new shipping line to link iran with oman

VOL. 34 NO. 164 | PAGES 32 | BAISAS 200
MONDAY | APRIL 27, 2015 | RAJAB 8, 1436 AH
P20 Volkswagen patriarch and chairman steps down
P29 Not going to Cannes to set any trend: Katrina
P25 Kipchoge, Tufa race to London Marathon victories
Inside
Chief Executive Officer
DR IBRAHIM BIN AHMED AL KINDI
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
www.omanobserver.om
FOLLOW US ON:
OMAN
His Majesty greets
world leaders
editor@omanobserver.om
Sultanate forms team to bring back citizens
MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos has
sent a cable of greetings to King WillemAlexander of the Netherlands on the
occasion of his birthday. In his cable, His
Majesty the Sultan expressed his sincere
greetings along with his best wishes
of good health and happiness to King
Alexander and the friendly Dutch people
further progress and prosperity. His
Majesty has also sent a cable of greetings
to President Jacob Zuma of South Africa
on the occasion of his country’s National
Day. In his cable, His Majesty expressed
his sincere greetings and best wishes to
President Zuma and the friendly South
African people.
SEE ALSO P4
SOUTH AFRICA BRACES FOR
ECONOMIC BACKLASH
UKRAINE CEASEFIRE
UNDER PRESSURE
P8
P9
P12
WEATHER TODAY
MUSCAT
MAX: 370C
MIN: 280C
SALALAH
MAX: 330C
MIN: 240C
NIZWA
MAX: 360C
MIN: 180C
SUNRISE 05.35 AM
PRAYER TIMINGS
FAJR: 04:13
DHUHR: 12:04
ASR: 15:30
MAGHRIB: 18:32
ISHA: 20:02
MUSCAT: A statement issued by the Oman’s Foreign Ministry yesterday said that the
ministry is closely following the developments in Nepal, including the deaths and
injuries to hundreds of people after a massive earthquake hit the Himalayan country
on Saturday. The ministry said on its website that “in order to follow up the condition
of Omani citizens in Nepal during this time, a team has been formed to follow up
and coordinate with the Nepalese Embassy in Muscat to identify their location, get
assurance about their well-being and ensure their safe return home.”
FULL COVERAGE ON P11
Tax exemption for
Duqm companies
STAFF REPORTER
AL DUQM
April 26: A decision regularising tax
exemptions in Special Economic Zone
Authority in Duqm came into force
from yesterday. The decision issued by
Yahya bin Saeed al Jabri, Chairman of
the Special Economic Zone Authority
in Duqm (SEZAD), regularises granting
tax exemption in the zone.
As per the regulations, the
projects should be registered with the
Commercial Registry of the zone as per
the project registration bylaw issued
by Authority. Projects which meet the
requirements will be exempted from
income tax for 30 years or for the term
of the lease or usufruct agreement,
whichever is earlier.
The exemption begins from the
date of starting of the businesses and
meeting all legal requirements for such
exemption. The exemption may be
renewed as per the terms enshrined
in the rules. This exemption does not
apply to banks, financial institutions,
insurance companies, reinsurance,
telecommunications services and land
transport companies unless registered
with Authority, and doing their
businesses permanently inside the zone.
TURN TO P4
Fresh measures to protect
consumer rights in Oman
STAFF REPORTER
MUSCAT
April 26: The Public Authority for
Consumer Protection (PACP) issued a
number of decisions aimed at further
protecting consumers. The decisions
will come into force from today.
The decisions include a fine of RO
800 on traders who increase the prices
of commodities without obtaining
prior permission from the Authority.
The fine will be doubled in case of
repeat of the violation, in addition to an
extra administrative fine of RO 70 per
day for continuous violation, and to a
maximum of RO 2,000.
The Authority also issued a decision
banning trading or advertising of
natural of processed herbs for medical
purposes in the form of pills, syrup,
powder ointment without obtaining
prior permission from the Ministry
of Health. The decision also banned
trading or advertising of medical
devices without obtaining approval
from the Ministry of Health.
Fines for these violations start from
NEW SHIPPING LINE TO
LINK IRAN WITH OMAN
BOOSTING TIES: Sultanate and Tehran sign pact on sea route
INSIDESTORIES
A FLIP-FLOP ON
WHITE HOUSE RACE
Indonesia defiant on executions India decides to put off land bill Majority of Greeks want debt deal CONSUMER PROTECTION
MEASURES WILL COME INTO FORCE FROM TODAY
1
3
5
PRICES OF COMMODITIES:
A fine of RO 800 on traders
who hike prices without
prior permission
CASTOFF SPONGE IN
FURNITURE: Use of
such products invite a
fine of RO 500 or above
USED TYRES: Strict
norms to be followed or
has to face fines from RO
500 to RO 2,000
RO 200 and will be double for
a repeat violation, with an extra
administrative fine of RO 50 per
day for continued violations, and
can reach a maximum of RO 2,000.
TURN TO P4
BAN ON TRADE IN HERBS:
Violators will face a fine of
RO 200 to a maximum of
RO 2,000
CHEWING TOBACCO:
Anyone dealing in these
products can be fined up
to RO 400
SALE WITHOUT LICENCE:
Sale of electronic devices
without a licence invites a
fine of RO 200
2
4
6
TEHRAN: Oman and Iran have signed
an agreement to establish a direct
shipping line between the two countries.
Based on the agreement, a new
shipping route will be formed between
Iran’s southern port of Shahid Rajaee
and Sohar Port from next month.
The new shipping line will be used
for the transit of agricultural products
and perishable goods between the two
countries.
The agreement was signed between
the chambers of commerce of Iran
and Oman as well as an Iranian private
sector shipping company. This came
during the visit by a large business
delegation from Oman to Tehran, Iran’s
media reported.
“Three vessels, including two
container ships and a bulk carrier, will
start making trips between Shahid
Rajaee and Sohar Port every 15 days
in the initial phase,” said Abdolhossein
Khedri, CEO of Khedri Jahan Darya
The shipping line will
be used for the
transit of goods.
Shipping AG, the private Iranian
company involved in the scheme.
“The trips could be held on a weekly
basis if Iranian businesses welcome
this scheme and in order to meet the
demands of Iran’s export plans,” he told
a news agency.
Khedri further emphasised that the
prospects for the removal of sanctions
on Iran in light of the recent progress
in talks between Iran and P5+1 have
already made Oman become interested
in promoting cooperation with Tehran
in the area of shipping. TURN TO P4
M O N DAY l A P R I L 2 7 l 2 0 1 5
3
OMAN
Research Council Board meets
PROMOTING
INNOVATION:
Final document on
renewable energy
research okayed
The Research Council (TRC), yesterday
chaired the TRC board meeting.
During the meeting, the board
discussed, presented and approved a
number of programmes and proposals
that will enhance the efforts of the
TRC to promote scientific research and
innovation in the Sultanate.
The Board approved the final
document for the strategic research
MUSCAT: His Highness Sayyid Shihab program on the renewable energy
bin Tareq al Said, Advisor to His researches.
It also initially approved the
Majesty the Sultan and Chairman of
establishment of a research programme
on the chronic and non-contagious
diseases in the guided strategic
researches grants. The research program
was proposed by the Ministry of Health.
It also approved TRC’s membership
at Lindau Organisation (Nobel) which
enables Omani scientist to attend the
annual meetings of Lindau.
This membership will facilitate
interaction with Nobel Prize laureates,
which in turn will serve the council’s
efforts.
— ONA
MSM down by 13 points
MUSCAT: Muscat Securities Market (MSM) general index
30 yesterday lost 13.63 points, comprising a decline by 0.21
per cent to close at 6,346.62 points, compared to the last
session, which stood at 6,360.25 points.
The trading value stood at RO 3.44 million, comprising
a rise by 27.22 per cent compared to the last session, which
stood at RO 2.70 million. The market value declined by 0.10
per cent to reach about RO 14.87. The value of shares bought
by non-Omani investors reached RO 1,657,000 comprising
48.19 per cent.
— ONA
4
OMAN
omandailyobserver
HM greets
Dutch King,
African leaders
MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan
Qaboos has sent a cable of greetings
to King Willem-Alexander of the
Netherlands on the occasion of his
birthday.
In his cable, His Majesty the
Sultan expressed his best wishes
of good health and happiness to
King Alexander and the friendly
Dutch people further progress and
prosperity.
His Majesty Sultan Qaboos has
also sent a cable of congratulations
to President Dr Ernest Bai Koroma
of Sierra Leone on the occasion of his
country’s Independence Anniversary.
In his cable, His Majesty expressed
his congratulations and best wishes
to President Koroma and the friendly
people of Sierra Leone.
His Majesty Sultan Qaboos has
sent similar cables of greetings to
President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo
and President Jacob Zuma of South
Africa on the occasion of their
countries national days.
In his cables, His Majesty expressed
his congratulations and best wishes
to both the leaders and the friendly
people of their countries.
— ONA
Measures
to protect
consumers
FROM PAGE 1
The third decision bans the
use of castoff sponges and clothes
for furniture making and imposes a
fine of RO 500 subject to double in
case of repeated violation with an
extra fine of RO 50 for continued
violations, and can go to a maximum
of RO 2,000.
The fourth decision bans dealing
in all forms of chewing tobacco
and imposes a fine of RO 400 for
violation and RO 50 per day in case of
continuous violations.
The fifth one bans sale, display and
distribution of used car tyres which
have completed 24 months of service
since the date of production or 30
months in case of trucks.
The decision requires the supplier
to provide the consumer with a oneyear warranty certificate for both new
and used tyres.
The decision also imposes a fine of
RO 500 for violation of the rule, and
RO 50 per day for continued violations
up to RO 2,000.
The sixth decision bans sale of
electronic devices without a license
and imposes a fine of RO 200 on the
violators with a further RO 50 fine in
case of a repeat of the crime.
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
New police services
building in Al Khoudh
CLOSER TO HOME: Will contribute to saving time and
efforts in facilitating procedures for residents
Majlis Ash’Shura delegation visiting Yemeni refugees in Djibouti.
MUSCAT: Royal Oman Police
(ROP) yesterday opened the Al
Khoudh police services building in
the Governorate of Muscat under the
auspices of Sayyid Said bin Ibrahim
al Busaidi, Deputy Governor of
Muscat, in the presence of Maj Gen
Sulaiman bin Mohammed al Harthy,
Assistant Inspector General of Police
and Customs for Administrative
and Financial Affairs, members
of the State Council, members of
Majlis Ash’shura, a number of ROP
senior officers and the Sultan’s
Armed Forces, security services,
Shaikhs and dignitaries and heads of
government departments.
Al Busaidi said the opening of
this building shows that ROP is
keen to provide the best services
that contribute to saving time, effort
and facilitate procedures to citizens
and residents, pointing out that
ROP pursues proper strategic and
scientific planning that enabled it to
provide efficient services, keep up
with the developments and protect
members of the community from
the negative effects.
Brigadier
Abdullah
bin
Mohammed al Sayari, Commander
of the Governorate of Muscat Police
Commander, said the establishment
of an integrated building for police
services in the Wilayat of Al Seeb
stems from the belief of the ROP
in the importance of facilitating
and bringing its services closer to
citizens and residents, adding that
ROP sought to establish many police
projects in the governorates of the
Sultanate and the modernisation
and development of existing ones to
achieve the same goal.
— ONA
Tax exemption for Duqm companies
Majlis delegation visits
Yemeni refugee camp
DJIBOUTI: Majlis Ash’Shura delegation led
by Shaikh Salim bin Ali al Ka’abi, Deputy
Chairman of the Majlis, and Dr Ahmed
bin Salim bin Raafeet, member of Majlis
Ash’shura, as a member of the delegation,
visited Yemeni refugees residing at Al Rahma
Centre for Orphans in Djibouti.
The Majlis Ash’Shura delegation was in
Djibouti to take part in the meetings and the
annual session of the Arab Parliament.
The meetings discussed a number of
important issues including the Yemen
developments, as well as a number of
political, social and economic issues.
It also discussed activating the Arab
standard legislations in this regard, especially
economic one.
The Arab Parliament sub-committees
conducted a number of meetings.
The foreign affairs, political and national
security affairs committee discussed the
developments of the situation in Yemen and
the latest developments in Palestine, as well
as the occupied Golan Heights.
The legislative, legal and human rights
affairs committee discussed a report on the
major legal issues and the human rights in
the Arab world.
The economic and financial affairs
committee discussed the major economic
and financial decisions of the Arab Summit
in March 2015.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Majlis
Ash’shura delegation accompanied by
the Chairman of Djibouti Parliament,
Mohammed Ali Hamad Madina visited Abkh
city in the North of Djibouti to familiarize
with the conditions of 560 Yemeni refugees
residing at Al Rahma Centre for Orphans
since last March.
— ONA
New shipping line to link Iran
Yahya bin Saeed bin Abdullah al Jabri, Chairman of the Special Economic Zone Authority at Duqm, (inset) yesterday
issued a decision to regularise granting tax exemption to projects in the zone.
FROM PAGE 1
The tax exemption is limited to the income
generated by the project from the licensed activities in
the zone only and not the businesses done outside the
special zone.
As per the rules, the Minister Responsible for
Financial Affairs, upon a request from the Authority
or the Secretariat General of Taxation, can stop the
exemption for a temporary period till submission of
documents shown in these regulations.
He may also withdraw the decision on tax
exemption and deem it null and void if it was
found that it was based on untrue reasons.
The decision on exemption will be deemed
cancelled from the date it was found that the project
is not doing its activities inside the zone regularly or
no longer meets any of the legal requirements for such
exemption.
FROM PAGE 1
Khedri said that the trilateral shipping
cooperation between Iran’s Chamber of
Commerce, Oman Chamber of Commerce
and Industry and Jahan Darya Company
have been signed on Saturday and the
shipping line is due to be established between
Shahid Rajaei and Sahar ports.
He said that vessels will shuttle between
the two ports once in an every 15 days
regularly and vice versa.
A major delegation comprising 60
businessmen arrived in Iran on Friday for
talks on expanding trade and commercial
cooperation between the two countries.
The companies are operating in a variety
of fields including agriculture, education,
construction, infrastructure and tourism, in
addition to food stuff, finance, banking and
investment.
The value of the annual trade between Iran
and Oman is above $890 million. The two
countries plan to increase this to as much as
$3 billion within the next three years. There
are already speculations that Iran and Oman
plan to use the new shipping line to promote
trade across the region.
President Dr Hassan Rouhani told
reporters during a visit to Ashkhabad in
early March that Iran and Turkmenistan are
determined to activate a “south-to-north
economic corridor” which starts with Oman,
passes through Iran and leads to Uzbekistan
through Turkmenistan.
What could further testify this plan are
official comments that the newly-established
Iran-Oman shipping route could be used to
transit goods from Oman’s projected Duqum
Port to Iran’s Chabahar Port which Iran plans
to turn into a starting point for major exports
to Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond
through Indian investments. — Agencies
Omani researcher gets acclaim
for work on coconut mite
KAUSHALENDRA SINGH
SALALAH
April 26: The Salalah Agriculture
Research Station achieved a distinct
achievement by reaching over a major
lead to contain coconut mite, one of
the most destructive pests, recorded
in Salalah in 1994-95.
The lead is going to be helpful
in containing Aceria gurreronis
(coconut mite) not only in Salalah
and Dhofar, but all the places globally
where production of coconut is
involved on a mass scale.
This achievement was revealed and
recognised during an international
conference in Malaysia where a
researcher from Salalah Agriculture
Research Station had gone to
participate. The conference titled
i-ENVEX 2015 was held in Kangar
Perlis, Malaysia.
Shifa Manaa Rajab Bait Suwailam,
who came out with positive results on
the coconut mite, bagged Gold Prize
for her work and surprised everyone
with her talent in the conference as
Shifa receiving certificate in Malaysia.
also her colleagues in the Sultanate’s
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
In an interview with the Observer,
Shifa said her study was aimed at
developing a new technique of mass
production for H thompsonii, a
fungus that fights coconut mites.
Explaining the technical aspect
of her work, Shifa said: “There were
three different methods used in this
experiment at Salalah Agriculture
Research Station. First method
involved liquid mass production,
while in the second method the
media was prepared in a roux bottle.
The third method was a combination
of two previous methods.
The sterilised rice from the first
method and liquid media prepared
from second method were used in the
third method.
The third method was found to
be more effective and productive
resulting in free contaminated high
quantity of H thompsonii mass
production,” said Shifa. Shifa did two
years of hard work to achieve the
result, which according to her, is very
important due to the fact that coconut
palms are the most important crops
in the southern region (Dhofar) of
the Sultanate of Oman.
“The coconut mite, Aceria
guerreronis, is currently the most
destructive pest, which was recorded
in 1994/1995 in Salalah plain of
Dhofar Governorate. The fungus
Hirsutella thompsonii has the ability
to check spread of mites and their
population and ultimately promising
their isolation and control of the
coconut mite,” she said.
When
asked
about
her
determination for the work, Shifa
said, “It was my own determination
to achieve something and Director of
Agricultural and Livestock Research
in Dhofar Dr Ahmed al Shanfari’s
support, that led me to finish my
work successfully.”
Shifa’s work holds importance, as
with 150,000 trees (2012-13 census),
this palm variety occupies 1455 acres
of land in Dhofar. Being one of the
major crops in the country, the loss of
production recorded due to coconut
mite is 30 per cent.
OMAN
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
Nepal embassy launches
fund-raising for victims
HASAN KAMOONPURI
MUSCAT
April 26: As worldwide rescue and
relief efforts in Nepal intensify after
nearly 2,000 people were killed on
Saturday in the worst earthquake
there in more than 80 years, the
Embassy of Nepal here has launched
a fund-raising campaign to help the
victims.
Speaking to the Observer, after
an
emergency
meeting
here
yesterday, Bharat Kumar Regmi,
Nepal’s ambassador in Oman, said
“The fund-raising activity is initially
launched among the 15000-Nepali
expatriates living in Oman to
help their brothers and sisters back
home”.
The fund-raising campaign, he
said, would continue for a couple of
weeks in Oman as the relief efforts in
Nepal continue.
The ambassador is also in touch
with the Sultanate’s Ministry of
Foreign Affairs to explore ways of
supporting the rescue and relief
operations.
He said “presently the most needed
items for the relief operations include
tents, blankets, water, medicines, and
light food packets”.
