled
with record wheat inventories. The
International Grains Council on
Thursday boosted is outlook for
combined global stockpiles of wheat,
corn and other grains by 1.2 per cent,
predicting an even bigger all-time high.
After a late-spring heatwave, some
traders had worried that it was going
to be a hot, dry US summer and crop
concerns ramped up. Instead, for
farmers including Philip Volk of North
Dakota, rains came just in time to
establish solid crops.
“They have moisture to draw on,
and the plant population is there,” said
Volk, who grows spring wheat, corn,
soybeans, barley and pinto beans on
4,000 acres near Rugby. “Everything
would say it could be near the top of the
yields.”
Crop Tour
Investors will get more clues about
US output next week when participants
on an MDA Weather Services crop
tour survey corn and soybean fields in
the largest producing states, including
Iowa and Illinois. The US Department
of Agriculture is set to release its first
survey-based production forecasts for
the crops on August 12.
Even the recent rains came too late to
rescue some crops. Volk said that while
yields for his corn and soybeans have
strong production potential, spring
wheat could suffer from the early lack
of moisture.
Yields for the crop across the state
will probably drop to an average of 45.7
bushels per acre, according to results
issued July 28 at the end of the Wheat
Quality Council’s annual crop tour.
That’s down from the tour’s forecast for
49.9 bushels last year.
At the same time, weather in
August could pose risks, particularly
for soybeans, which have begun to set
the pods that fill with oilseeds. A few
“lingering dry spots” in the Midwest are
the main threat through early August,
Commodity Weather Group said in a
report e-mailed on Friday.
Amid a looming La Nina weather
event, “the big question mark was if
the usual hot, dry conditions that come
with that will come during the growing
season or further out in November,
when it doesn’t matter as much for
crops,” said Alex Norton, director
of risk management at commodityconsulting firm Beeson & Associates
Inc in Crestwood, Kentucky. “It seems
like the heat is here, but the dryness isn’t
really happening. The weather hasn’t
been as bullish as people thought.”
— Bloomberg
nside a packed Vodafone Group Plc store in the Zambian capital of
Lusaka, a group of the city’s tech-savvy students wait in line for wireless
modems they hope will transform their ability to surf the Internet.
They don’t even care that they won’t be able to get a voice plan to talk
over the British mobile operator’s network since Vodafone doesn’t have a
licence for that.
“The coming of Vodafone is long overdue,” Anthony Kambeu, 25, a
student at University of Zambia, said outside the store, which opened in
June. “The other networks have been exploiting us — poor service, high
prices, everything.” Kambeu said the Vodafone packages are good value
even without voice, although he hopes the company will eventually be
able to provide that as well.
Vodafone’s data price of 250 kwacha ($25) for 10 gigabytes is almost
two-thirds less than that offered by other providers, which include the
local units of South Africa’s MTN Group Ltd and Bharti Airtel Ltd of India,
according to the companies’ websites. While Vodafone’s data bundle
expires sooner than those of its competitors, undercutting its rivals could
enable the UK company and Amsterdam-based network partner Afrimax
to establish market share. Meanwhile its customers can make calls to each
other using data services such as WhatsApp.
The current economic slowdown notwithstanding, Africa remains the
last great growth frontier for European telecommunication companies
whose largest markets are all filled up. More than half the continent’s
population is seen owning a smartphone by 2020, compared with 23 per
cent at the end of last year, according to a report published July 26 by
GSMA. That’s helped by the continent’s relatively young population, which
is more likely to embrace new technology.
Formidable Rival
The lack of a voice licence is just one obstacle facing Vodafone as
it targets as many as 12 new African markets. Sub-Saharan African
economies grew at the slowest pace in 15 years in 2015, weighed down
by low commodity prices, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Vodafone is also up against a formidable rival in Johannesburg-based
MTN, which is the market leader in most of the 22 countries in which it
operates, including Zambia. MTN shares have climbed 5.6 per cent this
year.
“Africa is one of the least-developed regions of the world in terms of
information and communications technology, in particular once we move
beyond basic voice and data,” Dobek Pater, Managing Director of Pretoriabased Africa Analysis, said in e-mailed comments.
“Some of the markets in Africa may be experiencing problems
currently, but long-term they are likely to demonstrate good positive
growth due to the cyclical nature of commodities, diversification of the
economy, and socioeconomic upside.”
Vodafone’s French competitor, Orange SA, has been rationalizing its
Africa presence this year after agreeing to sell its majority stake in Telkom
Kenya. The Paris-based company agreed to buy Airtel’s units in Burkina
Faso and Sierra Leone alongside assets in Democratic Republic of Congo
from Millicom International Cellular SA.
“Our ambition in these countries is to be number one or number two,
as this is because you need to reach a critical size in order to be profitable,”
Orange’s Deputy CEO, Ramon Fernandez, told reporters in London on July
28. Revenue growth will be driven by higher customer numbers, increased
take-up of smartphones and services such as Orange Money, he said.
“In Europe, people are much more wealthy but the market is saturated,”
Amy Cameron, head of information and communications technology
research at Fitch’s BMI, said by phone from London. “In Africa there is still a
ton of people that do not have access. There is no legacy infrastructure.”
To compete with MTN, telecommunications operators “really need
scale,” she said. “MTN is already there in terms of having reached across
the region and being present in many African markets. That gives
MTN bargaining power when it’s buying equipment and it has greater
experience in terms of working in difficult environments and developing
local services.” — Bloomberg
Oil glut shows investors there’s nowhere to go but down
M
oney managers have
never
been
more
certain that oil prices
will drop.
They increased bets on falling
crude by the most ever as stockpiles
climbed to the highest seasonal levels
in at least two decades, nudging prices
toward a bear market. The excess
supply hammered the second-quarter
earnings of Exxon Mobil Corp and
Chevron Corp. Inventories are near
the 97-year high reached in April
as oil drillers boosted rigs for a fifth
consecutive week.
“The rise in supplies will add more
downward pressure,” said Michael
Corcelli, Chief Investment Officer at
Alexander Alternative Capital LLC, a
Miami-based hedge fund. “It will be
a long time before we can drain the
excess.”
Hedge funds pushed up their short
position in West Texas Intermediate
crude by 38,897 futures and options
combined during the week ended
July 26, according to the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission. It was
the biggest increase in data going back
to 2006. WTI dropped 3.9 per cent to
$42.92 a barrel in the report week, and
traded at $41.75 at 12:20 pm Singapore
time.
WTI fell by 14 per cent in July, the
biggest monthly decline in a year. It’s
down by 19 per cent since early June,
bringing it close to the 20 per cent drop
that would characterize a bear market.
US crude supplies rose by 1.67
million barrels to 521.1 million in the
week ended July 22, according to US
Energy Information Administration
data. Stockpiles reached 543.4 million
barrels in the week ended April 29, the
highest since 1929. Gasoline inventories
expanded for a third week to 241.5
million barrels, the most since April.
“The flow is solidly bearish,” said
Tim Evans, an energy analyst at Citi
Futures Perspective in New York.
“It reflects a recognition that the
market is, at least for the time being,
oversupplied.”
Exxon and Chevron missed profit
and production estimates last quarter,
earnings data showed July 29. The
biggest US energy companies followed
Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc in
posting lower profits as crude’s collapse
continued to weigh on the industry.
US oil explorers have boosted the
number of active rigs by 58 since the
start of June to 374, with three added
last week, Baker Hughes Inc said
July 29. American producers have
expanded drilling in recent weeks after
idling more than 1,000 oil rigs since the
start of last year.
Money managers’ short position in
WTI rose 28 per cent to 180,134 futures
and options, CFTC data show. Longs,
or bets on rising prices, increased 0.9
per cent, while net longs tumbled 23
per cent to the lowest since February.
In other markets, net-bearish bets
on gasoline surged to a record 5,078
contracts. Gasoline futures fell 2.2
per cent in the report week. Netlong wagers on US ultra low sulfur
diesel dropped 23 per cent to 12,742
contracts, the lowest since May. Futures
slipped 4.2 per cent.
US refineries cut operating rates in
the week ended on July 22, the EIA
said. The processors usually don’t
begin to curb output until August as
the summer driving season nears its
end. The crack spread, a measure of
profit margins from refining crude into
fuel, fell the past four months, data
compiled by Bloomberg show.
Refineries typically slow during
September and October to perform
maintenance. Over the past five years,
their demand for oil has dropped an
average of 1.2 million barrels a day
from July to October.
“Money managers are net short
gasoline by a record amount,” Evans
said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the
net shorts increased for another week,
but on an intermediate perspective,
you have to watch out. Gasoline looks
oversold given its historic behaviour.”
— Bloomberg
TUESDAY | AUGUST 2, 2016 | SHAWWAL 28, 1437 AH
sport
WALKER OUTSMARTS DAY TO CLAIM MAJOR P26
SPORT BRIEFS
Nadal still doubtful
for Rio Games
www.omanobserver.om
editor@omanobserver.om
DJOKOVIC DOMINATES NISHIKORI TO WIN IN TORONTO P27
RAHUL PUTS INDIA IN COMMANDING POSITION P28
OLYMPICS: LEGENDS OF THE
GAMES - 1984 TO 2012
Steve Redgrave
SAO PAULO: Rafael Nadal has conceded
he is not yet sure that he will be able to
represent Spain at the Rio Olympics as
his fitness concerns linger.