The ambassador said, “Nepal’s
government has appealed for
international assistance, including
assistance to bolster its search
and rescue capacity, as well as for
medical teams and supplies, tents for
makeshift hospitals, body bags, heavy
equipment for rubble removal, and
helicopters for transport and to reach
blocked-off areas.
“Our Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mahendra Bahadur Pandey had
voiced his concern over the impact of
a major earthquake only last month
when he addressed the 3rd UN
World Conference on Disaster Risk
Reduction in Sendai, Japan.
“We are seriously concerned that
Nepal continues to remain one of
the most vulnerable countries in the
world to disasters such as earthquakes,
flooding, landslides, glacial lake
outburst floods.
“ It is also estimated that the human
loss in the Kathmandu Valley alone
should there be a major seismic event
will be catastrophic,” the minister had
told the World Conference.
BADGES, CERTIFICATES TO RAFO DIVERS
5
Engineering students showcase skills
MUSCAT: The sixth edition of the
Engineering Students’ Exhibition
entitled
“Engineering
Cubed”
organised by the Engineering Society at
Sultan Qaboos University commenced
yesterday at the university under the
auspices of Sultan bin Hamddon al
Harthi, Advisor at the Supreme Council
for Planning.
The key component of the event
is an exhibition of students’ projects
from SQU and different colleges in
the Sultanate. Other activities include
a panel discussion on the future of
engineering in Oman, competitions
for students and other entertainment
programs on the concluding day.
Out of the 41 projects exhibited at
the grand hall of the Cultural Centre
at SQU, 22 are from the College of
Engineering, two are from the College
of Agricultural & Marine Sciences,
and the remaining 17 are from various
colleges in Oman.
Some of the projects are smart meter
system for electricity distribution,
portable traffic lights, 3D printer, power
shoe, delta trolley which can go up and
downstairs, crashing energy absorber
and compressed air brake system.
The best project will be given
an award and the title of the best
engineering project. The exhibition will
last for three days.
Robotic competition, structure
competition and scrambler competition
are the contests organized as part of
the exhibition for students to test their
engineering skills. The 6th Engineering
Exhibition is the largest event of the
College of Engineering at SQU this year
where the engineering students from
all over the country collaborate, meet
and discuss their ideas, inventions and
projects under the slogan “Engineering
Cubed” which describes the three
concepts of engineering namely
dreaming, collaborating and achieving.
Meet to discuss fight against money laundering
MUSCAT: The 21st general meeting
of the Middle East and North
Africa Financial Action Task Force
(MENAFATF) will start next Tuesday.
Shaikh Abdulmalik bin Abdullah al
Khalili, Minister of Justice, will open
the three-day meeting at Shangri-La
Barr al Jissah Resort. The Sultanate
will participate in this meeting with a
delegation headed by Khamis bin Salim
Air Vice Marshal Mattar bin Ali al Oubaidani, Commander of Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO), yesterday handed over merit
certificates and badges to divers and air hostesses of the Royal Air Force of Oman. RAFO Commander congratulated all those
who have obtained the certificate and badges after the completion of training courses in various professional disciplines,
urging them to put more effort and perseverance to upgrade their practical levels. — ONA
omandailyobserver
ODB reviews
performance
MUSCAT:
Oman
Development Bank (ODB)
yesterday held its annual
meeting for directors at
Barr al Jissah Resort.
The meeting, which
was led by Dr Abdul Aziz
bin Mohammed al Hinai,
Director General of the
Bank, reviewed the Bank’s
performance indicators for
2014 and the first quarter of
2015 (Q1,2015).
The board stressed the
importance of assessing
the Banks’s plans and the
main challenges facing the
bank. It also stressed the
important of marketing
the Bank’s products and
discussed the challenges
facing
the
branches.
The Board reviewed a
presentation on the smart
reporting system.
Dr Al Hinai said that the
Bank plays an important
role
in
enhancing
economic
development
and diversifying sources
of income by financing
the private investments
in high-value economic,
production and service
sectors and providing
SMEs with flexible facilities
and benefits.
He added that ODB
can meet the needs of
the current stage as it has
qualified human resources
in the field of sustainable
development.
He also pointed out
that the Bank’s role should
be expanded to provide
advice and guidance to
new projects to help them
remain viable in the market.
The participants at
the meeting stressed the
importance of doubling
efforts to provide better
services to customers,
simplify procedures and
expand the marketing
efforts with more focus
on the development and
economic sectors.
They also stressed
the
need
to
unify
communication
with
respective
public
stakeholders so that they
can urge their customers to
benefit from the services of
the Bank. — ONA
al Khalili Assistant Attorney General,
and the members of a number of parties
represented in the National Commission
for Combating Money Laundering and
Terrorism Financing (NC-AMLTF)
and the National Counter Terrorism
Commission (NCTC).
Representatives of 18 member states
will attend the meeting and 16 countries
and organizations as observers.
The meeting will discuss various
topics related to combating money
laundering and terrorist financing,
including preparation for the second
round of mutual evaluation and
regulatory developments in the field
of combating money laundering and
terrorism financing, voluntary tax
compliance program and other followup reports.
— ONA
6
OMAN
omandailyobserver
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
DATA GROWTH: Oman is keen on leveraging ICT as key enablers to derive social and economic benefits for its citizens and businesses
Cloud computing picking up in Sultanate
HASAN KAMOONPURI
MUSCAT
April 26: Oman Data Park, the first IT Cloud
Service provider in Oman since 2012, will
actively participate in the 25th International
IT, Telecom & Technology exhibition (Comex
April 27 to May 1) at the Oman International
Exhibition Centre from.
In this context, the Observer caught up with
Maqbool al Wahaiby, General Manager, Oman
Data Park, to share his thoughts and ideas
on recent trends in Oman. Al Wahaiby says
slowly but surely cloud computing is gaining
momentum in Oman as the country gears up to
harness the gains of the digital age.
The establishment of ODP in late 2012 is a
clear indication that Oman is keen on leveraging
ICT as key enablers to derive social and economic
benefits for its citizens and businesses.
ODP has grown by leaps and bounds and its
Oman Data Park’s colocation service delivers
its customers with a secure, reliable and costeffective service, reducing the need to build and
operate expensive data centres. ODP provides
total solutions to critical business corporates
in different sectors in Oman, like banking and
finance, oil and gas, industry etc. One good
example of these services is disaster recovery and
business continuity services (BCP).
Oman Data Park, whose mission is to provide
IT services, was incepted with the vision that IT
should be treated as a utility like telecom and
power, says Al Wahaiby.
The ODP services help in localising the
data in Oman, and building a local capacity by
providing jobs, training and skillsets to Omanis
in this important domain. Today Oman Data
Park boasts a Tier III, 192 rack, state-of-the art
datacenre.
Business Cloud Adaption continues to rise
n Oman. ODP expects continued growth in all
primary cloud services segments; SaaS, PaaS and
IaaS at a promising rate. ODP service portfolio
is addressing all sectors of Oman by providing
Colocation Service, Infrastructure as Service,
ICT Services, SAAS (Cloud ERP and Cloud
SAP), Website hosting, Hosted Exchange and
Disaster recovery as a service.
Experts say unlike in the traditional model of
COMEX kicks off today
MUSCAT: The IT, Telecom and Technology Show-COMEX 2015, organised by OITE Trade
Fairs in cooperation with Information Technology Authority (ITA), commences today and will
be inaugurated under the auspices of Dr Mohammed bin Hamad al Rumhy, Minister of Oil and
Gas, accompanied by senior government officials and private sectors executives, at the Oman
International Exhibition Centre (OIEC).
The event will continue till May 1 with 34 government entities participating this year in e.oman
pavilion and 150 business companies.
The exhibition contains three sections namely: e.oman pavilion in which all government
entities will showcase their eServices, COMEX business section to promote the latest trends and
technologies in fiber optics, cloud computing and integrated solutions, and COMEX shoppers
section to display latest technologies, tools, products and eServices.
A number of key national infrastructure projects such as the National Digital Certification
Centre, G-Cloud project and several projects directed to develop small and medium enterprises
will be exhibited at e.oman pavilion. Moreover, many specialised ICT workshops will be held
at e.oman pavilion. Different sections such as the Electronic media, the e-entertainment and
innovations, and digital solutions will be added to e.oman pavilion this year.
The timings for the COMEX exhibition are from 10 am to 10 pm from April 27-30, and on
Friday, May 1 from 4 pm to 10 pm.
computing wherein both data and software are
fully contained on the user’s computer; in cloud
computing, the user’s computer may contain
almost no software or data (perhaps a minimal
operating system and web browser only), serving
as little more than a display terminal for processes
occurring on a network of computers far away.
Cloud computing offers innovation, flexibility,
cost savings and is yet to be tapped to its full
potential. The future holds great promise when
it comes to the cloud. It’s no secret that cloud
computing has taken off in recent years with new
innovations and business applications.
With most new software being built for cloud
from the outset, it is predicted that by 2016 over
a quarter of all applications will be available on
the cloud.
Experts say with data growing at a very
rapid rate (about 40 per cent a year), there’s
an increasing imperative for businesses in the
Sultanate to invest in cloud solutions because of
its potential to tackle data explosion.
Increased competition in the cloud space
is giving way to better products, services and
innovation. CIOs and IT managers are keen to
embrace business technologies that automate
tedious routine system administration tasks,
so that they can redirect their focus to higherpriority activities.
Oman Data Park has parked latest technology
in its datacentre to enable easy integration with
Windows, Linux, and OS X platforms. Plus,
integration with Microsoft Exchange, Hyper-V,
SharePoint, SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle and
VMware must safeguard your data securely, Al
Wahaiby told the Observer.
When so many client-centric advantages are
available close to you with a data centre pioneered
in cloud computing services in Oman and
catering to the services all over the GCC region,
is there a reason to look around elsewhere?, he
asks. It is good to check out the service portfolio
of Oman Data Park at Comex-2015 if they appear
to be compatible with “your requirements and
budget. Be sure they will inspire you to think the
world is your oyster,” he adds.
Within two and a half years, Oman Data
Park has developed a notable portfolio of
services like, Managed Hosting, Cloud Services,
Hosted Applications, Hosted Exchange, Website
Team to follow up implementation of
Saih al Shamikhat decisions
MUSCAT: Public Authority for the
Development of Small and Medium
Enterprises (Riyada) formed a team
‘Mohima’ (Mission) to follow up the
implementation of all the decisions
taken by Saih Al Shamikhat and
Sultan Qaboos University (SQU)
Symposium which was held last January
and was blessed by His Majesty Sultan
Qaboos.
The formation of ‘Mohima’ came to
accelerate the implementation of the
Symposium decisions, to overcome
the challenges that might hinder the
implementation of some of the decisions
and devise unconventional solutions,
in addition to the preparation of the
executive programme, determination
MRMWR
receives
ISO-9001
MUSCAT:
Ministry
of
Regional Municipalities and
Water Resources, represented
by all directorates applying the
quality management system
at the ministry, received
international
accreditation
certificate ISO 9001:2008.
Ahmed bin Abdullah al
Shuhi, Minister of Regional
Municipalities and Water
Resources, expressed his pride
to get the (ISO 9001), which
reflects the commitment to
quality of service standards,
reducing the cost, control
of financial resources and
increase productivity, which
will contribute to raising the
level of services to meet the
needs through the continuous
improvement of the quality of
services. — ONA
of the detailed content to follow up
the decisions and communicate with
the relevant authorities concerned
with the Symposium’s decisions, as
well as following up the accomplished
procedures for each of the decisions
of the Symposium, according to time
schedule for each programme.
The team will provide advice
and consultation to the concerned
authorities to implement the decisions
and to provide specialised technical
assistance, to implement all the
decisions on schedule.
Khalifa bin Said al Abri, Acting CEO
of Riyada, said that team includes the
competencies of the government and
private sectors, as well as entrepreneurs
to mix different experiences in the
follow-up process by following the
action plan prepared for that, adding
that the participation of entrepreneurs
in ‘Mohima’ team will contribute to
finding innovative mechanisms and
procedures in the implementation
of decisions, because they are the
concerned persons and in daily contact
with entrepreneurship.
He confirmed that all decisions are
being followed up as soon as they were
taken by the Symposium and that efforts
are being made by all parties concerned
in order to implement all the decisions
in a timely manner, pointing out that
some of the decisions made great strides
in their implementation. — ONA
Hosting, Managed Infrastructure Services, and
NOC & SOC Services; all these are obtainable
with a guaranteed uptime on an unparalleled
customer support.
The key to delivering these services is ODP’s
state-of-the art datacentre which combines
redundant systems with an integrated facility
management infrastructure. “We believe
Business Cloud Adaption continues to rise, and
we are expecting continued growth in all primary
cloud services segments; DRaaS, SaaS, PaaS and
IaaS at a promising rate in the Private, Public and
the Hybrid cloud topology which is part of ODP’s
cloud service offerings”.
About recent trends and developments in
the cloud industry, Maqbool says: “With most
new software being built for cloud from the
outset, it is predicted that by 2016 over a quarter
of all applications (around 48 million) will be
available on the cloud. This makes sense when
you consider that about 56 per cent of enterprises
consider cloud to be a strategic differentiator, and
around 58 per cent of enterprises spend more
than 10 per cent of their annual budgets on cloud
services.
With the advent of cheaper memory, more
corporates will adopt in-memory computing
technology to reduce application response times.
That approach will add benefit of transferring
the load from transactional databases, which can
further reduce licensing and operating costs.
In other words, the datacentre of 2020 will be
able to do much more with much less by using
resources more efficiently and having better
insight into the use of, and control over, those
resources.
Gartner expects Cloud adoption to hit $250
billion by 2017. Gartner also suggested that the
worldwide software as a service (SaaS) market
would grow at an astounding yearly growth rate
of 20.2 per cent! This means it will be growing
from $18.2 billion in 2012 to $45.6 billion in
2017.
“We can expect that as cloud continues to be
adopted, more developers will develop for the
cloud — especially when you consider that 85
per cent of the new software being built today
is for cloud. Increased competition in the cloud
space will give way to better products, services
and innovation,” concludes Maqbool.
CORAL REEF CLEANING
The Decorate of Environment and Climate Affairs in Dhofar Governorate launched a campaign for cleaning coral reefs in the
Wilayat of Mirbat, yesterday.
Sailing adventures for Omantel’s women staff
MUSCAT: Oman Sail welcomed
Omantel’s female employees and their
children to the beach at Mussanah Sports
City last week as part of the company’s
employee engagement activities. The
day was one of several corporate events
held by Oman Sail in partnership with
Omantel to give employees the chance
to interact with each other and enjoy the
range of activities on offer at Oman Sail’s
Mussanah sailing centre.
More than 40 women and their
families took to the water for day of
special activities and an introduction
to watersports that had been especially
crafted by Oman Sail for their enjoyment
and entertainment. Guests took part in
‘Try Sailing’ sessions to show them the
basics of sailing and how to make a boat
glide through the water.
One of the most popular activities
proved to be the Banana Boat and Ringo
rides, with no shortage of thrill-seekers
wanting to be towed around the marina,
and ending up in the water to the
amusement of their female colleagues.
Kayak trips in single and double
kayaks provided guests with their first
‘paddle’ experience while the powerboat
joy rides, taking up to seven guests at
a time in the Oman Sail Rib Eye, gave
them a taste for speed. In between,
the families were treated to lunch on
the beach at the Millennium Resort
Mussanah where they received a warm
welcome by officials from Omantel,
Oman’s leading telecommunications
company, and Oman Sail.
“Our Omantel Women’s Day was
a huge success and it was great to see
so many of our employees making full
use of the amazing facilities and having
so much fun,” said Magda al Riyami
Omantel, HR Career and Development.
“We support Oman Sail’s programmes
and understand the value of sport as
a great way of encouraging people to
become active and healthy. Omantel is
leading the way in bringing employees
and their families closer together, and
organising days like this allows us to
get to know each other in a fun and
sociable environment and reaffirm our
commitment to Oman’s progress and
national development.”
Omantel is the title sponsor of
Omantel Youth Programme run by
Oman Sail to promote sailing among
the Sultanate’s youth and develop
young Omani sailors for the National
Youth Squad. Oman Sail has created a
Performance Pathway that has become
the blueprint for youth sport across
the region and with the ultimate aim
for winning a medal in sailing at the
Olympic Games. The partnership with
Omantel has already yielded positive
results that will continue throughout
2015.
FALL OF SAIGON ANNIVERSARY
Vietnamese female traffic
police officers march during
a rehearsal for a military
parade as part of the 40th
anniversary of the fall of
Saigon in southern Ho Chi
Minh City, Vietnam, on
Sunday. The anniversary on
April 30 marks the end of a
war that lasted over 30 years.
JAPANESE SUBCULTURES SHOW
SoftBank Corp’s humanoid robot
‘Pepper’ plays a video game against
a visitor at a booth during Niconico
Chokaigi 2015 in Makuhari, east
of Tokyo, Japan on Sunday. About
150,000 people visited the annual
2-day event showcasing more than a
100 booths of Japanese subcultures
made popular by Niconico — Japan’s
internet video sharing web portal.
M O N DAY l A P R I L 2 7 l 2 0 1 5
7
ASIA
Mercy pleas rain on Indonesia as executions near
LAST-MINUTE EFFORTS: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon urged Widodo on Saturday not to execute the prisoners
CILACAP,
Indonesia:
Relatives
of several convicts on death row in
Indonesia made emotional last-ditch
appeals for mercy on Sunday, adding
their voices to foreign governments
and the head of the United Nations
who called for the group of nine to be
spared the firing squad. Indonesia this
weekend informed the group of drugcrime convicts, which includes nationals
from Brazil, France, Ghana, Nigeria,
the Philippines and Australia, that they
would be executed in a matter of days,
possibly as soon as Tuesday.
The appeals for clemency were
directed at President Joko Widodo,
whose determination to deal harshly
with drug crimes has won popular
support at home. The Southeast Asian
country resumed executions in 2013
after a five-year gap and six convicts
have gone before a firing squad so far
this year.
However, Widodo’s tough stance has
brought international criticism and has
strained relations with several countries,
particularly
neighbour
Australia.
“There are nine people with families
that love them ... so we ask the president
to use his powers to intervene and save
their lives,” Chintu Sukumaran told
ringleaders of the so-called ‘Bali Nine’
who were arrested in 2005 on the resort
island of Bali for trying to smuggle out 8
kg of heroin. The other members of the
gang, all Australians, have been jailed in
Indonesia.
UN Secretary-General Ban Kimoon urged Widodo on Saturday not
to execute the prisoners and called on
him to “urgently consider declaring a
moratorium on capital punishment in
Indonesia, with a view toward abolition”.
“Under international law, if the death
penalty is to be used at all, it should only
be imposed for the most serious crimes,
namely those involving intentional
killing, and only with appropriate
safeguards,” Ban’s spokesman said in a
statement.
Keeping up the diplomatic pressure,
Philippine President Benigno Aquino
told reporters he planned to appeal to
Widodo during a meeting of Southeast
Asian leaders in Kuala Lumpur to spare
Filipina Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, a
mother of two. Veloso, who says she was
Indonesian migrant workers hold a candlelight vigil asking for clemency for Philippine death-row prisoner Mary Jane Veloso
wrongly convicted after being set up by
outside the presidential palace in Jakarta, Indonesia on Sunday. — Reuters
a recruitment agency, handed Philippine
reporters after visiting his Australian
He said Widodo should show the had faced execution. Sukumaran and government officials who visited her on
brother, Myuran, at a high-security jail same mercy that he had sought from fellow Australian Andrew Chan, who Sunday handwritten letters insisting that
on Nusakambangan Island in West Java. other countries where Indonesians was also sentenced to death, were the she was innocent.
The Indonesian Migrant Workers
Network plans to hold a candle-lit vigil
outside the presidential palace in Jakarta
from Sunday, demanding Widodo
protect Indonesian migrant workers
from the death penalty abroad and to
grant clemency to Veloso.
Vigils are also expected to be held
near the Indonesian consulates in
Sydney and Melbourne, while Amnesty
International plans to draw attention
to the issue with a message written
in thousands of flowers not far from
Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The Jakarta-based human rights
group Imparsial criticised Widodo’s use
of the death penalty despite his election
pledge last year to improve the human
rights situation in Indonesia.
“The Indonesian government will
have a hard time as it will be regarded a
country that adopts capital punishment.
This is a paradox and is inconsistent with
support for human rights,” Imparsial
Director Al Araf told reporters.
Widodo rebuffed questions about
the pleas and warnings of diplomatic
repercussions as he headed to Kuala
Lumpur on Sunday. “I have already said
repeatedly I will not discuss this again,”
he told reporters. — Reuters
China poised to take de facto control of South China Sea, says Philippines
KUALA LUMPUR: Beijing is poised to take
“de facto control” of the South China Sea, the
Philippines warned Sunday, but its call for a
robust Southeast Asian response at a regional
summit was shot down. Vietnam, the Philippines,
Malaysia and Brunei claim parts of the strategic
body of water, but Beijing claims nearly all of it,
and its increasingly strident territorial assertions
have caused concern in the region and beyond.
“(China) is poised to consolidate de facto
control of the South China Sea,” Philippine
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said in
Kuala Lumpur a day ahead of an annual summit
of Southeast Asian leaders. He singled out a
campaign of land reclamation on disputed reefs
that has raised the spectre of permanent Chinese
bases far out in the sea from which it can enforce
its sovereignty. “Is it not time for Asean to say to Asean leaders pose for a photo before a gala dinner in honour of Asean heads of state during the 26th Asean Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. — AFP
Militant plot foiled
in Malaysia: Police
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian police said they arrested 12
suspected militants on Sunday who were plotting attacks
in the country just as it prepares to host a Southeast Asian
summit. National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said the
suspects, arrested in separate raids in suburbs of the capital
Kuala Lumpur, were all Malaysian men and suspected
supporters of the extremist IS group.
Police also seized 20 kgs of ammonium nitrate, a similar
amount of potassium nitrate, two litres of kerosene and
remote-control devices, he said in a statement.
“They had planned to launch attacks in Malaysia on April
25 and April 26,” Khalid said. They were targeting “strategic”
locations in and around Kuala Lumpur, Khalid said, but he
gave no details. Muslim-majority Malaysia hosts Monday’s
summit of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (Asean), which will begin the day in the capital
before shifting to the resort island of Langkawi.
Malaysia has said it plans to call at the gathering for
greater regional cooperation against extremism. — AFP
DEMANDING DEMOCRACY
Pro-democracy lawmakers demonstrate on a street to start a
campaign opposing the government’s electoral reform in
Hong Kong, China on Sunday. The Hong Kong government
has published a long-awaited electoral blueprint for
selecting the city’s next leader, a plan enshrining China’s
desire for a tightly controlled poll that has angered activists
and stoked talk of fresh protests. Banner at background
reads, “Say no to fake universal suffrage”. — Reuters
our northern neighbour that what it is doing is
wrong and that the massive reclamations must
be immediately stopped?” del Rosario asked his
fellow ministers.
“Is it not time for Asean to finally stand up
for what is right?” ut the summit’s host Malaysia
rejected the idea of a response that could
antagonise China. “We must avoid any action
that would be counter-productive and bring us
further apart, either amongst ourselves, or with
China,” Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman
said. “I don’t think Asean would like to be given
an ultimatum, and by the same token I don’t think
China would like to be given an ultimatum.” Faced
with Beijing’s immense trade and diplomatic
leverage, Asean has a history of failing to agree on
responses over the issue on behalf of its members
with disputed maritime claims. — AFP
8
ANALYSIS
omandailyobserver
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
SHAKING UP THE
ENERGY MARKET
O
ne by one, Japan is turning off the lights at the giant oil-fired power plants that
propelled it to the ranks of the world’s top industrialised nations.
With nuclear power in the doldrums after the Fukushima disaster, it’s solar
energy that is becoming the alternative.
Solar power is set to become profitable in Japan as early as this quarter,
according to the Japan Renewable Energy Foundation (JREF), freeing it from the
need for government subsidies and making it the last of the G7 economies where
the technology has become economically viable.
Japan is now one of the world’s four largest markets for solar panels and a
large number of power plants are coming onstream, including two giant arrays
over water in Kato City and a $1.1 billion solar farm being built on a salt field in
Okayama, both west of Osaka.
“Solar has come of age in Japan and from now on will be replacing imported
imported uranium and fossil fuels,” said Tomas Kåberger, Executive Board
Chairman of JREF.
“In trying to protect their fossil fuel
Solar power is set to
and nuclear (plants), Japan’s electric power
companies can only delay developments become profitable in
here,” he said, referring to the 10 regional Japan as early as this
monopolies that have dominated electricity
quarter, according to
production since the 1950s.
Japan is retiring nearly 2.4 gigawatts of the Japan Renewable
expensive and polluting oil-fired energy Energy Foundation,
plants by March next year and switching to
freeing it from the
alternative fuels.
Japan’s 43 nuclear reactors have been closed need for government
in the wake of the 2011 meltdown at the subsidies, reports
Fukushima power plant after an earthquake
HENNING GLOYSTEIN
and a tsunami — since then, renewable energy
capacity has tripled to 25 gigawatts, with solar
accounting for more than 80 per cent of that.
Once Japan reaches cost-revenue parity in solar energy, it will mean the
technology is commercially viable in all G7 countries and 14 of the G20 economies,
according to data from governments, industry and consumer groups.
A crash in the prices of photovoltaic panels and improved technology that
harnesses more power from the sun has placed solar on the cusp of a global boom,
analysts say, who compare its rise to shale oil.
“Just as shale extraction reconfigured oil and gas, no other technology is closer
to transforming power markets than distributed and utility scale solar,” said
consultancy Wood Mackenzie, which has a focus on the oil and gas industry.
Oil major Exxon Mobil says that “solar capacity is expected to grow by more
than 20 times from 2010 to 2040.”
Investors are also re-discovering solar, with the global solar index up 40 per
cent this year, lifting it out of a slump following the 2008/2009 financial crisis,
far outperforming struggling commodities such as iron ore, natural gas, copper
or coal. By starting mass-production of solar panels, China is the driving force
in bringing down solar manufacturing costs by 80 per cent in the last decade,
according to Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute.
In Japan, residential solar power production costs have more than halved since
2010 to under 30 yen ($0.25) per kilowatt-hour (kWh), making it comparable to
average household electricity prices.
Wood Mackenzie expects solar costs to fall more as “efficiencies are nowhere
near their theoretical maximums.”
Solar is already well-entrenched in Europe and North America, but it is the
expected boom in Asia that is lifting it out from its niche.
China’s new anti-pollution policies are making the big difference.
Because of these policies, Beijing is seeking alternatives for coal, which makes
up almost two-thirds of its energy consumption.
China’s 2014 solar capacity was 26.52 gigawatt (GW), less than 2 per cent of its
total capacity of 1,360 GW.
But the government wants to add 17.8 GW of solar power this year and
added 5 GW in the first quarter alone, with plans to to boost capacity to 100 GW
by 2020.
Coal-dominated India, with its plentiful sunlight, could also take to solar in a
big way.
Despite this boom, fossil-fuelled power is far from dead.
“Additional generating capacity, such as natural gas-fired plants, must be made
available to back up wind and solar during the times when the sun is not shining
and the wind is not blowing,” Exxon says.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton delivers the keynote address at the Women in the World summit in New York. — Reuters
A flip-flop on White House race
B
Well-known former governors are also signalling their
ack in 2008, a freshman senator named Barack Obama got
savaged for his inexperience. As Republicans prepare their White House aims, including Jeb Bush of Florida and Rick
2016 presidential races, political messaging has flip-flopped Perry, the longest serving governor in Texas history.
Current governors Scott Walker of Wisconsin, New
as they face the most seasoned woman in American politics.
Hillary Clinton’s decades-deep curriculum vitae — US Jersey’s Chris Christie and Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal are
first lady, senator, secretary of state — contrasts dramatically possible contenders. But for the Senate’s young guns, their
with three first-term Senate Republicans who have launched Washington inexperience may be a primary asset.
“The longer you serve, the more detailed your record,
White House campaigns but have little national record to
with thousands of votes that can be used to attack you,” said
stand on.
Obama survived a bruising party nomination battle with Larry Sabato, Director of the Center for Politics at University
the more experienced Clinton to become the first sitting of Virginia.
“It points to the perversity of our system,” he added.
senator to win the White House in more than half a century,
Being an experienced “creature” of Washington hardly
when voters embraced a young, fresh-faced politician
peddling a message of hope and change over veteran Senator endears today’s candidate to heartland voters.
While the Republican National
John McCain.
Committee dwelled on Obama’s
With Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul
As Republicans
“inexperience” in 2008, it assailed
and Marco Rubio borrowing a page out
prepare their races,
Clinton this month for her “decades as a
of Obama’s playbook, some Republicans
Washington insider.”
who once hailed candidate McCain for his
political messaging
Rubio, who topped a Thursday poll
vast knowledge and experience are casting
has flip-flopped as
of Republican hopefuls, not-so-subtly
some 2016’ers as ambitious outsiders
they face the most
suggested that Clinton’s 30 years in the
who could win the White House without
Washington baggage.
seasoned lady, writes public eye could be her Achilles heel.
At his campaign launch this month, the
“I think politics has changed a lot,” said
MICHAEL MATHES
43-year-old Rubio tarred Clinton, 24 years
Senator Richard Shelby, one of several
his senior, as “a leader from yesterday.”
lawmakers who discussed the 2016
Democrats too have changed tack.
landscape. “For the presidency, experience
Support for Obama’s “Yes We Can” newness has given
probably was never that valuable,” Shelby said. “People get
way to a call for stability and a veteran hand to keep the
tired of you.”
Even McCain, who once called Obama “naive” given American economy on a relatively even keel and tackle
his mere two years in the Senate before announcing his global challenges.
“I actually think there are a lot of voters who are looking
presidential bid, recognised that voters could well embrace
for someone who has experience, who they feel is going to
green-behind-the-ears candidates Cruz, Paul and Rubio.
“Do I think that they would be better off with more be able to do the job when they get elected, without a lot of
on-the-job training,” said Senate Democrat and former New
experience in the Senate? Absolutely,” McCain said recently.
“But I think the American people judge them much more Hampshire governor Jeanne Shaheen, a Clinton supporter.
During what is expected to be a fierce Republican primary
on their vision and the articulation of that vision.
“If they like somebody and they think they could be a battle, Cruz, Paul and Rubio will no doubt face pressure to
good president, I’m not sure they’ll care how much time they explain why they feel they are prepared for the mantle of
commander-in-chief.
spend in the Senate.”
Sweets and soup vanish as Pakistan aims for halal export boost
F
ruity sweets and packets of chicken soup
that fall foul of halal laws are disappearing
from Pakistan’s shop counters as the
country looks to clean up its Islamic food
credentials to boost exports to Gulf states.
At the start of the year the government
published a list of around 20 imported food
products it said were not halal, or permitted
under Islamic law.
There is so far no extra obligation on
shopkeepers to pull products from the
shelves, but some have decided to act.
“We heard about the new rules and
decided not to take any chances,” one
Islamabad shopkeeper said.
Other shopkeepers are putting up signs
warning customers to check the ingredients
of imported products carefully before
buying.
Some are even quietly telling customers
not to buy certain products over fears,
sometimes misplaced, that they contain
banned substances.
A draft law seen by AFP and due to be
scrutinised by lawmakers in the coming
months plans to sort out which products
are halal and which are not, and set up an
inspection service.
The aim is to make a Pakistani Halal
Authority with the goal of boosting food
and agricultural exports to wealthy Gulf
states.
Pakistan has been undergoing a process
of Islamisation since the late 70s, but it is a
late arrival to the international market for
halal products that has been growing in
recent years and is estimated to be worth
up to $700 billion worldwide.
“Now there is awareness about (halal),
people go through the composition, the
contents. Earlier, the awareness was not
there, nobody was aware of this non-halal
contents,” Mian Ijaz, a senior official at the
Ministry of Science and Technology, said.
The Science Ministry is taking the lead
on the bill as it has laboratories for testing
products. One of the architects of the
proposed federal halal authority, retired
judge Khalil-ur-Rehman Khan, said the
plan would mean products were clearly
labelled and should give Pakistani shoppers
peace of mind.
“Anyone importing for instance
chicken from sources that are dubious or
which people have doubt, like from China
will have to have accreditation from the
Under the proposed law, all
food exports will be tested by
certification agencies under
a national halal authority —
partly a way of undercutting
clergy as halal-checkers,
notes GUILLAUME LAVALLÉE
authority working under the Pakistan Halal
authority,” he said.
However the main aim of the project is
not to restrict imports, but to boost exports.
Lying at the crossroads of the increasingly
wealthy Muslim countries in Central Asia
and the Gulf states, where demand for halal
imports has boomed in the last decade,
Pakistan is well-placed geographically to
increase its export in, for example, meat.
“Pakistan has all these markets available
as far as shariah compliance is concerned
credibility of Pakistan is already there —
what we have to ensure is only the quality,”
Khan said, calling for a recognisable
Pakistani halal-certified logo.
Zubair Mughal of Pakistan’s Halal
Research Council agreed, saying the
country has the products and a strong
reputation but needs better “halal branding”.
“The top 10 exporters to the Middle
Eastern market, the main halal market, they
are not from Muslim countries,” he said.
“Among the top 10 there is no Muslim
country,” he added, noting that Australia,
New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil, Russia,
France, India and Thailand are all among
the top exporters.
Under the proposed law, all food exports
will be tested by certification agencies
under a national halal authority — partly
a way of undercutting clerics who have set
themselves up as lucrative halal-checkers.
A Pakistani shopkeeper arranges sweets at a wholesale market in Lahore. Under
the proposed law, all food exports will be tested by certification agencies. — AFP
ANALYSIS
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
omandailyobserver
9
Fall in retail sales points to a slowdown in growth
A
ANDY JALIL
Foreign Correspondent
andyjalil@aol.com
decline in the UK retail sales last month has added
to fears of a slowdown in the economy in the first
quarter of this year when the GDP figures for the
first three months are released this week. According
to the Office for National Statistic (ONS) retail sales
volumes fell by 0.5 per cent in March, the biggest
drop since January 2014, wiping out a surge of 0.6
per cent in February.
The fall was largely driven by a sharp decline in
petrol station sales of 6.2 per cent, the biggest since
November2009. Automobile Association President
Edmund King said the effect of a 7 pence per litre
increase since February “shows how sensitive
drivers are to increases at the pumps”.
Director-General of the British Retail
Consortium (BRS), Helen Dickson said at the time:
“After the bustle of Christmas and the excitement of
the January sales, February is usually a quiet month
for retailers. So it’s heartening to see that retail sales
continued to rise this month (February)”. Adjusted
for the BRC-Nielsen shop price index deflation,
total growth was 3.4 per cent, above the 12-month
average of 3.2 per cent.
While some economists say the surprise fall
in retail sales in March was further evidence that
economic growth was slowing, following weak
industrial production and construction data;
there are others who remain confident even after borrowing during 2014-15 fiscal year (to the end of
the March fall in retail sales, saying it came after a March) at £87.3 billion.
This was below 2014’s £98.4 billion total and
period of strong sales growth.
They believe shop discounts — along with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR)
strong employment growth, high consumer forecast of £90.2 billion. Chief UK economist at
confidence and inflation at zero — will support consultancy Capital Economics, Vicky Redwood
said undershooting the OBR’s
consumer spending in coming
forecasts brought some good
months. Investec’s Philip Shaw
news for the coalition parties
said: “Even after these figures,
While some economists in the run up to the elections.
headline sales volumes stand
To
add
to
the
4.2 per cent and above a year
say the surprise fall in
disappointment of the fall in
ago.” Barclay’s economist,
retail sales in March was retail sales, major supermarkets
Fabian Montagne said retail
further evidence that
are reducing employment.
sales “remained on a strong
A leading chain, Sainsbury’s
footing” though he pointed to
economic growth was
is set to cut 800 jobs in stores
the risk of election uncertainties
slowing, following weak as part of a shake-up aimed
and the likelihood of a fresh
industrial production
at saving £500million over
public sector squeeze with
austerity measures after the
and construction data. the next three years to better
position itself in the ongoing
general election.
supermarket price war. The
Data also released last week,
supermarket giant said last
along with retail sales figures
for March, showed that public sector borrowing week that it plans to remove department and
was £7.4 billion in March, boosted by higher tax deputy managers from certain stores in order to
receipts and a decline in government borrowing invest in other shop floor roles that will help boost
costs. Together with a £2 billion downward customer service.