The 2008 gold medallist withdrew
from the French Open with a wrist injury
and missed Wimbledon.
“I will not be at the best level in any
of the categories,” Nadal told journalists
after arriving in Brazil on Sunday. “I have
not competed for two months and I
have not trained a lot.”
“I will train a few days here to see
what I can do and then decide what is
best, to be more positive for me and the
team,” he said.
Nadal’s Spanish team mate David
Ferrer acknowledged last week that the
14-time grand slam champion’s fitness
situation was “delicate”.
Roger Federer sits out due to a knee
problem and Wimbledon finalist Milos
Raonic withdrew citing fears over the
Zika virus. — Reuters
Sunderland manager
Moyes relishes return
LONDON: Sunderland boss David
Moyes insists he has been revitalised by
his spell out of management as he looks
to bring stability to the Stadium of Light.
Moyes had been out of work for
eight months after being sacked by
Real Sociedad last November, but the
former Manchester United and Everton
manager feels reinvigorated after
returning to the Premier League.
The 53-year-old Scot was hired last
month to replace Sam Allardyce, who
left Sunderland to take the England job,
and on Monday he held his first press
conference in his new role.
Moyes’ reputation was tarnished
by his nightmare spell at Old Trafford,
which ended with his sacking after less
than a season in charge of United, and
his underwhelming spell in Spain.
“It was great to play golf and spend
time with my family but this is what I do
and I want to get back and get on with
it,” Moyes said. — AFP
Russia warns of
‘road to nowhere’
on doping
PARIS: International sport will be
heading on the “road to nowhere”
unless doping sanctions are applied
in the same way to all countries,
Russian sports minister Vitaly
Mutko said on Monday. Mutko said
he hoped the final size of Russia’s
Olympic team would be known on
Monday or Tuesday even though final
appeals at the international sports
tribunal are still being heard.
Russia has said it feels it has been
unfairly treated following accusations
of state-organised doping in a report
by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren
for the World Anti-Doping Agency.
“The (anti-doping) system needs to
be equally integrated and a unique
system in all countries of the world,”
Mutko told Russian media. — AFP
Ian Thorpe
Michael Phelps
Steve Redgrave, the
awesome oarsman
T
he message couldn’t have been
any clearer when, at Lake Lanier
outside Atlanta in 1996, Britain’s
Redgrave declared: “Anybody who sees
me in a boat has my permission to shoot
me.” Redgrave had, at the age of 34, just
won rowing gold for the fourth Games
in a row and on live TV, he announced
his retirement in unequivocal fashion.
Yet four years later — after being
diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in
1997, and suffering with debilitating
ulcerative colitis since before the 1992
Barcelona Games — he put his ailing,
38-year-old body through a punishing
training regime one last time and
achieved another Olympic triumph, as
a member of the coxless fours. In doing
so Redgrave became the only endurance
sport athlete to win five golds in five
consecutive Games: 1984 (coxed fours),
1988, 1992, 1996 (coxless pairs) and
2000 (coxless fours). His secret? “I
decided that diabetes had to live with
me, not me live with it,” he said.
Michael Johnson
attempt saw him fail to make the cut for nevertheless the only man to win 400m
gold twice (1996, 2000) and also won a
London 2012.
4x400m relay gold in 1992 and a 200m
gold in Atlanta four years later when he
smashed his own world record (19.66)
by more than three-tenths of a second
he American dominated the with a scarcely believable 19.32sec in
200m and 400m sprints in the the final — the largest improvement in
final decade of the 20th century, a 200m world record in history. Usain
winning four gold medals in the Bolt has since lowered the mark, but
Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996) and Johnson’s 400 metres world record
Sydney (2000) Games. His tally could of 43.18sec set in Seville in 1999 still
have been five as he was part of the stands to this day.
4x400m US relay team that crossed the
line first in Sydney but was stripped of
the title eight years later, after Antonio
Pettigrew admitted doping. Johnson,
Usain Bolt
he fastest man the world has
always a vehement voice against
ever seen, the ‘Lightning
doping, returned his medal as he felt
Bolt’ shot to worldwide fame
200m butterfly and 200m individual he had not won it legitimately. He was
medley.
Michael Johnson,
the one-lap master
T
Usain Bolt, lightning
that struck twice
Michael Phelps,
the most decorated
Ian Thorpe, the
Olympian
hyperactive child, Phelps was freestyle king
A
encouraged into swimming
aged seven to give his boundless
energy an outlet, and became the most
decorated Olympian of all time. The
“Baltimore Bullet” came home emptyhanded from his first Games at Sydney
2000 when just 15. But a slew of world
records over the next three years led to
a dominant display at Athens 2004 as
Phelps took six gold and two bronze
medals, the second-best performance
at an Olympic Games after fellow US
swimmer Mark Spitz’s seven golds
in 1972. At Beijing four years later,
Phelps claimed the all-time record
when in the 4x100m medley relay he
completed a haul of eight golds in one
Games — seven of them with world
record times. Australian arch-rival
Ian Thorpe had prior to Athens said
it would be “impossible” to win eight
golds — a statement which Phelps
kept on his locker as a motivation. At
London four years later he became the
most decorated Olympian of all time,
taking his total to 18 golds, two silvers
and two bronzes. Having just turned 31,
he is aiming to extend his record in his
fifth Games this year, having qualified
for three individual events at the recent
US trials by winning the 100m butterfly,
T
horpedo’ won five gold medals,
the most by an Australian,
with three in his home Sydney
2000 Games (400m free, 4x200m and
4x100m freestyle relays) and two more
in Athens (400m free, 200m free)
four years later. At the 2004 Games,
Michael Phelps opted to compete in
the 200m freestyle in a quest to win a
record eight gold medals, which Thorpe
called “impossible”. The 200m final was
dubbed the “Race of the Century” as
Thorpe and Phelps lined up against two
former world record-holders, Pieter van
den Hoogenband of the Netherlands
and Australia’s Grant Hackett. It
proved Thorpe’s greatest victory. Van
den Hoogenband turned more than a
second ahead of world record pace at
100 metres but Thorpe was never more
than a body length away and chased the
Dutchman down in the final 50 metres
to take gold in an Olympic record 1min
44.71sec, with Phelps third. Thorpe
could not contain his emotion at his
victory as he tore off his cap, punched
the air wildly and screamed at the top
of his lungs. Thorpe also won three
Olympic silvers and a bronze in his only
two Games before retiring at the age
of 24 in 2006. An ill-fated comeback
T
in Beijing in 2008 as the first man
to do the 100m-200m sprint double
since American Carl Lewis in 1984,
and then became the first in Olympic
history to repeat the feat with his
London triumphs. Not only that, in
Beijing the lanky, laid-back Jamaican
smashed world records in both sprint
finals and he went on to lower the
100m and 200m marks a year later,
to 9.58sec and 19.19sec respectively.
He also anchored Jamaica’s 4x100m
sprint relay team to gold in both
Games, also in world record times.
With six golds already, Bolt is aiming
at an unprecedented ‘treble-treble’ in
Rio which, if achieved, may never be
matched. He has also won a record
11 world championships gold medals
since 2009.
go //formula
golf/
o
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26
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
T U E S DAY l A U G U ST 2 l 2 0 1 6
WALKER WALKS INTO GLORY
‘SURREAL’: The
American sloshed
36 holes across
soggy Baltusrol to
outduel top-ranked
defending champion
Jason Day
SPRINGFIELD, UNITED STATES:
Jimmy Walker said he never would
have dreamed after missing the British
Open cut two weeks ago that he would
be the next man to hoist a Major golf
trophy.
But the 37-year-old American
pulled off the astonishing feat on
Sunday at the PGA Championship,
sloshing 36 holes across soggy
Baltusrol and outduelling top-ranked
defending champion Jason Day down
the stretch to win.
“It’s surreal,” Walker said. “I just
had not quite played as well as I would
have liked to this year.”
“Just to be in it and be there and
have a chance and then to finish it off
is just so gratifying. It’s amazing.”
Walker had not won since the US
PGA Texas Open 16 months ago,
falling from the top 10 to 48th in
the world rankings. But when he
shared 21st at the Canadian Open
between the British Open and
PGA, Walker had an epiphany.
“Some stuff kind of clicked last
week, literally in the last like nine
holes,” Walker said. “Everything
felt good. I kept it going. Finished
off the round. Finished off the
nine holes. It felt big to me. Like
everything worked, like my head
was there. I was in every shot.” In
the final round, Walker chipped
in from 45 yards to birdie the 10th
hole. When Day answered with a
22-foot birdie at the 11th, Walker
rolled in a 30-footer on the same
hole minutes later to reclaim a
two-shot lead.