It also plans to change the way it restocks its
revision to borrowing in previous months, this left
stores by replacing night shift roles with early
morning and evening shifts in some stores to
improve product availability. Retail and operations
director, Roger Burnley said: “The formal
consultation has started and, where possible, we
hope colleagues will opt to move to other roles or
stores.” He added: “We expect the new structures
to be in place this year and as a result, we will be set
up to work more effectively together to better serve
our customers.”
Chief Executive Mike Coupe unveiled plans
last November to cut costs as well as its dividend
to fund a £150 million price offensive against the
discounters and its big three supermarket rivals.
In January it cut 500 jobs at its support centres
in London, Manchester and Coventry. In total
the group employs about 161,000 people. Three
other UK major supermarkets, Tesco, Asda and
Morrisons have all cut jobs over the last year.
Last month Sainsbury’s posted a fifth
consecutive quarter of declining underlying sales
but insisted measures laid out in November’s
strategy update were on track and beginning to
take effect. While businesses, professional services
and manufacturing expect to see a lift in growth
over the next quarter, some concern remains on the
current struggles of the retail sector.
NEW CHALLENGES
STEPHEN KALIN AND NADIA EL GOWELY
E
gypt’s currency black market, a thorn in the side of successive
governments, has virtually disappeared in the past two months
following a central bank crackdown.
Yet, while the authorities hope this will signal to foreign investors
that the economy has returned to normal after four years of turmoil,
Egyptian businesses are suffering.
Importers and exporters in particular say official measures to cap
dollar deposits at Egyptian banks have reduced foreign exchange
liquidity and stifled business activity — without achieving long-term
stability in the currency market.
The black market had flourished as a slump in tourism and
investment since the removal of Hosni Mubarak in 2011 limited supply
of hard currency — undermining an image of relative price stability
that authorities have sought to portray for decades.
After promising for months to eliminate the black market, the central
bank in February placed limits on dollar-denominated bank deposits of
$10,000 a day and $50,000 a month, soon after weakening the pound by
5 per cent over a few weeks. The spread between the official and black
market rates, above 10 per cent two years ago, sank to virtually zero.
Since then, the pound has been officially trading between banks
at 7.53 to the dollar. Black market traders say volumes have fallen
dramatically since the cap on deposits was introduced, with those who
exchanged dollars outside official channels deprived of a place to keep
their funds.
“(The) measures massacred the currency exchange companies,” the
manager of a Cairo exchange bureau said.
The International Monetary Fund welcomed the central bank’s
measures as a step that will make Egypt more attractive to foreign
investors. But many local businesses are struggling to cope.
Mohamed Abu Basha, economist at EFG Hermes, said the deposit
cap has made it harder for businesses to open letters of credit. Demand
for dollars from banks has outpaced supply, which businesses say
is squeezing the market. “Since companies cannot really access the
parallel market at large, your place on the central bank’s priority list
becomes really important,” said Abu Basha.
The central bank, which declined to comment, emphasises strategic
needs such as food and energy in weekly dollar auctions. Hard currency
for other products is lower priority, which businessmen complain has
hurt commercial enterprises, especially those that import costly goods
like cars and electronics goods.
Refugees fleeing anti-immigrant violence arrive at a transit camp in Beit Bridge on Friday. — Reuters
South Africa braces for economic backlash
A
wave of xenophobic attacks in South Africa
could provoke reprisals from neighbouring
countries, raising concerns among South
African business leaders and officials that
the violence against foreigners could further
damage the weak economy.
Calls for a boycott of South African
products have multiplied amid anger
in Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique and
elsewhere on the continent over their citizens
being attacked by mobs in Johannesburg
and Durban. At least seven people have
been killed in the violence and thousands
of immigrants forced to flee their homes,
making headline news around the world as
soldiers were deployed to restore order in
the impoverished townships.
“Since the start of the attacks, our
country has lost billions of rands in export
foreign revenue,” trade and industry Deputy
Minister Mzwandile Masina said last
Wednesday, without giving further details.
Calling the situation “untenable,” he
added that the government was “worried
about the cost and the negative impact of the
attacks on foreign nationals on the country’s
image and its economy”.
“We cannot have these attacks
continuing,” he said.
Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry summoned
South Africa’s high commissioner over
the attacks, while influential Zimbabwe
National Students Union President Gilbert
Mutubuki called on youths to target local
South African businesses.
South Africa affirmed that it remains
committed to maintaining friendly
relations with Nigeria after Abuja recalled
its ambassador to Pretoria in the wake of
attacks on immigrants, the department of
international relations said yesterday.
Acting High Commissioner Martin
Cobham and Deputy High Commissioner
Uche Ajulu-Okeke were asked to return to
Nigeria for consultations in the latest sign
of African countries’ discontent over south
africa’s handling of attacks on foreigners.
Mutubuki was reported to have named
the supermarket chain Pick n Pay as one
possible target.
Other South African brand names
operating across southern Africa include
such giants as the MTN telecoms group,
Shoprite, Old Mutual insurer and the
Standard Bank and Nedbank.
“We are appealing to different African
countries not to retaliate because it won’t help
anybody,” Bene M’Poko, the Democratic
Republic of Congo’s Ambassador to South
Africa, said last week.
In Mozambique, South African
petrochemicals group Sasol evacuated
340 staff and sent them back home, while
Irish mining firm Kenmare Resources
repatriated 62 workers. “What’s been going
on in South Africa is of grave concern
and it’s disheartening. Sasol is a South
African company, but we are global,” Sasol
spokesman Alex Anderson said.
“Sasol became aware of unrest by the
Mozambican employees of our contractors.”
Last week, about 200 people in
Mozambique briefly blockaded the border
and threw rocks at South African vehicles.
South Africa’s economic growth slowed
Calls for a boycott of South
African products have
multiplied amid anger
in Malawi, Zambia and
Mozambique over their citizens
being attacked by violent
mobs, reports JEAN LIOU
to 1.5 per cent last year from 2.2 per cent in
2013, and far from the five per cent growth
rate before the global economic crisis.
The country runs a large trade balance
surplus with the rest of Africa.
Economic
Development
Minister
Ebrahim Patel said South Africa relied on
exports of cars, clothes and textiles.
“We sell 260 billion rand (20 billion
euros, $21 billion) worth of goods to other
African countries that creates more than
160,000 jobs in South Africa,” he said.
Patel addressed the thorny issue of
immigrants taking jobs for less pay than
locals, fuelling frustration that immigrants
“steal” South African jobs.
“We must make it clear to companies:
don’t exploit foreign workers,” he said.
“Don’t pay them less than South African
workers so much so that South African
workers are put aside.”
For Nedbank analyst Dennis Syke,
government action in the coming weeks is
key to limiting the damage.
“Government response initially was I
think fairly weak, but it is improving now
and there seems to be more determination
to try and get things sorted out,” he said.
Tourism — a major industry in South
Africa — remains vulnerable, despite the
unrest not spreading to Cape Town, the
wine-growing regions or safari resorts.
Several foreign ministries, including
Britain and Australia, have updated their
travel advisories to highlight the unrest.
“The xenophobic violence you hear about
in South Africa does not target tourists and
does not affect tourist regions,” tour operator
Onne Vegter wrote in an editorial for the
specialist Tourism Update website.
But it added that the situation is “a PR
disaster for us, as our country is once again
in the news for all the wrong reasons”.
ESTABLISHED ON 15 NOVEMBER 1981
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: Dr Ibrahim bin Ahmed al Kindi
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Abdullah bin Salim al Shueili
HEAD OFFICE
ADVERTISING
Tel: 24649444, 24649450,
24649451, 24604563, 24699437
Fax: 24699643
SALALAH OFFICE
AL OMANEYA ADVERTISING & PUBLIC RELATIONS, P.O. Box 3303,
P.C. 112, Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman
Tel: SWITCHBOARD: 24649444
DIRECT: 24649430/24649437/24649401
Fax: 24649434
Tel: 23292633
Fax: 23293909
DISTRIBUTION AGENT
NIZWA OFFICE
Tel: 25411099
P.O. Box 955, P.C. 611
Website: omanobserver.om
Al OMANEYA for Distribution & Marketing, P.O. Box 974,
P.C. 100, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
Tel: 24649351/24649360
Fax: 24649379
e-mail: editor@omanobserver.om
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY: Oman Establishment for Press, Publication and Advertising
P.O. Box 974, Postal Code 100, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
subscribe@omanobserver.om
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these pages are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the opinion of the Observer.
10
INDIA
omandailyobserver
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
Govt decides to put land bill on backburner for now
PUTTING IT OFF: Resurgent Rahul Gandhi, and farmer’s suicide force government to do a rethink on the controversial bill
NEW DELHI: A resurgent Rahul
Gandhi and the suicide of a farmer at
an AAP rally in the capital seem to have
made the NDA government re-think
its strategy on the land acquisition bill
and put it on the backburner — at least
for now. Desperately trying to fight
the “anti-farmer” tag, the government,
which went into a huddle soon after a
farmer committed suicide at the April
22 rally of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal, has decided to go ahead with
the land bill only when the finance
bills and other scheduled business of
Parliament are through.
It is also worried about the impact
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi,
who is just back after a 56-day selfimposed exile, is having. Rahul has
made powerful speeches against the bill
in Parliament as well as at a rally.
“The ordinance will be there till
August, we are not in a hurry,” a senior
minister confided.
An ordinance has a life of six months
or till the next Parliament session. So the
land acquisition ordinance, which was
re-promulgated in April, would need
to have been passed by the monsoon
session before it lapses.
Though the minister claimed the
government is confident of getting the
land bill through Parliament, he did not
say how. He, however, ruled out a joint
sitting for getting the bill passed.
Top sources said the government has
decided to go slow on the bill and the
suicide by Rajasthan farmer Gajendra
Singh has made the situation more
sensitive.
Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of
the Congress in the Lok Sabha, said: “As
of now we have not been told anything
about the land bill”. The contentious bill,
which is meant to replace an ordinance
amending the 2013 Land Acquisition
Act, was passed by the Lok Sabha after
nine amendments amid a walkout by the
Congress and other Opposition parties.
The NDA which is in a minority in
the upper house failed to muster support
for the bill. A majority of Opposition
parties, including the Congress, the
Samajwadi Party and the Left parties,
have made it clear that the bill should go
to a select committee.
Kharge said: “Our stand remains the
same. We want the 2013 UPA bill back”.
The Right to Fair Compensation
and Transparency in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act,
2015, seeks to replace an ordinance
re-promulgated in April which had
amended certain provisions of the 2013
act passed during the UPA rule.
The key points, which were removed
from the earlier law, related to the
consent clause and the social impact
assessment study.
The consent clause provided for
70-80 per cent of those dependent on
the land to agree to its acquisition.
The social impact assessment clause
entailed carrying out a study to examine
the environmental impact and ensure
Goa’s ageing population becoming cause for concern
PANAJI: Holiday destination Goa, that
is increasingly drawing retirees, is just
“one or two” generations away from
being a haven for geriatrics, top medical
professionals warn.
Dropping fertility rates and the
mortality odometer swinging opposite,
its young workforce migrating away
from its shores and the increasing trend
of the state being a top destination for
the country’s retired and elderly appear
to be only contributing to Goa’s aging
population.
The state would, in all likelihood,
have to cater to a big volume of geriatricrelated health issues just “one or two”
generations down-line, according to
leading oncologist Shekhar Salkar.
“In 1947, the average life-span was
47 for females and 57 for males in Goa.
Today, we have crossed 70 for males and
I am quite sure with another one or two
generations, we will reach 75. One of the
main health issues then will be geriatric
care,” Salkar said.
“Goa is such a peaceful state that
elderly people from all over India want
to come to Goa and settle. That is why
we have all this hype for real estate in
Goa. That is because those people find
comfort here and the temperature is
reasonably good,” he said, adding that
the steady influx would only add to the
number of the aged in the state.
Goa’s aging population has been
a concern expressed in the assembly,
especially by Manohar Parrikar, who
was the state’s chief minister before he
was elevated as India’s defence minister
last year. The fertility rate in the state
— the average number of children per
woman in the 15-35 year age bracket —
has shrunk from 2.1 to 1.7, according
to official data. A fertility rate of 2.1
indicates a stable population, while
anything below that suggests shrinking
population growth.
Bombs found in Sree Padmanabha temple
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Five suspected pipe bombs
were found packed in gunny bags in a pond of the famed Sree
Padmanabha Swamy temple here, police said on Sunday. The
temple drew international attention a few years ago after it
was learnt that it holds a treasure estimated to be over one
lakh crore, stacked in five vaults.
The suspected pipe bombs were found on Sunday
afternoon by some workers while cleaning the pond, about
100 metres from the main temple. Police’s bomb and dog
squads were immediately summoned as Director-General of
Police K S Balasubramanian ordered a high-level probe into
the incident.
One of the five pipe bombs was emitting smoke and small
sounds could be heard, police said, adding, however, that it
could be happening because they remained in the water for
long and then were taken out.
Police packed all the five pipe bombs and were due to
take these to an isolated place to defuse them. Steps have also
begun for their forensic examination.
The Kerala government recently sanctioned funds for
cleaning the ponds that are associated with the famed temple.
Incidentally, when the pond was being cleaned on Sunday, a
secret door, believed to be linked to the main temple, was also
found in the pond. — IANS
Meeting today to review situation and find solutions to the problem
Telecom operators summoned
over call drops, excess billing
NEW DELHI:
Concerned over
widespread complaints from consumers
across the country about excess billing,
incessant call-drops and poor quality
of services, telecom operators have
been summoned by the government on
Monday to review the situation and find
remedies. The meeting is to be chaired
by Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg,
official sources said, adding that a letter
has been dispatched on the matter, a
copy of which was obtained by IANS.
“It has been decided to hold a
meeting to review the quality of
service issues related to excess billing,
non-transparency in billing system,
frequent call drops, etc. in the telecom
networks of respective licensed service
with special emphasis on Mumbai,
Maharashtra and Delhi,” it said.
The letter further asked all the
relevant chief executives or chairpersons
and managing directors of both the
state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam and
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam, as also
the private players to make it convenient
to attend the meeting.
Subscribers across the country
have been complaining about constant
call drops for months now. India
has 987 million telecom subscribers.
Communications and Information
Technology Minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad had directed his ministry officials
to hold an immediate meeting on Friday
to expedite the process of improving the
reach and quality of telecom signal from
the state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam.
According to officials, Prasad also
wanted them to have a face-to-face
interaction with members of parliament,
to not only make them answerable but
also spell out their problems and come
up with possible solutions.
Following the meeting, officials said,
the scope of such an interaction has been
expanded. “Members of parliament
from the states of Rajasthan, Himachal
Pradesh and North Eastern states
were invited in yesterday’s meeting,”
an official statement said, adding that
the lawmakers were also apprehensive
about private players “obstructing the
growth” of the state-run firm.
“Prasad has directed the department
to call five such meetings so that all
members of parliament are given an
opportunity to raise issues directly with
the officials concerned,” the statement
added.
The telecom department has also
been asked to explore the possibility of
setting up a dedicated cell in the staterun telecom company to monitor the
effectiveness of its network in the border
areas and those affected by extremism.
The lawmakers said they would
arrange for land for the state-run
companies to set up the towers to
improve the quality of service, as also
funds from their allocated kitty. They
however wanted officials of the home
and defence ministries to be present as
well to address the problems. — IANS
Parrikar, in 2013, credited a
successful birth control programme for
the arrest in Goa’s population growth
with the caveat that in 15 years, the
state’s population “will be an aging one
instead of youthful”.
Parrikar’s fears already find reflection
in the 2011 census data, which ranks
Goa second after Kerala as far as
the proportion of the old dependent
population above the age of 60 years is
concerned, at 11.2 per cent. Incidentally,
Goa also has the lowest proportional
population within the 0-9 age-group.
With population trends suggesting
Goa’s rapid march towards an era of
geriatry, facilities like the Manipal
Hospital, India’s third biggest chain
of healthcare units in the country, is
already gearing up for the demand by
promoting home care services in Goa,
the first of its kind in the state.
“In Goa, within a generation or
two we will have geriatric-oriented
problems. So we have prepared for that
to ensure that the elderly population
can be well looked after. Our home care
section will be our main thrust,” chief
operating officer Gopal Devanhalli of
Manipal Health Enterprises said after
launching the service earlier this week.
The service would involve home
visits by technicians and nurses who
will be linked through technology to
medical professionals who will examine
the patient by remote.
“This will ensure that you do not have
to bring the patient to the hospital for
every small blood pressure test or blood
test,” Devanhalli said. — IANS
rehabilitation of displaced people.
The government agreed to nine
amendments to the bill to get it passed in
the Lok Sabha. These included removing
social infrastructure as an exempted
category and ensuring that the bare
minimum of land required for a project
is acquired. Compulsory employment
for at least one member of the affected
family of a farm labourer has also been
added as well as a clause that the Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation Authority
should hold hearings in the district
where the acquisition takes place.
When the ordinance was repromulgated by President Pranab
Mukherjee, the nine amendments made
when it was passed in the Lok Sabha
were included.
The government has meanwhile told
its ministers to fan across the country
and convince farmers that the land
acquisition ordinance is not anti-farmer.
A senior cabinet minister in the thick
of things said: “We are all going to our
constituencies and home states and
meeting farmers.” — IANS
Fire in Kolkata
shopping mall
KOLKATA: A major fire broke
out in a shopping mall in central
Kolkata on Sunday but no casualty
was immediately reported, officials
said adding that 25 fire tenders were
rushed to put out the blaze. There were
no reports immediately of anyone
trapped in the building housing the
CityMart shopping mall.
Officials said the fire was first
noticed at 11.45 a.m. on the third floor
of the shopping mall.
Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee
said all steps were being taken to bring
the fire under control. “It doesn’t seem
that anyone is trapped in the fire... but
we can give you a full report only after
some time,” Chatterjee told media
persons. — IANS
IN BRIEF
President greets people of South Africa
Vote on GST bill in
Lok Sabha today
NEW DELHI: The Goods and
Service Tax (GST) bill, tabled in the
Lok Sabha on April 24, has been
listed for consideration and passing
on Monday, the government said
on Sunday. “The GST bill (The
Constitution 122nd Amendment
Bill, 2014) has been listed for further
consideration and passing in the
Lok Sabha on Monday,” an official
statement said here.