Walker sank an eight-foot birdie
putt at 17 only to have Day eagle
the 18th, forcing Walker to save
par from the greenside rough. He
sank a tense 3-foot par putt and the
Wanamaker Trophy was his, along
with $1.8 million (1.6 million euros).
“Incredible finish, it really was. Just
puts a smile on my face,” Walker said.
“Has not even really sunk in yet. It has
been a whirlwind. But it’s awesome.”
And totally unexpected, Walker
said.
“I wouldn’t have called this, but it’s
huge,” Walker said. “It’s nice to get in
the position and keep the hammer
down and keep making birdies and
keep playing well.”
“Kept working hard. It’s just nice to
see it pay off.”
It helped that Baltusrol was where
FACTFILE
JIMMY WALKER (USA)
BORN - January 16, 1979
AGE - 37
BIRTHPLACE - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
HOME - Boerne, Texas, USA
HEIGHT - 6ft 2in (1.89m)
TURNED PRO - 2001
JOINED PGA TOUR - 2006
PGA TOUR VICTORIES - 5
MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP WINS - 1 (2016
PGA Championship)
RYDER CUP: 2014-L
98TH PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
FINAL SCORES
(USA UNLESS NOTED):
266 - Jimmy Walker (USA) 65-66-68-67
267 - Jason Day (AUS) 68-65-67-67
270 - Daniel Summerhays (USA) 70-67-6766
271 - Branden Grace (RSA) 70-68-66-67,
Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) 69-67-67-68,
Brooks Koepka (USA) 68-67-66-70
272 - Henrik Stenson (SWE) 67-67-67-71,
Martin Kaymer (GER) 66-69-71-66, Robert
Streb (USA) 68-63-72-69
273 - Tyrrell Hatton (ENG) 71-68-66-68, Paul
Casey (ENG) 69-69-68-67, William McGirt
(USA) 70-67-66-70
274 - Padraig Harrington (IRL) 71-70-65-68,
Webb Simpson (USA) 69-69-66-70, Jordan
Spieth (USA) 70-67-69-68, Patrick Reed
(USA) 70-65-70-69, Emiliano Grillo (ARG)
66-67-73-68
275 - Kevin Kisner (USA) 71-69-65-70, John
Senden (AUS) 68-70-69-68, Gregory Bourdy
(FRA) 69-68-69-69, Adam Scott (AUS) 70-6769-69
276 - Justin Rose (ENG) 70-72-66-68,
Francesco Molinari (ITA) 71-70-68-67, Kyle
Reifers (USA) 70-70-70-66, Russell Knox
(SCO) 70-70-67-69, Jhonattan Vegas (VEN)
68-71-70-67, Russell Henley (USA) 68-7268-68, Kevin Na (USA) 71-68-71-66, David
Lingmerth (SWE) 68-70-69-69, KJ Choi
(KOR) 68-70-71-67, Louis Oosthuizen (RSA)
68-70-70-68, Billy Hurley (USA) 72-65-6970
he met his caddie, Andy Sanders, at a
US Amateur practice round.
“We’ve been together a long time.
And to win our sixth event, first Major,
here where we met, that’s just cool,”
Walker said. “It’s special for both of us.
It’s pretty emotional. He grinded it out
this week. He did a great job.
“He reads putts great. Didn’t let me
hit a shot until I was ready. Made sure
everything was good. We did a great
job this week communicating and
talking shots. Just we were in sync.”
Day, Walker are bus buddies
Adding to the chemistry — Day
is another of Walker’s pals as the two
park beside each other at events in
their motor homes.
“We’re the bus guys out here,”
Walker said. “We park next to each
other every week and we see each
other and we’re good friends.”
Day is a happy member of the bus
buddies club.
“Me and him have been like bus
partners for awhile now,” Day said.
“We text each other all the time
about him getting a new bus and
I’m showing him mine. We’re always
parked right next to each other,
always hanging out. We see each
other all the time. He’s a top bloke.”
Walker joined Masters winner
Danny Willett of England, British
Open champion Henrik Stenson of
Sweden and fellow American Dustin
Johnson, the US Open winner, as the
first foursome of first-time Major
winners in the same year since 2011.
“It shows that everybody is really
good and everybody’s got a chance to
win,” Walker said. “It’s just a matter
of time. That’s what I felt about
myself and winning something like
this.” — AFP
WALKER SOARS UP RANKINGS AFTER PGA TRIUMPH
PARIS: Jimmy Walker jumped up
33 places in the world golf rankings
on Monday thanks to his tense
PGA Championship victory over
Jason Day at Baltusrol.
The 37-year-old American has
moved back into the top 20 for
the first time since last October at
number 15, after holding his nerve
with a par at the last to win by one
shot on Sunday.
Australia’s world number one
Day strengthens his position at the
top of the rankings, despite seeing
his stunning eagle on the 72nd hole
not prove enough to successfully
defend the title.
South African Branden Grace
put together an exciting charge
into contention in the PGA, and
he is rewarded with a return to the
world’s top 10.
WORLD GOLF TOP 20
ON AUGUST 1:
1. Jason Day (AUS) 14.08 average pts
2. Dustin Johnson (USA) 11.30
3. Jordan Spieth (USA) 10.67
4. Rory McIlroy (NIR) 9.02
5. Henrik Stenson (SWE) 8.95
6. Bubba Watson (USA) 6.86
7. Rickie Fowler (USA) 6.40
8. Adam Scott (AUS) 6.37
9. Danny Willett (ENG) 5.96
10. Branden Grace (RSA) 5.64 (+2)
11. Sergio Garcia (ESP) 5.42 (-1)
12. Justin Rose (ENG) 5.27 (-1)
13. Phil Mickelson (USA) 5.12
14. Patrick Reed (USA) 4.81
15. Jimmy Walker (USA) 4.54 (+33)
16. Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 4.50 (-1)
17. Brooks Koepka (USA) 4.46 (+1)
18. Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) 4.45
(+1)
19. JB Holmes (USA) 4.34 (-3)
20. Matt Kuchar (USA) 4.30 (-3)
The defending world champion has recovered
a 43-point deficit to his Mercedes team-mate
Rosberg with six wins in seven races
Hamilton looking for
bigger gap over Rosberg
HOCKENHEIM, Germany: Lewis
Hamilton was all smiles after opening
up a 19-point lead in the drivers’ world
championship, but said he will not feel as
if he has regained the initiative until he has
an advantage of 25 points.
The defending world champion
has recovered a 43-point deficit to his
Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg with
six wins in seven races and clearly has the
momentum.
But he said he is acutely aware that as
a result of his mechanical problems in the
opening four races of the season, when
German Rosberg won all four in a row,
he will almost certainly have to suffer an
engine penalty.
That, he and Mercedes hope, can be
done at the Belgian Grand Prix on August
28 or at the Italian race a week later at
Monza.
“It feels good to be in front and it is
definitely a different feeling to being just
six points ahead,” the three-time world
champion told reporters. “I’m very happy
with that.
“But I’m conscious as well that there’s
going to be at least one more race where
I’m further behind and I don’t know how
much I’m going to be able to limit the
damage.
“There are all these different things I
could be faced with — Nico could enjoy a
Sunday drive and I’m going to be battling
through a lot of different people from the
back.
“Now, the Red Bulls have picked up
their pace and it might be difficult to
get past them, to even get into the top
five. I’m conscious of that.”
His worry has led him to believe
he needs a bigger buffer before he can
regard himself as the outright leader.
“Do I feel like I’m ahead? It’s still
not enough because I’m not a race win
ahead yet. I hope I’ll be able to get a
race win ahead and then I’ll feel like I
am ahead.”
His 49th career victory on Sunday
came with relative ease after Rosberg
had a bad start from pole position.
That allowed him to nurse his car,
and particularly the engine, through the
race.
“I turned down my engine pretty
much from the second or third lap,” he
said. “So when I was told it was ‘hammer
time’ I was able to switch it back on and
increase the gap when needed.” — AFP
‘Let’s go’ — World Cup winner Goetze returns to Dortmund
BERLIN: Germany’s World Cup winner
Mario Goetze relished his return to Borussia
Dortmund’s pre-season training on Monday for
the first time after three barren years at Bayern
Munich.
Alongside fellow new signings Andre
Schuerrle and Raphael Guerreiro, Goetze was put
through his paces with a series of fitness tests at
Bochum University by Borussia’s backroom staff.
The trio joined a group of six players returning
from their holidays after international duty
including Poland’s Lukasz Piszczek, Julian Weigl
and South Korean Park Joo-Ho.
“Finally, let’s go,” wrote Goetze on his Twitter
account under a picture of the Germany star on
a treadmill.
His first training session with the full
Dortmund squad takes place on Wednesday with
Borussia to host his former club Bayern for the
German Super Cup on August 14.
Goetze left Dortmund for arch-rivals Bayern
at the end of the 2012/13 season and lived up to
his billing as a rising Germany star by volleying
home Schuerrle’s cross in extra-time for the
winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final against
Argentina.
But he has endured three unproductive years
at Bayern, mainly spent on the bench or injured,
having failed to impress coach Pep Guardiola or
hold down a first-team place, despite collecting
three back-to-back Bundesliga winner’s medals.
Having paid 37 million euros ($41.31m)
for Goetze in 2013, Bayern sold him back to
Dortmund for 26 million last month and the
24-year-old has plenty to prove again in the black
and yellow shirt.
Likewise, Schuerrle needs some good
performances after 18 months at Wolfsburg,
having failed to impress on his return from
an unsuccessful spell at Chelsea, and has been
signed by Dortmund for around 30 million
euros.
“At the end of the day, it’s primarily about
one thing for both of them: performance,
performance, performance,” Dortmund’s
director of sport Michael Zorc told Kicker
magazine. “Neither Mario nor Andre have had
top years behind them and they have not taken
the easy path.
“For them, it’s clear that they will be
scrutinised in the public eye.”
Having come up through Dortmund’s
academy, only to turn his back to join Bayern,
Goetze could encounter some hostility from
Dortmund’s fans, at least initially.
“If some people feel compelled to boo him,
they should do it,” Dortmund CEO HansJoachim Watzke said on the subject of Goetze’s
return, with their first game of the league
season at home to Mainz on August 27.
“We have a democracy. But I’ll react like an
allergy when someone is personally insulted.
“That doesn’t do anyone any good.”
Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel says his
goal is to see Goetze ‘laugh again’ with good
performances, after scowling his way through
the last few months in Munich.
Tuchel has also added Portugal left-back
Guerreiro, midfielder Sebastian Rode, former
Barcelona defender Marc Bartra and exciting
teenage striker Ousmane Dembele.
Schuerrle is a direct replacement for
Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who has left to join
Manchester United, as Dortmund try to
end Bayern’s four-year stranglehold on
the Bundesliga title with Carlo Ancelotti
now in charge of the Munich giants.
— AFP
nis
Wawrinka fourth in latest ATP rankings
Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland moved into fourth place in Monday’s ATP rankings after his
semifinal finish in the Toronto Masters. Serb Novak Djokovic retains top spot after beating
Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the Toronto final.
tennis
i
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
T U E S DAY l A U G U S T 2 l 2 0 1 6
27
Masterful Djokovic takes
TORONTO TITLE
COMMANDING
SHOW: The world
No. 1 claims his
fourth Canadian
crown after
thrashing Nishikori
in 90 minutes
TORONTO, Canada: Minutes after completing
a 6-3, 7-5 ATP Toronto Masters final win over
Kei Nishikori on Sunday for his 66th career title,
Novak Djokovic had already shifted his focus to
the Rio Olympics.
The world number one, who claimed his fourth
Canadian title with a command performance over
Asia’s top player lasting less than 90 minutes, will
waste no time in heading south to Brazil for the
weekend start of the Summer Games.
“It’s the biggest event in the history of the sport,
so to be part of it is already a huge privilege and
honour that I will cherish, as I did in Beijing and
London Olympic Games,” said the holder of a
leading 30 Masters 1000 trophies.
“I had an honour of carrying the flag for my
country in London 2012, one of the most unique
and unforgettable moments of my life. So I look
forward to that, honestly, just being part of it.”
“I’m approaching the Olympic Games as any
other tournament. I’m trying to respect the same
kind of preparation and routine that I have with
my team and that I have respected for so many
years.”
“It has worked well for us this week and as most
of the other weeks the last couple of years.”
Djokovic lifted his game in Canada as the week
progressed, sweeping to the title without the loss
of a set and dispatching challenges from Gael
Monfils in the semis followed by Japan’s Nishikori.
“The overall sensation (of Rio) is not going to
be the same as the other tournaments, because it’s
Olympic Games,” he said. “Of course you represent
your country.
“You get to feel that you’re part of something
much larger than just the tennis event. I look
forward to that.
“I’m going to try to extract that positivity out of
that huge attention and energy that will be directed
into the Olympic Games and hopefully put myself
in a position to battle for a medal.”
Djokovic won a bronze medal in Beijing and
just missed the podium in London, losing to
Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro in the bronze
medal match.
‘EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON’
Sunday’s title erased memories of a thirdround Wimbledon upset loss a month ago to Sam
Querrey.
“Everything in life happens for a reason. The
fact that I have lost in the first week of Wimbledon
allowed me to have a week more of the time with
my family and just the quality time off the tennis,
thinking about other things, recharging my
batteries, and then coming in here with plenty of
motivation to do well.
“I couldn’t ask for a better start to the hard
court season, and hopefully I can keep going in
the right direction.”
Djokovic won his seventh trophy this season.
“It has happened many times in my career
where I would start a tournament still feeling a
little bit uncomfortable on the court and finding
my rhythm, and then in the end of the tournament
I find that proper comfort level with shots, with
the way I feel, with mental attitude.
“My two best performances arrived in semifinals and finals — the right moment for me.
“That gives me a lot of confidence that I will try
to carry into Rio.” —AFP
Romanian clinches third WTA title this year,
rises to third in rankings
Halep beats erratic Keys
to win Rogers Cup
MONTREAL: Fifth seed Simona Halep
of Romania took advantage of an errorprone display by American Madison
Keys to claim her 14th WTA title with
a 7-6(2), 6-3 victory in the Rogers Cup
final in Montreal on Sunday.
Halep, 24, won an erratic opening
set that featured eight breaks of serve
after breezing through the tiebreak, and
then broke her 10th-seeded opponent
again in the second game of the second
set to tighten her grip.
Keys was unable to break the
Romanian in the concluding set and
Halep served out to seal the win in one
hour 16 minutes after the 21-year-old
American dumped a forehand into the
net.
It was an especially sweet victory for
Halep, who reached last year’s Rogers
Cup final in Toronto against rising
Swiss talent Belinda Bencic but had to
retire in the third set due to a leg injury.
“It means a lot, it was really nice
to win today,” Halep told ESPN in a
courtside interview. “I had, I can say,
bad memories from last year that I had
to finish the match and to stop it, so I
am happy that I could win.
“I feel tired, I feel that I have no more
power but it’s a nice feeling and I gave it
everything to win this title.”
Halep improved her career record
against Keys to 3-1, having beaten
the American over three sets in their
most recent meeting at Wimbledon
earlier this month, and will rise to third
when the world rankings are issued on
Monday.
The match was effectively decided in
the first set tiebreak after both players
had produced nervy, erratic tennis over
the first 12 games.
The big-serving Keys, who is also
known for her powerful game from
the baseline, made a string of unforced
errors to gift Halep a 6-1 lead in the tiebreak before losing the opening set after
hitting a backhand wide.
Halep never looked back, winning
the first six points of the second set on
her way to a third WTA title this year.
“She hits very strong and it’s really
tough to return her balls but I knew that
I have to be strong on my legs,” counter
puncher Halep said of her strategy
against Keys.
“I tried, I just wanted to be a little
bit aggressive but I couldn’t. In the end,
I just wanted to be solid. I did it and
it was a great win for me against her.”
— Reuters
Simona Halep of Romania hits a return to Madison Keys of the United States
during their Rogers Cup final match at Uniprix Stadium in Montreal. — AFP
The freestyle wrestler had said his supplements and water had been sabotaged and lodged a police complaint against a junior wrestler
Narsingh cleared of doping to keep his Rio hopes alive
MUMBAI: India’s Narsingh Yadav
was exonerated of doping charges on
Monday after an Indian anti-doping
disciplinary panel ruled that there was
no fault or negligence on the part of
the wrestler and he was a victim of
“sabotage”.
Yadav, who secured India a berth at
the Rio Games in the 74kg category by
winning a bronze medal at last year’s
world championships in Las Vegas,
tested positive for a banned steroid last
month but now waits to hear whether he
has been granted an Olympics lifeline.
“There is no fault or negligence on
the athlete’s part and he is a victim of
sabotage,” National Anti-Doping Agency
(Nada) director-general, Navin Agarwal,
said by phone. The freestyle wrestler had
said his supplements and water had been
sabotaged and lodged a police complaint
against a junior wrestler accusing him
of contaminating his food at the Sports
Authority of India training centre in
Sonepat.
“I want to thank everyone who
Indian
wrestler
Narsingh
Yadav
leaves
the
National
AntiDoping
Agency
in New
Delhi.
— AFP
supported me. It’s a triumph for truth,”
Yadav told reporters. “Now I want to go
to Rio and bring back a medal for India.”
Yadav’s Olympic berth was initially
put in jeopardy when Sushil Kumar,
who won bronze in the 66kg category
in Beijing in 2008 and silver in London,
moved up a weight after his category was
scrapped and sought a court order for a
bout between the pair to determine who
should go to Rio.
Last month, the Delhi High Court
ruled against Kumar, the only Indian
athlete to win two individual Olympic
medals, clearing the way for Yadav to
compete in Rio. The qualification row
divided opinion in the country and
Yadav was provided police security, a
rare measure for an Indian athlete, at
the Sports Authority of India training
centre at Sonepat due to possible threats
to his life. Following the positive test,
the Wrestling Federation of India
(WFI) had provisionally sent the name
of Parveen Rana as replacement for
Rio to the United World Wrestling
(UWW) but said it would now approach
the governing body to allow Yadav to
compete at the Olympics.