In the Lok Sabha on Friday,
members of the Congress led by party
president Sonia Gandhi, along with
those of the Trinamool Congress,
the Left group and the Nationalist
Congress Party (NCP) staged a
walkout after their plea for referring
the Constitution Amendment Bill to
the Standing Committee was not
accepted. Meanwhile, underplaying
the walk-out from parliament by
the opposition on the GST bill,
Minister of State for Finance Jayant
Sinha said on Saturday that the
government was not anticipating
any resistance to its passage. “Our
expectation is predicated on what
we’ve acquired from our discussions
with the empowered committee of
state finance ministers, and there’s a
broad consensus. We don’t anticipate
any opposition to the GST Bill,” Sinha
told reporters in Kolkata. Seen as a
key to facilitate industrial growth
and improve the business climate
in the country, the GST bill needs to
be passed by a two-third majority in
both houses of parliament and by the
legislatures of half of the states in the
country to become a law.
By subsuming most indirect
taxes levied by the central and state
governments, the Goods and Services
Tax proposes to facilitate a common
market across the country, leading
to economies of scale and reducing
inflation through an efficient chain.
NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday extended his greetings to the
government and the people of South Africa on the eve of the Freedom Day of South
Africa on Monday, an official statement said. In his message to South African President
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, Mukherjee said: “It gives me great pleasure to extend
to the friendly people of South Africa warm greetings and felicitations on behalf of
me, the government and the Indian people on the occasion of the Freedom Day of
South Africa. The relationship between India and South Africa is deeply rooted in the
history and over the years, it has evolved into a strategic partnership characterized by
multi-faceted engagement covering a range of activities in the political, economic and
cultural fields,” he said. “Our cooperation under the IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) and
the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) adds even greater value and
substance to our engagement. I am confident that in the coming years, we will further
reinforce our bilateral cooperation for the mutual benefit of the people of both the
nations,” Mukherjee said.
An Indian sailor stands alert on INS Viraat as France’s aircraft carrier Charles
de Gaulle (Rear) lies off the Indian coast at Goa on Saturday ahead of the start
of the Indo-French Naval exercise Varuna 2015. The exercise will take place
between April 28 and May 3 in the Arabian Sea off the Indian coast. — AFP
Whistle-blower shot at in Delhi
NEW DELHI: A whistle-blower, credited with conducting many sting operations
on corrupt policemen, was shot at in the capital by unidentified motorbike-riding
assailants, Delhi Police said on Saturday. Chetan Prakash Sharma, in his 40s, luckily
survived the attack as the bullet hit his hand, but his pet dog was killed in its attempt
to save its master. Police said Sharma was attacked around 10.30 pm on Friday when
he was walking with his dog near his home in west Delhi’s Rajapuri after having dinner.
“Two men on a bike opened fire at Sharma. A call to the police control room was
made around 11 pm by a passer-by and then the whistle-blower was taken to Deen
Dayal Upadhyay Hospital,” a police officer said. Sharma’s German shepherd dog, which
jumped on the attackers to save its master, received three bullets, said the officer.
“Sharma is out of danger while his dog died on the spot.” Police launched a probe
after registering a case of attempt to murder against unidentified people and were
scrutinising CCTV footage of the area to identify the attackers. Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal accompanied by Home Minister Satyendra Jain and AAP legislator Somnath
Bharti met Sharma on Saturday and assured him of security and fair trial. — IANS
EARTHQUAKE
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
omandailyobserver
11
Ten tonnes of blankets, 50 tonnes of water, 22 tonnes of food items
and two tonnes of medicines have been flown to Kathmandu
terrorise Nepal as toll tops
2,450
Damaged roads
on the outskirts of
Kathmandu on
Sunday. — AFP
MONKEYS BEHAVED PECULIARLY
AHEAD OF QUAKE: ANIMAL LOVER
AGRA: An animal lover on Sunday said monkeys in
the Taj city displayed peculiar behaviour ahead of
Saturday’s earthquake. “Around 50 monkeys came
down from the trees around 8 am on Saturday and sat
in a pensive and grim manner near our house. We tried
to chase them away but they didn’t react. We didn’t
realise what was coming. But once the earthquake
was over, the monkeys left,” said Padmini, a resident
of Belanganj. Meanwhile, District Magistrate Pankaj
Kumar on Sunday appealed to citizens to move out of
old and dilapidated homes to safer places. The Uttar
Pradesh government has ordered the closure of all
educational institutions for the next two days, April 27
and 28, as a disaster preparedness measure.
People run away from a landslide
triggered by a tremor in Nyalam county,
Tibet Autonomous Region, China, on
Sunday.
— Reuters
19 BODIES FOUND AT EVEREST BASE CAMP
NEW DELHI/KATHMANDU: Nineteen bodies have
been recovered from the Everest base camp, the Indian
defence ministry said on Sunday. “About 50 are injured,”
defence ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar tweeted.
Six helicopters were sent to the avalanche-hit area
on Saturday, but only two could operate because of
inclement weather. Tulsi Prasad Gautam, Executive
Director of Nepal’s Department of Tourism, told Xinhua
that a few of the injured climbers were being treated
in Pheriche village near Lukla. Other climbers were
on their way down from the base camp, Gautam said.
“One helicopter was sent this morning to bring the
seriously injured to Kathmandu for specialised medical
treatment,” Gautam added.
NO QUAKE FORECAST FOR
INDIA BY NASA: GOVT
NEW DELHI: The Nasa has made no earthquake
forecast for India, the government said on Sunday,
and asked people to ignore text messages with a
“fake” prediction of a strong quake to hit north India.
“It is fake. The Nasa (National Aeronautics and Space
Administration) cannot predict earthquakes. Such
messages are only seeking to create panic among
people,” a seismologist at the India Meteorological
Department (IMD) said. Scotching the rumours, the
IMD said the Indian government had received no
such intimation from the US. “No country can predict
earthquakes. The technology has not advanced so
much as yet. There is some research going on in China,
but even they have not reached any substantial result,”
the official said.
503 INDIANS EVACUATED FROM NEPAL
NEW DELHI: A total of 503 Indians were evacuated
from Nepal on Sunday and another batch of 130
is expected, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said.
Addressing a press conference here, he said that 237
Indians have already landed while 266 are on their way.
A third flight is expected to bring another 130 Indians,
but the number is not final yet. “We would request
Indians there to be patient,” said Jaishankar. — IANS
Women sing hymns during a prayer
ceremony at a temple in Ahmedabad,
India, on Sunday. — Reuters
KATHMANDU: Powerful aftershocks rocked
Nepal on Sunday, panicking survivors of a quake
that killed more than 2,450 and triggering fresh
avalanches at Everest base camp, as rescuers
dug through rubble in the devastated capital
Kathmandu. Terrified residents, many forced
to camp out in the capital after Saturday’s quake
reduced buildings to rubble, were jolted by a
6.7-magnitude aftershock that compounded
the worst disaster to hit the Himalayan nation
in more than 80 years.
At overstretched hospitals, where medics
were also treating patients in hastily erected
tents, staff were forced to flee buildings for fear
of further collapses.
“Electricity has been cut off, communication
systems are congested and hospitals are
crowded and are running out of room for
storing dead bodies,” Oxfam Australia Chief
Executive Helen Szoke said.
Climbers reported that the aftershock
caused more avalanches at Mount Everest, just
after helicopters airlifted to safety those injured
when a wall of snow hit base camp on Saturday,
killing at least 18 people.
The deadliest disaster in Everest’s history
comes almost exactly a year after an avalanche
killed 16 sherpa guides, forcing the season to
be cancelled, and as around 800 mountaineers
were gathered at the start of the new season.
AFP’s Nepal bureau chief Ammu
Kannampilly, who was on assignment at
base camp, reported that six helicopters had
managed to reach the mountain on Sunday
after the weather improved.
A stunning image captured by the agency’s
South Asia photo chief Roberto Schmidt
showed a massive cloud of snow and debris
cascading onto base camp, burying scores of
climbers and flattening tents.
“People being stretchered out as
choppers land — half a dozen this morning,”
Kannampilly said in a text message. “Weather
clear, some snowfall.”
Offers of help poured in from around the
world, with dozens of nations or aid groups
volunteering everything from sniffer dogs to
an inflatable hospital.
The
Kathmandu-based
National
Emergency Operation Centre put the toll in
Chinese search and rescue personnel and their search dogs stand in formation as they prepare
to head to Nepal from Beijing on Sunday. China has dispatched a 62-member search and rescue
team to Nepal, the state news agency reported.
— AFP
A girl salvages belongings from her damaged
house in Bhaktapur on the outskirts of
Kathmandu on Sunday.
— AFP
Nepal at 2,352 and said a further 6,239 had
been injured.
Officials in India said the toll there now
stood at 67, while Chinese state media said 18
people had been killed in the Tibet region.
“We have deployed all our resources for
search and rescues,” police spokesman Kamal
Singh Bam said. “Helicopters have been sent to
remote areas. We are sifting through the rubble
where buildings have collapsed to see if we
can find anyone.” The fresh aftershocks forced
Kathmandu airport to close for around an hour
as air traffic controllers evacuated their centre.
Several flights had to be diverted in mid-air.
The country’s cellphone network was
working only sporadically, while large parts of
the capital were without electricity.
AFP correspondents in Kathmandu
reported that tremors were felt throughout the
day, including one strong aftershock at dawn
before the 6.7-magnitude follow-up quake that
struck in the afternoon.
The historic nine-storey Dharahara tower,
a major tourist attraction, was among the
buildings brought down in Kathmandu on
Saturday. Police said around 150 people were
thought to have been in the tower at the time
of the disaster, based on ticket sales.
“At least 30 dead bodies have been pulled
out. We don’t have a number on the rescued
but over 20 injured were helped out,” Bishwa
Raj Pokharel, a local police official, said.
— AFP
India steps up rescue, vows to wipe all tears
R A K SINGH
NEW DELHI
April 26: With the toll in quake-hit
Nepal rising to 2,309 amid fears that
the situation in the ex-Himalayan
kingdom be “very-very serious,”
India today intensified its rescue and
relief operation for its neighbour,
rushing in hundreds of disastermitigation men and tonnes of relief
materials in dozens of civil and
military planes, choppers and buses.
India amplified its relief and
rescue operation, imparting it a
multi-pronged expanse amid Indian
Prime Minister Narndra Modi
vowing to strive to wipe the tears off
every Nepalese citizen and stand by
them in their hours of the crisis of
Himalayan proportion.
“My Dear Nepalese brother
and sisters, India stands by you
in your hour of crisis and grief,”
Prime Minister Modi told Nepalese
citizens in his monthly radio address
“Man ki Baat” (Heart’s Talk), adding
“1.25 billion Indians feel Nepal as
their own. India will try its level’s
best to wipe the tears off every
Nepalese citizen eye, hold their hand
and stand by them in their hours of
crisis.”
Prior to extending the words of
succor, the Prime Minister held a
high-level follow-up meeting today
to review the progress of relief and
rescue operations in Nepal.
The meeting was attended by
Nepalese people stay outside in tents in Bhaktapur on the outskirts of
Kathmandu on Sunday.
— AFP
senior Union ministers Rajnath
Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley
and Manohar Parrikar besides
National Security Advisor Ajit
Doval, Cabinet Secretary Ajit
Seth besides many other senior
officials of various ministries and
departments, involved in relief and
rescue operations.
After taking stock of ongoing
relief and rescue operations, the
Prime Minister asked Indians
authorities to double up their rescue
efforts.
Later in the evening, apprising
the media of the dertails of the rescue
operation, nicknamed “Operation
Maitri”, Foreign Secretary S
Jaishankar said India has so far
deployed 13 military aircraft, three
civilian aircraft of Air India and Jet
Airways, six Mi-17 helicopters, two
Advanced Light Helicopters while
two more Mi-17 choppers are ready.
Ten tonnes of blankets, 50 tonnes
of water, 22 tonnes of food items
and two tonnes of medicines have
been flown to Kathmandu, said the
foreign secretary.
12
ON PROMO DRIVE
M O N DAY l A P R I L 2 7 l 2 0 1 5
Actress Salma Hayek sings the Mexican
national anthem outside Khalil Gibran
museum during a visit to promote her
film The Prophet in Gibran’s hometown of
Bcharre, Lebanon. Khalil was a LebaneseAmerican artist, poet, and writer of the
New York Pen League. Salma visited along
with Lebanese Member of Parliament
Sethrida Geagea and spent time at the
museum.
WORLD
Ukraine’s ceasefire
under pressure
A soldier salutes during a ceremony at a memorial for the victims of Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev.
KIEV: A fragile ceasefire between
Ukrainian government forces and proRussian separatists came under renewed
pressure on Sunday with the Ukrainian
military reporting a serviceman had
been killed and seven others wounded
in rebel attacks.
The casualties, which follow the death
on Saturday of another serviceman in
shelling in the south east, occurred as
the Ukrainian military and the rebels
accused each other of violating a peace
deal signed in Minsk, Belarus, in
February. The latest violence has revived
concerns that the deal, brokered by the
leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany
and France, could collapse, even though
international monitors say violations
were relatively limited.
More than 6,100 civilians, separatists
and pro-Kiev service staff have been
killed so far in the conflict.
Fighting erupted in Ukraine’s
Russian-speaking east after the Moscow-
backed president was ousted in a public
revolt and Russia annexed Crimea.
Ukrainian military spokesman
Oleksander Motuzyanyk said the
separatists had stepped up their attacks
against government forces and were
using large-calibre artillery, all in
violation of the Minsk agreement.
He said attacks were largely focused
near the airport in the big regional city
of Donetsk and in the south-east near
Mariupol, a government-held coastal
city of half a million on the Sea of Azov.
Mariupol is of strategic importance
because of its position between rebelcontrolled eastern regions and Russianannexed Crimea.
“An increase in the number of
violations of the ceasefire regime by
(separatist) fighters has been noticeable
in the past 24 hours,” Motuzyanyk said.
He said the rebels were also using
Grad rockets, again in violation of
the Minsk deal which calls for heavy
weaponry to be pulled back from the
conflict zone.
The Ukrainian military on Saturday
made similar accusations against the
rebels, who in turn accused the military
of opening fire on an aid convoy from
Russia and of firing indiscriminately in
populated areas.
The Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which
is monitoring the ceasefire, says the
violations are still limited and markedly
down from pre-ceasefire violence.
“We are not in a phase of very active
conflict like we have seen in previous
months,” OSCE Secretary-General
Lamberto Zannier said on the sidelines
of a security conference in Estonia on
Saturday.
Ukrainians on Sunday marked 29
years since the Chernobyl nuclear
disaster, laying wreaths and candles near
the plant where work to lay a new seal
over the reactor site has been delayed.
FAMILY RULE
Only half of Togo’s
voters turned
out for key poll
LOME: Turnout was low for Togo’s
weekend vote, boosting the chances of
incumbent Faure Gnassingbe staying
in power, extending his family’s almost
50-year rule, the electoral commission
said.
Of some 3.5 million voters called to
polling stations on Saturday, only 53 to
55 per cent took part, the Independent
National
Electoral
Commission
(CENI) said.
Counting began as soon as polling
stations closed on Saturday, but by
Sunday afternoon, no results had
yet been announced. The CENI has
another five days to announce the
outcome. Turnout was significantly
lower than in 2010, when nearly two
thirds of registered voters took part.
Experts had said the narrow chance
of a loss for Gnassingbe would depend
on massive voter turnout, but civil
society groups said participation rates
were “very weak”.
Gnassingbe has been in power
since the death of his father, Gnassingbe
Eyadema in 2005, winning contested
elections that year and five years
later.
His father came to power in 1967,
and ruled the country with an iron fist.
Gnassingbe’s
only
credible
challenger is Jean-Pierre Fabre of the
five-party coalition called Combat for
Political Change (CAP 2015).
But analysts say divisions within
the opposition camp combined with
the benefits of incumbency made
Fabre’s prospects of victory very dim
and created a sense of resignation
among his supporters. — AFP
The authorities earlier
banned all protests either
for or against President
Pierre Nkurunziza’s
renewed candidacy.
BUJUMBURA: Burundian police shot
dead two protesters and wounded at
least one other on Sunday, the Red
Cross said, in demonstrations against
the president seeking a third term which
critics say would violate a constitutional
limit of two terms.
Witnesses said police used water
cannon, tear gas and in some cases live
bullets to disperse demonstrators across
Bujumbura.
The authorities earlier banned all
protests either for or against President
Pierre Nkurunziza’s renewed candidacy.
African leaders and Western nations
have urged Nkurunziza not to run again,
and the United States and the European
Union have indicated they could take
punitive steps if violence erupted as a
result.
“We counted two protesters killed by
police, four others were injured and one
is in coma in hospital after being hit by a
bullet,” Alexis Manirakiza, Burundi Red
Cross spokesman said.
Police had no immediate comment
on the casualties.
Burundi’s
ruling
CNDD-FDD
party nominated Nkurunziza as its
presidential candidate on Saturday.
Those opposed say this not only
violates the constitution, which limits
leaders to two terms in office, but also
goes against the spirit of a 2000 peace
deal that has kept Burundi calm for a
decade since a civil war between ethnic
Hutus and Tutsis ended in 2005.
United Nations and Rwandan
officials say just over 17,000 Burundians
have fled into neighbouring Rwanda
and the Democratic Republic of Congo
since mid-March due to rising fear of
violence in the run-up to the June 26
presidential election.
Interior
Minister
Edouard
Nduwimana said on Sunday that the
demonstrations were illegal.
“We have asked whoever is against
the third term to follow legal procedures.
Only the constitutional court can
judge if Nkurunziza has the right to run
or not,” he said.
Dlamini Zuma, chairwoman of the
African Union Commission, urged
the Burundian government to practice
restraint.
“Political actors must use appropriate
channels to seek redress in grievances,
including disputes on elections.
Violence begets violence,” she said on
her Twitter feed.
A Reuters witness said the interior
minister and the minister in charge of
security joined police in forcing their
way into the premises of private radio
station RPA.
At first they threatened to shut the
station down, accusing staff of inciting
people to revolt, but then ordered them
to stop airing any live material from the
protests. — Reuters
Members of the Night
Wolves motorcycle club
and Belarusian bikers
lay flowers at the war
memorial Mound of
Glory during a bike
ride commemorating
the 70th anniversary of
the victory over Nazi,
outside Minsk.
Nazarbayev ‘confident’
of poll victory
ASTANA: Kazakhstan’s citizens turned
out in force on Sunday for a presidential
poll almost certain to re-elect the
74-year-old strongman incumbent
Nursultan Nazarbayev, who said he
was confident of public backing for his
campaign.
The country’s Central Election
Commission said the turnout was 89.69
per cent by 1200 GMT with polling set
to continue until 1400 GMT.
The marginalised opposition in the
energy-rich former Soviet state has
not put forward any candidates for the
election and Nazarbayev is standing
against two candidates widely seen as
pro-government figures.
Nazarbayev has ruled the Central
Asian country since before the breakup
of the USSR in 1991.
If he wins a new five-year term, he
will be on course to reach three decades
as leader.
He cast his ballot to loud applause
in the capital Astana, saying he was
confident Kazakhstan’s people would
back his campaign.
“I am sure Kazakhstan’s people
will vote primarily for the stable
development of our state and the
improvement of people’s lives, as
well as the stability of the state and in
support of the policies the country has
implemented under my leadership,”
Nazarbayev told journalists.
“I am confident of this.” Many
citizens standing in long, snaking
queues at polling stations in the
capital Astana and second city Almaty
cited a “civic duty” to vote. Gulmira
Bardygulova, a student in the country’s
largest city, Almaty, said she had voted
Kazakh President Nazarbayev casts his
ballot at a polling station in Astana.
I am sure
Kazakhstan’s people
will vote primarily for
the stable development of
our state and imporvement
of people’s lives.”
NURSULTAN NAZARBAYEV
Kazakhistan President
for Nazarbayev to save the country
from political turmoil.
“Young
people
themselves
understand their duty — nobody
is forcing us to vote. We have seen
revolutions in Kyrgyzstan, war in
Ukraine. Nobody wants this future for
Kazakhstan.” — AFP
AROUND THE GLOBE
Nigeria, SA trade barbs over attacks on migrants
2 shot dead in Burundi clashes
A riot police officer sprays teargas on residents participating in street protests
against the decision made by Burundi’s ruling party to allow President Pierre
Nkurunziza to run for a third five-year term in office, in the capital Bujumbura.
REMEMBERING THE HEROES
Putin says ‘no
regrets’ on Crimea
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir
Putin said in an interview broadcast
on Sunday that he had no regrets over
Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea
and that it was righting a historical
injustice.
“I think we did the right thing and
I don’t regret a thing,” Putin said of his
decision to take back the Black Sea
peninsula from Ukraine, interviewed
in a state television documentary.
“When we defend our (interests),
we go to the end,” Putin said.
“If people want to return to
Russia and don’t want to be under
the authority of neo-nazis, extreme
nationalists and followers of (Stepan)
Bandera, then we don’t have the right
to abandon them,” Putin said.
Bandera was the hugely
controversial anti-Soviet wartime
leader of the Ukrainian Insurgent
Army (UPA), which both fought
against and collaborated with
occupying Nazi forces.
Explaining the motivation behind
Crimea’s takeover, Putin said it was
righting a historic wrong after Soviet
leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred
the peninsula from Russia to Ukraine
in 1954, then only a symbolic move
since both were in the USSR.
“It’s not because we want to bite
something off, tear it off.
And not even because Crimea has
a strategic significance in the region
around the Black Sea,” Putin said.
He insisted that Russia is not
breaching international law in its
actions in Ukraine,despite Western
sanctions, as Moscow denies
international accusations that it is
backing pro-Russian separatists with
arms and troops in east Ukraine.
JOHANNESBURG: The South African government reacted angrily on Sunday to
Nigeria’s decision to recall its ambassador from Pretoria over a wave of mob attacks on
African migrants that killed at least seven people.
“We are not sure which actions or behaviour of the South African Government
the Nigerian Government is protesting,” the South African foreign ministry said in a
statement. “If this action is based on the incidents of attacks on foreign nationals in
some parts of our country, it would be curious for a sisterly country to want to exploit
such a painful episode for whatever agenda,” the ministry said, lamenting Nigeria’s
“unfortunate and regrettable step.”
Taking aim at its rival for economic and political dominance in Africa, Pretoria said it
had held off blaming Nigeria’s government when 84 South Africans were killed in the
collapse of a church building in Lagos last year.
South Africa had also refrained from blaming Nigerian authorities for the “more
than nine months delay” in the repatriation of the bodies “or for the fact that when
these bodies eventually returned, they were in a state that they could not be touched
or viewed as required by our burial practice.” — Reuters
Pilgrims in traditional attire take part in the ‘Romeria de la Virgen de la
Cabeza’ annual Romeria pilgrimage in Andujar, near Jaen. The pilgrimage
to ‘Mount the Header’, which is home to the Virgen de la Cabeza gathers
hundreds of thousands of devotees in traditional outfits converging in a
burst of colour. — AFP
Woman sues German hotel over hot shower
DUSSELDORF: A woman is suing a hotel in Dusseldorf after claiming she received
burns when the water she showered in was too hot, court documents showed on
Sunday. The woman from the northern city of Goettingen is seeking 3,000 euros
($3,262) in damages.
The case is scheduled to be heard in the Dusseldorf district court on Wednesday.
She claims that when she entered the shower, the water was at a pleasant
temperature, but then the cold water shut off and her back was sprayed with scalding
hot water.
She claims to have received second-degree burns as she was unable to escape
immediately owing to the shower’s sliding doors.
The woman accuses the female operator of the hotel of not fitting a safety valve to
the shower that would ensure that no water over 38 degrees could make it out of the
shower head.
The company says in its defence that such measures are not required by law and it
also challenges the woman’s account. — dpa
REGION
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
omandailyobserver
13
Syrian jets pound rebel-held town, leave 34 dead
DEADLY STRIKES: 20 air strikes since Saturday has killed insurgents, civilians and some children as well
BEIRUT: Syrian jets killed at least 34
people in air strikes on the town of
Jisr al Shughour in northwestern Syria
on Sunday, a group monitoring the
war said, one day after it was seized
by extremist fighters closing in on
government-held territory by the coast.
Syrian state television said the military
had ambushed some militants close to
Jisr al Shughour, which was captured on
Saturday for the first time in the fouryear conflict by a hardline extremist
alliance including Al Qaeda.
The Observatory said around 20 air
strikes since late on Saturday had killed
at least 34 people including insurgents
and civilians, some of them children.
Syrian television also reported that
the insurgents had killed civilians, but
the Observatory said only supporters of
the government had been detained, and
no one killed.
“Terrorist groups committed a
horrific massacre of civilians after
entering Jisr al Shughour,” state television
quoted a military source as saying. It
said at least 30 civilians had been killed
in the town close to the Turkish border.
But Observatory said combatants
had detained government backers and
that there was no confirmation so far
they had killed anyone.
“If we knew people were killed
by them we would report it,” the
Observatory’s
founder
Rami
Abdulrahman said. “No women and
children were captured.”
His monitoring group, which says it
collects information from all sides of the
conflict said heavy fighting continued
south of the town.
Residents inspect a site after what activists said was a barrel bomb dropped by forces loyal to Syria’s president Bashar al Assad in Old Aleppo, on Sunday. — Reuters
The capture of the town of 50,000
people in Idlib province was the latest
setback for government forces.
Insurgents have been trying to push
the army out of the few remaining
government areas in the province,
bringing them closer to Latakia, a
coastal province of vital importance to
President Bashar al Assad.
State news agency SANA also said
the military had carried out night raids
around Jisr al Shughour and inflicted
heavy losses on its enemies.
Last month the hardline rebels seized
Idlib city, the provincial capital, after
forming an alliance that includes Nusra,
the Ahrar al Sham movement and
Jund al Aqsa, but not the rival IS which
Car bombs, attack kill 22 in Iraq
BAGHDAD: At least 22 people were
killed in explosions across Iraq on
Sunday, including a suicide car bomb
attack on a military post in western
Anbar province, police and medical
sources said. The deadliest attack came
when a car packed with explosives was
detonated at an army checkpoint near
the town of Al Nukhaib, an outpost on
the route to western neighbours Syria
and Saudi Arabia, killing at least seven
soldiers, the sources said.
“Deash terrorists used a suicide car
bomb attack to distract our soldiers and
then they clashed with soldiers, but we
managed to repel the attack,” an army
officer from Anbar operations command
said, using a derogatory acronym for IS.
No group immediately claimed
responsibility for any of the attacks, but
government forces are often targeted by
insurgents the government is struggling
to dislodge from large sections of the
north and west. Another six people were
killed and 17 others wounded when a
car bomb went off near Khilani Square
in central Baghdad, police and medical
sources said.
Six more people were killed in bomb
attacks in Baghdad’s districts of Amil,
Hussainiya and Bayaa, the sources
said. A car bomb killed three people
and wounded seven in the town of
Mahmoudiya, about 30 km south of
Iraqi bystanders gather at the site of a car bomb that targeted a popular area in Al Amil district, south of the capital Baghdad
on Sunday. — AFP
Baghdad, police sources said.
Elsewhere in Iraq, IS extremists
attacked Baiji, the country’s largest
refinery, on Saturday evening using
mortars and machine guns fixed to
pickup trucks, security officials said.
The assault came a day after the
radical militants took partial control
of a water dam and military barracks
guarding it in Anbar and detonated
three suicide car bombs at a border
crossing between Iraq and Jordan.
“Daesh attacked the northern
gate of the refinery, but we managed
to repel the attack and prevented
them from infiltrating our defences,”
an army officer from the refinery said by
phone. — Reuters
controls large tracts of Syria and Iraq.
The extremist alliance calls
itself the Army of Fatah, a reference
to the conquests that spread
Islam across the Middle East from the
7th century. — Reuters
Two Swedish
hostages freed
in Syria
STOCKHOLM: Two Swedish men
thought to have been held hostage by
an extremist group in Syria for at least
a year have been freed with the help of
Jordanian and Palestinian authorities,
the Swedish Foreign Ministry said
on Sunday. One of the men, Thomas
Olsson, told Swedish news agency
TT they were “well, according to the
circumstances” and thanked all those
involved
in securing their release.
Olsson, 50, declined to comment
on a report in tabloid Aftonbladet
that he and Martin Reen, 33, had been
in Syria to do missionary work. The
Palestinian Ambassador to Sweden,
Hala Husni Fariz Odeh, said the two
had been held by the Al Nusra Front,
an Al Qaeda affiliate, at a location near
the Jordanian border.
“They were handed over at the
Syrian-Jordanian front,” she told
Swedish television, adding that the
release took place Friday.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry and
police declined to comment on reports
that the two had been kidnapped in
late 2013, with one official saying that
the two men had been held “for a
longer period.”
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot
Wallstrom
expressed
“special
thanks to Palestine, and to President
(Mahmoud) Abbas personally, whose
involvement has been crucial, and to
the Jordanian authorities.” — dpa
Syria changes passport
rules for citizens abroad
DAMASCUS: Syrian authorities will
allow citizens abroad, including refugees
who fled the war, to obtain passports
without an intelligence service review
for the first time, Syria’s Al Watan
newspaper said on Sunday. The daily,
which is close to the government, said
the move would “create an appropriate
climate” for consultations in Geneva
next month on the possibility of
renewed peace talks.
It also noted that the fees for the new
procedures — which are being doubled
— would be “an important source of
foreign exchange”.
The newspaper said the new
measures were detailed in a document
sent on Thursday to Syrian embassies
around the world.
This authorised embassies “to issue
or renew passports for Syrians abroad
without having to go through the
department of emigration and passports
in Damascus”, Al Watan reported.
It said this meant applications would
no longer be subject to an intelligence
services review as was often the case
in the past. Passports will be issued to
Syrians “even if they left in an illegal
manner or they hold non-official
passports or travel documents”, the
document added. Many of the nearly
four million Syrians who have fled their
country’s conflict left illegally, fearing
arrest or conscription if they passed
through an official crossing.
Some have lost their passports or left
them behind, and others have had their
documents expire while they are away.
The document’s reference to “nonofficial passports” appeared to relate
to a January decision by opposition
representatives in Qatar to extend
passports for Syrians in the Gulf
country. Syria’s regime no longer has an
embassy in Doha, which is a key backer
of the opposition.
The new measures mean that
those seeking to obtain or renew
passports will no longer have to wait
for their documents to be reviewed by
intelligence officials in Damascus.
That measure has “long been called
for by the opposition,” Al Watan said,
and will allay “many of the concerns
of whose who left Syria illegally and
facilitate their return”.
It said the fees associated with
obtaining a new passport or a renewal
would also be “an important source of
foreign exchange” for foreign currencystrapped Syria— AFP
New UN Yemen envoy looks to revive Yemen talks
SANAA: A new UN envoy was looking
to kickstart peace talks in Yemen as
battles raged on Sunday between rebels
and pro-government forces a month
after the launch of Saudi-led air strikes.
The Houthi rebels, who have overrun
large parts of the country and forced
President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi
to flee abroad, have demanded an end
to the air war as a condition for UNsponsored talks.
But the raids continued on Sunday,
hitting the rebel-held presidential palace
in Sanaa and anti-government positions
in the main southern city of Aden,
military sources and witnesses said.
Fighting also intensified in Marib
province, east of the capital, where proHadi fighters clashed with Houthis and
allied forces.
A military official said the
presidential complex in Sanaa was
targeted as reinforcements were being
prepared to send to oil-rich Marib.
The United Nations on Saturday
confirmed Mauritanian diplomat Ismail
Ould Cheikh Ahmed as the new special
envoy to Yemen, replacing Moroccan
Jamal Benomar who resigned last week
following what diplomats described as
sharp criticism of his performance by
Gulf states.
Ould Cheikh Ahmed “will work
closely with the members of the United
Nations Security Council, the Gulf
Cooperation Council, governments in
the region and other partners, as well
as the United Nations country team for
Yemen,” a UN statement said. Former
strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh, who still
holds sway over army units allied with the
rebels, late on Friday urged the Houthis
to heed UN demands to withdraw from
territory they have seized.
US Secretary of State John Kerry
also called on anti-government forces
to enter into political dialogue to end a
conflict that the United Nations says has
Yemen minister rejects Saleh’s offer
LONDON: Yemeni Foreign Minister
Riyadh Yaseen on Sunday rejected a
call for peace talks issued by former
president Ali Abdullah
Saleh and said a Saudi-led military
operation against Houthi militia had
not ended.
“These calls are unacceptable after
all the destruction Ali Abdullah Saleh
has caused. There can be no place
for Saleh in any future political talks,”
Yaseen told a news conference in
London.
Yemeni children wait to fill their jerrycans with water from a public tap amid an acute
shortage of water supply to houses in the capital Sanaa, on Sunday. — Reuters
killed more than 1,000 people since late
March. But Mohammed al Bukhaiti, a
member of the Houthis’ political bureau,
said on Sunday that “dialogue cannot
resume before the end of external
armed the rebels and has presented
a peace plan to the UN calling for a
ceasefire and the formation of a unity
aggression”.
The fighting has raised fears that government. A US aircraft carrier
Yemen could become a front in a proxy headed to Yemeni waters last week to
monitor an Iranian convoy that had
war between Gulf countries and Iran.
Tehran rejects accusations that it raised suspicions. It redeployed on
Saleh, whose loyalists have been
fighting alongside Houthi rebels who
toppled the central government, on
Friday called on all Yemenis to return
to political dialogue to find a
way to end the country’s spiralling
conflict.
Yaseen was speaking after air raids,
naval shelling and ground fighting
shook Yemen on Sunday in some of
the most widespread combat since
the Saudi-led alliance intervened last
month. — Reuters
Friday after the convoy turned back,
Pentagon officials said.
The coalition has kept up air strikes
days after announcing its campaign was
entering a new phase aimed at resuming
the political process, delivering aid and
fighting “terrorism”. — AFP
14
AMERICAS
omandailyobserver
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
US to ease hostage
ransom policy
Demonstrators destroy the windshield of a Baltimore Police car as they protest the death Freddie Gray, an African American man who died of spinal cord injuries in
police custody, in Baltimore, Maryland. — AFP
Funeral planned for black
man hurt in police custody
WASHINGTON: US officials are
expected to stop prosecuting families of
American hostages who communicate
with kidnappers abroad or raise funds and
pay ransoms, ABC news reported Sunday.
A National Counterterrorism Center
advisory group, ordered by the White
House, is expected to recommend what
would mark a radical shift in US hostage
policy, according to the report.
The NCTC interviewed families
of hostages, including the parents of
journalist James Foley, who was killed by
IS fighters.
Foley’s mother Diane has said that
officials from President Barack Obama’s
administration repeatedly told her family
it was illegal to try to raise a ransom to free
her son, and warned that her family could
face prosecution for doing so.
The Obama administration has denied
making any such threats.
“There will be absolutely zero chance
of any family member of an American
held hostage overseas ever facing
jail themselves, or even the threat of
prosecution, for trying to free their loved
ones,” a senior official told ABC News.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the family
of US contractor Warren Weinstein, who
was snatched by Al-Qaeda in Pakistan
in 2011, confirmed to AFP it had paid a
ransom to try to secure his release.
CBS News reported the ransom was
for $250,000. Diane Foley welcomed
the potential policy shift, which officials
discussed with her last week.
“There’s a lot that needs to be fixed,” she
There’s a lot that
needs to be fixed.
The past threats were
‘the straw that broke
the camel’s back. It was
incredible.”
DIANE FOLEY
Mother of James Foley, killed
by IS fighters
told ABC News. She said the past threats
were “the straw that broke the camel’s
back. It was incredible.”
A number of hostage families
expressed outrage after US Army Sergeant
Bowe Bergdahl was freed by the Haqqani
Network in Pakistan a year ago in exchange
for the release of five Taliban leaders held
at the Guantanamo Bay military prison.
Army Lieutenant General Bennet
Sacolick, who previously headed the elite
Delta Force counterterrorism unit, is
heading the hostage policy review team,
along with his NCTC staff. — AFP
BEAUTY OF OUR PLANET
PUBLIC RAGE: Protesters rampage through downtown Baltimore after the incident
WASHINGTON: Violent protests in
Baltimore yielded to calm Sunday, as
mourners readied a funeral wake for
Freddie Gray, an African American
man who died of injuries sustained
while in police custody.
Gray, 25, who died one week ago
after his spine was nearly severed
following his arrest, was to be buried
Monday in his hometown of Baltimore,
less than an hour from the US capital
Washington.
A viewing of his body for friends
and family was to be held at a local
Baltimore funeral home beginning
at 1 pm Sunday. One day earlier,
protesters
rampaged
through
downtown Baltimore, in the latest
show of public rage after the death of
an unarmed African American by US
law enforcement.