“We will write to both Wada and
the UWW to allow Narsingh Yadav to
compete at the Rio Games,” Brij Bhushan
Sharan Singh told reporters.
“I am sure Narsingh Yadav will go to
Rio and win a medal for India.”
Men’s freestyle wrestling starts in Rio
from August 19, which the WFI said
gives ample time for the wrestler to be
reinstated. — Reuters
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Sane undergoes medical with City
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
Leroy Sane underwent a medical check with Manchester City on Monday, his club
Schalke 04 has confirmed, with the imminent deal reportedly worth a record 50 million
euros ($55.8m). If the transfer goes through, and hits the 50 million mark, it would make
Sane, 20, the most expensive German signing of all time.
T U E S DAY l A U G U ST 2 l 2 0 1 6
KINGSTON, JAMAICA: Lokesh
Rahul’s Test-best 158 anchored
India’s formidable reply to the West
Indies first innings total of 196 as the
hosts reached 358 for five at stumps
on the second day of the second Test
at Sabina Park in Jamaica on Sunday.
Leading 1-0 in the four-match
series, the tourists enjoy a lead of 162
runs with five wickets in hand.
Making the most of a recall to the
team as replacement for the injured
Murali Vijay, Rahul interspersed
moments of rare aggression with
long periods of watchful defiance
over his near seven-hour occupation
of the crease in compiling his third
hundred in just six Tests.
Resuming on the second
morning on 75 in partnership with
Cheteshwar Pujara, he hoisted parttime off spinner Roston Chase for
the first six of the innings over longon to reach three figures after 90
minutes’ play.
There were two more sixes
in the mid-afternoon session to
embellish an innings that spanned
303 deliveries and also included 15
fours.
“It was hard to get runs today
and it was also really, really hot,”
said Rahul reflecting on his first Test
innings in a year.
“I was really enjoying my batting
even though they were bowling a lot
better today.”
He put on 121 for the second
wicket with Pujara, who was run
out for 46 after lunch by Chase’s
direct throw to the stumps at the
non-striker’s end. That was the
only success for a limited West
Indies attack through the first two
sessions of the day as they struggled
to offer any consistent threat to
batsmen well equipped technically
and temperamentally for the
requirements of the day, especially
after India had taken such a firm
grip on the match by the end of day
one.
Virat Kohli, in top form following
a career-best 200 in the first Test
triumph in Antigua a week earlier,
seemed in the mood to deepen the
home side’s dilemma.
He helped Rahul add 69 runs
FORMIDABLE REPLY: Rahul hits Test-best
158 as the tourists enjoy a lead of 162 runs with
five wickets in hand against the Windies
RAHUL
PUTS INDIA
IN CONTROL
Lokesh Rahul of India follows through his shot for 4 runs off West Indies
bowler Jason Holder on day 2 of the second Test in Kingston. — AFP
Lehmann extends contract as
Australia coach to 2019
MUMBAI: Darren Lehmann has
extended his contact as Australia’s head
coach until 2019 to cover the World Cup
and the Ashes series in England that
year, the country’s cricket board (CA)
said on Monday.
The 46-year-old former left-handed
batsman took on the role on the eve of
the 2013 Ashes and despite losing 3-0
in England, he went on to guide the
team to series wins over South Africa,
England, India, New Zealand and West
Indies. He also won the 2015 World
Cup on home soil with Australia, who
currently top the ICC rankings in both
Test and one-day international cricket.
Lehmann’s contract was due to expire
in June 2017.
“I am incredibly grateful for the
support and faith the Cricket Australia
Board and the players have put in me,”
Lehmann said in a statement from CA.
“I absolutely love doing this job and as
far as I am concerned, it is the best job
in the world. “There is still a lot I would
like to achieve in the time I have left and
we have a lot of hard work ahead of us,
especially with an upcoming Test series
in India and a home Ashes series.
“I don’t just see my job as winning
games of cricket. It’s about continuing to
grow the game from the grassroots up in
Australia, and helping to grow the game
worldwide.”
Australia are trailing 1-0 in a threeTest series in Sri Lanka and face a
daunting four-match series in India
next year.
Cricket Australia said the contract
extension would lend stability to the
team leading into 2019.
“We wanted certainty and stability
for the playing group with both the
coach and assistant coach contracted as
we build towards the Ashes series and
the 2019 World Cup,” said CA executive
general manager Pat Howard.
“Darren has had great success in the
role and he and the national selection
panel deserve a huge amount of credit
for taking a relatively young side to
number one in the world in two of the
three formats.” — Reuters
US ROUT VENEZUELA IN OLYMPIC BASKETBALL TUNE-UP
CHICAGO: Kyrie Irving scored 13
points as the US basketball team
improved to 4-0 in their run up to the
Rio Olympics with an 80-45 exhibition
win over Venezuela.
Klay Thompson also scored 13
points for the Americans, who cruised
to victory despite shooting 42.4 per
cent, below the 49.8 per cent averaged
over their first three tune-up games.
Team US also committed 13 turnovers
in the game in front of a crowd of
20,578 at the United Center in Chicago.
DeMarcus Cousins tallied seven
points and 12 rebounds, while Kevin
Durant made three-of-nine and
finished with nine points.
Team USA led 13-12 well into the
first quarter before breaking the game
open with a 12-0 surge. They then
closed the half with eight unanswered
points. John Cox led all scorers with
14 points, including 12 in the first
half. Venezuela was unable to take
advantage of some spotty shooting by
the Americans. — AFP
for the third wicket going into the
final session of the day when the
opener’s innings ended in somewhat
controversial circumstances as
lengthy deliberation involving the
television umpire was needed before
he was ruled caught by wicketkeeper
Shane Dowrich down the leg-side
off fast bowler Shannon Gabriel.
Chase snared his second wicket,
the prized scalp of Kohli, when the
Indian captain fell to a sharp catch
by Rajendra Chandrika at short-leg
for 44 and leg-spinner Devendra
Bishoo earned an LBW verdict
against Ravichandran Ashwin.
At that stage, India had lost three
wickets for 50 runs at 327 for five,
a veritable collapse in the context of
their virtual impregnability through
the first six hours of the innings.
“I’m a batsman more than a
bowler but I’m looking at developing
my all-round game,” said Chase at
the end of the day when he again
featured prominently with his offspin.
“The selectors spoke to me about
it and advised that I shouldn’t be a
one-track player so I’m working on
my bowling especially.”
Notwithstanding
the
midinnings wobble, India remain firmly
in control with Ajinkya Rahane and
wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman
Saha unbeaten at the close and
together with the rest of the batting
will be seeking to play the West
Indies completely out of the match
on the third day. — AFP
SCOREBOARD
West Indies 1st Innings 196
India 1st Innings
(overnight 126 for 1)
KL Rahul c wkpr Dowrich b Gabriel ----- 158
S Dhawan c Bravo b Chase -------------------- 27
C Pujara run out ------------------------------------ 46
V Kohli c Chandrika b Chase ------------- ---- 44
A Rahane not out ---------------------------------- 42
R Ashwin lbw Bishoo ------------------------------- 3
W Saha not out -------------------------------------- 17
Extras (b-8, lb-1, w-5, nb-7) 21
Total (125 overs, 5 wkts) 358
Fall of wickets: 1-87, 2-208, 3-277,
4-310, 5-327
Bowling: S Gabriel 23-8-50-1, M
Cummins 15.4-3-54-0, J Holder 23.2-9-490, R Chase 29-3-91-2, D Bishoo 25-3-79-1,
K Brathwaite 9-0-26-0
LOCAL FLAVOUR
Holiday Cricket Club to hold OCP Corporate Cup on Aug 19
MUSCAT: Holiday Cricket Club (HCC)
will hold the second edition of Oman
Concrete Product LLC (OCP) Corporate
cup cricket on August 19.
The tennis ball cricket tournament
with 6-over matches will be held at the
HCC Ground at Wadi Adai.
Ten Corporate teams will get the
chance to participate. Only players from
the same companies or from same
sponsors are allowed to represent for
the teams.
For registration and details contact
Akshath-96420350 or Aamir-99259518.
The tournament will commence and
end on August 19 at 6.30 am at HCC
Ground at Wadi Adai.
Registration is restricted to only
10 corporate teams. Corporate teams
should have their own players, means
from only one sponsor. No players from
outside are permitted.
The tournament will be played on
a knock-out basis and each inning will
be of 6 over’s. The number of over’s per
bowler in the tournament is restricted
to 1.
All ICC rules to be followed including
free hit for the over stepping.
Teams interested in participating
should hand over their registration
forms along with the entry fee of RO 40
before August 21. The draw will be held
at HCC Ground on August 12 at 8.30 am.
The winners will get the champions
trophy and cash awards of RO100 along
with individual medals.
The runner-up will get the trophy,
cash awards of RO 50 and individual
medals.
Man of the series will get cash award
worth RO 20. Best batsman and best
bowler will get cash awards of RO10
each.
Man of the match will be presented a
gift for each match.
Sur take title in Al Kamil W’al Wafi cricket tourney
MUSCAT: Sur Club emerged champions
in the community cricket championship
at the sub-stadium in Al Kamil W’al
Wafi under the patronage of Tariq bin
Salim al Hashemi, the head of Al Kamil
W’al Wafi club, in presence of cricket
enthusiasts in Al Sharqiyah South
Governorate.
The championship was organised
with the initiative of Basatin Al Wafi
institution, which oversaw the Al Kamil
W’al Wafi club. The final match was
between Sur club’s team and Gold team.
After the conclusion of the match, Tariq
bin Salim al Hashemi, the patron of the
occasion, crowned the winners. He
handed over the championship cup
for the first place and honoured the
organisers of the tournament.
Eight teams from various
communities in South Sharqiyah took
part in the tournament. The teams were
drawn into 4 teams in two groups. The
first group included Sur Club team, Al
Kamil W’al Wafi team, Al Njum team, and
the TT team. The second group included
Shaheen team, Al Dahab team, Bengali
team and India team.
Sur club, Al Dahab, Al Njum and
Shaheen teams qualified for the final
rounds with solid performances during
the first round of the tournament. From
the first group, Sur Club team and Al
Dahab team topped the group, while Al
Njum and Shaheen topped the second
group. Finally, Sur Club team beat Al
Dahab team in the final.
Tariq al Hashemi said cricket in
the Sultanate has a prominent role in
the sports development. He said the
tournament will be followed by other
editions in the coming years.
insideOman
The Manhattan Project
This day in 1939, Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard wrote a letter to Franklin D Roosevelt,
urging him to begin the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project was a research
and development project that produced the first nuclear weapons during World War
II.
@ localdestination
features
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
T U E S DAY l A U G U S T 2 l 2 0 1 6
29
Photos by Yelena Glukhovtseva
The falaj keeper of
LIZAGH
Q RAY PETERSEN
M
y father came to me two years ago, said
Rashid Said al Nidabi, and said to me, “Son,
my time is finished. I am no longer able to
do this job, so now it must pass to you.”
And with that, Rashid became a Wakeel, or
‘disposer of affairs’ for his local falaj, a falaj keeper by any
other name.
In Nidabi’s case, it is a hereditary position, and he shares
the responsibility for management of the local falaj with
Hamood bin Mohammed al Husseini, on the basis that,
at all times, one of them is the Wakeel, or controller of all
affairs to do with the falaj, effectively, the man in charge.
It is a very high profile, and responsible, position within
the Lizagh hierarchy, and Nidabi feels that, “although it is,
certainly, a great responsibility, it is also an honour for our
families, to do this work.”
They are the Wakeel, for the town of Lizagh, near
Bidbid, a region that was, until recently quite small, with
a population measured in the hundreds, but now, ponders
Rashid, “maybe ten thousand people live here?”
The Sharia al Falaj, as the underground part of the falaj
is known, runs for approximately 3 kms, serviced by a series
of narrow access shafts.
The maintenance of the falaj in this section only, is
subsidized by the government said Nidabi, “partly for
heritage reasons, but also on the basis of servicing the
practical needs of the community.”
It can be dangerous work servicing the falaj in such
confined spaces, and most of the maintenance and servicing
is done during the winter,” he said, “as it is much cooler
underground.” This section begins under the mountains, in
an underground spring, and the emerges into the open falaj
channels, near the Mosque in the heart of Lizagh.
Originally, there were a lot of divided, personal areas, like
shower cubicles, along the falaj, however Nidabi explained
that, “the demand for privacy is not so common now, and
most people see using the falaj as more a rite, or a tradition
to be kept, so there are not so many, but we still do have
alternately for men and women, along the falaj.”
The water is used progressively for drinking, washing
for prayer, domestic washing, and finally agricultural
cultivation purposes.
Ëven though this water is beautifully cool and clear,”
Nidabi observed, “Not many people drink from the falaj
because they need to, they do it more as a tradition, and
to maintain their hereditary right to do so.” He laughed as
he said that most people today of course use their Oasis or
Spring water in the big bottles.
The Muhathara, is the name given to a specific area in
the village where allocation of the ability of different families
to draw water from the falaj takes place in a traditional
manner. A tall rod is placed in the centre of the area, and
stone markers are placed to indicate the time according to
the sun, during daylight, or the stars during the night. Each
period of time is known as an Athar.
*
Of course, the most visible sign of the falaj is the large
plantation, with trees that may be as old as 100 years.
Nasser al Nidabi, a son of the Wakeel, effortlessly scales a
tall date palm, demonstrating skill, agility, and not a little
composure. He has been climbing trees in this way, he
told me, “since I was six or eight years old.” Another son,
Amjad, looks on enviously, wishing he too could show his
skills, but the niceties and priorities must be observed, and
it is Amjad’s task to also demonstrate how the course of the
water, throughout the falaj channels, can be changed.
Dates of many varieties are grown here. Most
importantly, says Salim al Husseini, an engineering student
with an interest in the falaj, is the Fardh date palm, the most
expensive in Oman.
“It is important to this area,” he said, “as it is featured on
the Samayil crest, or logo.” They even told us of a cargo of
this variety of dates that were lost in a shipwreck, and were
only recovered after one year at the bottom of the sea, and
still had all of their renowned flavour.
There were also many trees laden with the striking red
Khasab date, local bananas, lemons, and of course the
ubiquitous fodder and greenfeed grasses for goats and
sheep.
Nidabi considers that his village, and the falaj operation,
is one of the more progressive and diverse in the Sultanate.
They have a management and development plan for the
extension and replacement of falaj channels, and are also
experimenting with different forms of gating, in order to
maximize the efficient use of water, both in the cultivated
area, and for domestic purposes. Water quality is important
too, and Rashid monitors the water quality regularly.
He is also proud of ongoing links with the global
conservation organisation, Earthwatch, with whom he says
they have, “an excellent relationship, as we are working
together to retain, not only the traditional methods of taking
water from nature, but also ways to conserve the water.”
There is also a burgeoning aquaponics and hydroponics trial
taking place, in a joint venture operation between Omani
and United Kingdom research entities.
Nidabi explained too, the system of selling water (Al
Marhoona), booking water rights for the next day (Al
Shariya), and division between domestic (Al Quad), and
agricultural (Badat Al Shriya) use. It is obviously a very
traditional, if somewhat convoluted, system of water
distribution and management that has remained in place for
centuries, and has historically been conducted in the shade
of a Mango tree next to the Masjid al Hadri, at the extent of
the falaj catchment, which is known as Al Nahad.
Nidabi wistfully surveyed the tall mango as he explained
that, “many years ago I learned the Holy Quran under this
tree, and now I am here daily doing the work for my village.
I never thought of this when I was a boy, because the Wakeel
was so important. We just never know where life will take
us, do we?” he asked, “today, I am that man, and so proud.”
Rashid Said al Nidabi is a man proud to have a position of
responsibility, with links to both his community, and his
Omani heritage, a Wakeel, a Falaj Keeper!
crossword
CRYPTIC PUZZLE
ACROSS
1 Pass the intersection (5)
6 Put away with a quiet cry of
pain (5)
9 Encourage to listen to a
number (7)
10 Doing, more or less (5)
11 One of a pair of Londoners
starting for New York (5)
12 In America, a place of cheer
(5)
13 A ton at a time (7)
15 Water meadow (3)
17 She may open up
enlighteningly (4)
18 Considering what filmgoers
are doing (6)
19 Not horse-flies, but they
worry some mustangs (5)
20 Army band (6)
22 Something infesting rope,
string, etc.? (4)
24 Shelter thus endlessly rebuilt
(3)
25 Such a settlement can provide
the little woman with cover
(7)
26 Is his name unknown outside
the capital of Turkey? (5)
27 Aimed to use a low tee (5)
28 Glamorgan boy? (5)
29 Deadly dull outside, perhaps
(7)
30 Called for some baskets on
Dec. 1st (5)
31 One guilty of timely
procrastination? (5)
22 It helps to fertilise some
potatoes, on the quiet (6)
23 Rare? Hardly! (6)
25 Name of a delta or island (5)
26 Possibly a net amount of
money (4)
28 Objection to a rise in tube
fares (3)
DOWN
2 Series of games apt to cause
friction (6)
3 Collisions on the railway? (6)
4 Clique of match-makers? (3)
5 In this lane, it’s not raining for
about half an hour (5)
6 Little change (7)
7 Stone, as from Saxony maybe
(4)
8 Preferred to go to church with
a broken nose (6)
12 That which is borne can be
burnt (5)
13 See a measure as a sure-fire
success (5)
14 Thing broken in the darkness
(5)
15 Survivor from the abattoir?
(5)
16 It’s hard, getting an article at
EASY PUZZLE
ACROSS
1 Sharp (5)
6 Card game (5)
9 Egyptian king (7)
10 Weasel-like mammal (5)
11 Banquet (5)
12 Conceited (5)
13 Obedient (7)
15 Colour (3)
17 Of the ear (4)
18 Ripen (6)
19 Month (5)
20 Painfully (6)
22 Secure (4)
24 Epoch (3)
25 Scary film (7)
26 Lawful, informally (5)
27 Shoulder movement (5)
28 Faint (5)
29 Umpire (7)
gun-point (5)
18 It can keep the flies out of
your drink (5)
19 Allowed an old lady to take a
little boy (7)
21 KO shots? (6)
30 Finished (5)
31 Salvers (5)
DOWN
2 Eliminate (3,3)
3 Very sad (6)
4 Consume (3)
5 Gemstone (5)
6 Denial (7)
7 Second-hand (4)
8 Control (6)
12 Young dog (5)
13 Extinguish (5)
14 Jewelled headdress (5)
15 Rustic (5)
16 Postpone (5)
18 Power (5)
19 Suggested (7)
21 Parentless child (6)
22 Less quick (6)
23 Crime (6)
25 Apple drink (5)
26 Entice (4)
28 Ready (3)
17, I-ris 18, Makers 19, Ocean
20, Empire (State) 22, A-Ida 24,
Ray 25, Stilt-on 26, S-hut-S 27,
Mas-AI 28, Felix 29, Id-eal-ly 30,
Wells 31, Osier.