Speaking to US television,
Congressman Elijah Cummings, who
represents the Baltimore district where
the violence took place, said he was
pleased that the US Justice Department
was undertaking a “top to bottom”
probe of the city’s police department.
“We’ve got to take this department
My family wants to
say: Please, please
stop the violence.
Freddie would not want
this...”
FREDERICKA
Gray’s twin sister
apart and try to figure out what is
wrong and what is right,” Cummings
told CBS television’s “Face the Nation”
programme. “This is a significant
moment,” Cummings said.”If we don’t
correct this now, it will only get worse.”
News reports said Saturday’s
demonstrations drew thousands
of protesters, in the biggest show
of outrage so far over Gray’s death.
Initially, the 90-minute rally at city
hall demanding justice for Gray was
peaceful.
But the mood shifted dramatically
when scores of protesters moved to
the vicinity of the city’s Camden Yards
baseball stadium, scene of an evening
McCain urges shifting drone
programme to Pentagon
WASHINGTON:
Drone
strikes against suspected enemy
combatants on foreign soil should
be run by the US military and not
the CIA, Senate Armed Services
Committee Chairman John McCain
said on Sunday.
McCain made his remarks on CNN’s
“State of the Union” broadcast just days
after it was disclosed that a drone strike
in Pakistan in January mistakenly killed
two Western hostages: an American
and an Italian.
“I think it was probably preventable,
in that there was an obvious breakdown
in intelligence. They didn’t know that
they were there,” McCain said of the
January drone strike.
The Republican senator and 2008
failed presidential candidate predicted
the incident will renew a debate within
the Obama administration on how the
drone program is run.
However, there still appeared to
be strong support in Congress for
employing the unmanned drones against
enemy targets, which has expanded
during the Obama administration.
Critics have long complained about
civilians being killed in the air strikes.
It is an “integral part of the conflict
and a very essential one,” McCain told
CNN.
McCain acknowledged “some bias”
on which federal agency should operate
the drone program, given that shifting
it to the Pentagon from the CIA would
put it under his purview as chairman
of the Senate committee overseeing the
military. Nevertheless, McCain said the
Pentagon had the expertise and, “I think
it should be conducted and oversight
and administered by the Department of
Defence.”
The United States was targeting
an al Qaeda compound in Pakistan
when a drone strike killed American
hostage Warren Weinstein, who
had been held since 2011, and Italian
hostage Giovanni Lo Porto, as well as
an al Qaeda leader who also was an
American.
Obama last week publicly apologized
for the hostage deaths and took “full
responsibility” for all counter terrorism
operations. — Reuters
Baltimore Orioles-Boston Red Sox
game. Gray’s twin sister Fredericka
appealed — in vain — for calm. “My
family wants to say: Please, please stop
the violence. Freddie would not want
this,” she said amid the violence that
led to numerous arrests.
She spoke alongside Mayor
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who said
she was “profoundly disappointed” by
violence she blamed on “a small group
of agitators.”
Local television footage showed
a crowd hurling traffic cones, soda
bottles and trash cans at police officers,
before randomly smashing store
windows, looting merchandise and
vandalizing police cars.
Street signs were torn down, and
one motorist got a rock through her car
window, local news media reported.
Targets of the violence also included
a convenience store, a Michael
Kors fashion boutique, a financial
services center and a cellphone shop
in Baltimore’s landmark Lexington
Market. Fans at the baseball game,
which went beyond the standard
nine innings due to a tie, were told
to remain in the stadium, “due to an
ongoing public safety issue,” until
gates were opened for them to leave.
One police spokesman blamed the
trouble on “isolated pockets” of
individuals who were believed to have
come from out of town.
Tensions have been simmering in
Baltimore, a blue-collar Mid-Atlantic
port city of 620,000, as investigators try
to establish the circumstances that led
to Gray’s death.
Speakers at the city hall rally called
for President Barack Obama to launch
a broad inquiry into police misconduct
nationwide, following a series of fatal
confrontations between white police
officers and African-American men
and boys. “It has to stop. It really has
to stop because it could have been
any one of us,” one young male adult
member of Gray’s extended family told
the crowd.
During a press conference Friday,
Baltimore officials acknowledged Gray
should have received medical help at the
moment of his arrest, when he was seen
by bystanders — and caught on video —
howling in apparent pain. — AFP
This natural-colour composite image of Earth obtained yesterday released by Nasa, was
assembled from data acquired by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS)
on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi-NPP) spacecraft. It stitches
together 671,551, and 443 nanometer wavelength data from six orbits on April 9. Fortyfive years ago this week, Americans celebrated the first Earth Day. Sixteen years ago, on
April 29, 1999, the Nasa Earth Observatory was launched on the World Wide Web.
Both the holiday and the web site celebrate awareness of our planet, its power, and its
fragility. They also celebrate the simple beauty of the place we call home. — AFP
6,500 people living nearby have been evacuated and Chile blanketed in suffocating debris
Volcano ash causing misery for Chile, Argentina
PUERTO VARAS: Ash from Chile’s
Calbuco volcano visited more misery on
air passengers across South America on
Sunday, as towns and cities struggled to
clean up from last week’s two powerful
eruptions.
A sleeping giant for more than
50 years, Calbuco sprang to life in
spectacular bursts of ash and lava
Wednesday and Thursday, forcing 6,500
people living nearby to evacuate and
blanketed southern Chile in suffocating
volcanic debris.
Ash from the volcano has wrought
havoc with air travel in the Southern
Cone region of South America, causing
delays and cancellations for several
international flights to and from
Argentina, Chile and even Uruguay.
Flights were still suspended
completely in the Argentinian resort city
of Bariloche due to the ash.
A column of ash was still traveling
northeastward Sunday, but it was
smaller than in previous days.
At the foot of the volcano giant, in the
small resort town of Ensenada, its 1,500
inhabitants begin to see the light after its Ensenada will be back to normal.
But it will depend on whether the
people remained under ashes, thanks to
military crews to help in cleaning up the volcano leaves us alone,” restaurant
area. “Now, we just have to think about worker Pedro Gonzalez said.
Armed forces are guarding the
the future. We hope that in two months,
A man reacts as he stands inside a pool with dead salmons at a salmon production
plant which was damaged by lahar from Calbuco Volcano at Correntoso near
Chamiza. — AFP
The government confirmed
it would be providing
financial aid to rebuild the
affected areas and would
seek to evacuate some 4,000
sheep and 350 cattle and
small animals trapped.
affected area, which includes the cities
of Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas,
both under maximum red health alert
in the Los Lagos region, about 1,300
kilometres south of Santiago.
On Saturday, the government
confirmed it would be providing
financial aid to rebuild the affected areas,
and would seek to evacuate some 4,000
sheep and 350 cattle and small animals
trapped in ash-covered Ensenada.
Farmers are also due to receive help
to cover the huge losses triggered by the
volcanic material, in a region that relies
heavily on its agriculture and tourism
industries for income. — AFP
EUROPE
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
UK oppn leader narrows
options on election deal
omandailyobserver
15
TIMELY RESCUE ACT
OUTRIGHT: Miliband insists on working towards a majority govt
Britain’s opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband (R) and Boris Johnson, mayor
of London, talk on the Andrew Marr show in London. — Reuters
LONDON: British opposition leader Ed
Miliband appeared to go a step further
on Sunday in ruling out a deal with the
pro-independence Scottish National
Party (SNP) if he fails to win next
month’s election outright.
“I’m not doing deals with the Scottish
National Party... it’s not happening.
I’m working for a majority Labour
government,” Miliband said in a BBC
interview.
Miliband leads the centre-left
Labour Party which is virtually neck
and neck in opinion polls with Prime
Minister David Cameron’s centre-right
Conservatives before May 7’s vote.
This indicates that neither of the
two main parties will win outright and
will have to team up with one or more
smaller parties to form a coalition or
minority government.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, whose
party is expected to win most of
Scotland’s House of Commons seats
amid surging support after last year’s
rejected independence referendum,
wants to do a post-election deal with
Labour.
Miliband’s comments come as the
Conservatives, facing accusations they
have fought a negative and insufficiently
passionate campaign, increasingly
emphasise what they describe as the
dangers of an alliance between Labour
and the SNP.
Cameron’s party claims the SNP
would pull Labour further to the left
and put the United Kingdom at risk by
pushing for another referendum.
They are running a high-profile
poster campaign depicting Miliband as
Sturgeon’s puppet.
Home Secretary Theresa May warned
in an interview in the Mail on Sunday
newspaper that a minority Labour
government propped up by the SNP
could prompt the “biggest constitutional
crisis since the abdication” of King
Edward VIII in 1936.
With the Conservatives increasing
their focus on the Scottish issue,
Miliband on Sunday appeared to
rule out a “confidence and supply”
agreement with the SNP.
This is a deal in which a smaller
party supports a minority government
in House of Commons confidence
motions and votes on government
spending.
The Labour leader has already said
he would not enter a formal coalition
with the SNP, much of whose support is
coming from former Labour voters.
That leaves the door open for a more
informal vote-by-vote arrangement
where the SNP could support Labour
on an ad hoc basis in return for policy
concessions.
Cameron again stressed what he
said would be the negative impact of a
Labour-SNP alliance in an interview
with Sky News on Sunday.
“If you want a non-socialist
alternative to the nationalists who want
to break up the union (Britain), only the
Conservatives can provide that,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sturgeon’s predecessor
as both SNP leader and Scottish first
minister, Alex Salmond, dismissed the
Conservative attacks in another Sky
interview. — AFP
7 in 10 Greeks want a debt deal
ATHENS: Seven out of ten Greeks want
their leaders to reach an agreement with
their creditors as the country’s tense
debt drama drags on, according to a
survey published on Sunday.
Just over 23 per cent of Greeks backed
splitting from the European Union,
while slightly under 72 per cent said they
supported an agreement with creditors
when asked “what would be the best
solution for the country”, according to a
poll in Greek paper To Vima.
Greece has been trying to negotiate
a deal that would unlock 7.2 billion
euros ($7.8 billion) in remaining EUInternational Monetary Fund bailout
funds that Greece needs to avoid default
and a possible exit from the euro.
But while Greeks oppose the deep
cuts they have endured under austerity,
nearly 73 per cent said they wanted to
Greece has been trying to
negotiate a deal that would
unlock 7.2 billion euros
($7.8 billion) in remaining
EU-IMF bailout funds that
Greece needs to avoid
default and a possible exit
from the euro.
keep the euro.
Just over 20 per cent told pollsters
they would like to return to their old
currency the drachma, according to the
survey of 1,007 people carried out from
April 21-22.
Greeks seem to be less supportive
of their leaders confrontational stance
in negotiating with their creditors,
with five out of ten approving of the
strategy that has seen tempers flare and
accusations fly.
But their disapproval of the stance
has fallen less on Prime Minister Alexis
Tsipras, who has held onto a just over 61
per cent approval rating.
However, Finance Minister Yanis
Varoufakis, who has headed up the
stormy negotiations, has the approval of
just over 51 per cent of his countrymen.
Meanwhile, the interior minister
of cash-strapped Greece has raised
the possibility of fresh elections to
give Greeks the last word on the
government’s economic policy.
“Those who imagine that the current
government is an interlude... are wrong;
the people spoke and, if necessary, will
do it again,” Interior Minister Nikos
Voutsis said. — AFP
The Queen increased her wealth by £10m but dropped out the richest list
Ukrainian-born Blavatnik tops UK
rich list, Queen falls out of top 300
LONDON: Ukrainian-born billionaire
Len Blavatnik (pictured), has become
Britain’s wealthiest man, a “rich list”
published annually by The Sunday
Times newspaper showed on Sunday,
but Queen Elizabeth slipped down the
rankings despite her net worth growing.
Boosted largely by rising stock
markets, the newspaper said the superrich had doubled their collective wealth
since the 2009 economic crisis and that
the wealthiest 1,000 people based in
Britain were now worth £547 billion
($830.67 billion), up from 258 billion in
2009, an increase of 112 per cent.
The figures are likely to be seized
upon by politicians less than two
weeks before a close national election.
The opposition Labour Party accuses
Prime Minister David Cameron of
governing in favour of the wealthy
at the expense of the poor. Cameron
rejects that charge, but the widening
gulf between those on the list and most
Britons, whose living standards have
only recently begun to return to where
they were before the crisis, is awkward
for his re-election campaign. Britain has
117 sterling billionaires, the list showed,
more than any other country except the
United States and China, and London
has more billionaires (80) than ever
before and more than any other city in
the world.
Blavatnik, who shot from number
four to number one this year, was worth
£13.17 billion, the newspaper said, up
3.17 billion on 2014.
With investments in music, industry
and media, it said it would take the
average Briton, on £25,000 a year,
526,800 years to match the 57 yearold’s wealth. The Indian-born Hinduja
brothers, Sri and Gopi, who headed the
list last year, were placed number two
with £13 billion. They have interests
in industry and global finance. The
Anglo-Canadian Weston family, who
own a retail empire, were third with £11
billion.
The newspaper said new money was
“flooding” into Britain, pushing Britons
down the rich list. The Queen increased
her wealth by 10 million to £340 million,
but dropped out of the country’s richest
300 for the first time, it said.
If it wins power on May 7, Labour
has pledged to scrap tax rules that allow
wealthy individuals to legally reduce
the amount of tax they pay on money
earned overseas.
The change would affect about
116,000 people who live in Britain, some
of whom figure on the rich list. — AFP
Members of Germany’s NGO organistation International Search and Rescue (ISAR-Germany) line-up to board their flight to
Nepal via Delhi, at Frankfurt airport. Some seven rescue dogs, 51 doctors, medics and logistical experts are flying to Nepal on
Sunday, a day after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake devastated the heavily crowded Kathmandu Valley, killing more than 2,200
people, and triggered a deadly avalanche on Mount Everest. — Reuters
Chancellor’s aeroplane to become zero-gravity ‘vomit comet’
BERLIN/PARIS: The former official
aeroplane of Germany’s chancellors is
set to fly its first test zero-gravity flight
on Monday, according to the German
Aerospace Centre in Cologne.
The Airbus A310, formerly named
Konrad Adenauer after Germany’s
first post-war chancellor, was retired
four years ago, but was refitted by
Lufthansa at its Hamburg yard so that it
could carry out zero-gravity flights for
research purposes.
Over a period of six months,
Lufthansa removed the VIP area with its
two bedrooms, almost 100 seats and
the toilets. The new A310 Zero G is in
Bordeaux at the French firm Novespace,
which carries out simulated weightless
flights for the European Space Agency.
By flying in parabolic arcs, the
plane is able to recreate the feeling of
weightlessness as it plummets to Earth
on the down side of the curve, lasting
just 22 seconds each time.
The effect has led to the nickname
of the “vomit comet” for the plane.
“At takeoff and landing the
aeroplane’s structure is subjected to
the strongest pressure,” Ulrike Friedrich,
programme manager at the German
Aerospace Centre, said.
“The challenge was to find an
affordable and yet relatively little used
aeroplane,” she said. As the Konrad
Adenauer, Germany’s equivalent of
Air Force One took Helmut Kohl to
Moscow, Gerhard Schroeder to Beijing
and Angela Merkel to Washington,
but it certainly did not cover the flying
distance of a typical commercial jet.
The plane has been outfitted with a
special experiment zone, a 100-squaremetre space in the middle of the cabin
with grips, no windows, surrounded by a
black net and upholstered in white mats
made of artificial leather that it can be
easily wiped clean. The first experiments,
which will include how plants grow
without gravity and how dust behaves
in a weightless environment, are
scheduled to start on May 5. — dpa
16
omandailyobserver
PANORAMA
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
A man on a horse takes part in a race during a horse and ox-cart racing festival outside
Yangon. — Reuters
Royal Caribbean’s latest cruise liner Anthem Of The Seas, the third largest ship in the world, arrives at the port of Bilbao during its maiden voyage. The Anthem
Of The Seas, a 4,905-passenger ship, is billed as the most technologically advanced cruise vessel ever. It boasts fast Internet speeds, an all-digital check-in
process, a skydiving simulator at sea and the first bumper cars at sea. — AFP
Models present
creations by
Jordanian
designer Zainab al
Kiswani during
her summer
fashion show in
Amman. — Reuters
A member of
Japan’s avantgarde dance
group
“Dairakudakan”
breathes fire as
he performs at a
festival in Tokyo.
A total of 44
performers and
groups
participated in
the two-day
annual street
performance
festival at
Tokyo’s Koenji
shipping district.
— AFP
People attend a memorial ceremony for the tens of thousands of victims who were killed at the Jasenovac camp, in Jasenovac.
The ceremony marked the 70th anniversary of an attempted escape by some 600 inmates, of whom only some 90 have
survived, several days before the camp was dismantled. The Jasenovac camp was set up in mid-1941 by Croatia’s pro-Nazi
Ustasha regime. — AFP
A heart-shaped
fern leaves are
pictured in
Briesen,
Germany. — AFP
Members of Japanese
all-girl pop idol group
Kamen Joshi perform
in a wrestling ring
during Niconico
Chokaigi 2015 in
Makuhari, east of
Tokyo, Japan. About
150,000 people visited
the annual two-day fan
event showcasing
more than a hundred
booths of Japanese
subcultures made
popular through
Niconico — Japan’s
Internet video sharing
web portal. — Reuters
MONDAY | APRIL 27, 2015 | RAJAB 8, 1436 AH
P18
P20
P21
Inside
SFZ to attract African investment VW board chairman resigns India’s banks turn to consumer loans FOLLOW US ON:
www.omanobserver.om
Consultant sought
to develop electricity
spot market system
CONRAD PRABHU
MUSCAT
April 26: Plans for
the
introduction
of an Electricity
Spot Market in the
Sultanate are being
firmed up with
Oman Power and
Water Procurement
Company (OPWP)
preparing to enlist
the services of an international consultant to help with the
drafting of detailed market rules to underpin this landmark
initiative.
Yesterday, the state-owned OPWP, which is the sole
procurer of power and water capacity and output in the
Sultanate, announced the launch of a competitive tendering
process for the selection of a qualified consultancy firm to
assist in the codification of rules governing this new activity.
International firms looking to bid for OPWP’s consultancy
services contract must have the expertise to develop detailed
market rules consistent with international best practice and
the specific requirements of the Sultanate, the utility said.
Significantly, the announcement follows the appointment
last month of a new Project Manager to oversee the
implementation of the Spot Market Pricing System for Oman.