DOWN: 2, O-liver 3, Acorns
4, Not 5, A-NG-U.S. 6, Pelican
(crossing) 7, O-res. 8, Canter 12,
Trice 13, Tiger 14, Nippy 15, LeGI-t 16, A-swan 18, Mas-t-s 19,
Orchids 21, Manage 22, Alleys
23, Do-CI-le 25, St.-ray 26, Sail
28, Flo.
YESTERDAY’S EASY
SOLUTIONS
ACROSS: 1, Sweat 6, Feast 9,
Contour 10, Slice 11, Rolls 12,
Beats 13, Cordial 15, Ace 17, Epee
18, Fester 19, Cheer 20, Stable
22, Halo 24, Eat 25, Adviser 26,
Omits 27, Spine 28, Adage 29,
Unhinge 30, Trust 31, Entry.
DOWN: 2, Wallop 3, Accede 4,
Toe 5, Steel 6, Further 7, Eros 8,
YESTERDAY’S CRYPTIC
Solace 12, Bathe 13, Cease 14,
SOLUTIONS
Resat 15, Atlas 16, Error 18,
ACROSS: 1, Wotan 6, Pooch 9, Feeds 19, Clement 21, Tamper
Count-ER 10, Pi-lot 11, Lea-NT 22, Hidden 23, Ledger 25, Attic
12, Tu-N-is 13, Tenners 15, Lea 26, Onus 28, Age.
international
features
@
30
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
T U E S DAY l A U G U ST 2 l 2 0 1 6
First cable car on Clay Street
This day in 1873, the Clay Street Hill Railroad began operating the first cable
car in San Francisco’s famous cable car system. The railroad was designated as
California Historical Landmark #500, with the landmark marker being placed at
the site of its eastern terminus near the corner of Clay Street and Kearny.
reallife
Meet Nigeria’s curious
Cupid — matchmaking for
HIV patients looking for love
@ worldcheck
#China
3,000-year-old tree found in China
A
rare Chinese yew tree, believed to be about 3,000 years old, was
discovered in Jilin province, authorities said on Sunday.
The living tree, located in Huanggou Forest, is more than
40 metres tall and has a diameter of 1.68 metres, Xinhua news
agency quoted Yang Yongsheng, head of the forest administration, as
saying.
The tree was among the more than 30 Chinese yew trees discovered
earlier this week in the forest.
Called a “living fossil” of the plant world, the Chinese yew has existed
for 2.5 million years.
Since many of the trees have been harvested to extract taxol, used to
treat cancer, the species is now under first-grade national protection for
endangered plants. — IANS
#United States
Ugochukwu Michael has some 7,000 clients — aged 19 to 72, all HIV positive, and
six in seven of them women — and has played a role in 100 marriages in recent
years
S
itting in his dimly-lit office in the Nigerian
capital of Abuja, surrounded by files and
boxes of condoms, matchmaker Ugochukwu
Michael talks passionately about the part he
has played in the marriages of around 100
couples in recent years.
While the popularity of dating apps and websites may
make Michael’s efforts to play Cupid seem old-fashioned,
his matchmaking service stands out from the rest.
All of his clients are living with HIV.
“Sometimes, I spend days without sleeping,” he said,
his phone ringing non-stop as he explained how most
calls come in the middle of the night when it is cheaper
to call.
The 45-year-old started his service in 2012 with the
desire to help those he describes as Nigeria’s “rejects” after
becoming disillusioned with widespread stigma towards
people with HIV.
Michael says he has some 7,000 clients on the books,
ranging in age from 19 to 72. Six in seven of them are
women.
He charges a one-off fee of 2,000 naira ($6) for people
who work, but his service is free for the unemployed.
“You will see a lot of improvement,” Michael tells one
caller. “Let’s see how it will be before the end of the month.”
The prevalence of HIV among adults in Nigeria is
relatively low for sub-Saharan Africa, around one in 30
compared to one in five in South Africa, said the UNAIDS
programme UNAIDS.
Yet discrimination towards Nigeria’s some 3.5 million
HIV-positive people is rife, and many struggle to enter
university or find work, health experts and human rights
activists say.
“Stigma is the obstacle to achieving the 90-9090 agenda,” John Idoko, director-general of Nigeria’s
National Agency for the Control of Aids (NACA), told the
Thomson Reuters Foundation.
By 2020, UNAIDS wants 90 per cent of people with
HIV to know their status, 90 per cent of diagnosed people
to be on treatment, and 90 per cent of those on treatment
to have suppressed levels of the virus in their bodies.
“HIV-POSITIVE SUGAR MUMMY”
After a failed attempt to migrate to Europe six years
ago and the loss of his life savings from his job as a
technician, Michael decided to volunteer with a Catholic
organisation.
Helping out at a state hospital where nurses were
reluctant to get too close to HIV-positive patients made
Michael aware of the discrimination they faced daily.
“I encouraged the patients to help one another do
things, like go to the toilet, since they all had one thing
in common.”
When the threat of Boko Haram forced him to move
from the northeastern city of Damaturu to Abuja in 2012,
Michael decided the time was right to launch his HIV
matchmaking service.
Weary of trying to persuade government agencies to
invest in his idea, he headed out into the streets of Abuja
at night, hanging up around 100 banners to advertise his
project.
“By the following morning, my phone started ringing
— so many people were calling me,” Michael said,
scrolling through the dozens of texts he receives from his
clients each day.
Some of the texts ask for medical or fertility advice,
while one comes from a man looking for an “HIV-positive
sugar mummy”.
Yet not everyone approves of Michael’s matchmaking
efforts.
When people started tearing the banners down,
Michael turned to bright red spray paint. Signs reading:
“HIV positive? Need husband/wife?” can be seen
alongside many major roads in Abuja.
“Strangers call me to express disdain for my work ...
they accuse me of encouraging promiscuity,” said the
husband and father-of five, who declined to disclose if he
has HIV or not.
HEALTH BEFORE LOVE
After an initial telephone conversation, most of
Michael’s clients insist on coming to see him in person to
talk further.
“When they come, we just sit and chat,” he said, adding
that many of his patients are suicidal because of their HIV
status.
Beyond setting up dates, Michael also ensures
that every person he works with is registered with a
specific hospital and that they are regularly taking their
antiretroviral drugs.
“I cannot match-make anyone who is not on drugs
— it is a lot of risk,” Michael said, sitting in his office in
front of a decorative wall hanging that reads: ‘May hope
encourage you’.
Michael also provides his clients with free condoms
and booklets about HIV, and teaches them about safe sex.
For people seeking medical advice, he refers them to a
doctor.
Although based in Abuja, a photo of his advert posted
on Facebook means people stretching from Rivers state
in the south to the Borno in the northeast have signed up
looking for love.
Flicking through several folders, Michael explains how
he has a separate file for clients who have started seeing
each other, another for those who have graduated to a
serious relationship, and a different one for those who
have married.
“I never attend weddings, he said, explaining how he
was once embarrassed by the recognition he received at
the marriage ceremony of one of the couples who met
through his matchmaking.
In March this year, the Nigerian government signed into
law a new version of the HIV/Aids Anti-Discrimination
Act, which is designed to make it easier to understand.
Yet Michael said the law has had no impact on his
service, or the thousands of HIV-positive people that he
works with.
“Many people don’t even know where to access drugs,”
he said. “They hear about these things but have no
information.
“The enlightenment is not there — it is just not there.”
— Thomson Reuters Foundation
That’s how our brain makes risky
decisions
I
dentifying a region of the brain involved in decisions made under
conditions of uncertainty, scientists have explained what goes on
inside our heads as we decide whether to take a risk or play it safe.
In everyday lives, people often have to make a choice between a
safe option and a better, but riskier, option. However, when this system of
evaluating risk in the brain goes awry, it can severely impact an individual’s
life.
The findings showed that a group of value-coding neurons in ventral
pallidum — part of the brain that plays an important role in controlling
levels of dopamine — a molecule that transmits signals between neurons
and makes us feel good — was selectively suppressed when animals chose
a risky option over a safe one.
“The ventral pallidum inhibits dopamine neurons, and suppression of
this area during risky behaviour may increase dopamine release,” said Ilya
Monosov, Assistant Professor at the Washington University.
Further, the study also found that neurons in a nearby brain area called
the medial basal forebrain became most active after the monkeys made a
risky choice but before they learned the outcome of their choice.
Medial basal forebrain is the part of the brain that provides inputs to a
wide network of cortical brain regions involved in learning and memory.
The study could lead to potential treatments for psychological and
psychiatric disorders that involve misjudging risks, such as problem
gambling and anxiety disorders, the researchers said.
To study the neuronal circuits of risk taking, the team gave rhesus
monkeys —whose brains are structured very similarly to humans — a
choice between a small amount of juice or a 50-50 chance of receiving
either double that amount of juice or nothing at all.
Over time, the amount of juice received under either condition would
be the same, but one option was safe and the other risky.
It turned out that rhesus monkeys like to live on the edge. The
monkeys chose the risky option more often than the safer option, the
team concluded. — IANS
Nasa set to unravel giant asteroid
that can hit Earth
A
near-Earth asteroid that is coming towards our planet after
being dislodged by a gravitational pull can indeed strike us and
and cause massive destruction but according to experts, it has
a one in 2,700 chances of hitting.
Such an event will not take place for 150 years and the people living in
the year 2135 would know whether the asteroid named Bennu posed an
actual threat to hit Earth, ABC News reported on Monday.
According to Dante Lauretta, professor of planetary science at
University of Arizona and the principal investigator on the OSIRIS-REx
mission, “don’t run out and buy asteroid insurance” yet.
The OSIRIS-REx Mission, headed by Nasa and the University of
Arizona, plan to launch an unmanned spacecraft on September 8 in the
efforts to reach Bennu in August 2018.
OSIRIS-REx will launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on an Atlas V
411 rocket during a 34-day launch period starting September 8.
It will orbit the Sun for a year and then use Earth’s gravitational field to
assist it on its way to Bennu. — IANS
insideOman
Positron was discovered
This day in 1932, the positron (antiparticle of the electron) was
discovered by Carl D. Anderson. Anderson received the 1936 Nobel Prize
in Physics for this discovery.
@ onthego
features
OMANDAILYOBSERVER
T U E S DAY l A U G U S T 2 l 2 0 1 6
31
hitchhiking to
Salalah
Q IBRAHIM SAIF AL SARAAI
I
t is an idea seldom put into action in Oman but three guys
did it. Coinciding with Salalah`s Khareef season, Mustaffa
Al Alawi, Ahmed Al Shaibani and Saif Al Salami hitchhiked
their way to what is considered the country’s biggest tourist
draw site without spending anything.
Mustaffa shared, “This journey was to promote the culture
of enjoying your journey with as less money spent possible, as well as
spread awareness about the importance of sports and body health.”
The journey kicked off in Muscat, going through Adam and then
Salalah and then back to Muscat again.
As Saif shared, “It was quite challenging for us to travel all the way
from Muscat. We started the journey by riding a truck with the driver
helping us get to Adam. Once we were in Adam, a man generously
offered us tickets to Salalah.”
“I really enjoyed the experience so much. This is what it really means
to be a real adventurer — making use of every available option in order
to survive,” Mustaffa said.
The concept of hitchhiking in few words means visiting places
without spending money on a journey. It also means the trip maker
has to pack all the necessary equipment needed prior to the trip. These
necessities also include food and water.
The journey also depends on an auto stop system, which means that
the travelers stop wherever and whenever it is possible.
Saif said that, “Lots of people helped us when they heard about us.
And so many came to visit us along the way and join us on this journey.”
He added, “It was fun to have people around us as we embarked on
this adventure and we did appreciate all the help.”
Saif also shared that as people were astonished with their adventure,
some of them carried their bags and took photos as memorabilia to
give an impression that they themselves were travelers.
Mubarak Al Haajiri, a tourist from Qatar, gushed that when he
met the travelers, “I’m really proud of such people. They have a noble
objective and they have enjoyed themselves much more than us who
did the journey by cars.”
Mubarak added, “I wish to join them if they have other journeys like
it. It would be an honor to take part in such travel in the future.”
@ sharedthoughts
The pervasive power of the web
DR RAJAN PHILIPS
rajanph@yahoo.co.uk
It is thus apt that a day of the
year, 1st August, is designated as
World Wide Web Day to celebrate
the growth of the Web as well as
to express our admiration and
appreciation for the creative minds
behind its remarkable invention.
J
ust about 25 years ago, we had neither Facebook nor
endless videos to watch on YouTube. There were no
smart phones that could handle myriad functions,
while on the move. We did not have the huge choice
of sites to research any topic.
Today, all these and more are readily available
thanks to the all-powerful and pervasive World Wide Web. It
is indeed amazing that something that was meant for scientists
to share technical information has been transformed into a
phenomenal communication network that impacts nearly
every sphere of life.
It is thus apt that a day of the year, 1st August, is designated
as World Wide Web Day to celebrate the growth of the Web
as well as to express our admiration and appreciation for the
creative minds behind its remarkable invention.
The World Wide Web was conceived by English computer
scientist Tim Berners-Lee and his team in 1989 at the CERN
centre in Geneva. August marks an important period in the
evolution of the Web since on August 6, 1991, the creators
explained its working to the public and made it available for
them on 23 August 1991. Hence, the choice of 1st August as
WWW Day.
Obviously, over the years, the progress made has been
spectacular. From 2002, the Web 2.0 concept emerged.
It features user-generated and user-edited web sites. The
increasing popularity of sites like YouTube and Facebook have
greatly revolutionized the WWW scenario, with the number
of websites online today, close to a billion.
Yet, like many other innovative breakthroughs in Science
and Technology, initially, Berners-Lee did not find ready
acceptance of his ideas. He, of course, did not give up. His
persistence paid off and we are the fortunate beneficiaries.
Netizens ( active and avid users of the Internet) celebrate
the Day in varied ways. They go on line, take selfies and post
on social platforms, post comments on blogs, back up data to
the cloud, save photos on Google drive, or order a souvenir or
even a pizza ( the item first ordered online!) or book a flight
ticket for the upcoming holiday trip.
Incidentally, in common parlance, the terms Web and
Internet are used synonymously. But not very correctly. Web
is a global information medium which users can read and
write via computers connected to the Internet. It is a service
that operates over the Internet, which appeared on the scene
much earlier.
The phenomenal growth and popularity of the Web can
be attributed to its universality in that it works with any form
of data, on any device, with any software, in any language. It
also allows anyone to create a site and the core technology
is royalty-free, thus spurring ongoing innovation and healthy
global cooperation.
Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee,( known in short as TimBL)
richly disserved the knighthood bestowed on him by Queen
Elizabeth II in 2004. Besides other accolades, he was among
Time magazine’s 100 Most Important People of the 20th
century. He has not rested on his laurels. In 2008, he founded
the World Web Foundation aimed at establishing the open
Web as a global public good and a basic right. He is the
Director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which
oversees the continued development of the Web.
Today, WWW has become the chief means of interactive
transaction and communication , unveiling exciting
opportunity for us in ways unimaginable to previous
generations.
Let us therefore celebrate the invention of the Web,
continue to enjoy the exciting benefits offered, even as we
applaud the innovative vision of Tim Berners-Lee and his
team.
quotes
You affect the world by what you browse.- Timothy
Berners-Lee
A journey of a thousand sites begins with a single
click. ~Anon.
The Internet is becoming the town square for the
global village of tomorrow. ~Bill Gates
TUESDAY | AUGUST 2, 2016 | SHAWWAL 28, 1437 AH
www.omanobserver.om
editor@omanobserver.om
The falaj keeper of
LIZAGH
When Rashid Said al Nidabi’s father came to him and told him he can no longer do a falaj keeper’s
job, the young man automatically inherited the high-profile position. Check out what it means to be
a falaj keeper of Lizagh... P29
@editor’spick
watchamovie
worldcelebration
happeningtoday
nowshowing
DISHOOM
ICE CREAM SANDWICH DAY
When India top batsman goes missing in
the Middle East, two cops from either side
of the Arabian Sea team up for a 36 hour
manhunt.
Nobody quite knows where
the day originated from, or
even the definitive place the
ice cream sandwich itself
started. A delight over a
century old, the obvious way
to celebrate today is to go get
an ice cream sandwich, and
enjoy it sitting down like the
child we all used to be. Maybe
run around a little bit, laugh
loudly and ask for a second
one! — daysoftheyear.com
Have you seen this movie?
With 5 as the highest and 1 as the lowest,
how would you rate this film? Send us your
review at social@omanobserver.om and get
a chance to see your feedback on this spot
next week.
Skeletal remains, with iron shackles on their wrists, are laid in a row at the
ancient Falyron Delta cemetery in Athens, Greece, July 27, 2016. — Reuters