The Project Manager will work with a multidisciplinary team
of experts from OPWP and Oman Electricity Transmission
Company (OETC) to develop a High-Level
TO P 19
editor@omanobserver.om
18
omandailyobserver
OMAN
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
BUSINESS ALERT
Landmark opens retail hub in Barka mall
LANDMARK Group,
the region’s leading
retail and hospitality
conglomerate launched
four of its major home
grown brands at the
Barka Grand Center
mall on April 23, 2015.
With over 60 successful
stores across Muscat and
other major cities in Oman, Landmark Group is one of the country’s premier
retail and hospitality organization. Inaugurated under the auspices of Salim
Humaid Al Saadi, Director of Manpower- Barka , this much awaited day received
an overwhelming response from customers as they poured in to the showrooms
of their favorite brands.
Barka Grand Center will host the Group’s popular brands Centrepoint, Max,
Emax and Fun City across 73,000 square feet in the hub of the city. “The opening
of these four popular brands at Barka Grand Center is part of our committed
effort to bring the Landmark Group brands closer to the communities of Oman.
The Group will continue to expand its reach in other major cities in Oman in the
coming months as well” said Clive Freeman, COO, Landmark Group, Oman.
Ahlibank backs CBFS Open Day
PREMIER
financial
institution — Ahlibank,
recently supported the College
of Banking and Financial
Studies’s (CBFS) Open Day, as
platinum sponsor.
Commenting
on
the
Bank’s sponsorship of the
event, Lloyd Maddock, CEO,
Ahlibank said, “CBFS’s Open Day provided us with the opportunity to engage
with today’s youth and show them the scope of career and professional growth
opportunities within the banking sector. As the ‘Best Bank in Oman’ for the
fourth year in a row, as rated by OER-Gulf Baader Capital Markets survey, we feel
it is our responsibility to promote young talent and extend all possible support to
the educational sector and other youth-oriented activities.”
He elaborated, “CBFS is committed to producing graduates that will provide
quality services in the banking and finance sector that will in turn drive the
developmental initiatives of the nation. This aligns perfectly with our goal of
nurturing and supporting ambitious Omanis through training, and professional
development to create a talent pool of young bankers.”
The Open Day at CBFS was abuzz with several academic, social and art
activities; and Ahlibank hosted a special stall at the event, showcasing the bank’s
products and services.
Al Jenaibi launches summer AC check-ups
IN-VEHICLE
air
conditioning (AC) is used
extensively in the hotter
months of the year as the
region’s drivers aim to keep
cool. In order to ensure that
its customers in Oman can
drive in utmost comfort
this summer, Al Jenaibi
International Automobiles,
the BMW Group importer in
Oman, is launching its exclusive “Keep cool this summer” offer, providing BMW
owners with a complimentary air conditioning check-up, as well as a tyre and
fluid level check. Reaffirming its commitment to providing a premium ownership
experience and first-class after-sales service, the “Keep cool this summer” offer is
valid until April 30, 2015. Carried out by highly trained BMW technicians, the
vehicle check-up offers owners of BMW vehicles a special price of RO 35 to have
their car’s AC units cleaned and disinfected. This includes cleaning the evaporator
fins, humidifiers and air compressors with BMW Air Condition Disinfectant
Solution, eliminating odours and unpleasant smells, as well as sanitising the
interior of the car to ensure a fresh and hygienic driving environment.
Bank Sohar awarded STP recognition
BANK Sohar has
once again been
recognised as one
of the best ‘Straight
Through Processing’
(STP) banks in
Oman by Standard
Chartered Bank, a
leading international
banking group. The
STP award marks the second year in a row that Bank Sohar has received this
recognition reflecting the efficiency of the Bank’s operations
This latest award, was presented to Bank Sohar for the exceptional
modification-free rate it consistently maintained throughout the high volume
of Great Britain Pounds (GBP) remittances processed during 2014. Careful
evaluation of the quality and accuracy of the Bank’s SWIFT payment messages
revealed an outstanding 99 per cent modification-free rate for remittances
directly to beneficiary account.
Commenting on receiving this award, Rashad Ali Al Musafir, Acting CEO of
Bank Sohar said: “Innovation and excellence have always been the hallmarks of
Bank Sohar’s success. In line with this ideology, we always look forward towards
introducing increasingly automated error-free transactions. Such advancements
translate into faster remittances and settlements for our valued clientele, and
practically eliminate the need to send time consuming inquiries on the transfer
status of payments made. Doing so will help further improve customer service
and the exceptional STP results as well as reinforces our position as one of the
best STP Banks in the Sultanate”.
Reliving a milestone tenure at KR Group
ANY professional who has
worked in the same company
for 25 years is proof of a simple,
yet moving truth — they are
invested with the organisation
and are in it for the long haul.
For them career growth is
not measured in generous
paychecks and perks alone,
but by cultivating long-term
partnerships that contribute to
the growth of the company as a
whole. One such individual is
Khamis Mohammad Khamis
Al Hasni an employee of the
KR Group for the last 25 years. He was recently honoured at the KR Long Service
Awards ceremony and this is his story.
Khamis began his career with the Khimji Ramdas Automobile division as a
mechanical service helper in the fall of 1989. “I was 19 years old at the time,” he
says, reflectively. But even at such a young age he fully understood that his chosen
profession required a lot of patience and persistence. Filled with the desire to
excel in his division, and motivated by his peers at KR, Khamis quickly grasped
the technical skills needed for the job.
“Handling work pressure in the automobile industry is always a challenge. But
with the help and support of my managers I quickly learned the techniques and
skills required in my field. I am ever thankful to the managers at KR, for they
taught me to look at any challenge as a great opportunity for growth,” he says.
Today, Khamis is the PRO for the division handling various vehicle checks and
renewals.
OAB’s Al Yusr opens new branch in Sohar
TO reach out to the largest
number of customers in the
Sultanate, Al Yusr Islamic
Banking of Oman Arab
Bank, has opened a new
branch in Sohar at Al Batinah
Governorate. Mr. Abdul
Qader Al Balushi, General
Manager of Al Yusr Islamic
Banking said “We chose Sohar
as a destination for our new
branch because it has a strategic location in the region where it embraces many
industrial projects, most importantly; Port of Sohar. This will sure satisfy the
Islamic banking needs of the population present in Al Batinah Governorate in
general and Sohar in particular
Al Yusr branch in Sohar is a full fledged branch and it offers a suite of products
for the Retail, SME and Corporate Banking segments. All products are in
compliance with the Shariah (Islamic law) and are very popular in the market.
Al Yusr plans to launch several innovative products suitable to the needs of many
customers in the near future.
The retail products include Al Yusr Current Account, Savings Account, Fixed
Deposit, Auto Finance and Home Finance, among others. The range of Corporate
and SME Banking products including Trade Finance Services, Term Finance and
Commercial Real Estate Finance.
RAV4 fungineered with summer surprises
THE stylish and featurepacked Toyota RAV4
is sold in more than
150 countries around
the world. Reviewers
praise its 2.5-litre fourcylinder Dual VVT-I
engine that churns out
177 HP. A smooth ride,
plenty of cargo space and
proven reliability are its
hallmarks.
“With the Summer Surprises campaign in full swing, it is the best time to go
for a RAV4,” remarks a new owner. At the present moment, anyone who buys
a RAV4 will be happy to know that the First Year’s Insurance (Oman only) is
already taken care of. (Terms and conditions apply on benefit that is being offered
as a part of the Summer Surprises campaign. This campaign has started from
16th March and the benefits will only be available until May 13, 2015. Benefits
are applicable on 2015 year models, which are 2015 production vehicles, for all
purchases except government organisations and ministries.)
The RAV4 has a sleek, aerodynamic profile set off by a front grille garnish. The
design encapsulates many cutting-edge features , xenon headlamps with daytime
running lights, aero stabilising fins, aerodynamic roof rails, floor mounted spare
wheel, moonroof rear parking sensors (4 pieces) and power rear door.
Omantel to unleash new advanced
technologies at COMEX
BUSINESS REPORTER
MUSCAT
April 26: Omantel is geared to
showcase a set of new innovative
solutions, products and offers that are
focused on providing customers with
enhanced experience throughout this
year’s COMEX with a major presence
in the Shopper and Corporate areas of
Oman’s biggest annual exhibition of
telecommunications and information
technology. This year COMEX 2015 will
start on April 27 and will run through
until May 1, 2015 at Oman International
Exhibition Centre.
During the 5-day event the company
is set to reveal a number of exciting
new offers for both its individual and
business customers as Oman’s leading
telecommunications company uses this
major ICT show to engage and interact
with its customers.
The Business and Shopper stands will
be staffed throughout the week by a team
of enthusiastic Omantel representatives
who are looking forward to meeting
existing and potential customers and
introducing them to new and existing
solutions, products and offers and a
range of stunning gadgets.
Among
the
most
exciting
announcements will be the reveal of
a major new advanced technology
that is expected to change the telecom
landscape and innovative that can help
customers experience the real value
of Omantel home broadband as well
as the introduction of a range of new
solutions and products for individual
and business customers.
Haitham Al Kharousi, VicePresident of the Consumer Business
Unit said: “COMEX 2015 provides us
with a superb platform to meet our
customers face to face and present
them with a number of innovative new
products and services.
“They can also experience a range
of innovative fixed, mobile and internet
services and have the opportunity to
meet our team and learn more about
the new technological advancements
and how to experience the real value of
Omantel home broadband”.
In addition to individual consumers,
Omantel will also be showcasing its
extensive offers to the business sector
during COMEX. Todd Dick is Vice
President of the Corporate Business Unit
and commented: “We are looking forward
to this year’s event and the opportunity
to meet our existing and prospective
corporate customers face to face.
“Oman’s biggest annual ICT
gathering is a unique opportunity for
our rapidly growing corporate business
unit to showcase the full range of our
innovative and highly sophisticated
services that add value to businesses
and are able to handle the requirements
of any size. Our technological expertise,
qualified staff and years of experience
make Omantel the undisputed market
leader in the business sector.”
Omantel is also promising a number
of surprises and exciting and innovative
activities in and around their exhibition
areas during COMEX 2015 that are set
to excite visitors of the event.
OMAN
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
Top Toyota official
visiting Oman
M U S C A T :
Hiroyuki
Fukui,
the
Managing
Officer of Toyota
Motor Corporation
(TMC) is in Oman
on his maiden
visit. A well-known
personality
in
the
automotive
industry, Fukui has
had a very distinguished career with TMC.
Fukui graduated from the Kyoto University in
1982, with a Bachelor’s degree in Law, and joined
Toyota Motor Corporation the same year.
In 2006, Mr. Fukui was elevated to the
position of Project General Manager for ‘The
Americas Project Division’. Within a short span
of time, he was promoted to the rank of Division
General Manager. In January 2010, Fukui was
seconded to Toyota Motor Sales, USA Inc Fukui
took over the prestigious mantle of Managing
Officer – TMC in 2013.
The same year, he was elevated to the
rank of the Chairman of PT Toyota Motor
Manufacturing, Indonesia. Shortly thereafter,
he was given additional responsibility as the
President of PT Toyota — Astra Motor. And
in April 2015, he also took on the prestigious
position of the Deputy CEO — Asia, Middle East
and North Africa region. Fukui plays a pivotal
role in spearheading a very critical and dynamic
Division as he steers it to even greater levels of
achievement, with his rich and vast international
experience.
omandailyobserver
19
SFZ to attract African Spot market system consultant sought
investment
FROM P 17
BUSINESS REPORTER
MUSCAT
April 26: In the wake of the
success of the free zone in Salalah
in establishing a business center in
the Asian markets and activate its
operations those markets through
its representative office which
has been recently opened, SFZ is
endeavoring to attract value-added
investments from the African
markets and employ all the gains
made by the Sultanate through
its excellent and friendly relations
with the African countries.
In this context, the DeputyCEO for Commercial Affairs
at Salalah Free Zone, Ali bin
Mohammed Tabouk, met with
the Ambassador of the Republic
of South Africa to the Sultanate,
Chris Pepani, to discuss plans
to visit the Republic of South
Africa in order to meet investors
and
companies
operating
in the food-related and reexport trade industries, and
held meetings to discuss the
possibilities of cooperation with
the organizations linked to free
zones and the logistical facilities
associated therewith, such as
ports and related investment
companies.
The two parties agreed to
organise a visit to South Africa
next June in order to let the
investors in the target sectors
know about the investment
opportunities in the Sultanate and
the incentives and benefits offered
to them by Salalah Free Zone.
The visit program will include
major cities and industrial
centers, most notably Cape Town,
Johannesburg and Durban.
Market Design into a set of detailed
market rules for approval by the sector
regulator – the Authority for Electricity
Regulation.
Slated for launch in 2018, the
proposed Electricity Spot Market will
create a new “mechanism” for procuring
electricity, according to OPWP.
Besides opening up opportunities
for competition in Oman’s power
generation market, the new system
will also provide a mechanism to make
available additional capacity that might
otherwise not be readily accessible, it
pointed out.
“This may include capacity
associated with generators whose longterm supply contracts have expired,
or capacity in excess of contractually
guaranteed capacity that plant owners
have built into their facilities or that may
be available under certain operating
conditions,” the utility stated in its latest
7-Year Outlook Statement for the 20152021 timeframe.
“OPWP has obtained approval from
the AER to develop a spot market for
electricity, to be introduced around
2018. The spot market for electricity
would operate alongside and in
conjunction with the existing system of
long-term Power Purchase Agreements
(PPAs) and Power and Water Purchase
Agreements (PWPAs). It would provide
an alternative way for producers to sell
power to OPWP. The objective is that in
cases where generators have capacity that
is not obligated as guaranteed capacity
under a PPA or PWPA, they may be able
to offer that capacity on the spot market
and receive prices determined on a
day-to-day basis in accordance with
specified market rules. The market rules
will be generally modelled on those that
have been developed in other countries
with certain modifications relevant to
Oman,” OPWP explained.
Market
rules
and
enabling
infrastructure for the Electricity Spot
Market are expected to be developed
from 2015 to 2017, ahead of the launch
of the new mechanism in 2018.
Importantly, the initiative is also
expected to spur the growth of jobs in the
electricity sector. Power utilities eager to
exploit the commercial benefits offered
by the spot market system will have to
set up dedicated departments manned
by specialist staff with knowledge of
market rules.
Another potential spinoff, say
experts, is the inflow of specialist
expertise and even technology driven
by competitive market conditions.
Oman’s landmark foray into
Electricity Spot Market operations is
the latest in a number of trendsetting
developments
characterizing
the
growth of the nation’s power sector.
The Sultanate is expected to be the first
country in the GCC to work towards
the implementation of this new market
system.
MUSCAT SECURITIES MARKET
20
omandailyobserver
INTERNATIONAL
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
After 15 yrs, Nasdaq recoups losses of dot-com crash
NEW YORK: Mark April 23, 2015
as the day the Nasdaq market finally
left the dot-com crash, and billions
of dollars lost to the first technology
bubble, behind.
It’s been a long time — 15 years,
one month and 13 days to be exact. On
Thursday, the Nasdaq Composite Index
finished at a new closing high, 5,056.06,
topping the previous mark set on March
10, 2000 of 5,048.62.
This time around, the gains on the
Nasdaq exchange might hold on for a bit
longer.
The upstart market that symbolised
the new era of the Internet economy
and digital life — as opposed to the old
heavy-industry stalwarts of the Dow
Jones Industrial Average — climbed
spectacularly from 1996 to early 2000.
Over that time the index quintupled
to mint thousands of new multimillionaires and fund sharp and quirky
new companies rooted in San Francisco
and Silicon Valley. The Dow barely
doubled in the same period.
Investors and media celebrated it as
the “New Economy,” leaving the old one
behind. The Nasdaq exchange itself was
the symbol, trades humming through
computers while the New York Stock
Exchange still had dealers operating
via slips of paper and hand signals on a
physical trading floor.
But the Nasdaq, trading many
companies that proved to be more
dreams on paper and in garages than
sources of tangible profits, then crashed
as spectacularly, losing nearly all of
the late 1990s gains in 30 months,
and stunning hundreds of thousands
of investors who ventured into the
markets for the first time drawn by dot-
The world itself has changed
since the early dot-com
days. Smartphones have
revolutionised personal
communications, access
to the Internet has spread
globally through China,
Africa and elsewhere, and
now doing business online
is near-universal.
A man walks past an electronic board showing the closing numbers for the Nasdaq Composite Index at the Nasdaq in New
York on April 23. — Reuters
com dreams. The market bottomed at
1,114.11 in October 2002.
Spurred by the economy’s growth
under low interest rates and higher
government spending, it slowly regained
the trust of once-burned investors and
pressed back toward the 3,000 level, only
to have the rug pulled out again with the
financial crisis.
That time, all the markets
plunged, and the Nasdaq, which was
strengthening with more proven
Internet and biotechnology companies,
fared less bad than the other key indices,
the Dow and the S&P 500.
From the 2009 bottom, the Nasdaq
bounced back faster and farther. Yet by
2013, when the Dow and S&P began
topping previous records and continued
to do so, the Nasdaq was still two years
from total recovery.
Apple leads the way: The return to
the heights of 2000 has been driven by
significant shift in the makeup of the
Nasdaq market.
In 2000, the index was led by software
companies and chipmakers: Microsoft,
Cisco, Intel, Oracle, and Sun. Yahoo
was the seventh largest company on
the exchange, Amazon ranked 41st and
Apple 45th. Google was just emerging
in the industry, and only joined the
exchange in 2004.
Today it’s Apple at the top, now the
ASEAN, EU to seek jump-start of trade talks
KUALA LUMPUR: Southeast Asia and
the European Union (EU) agreed on
Sunday to take steps toward resuming
stalled talks on a free-trade agreement
between the two regions.
The 10-member Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and
the EU had launched negotiations in
2007, but broke them off in 2009 amid
disagreements largely centering on
European concerns over ASEAN member
Myanmar’s human rights record.
“Senior officials of ASEAN and EU
will meet towards the end of the year to
take stock and explore the way forward
and report back to the ministers,” the
two sides said in a joint statement.
The statement was released in
Malaysia following discussions between
delegations on the sidelines of ASEAN’s
annual diplomatic gathering, hosted
“Senior officials of ASEAN
and EU will meet towards
the end of the year to take
stock and explore the way
forward and report back to
the ministers”
this year by ASEAN chair Malaysia.
“The EU is committed to have a
region-to-region free-trade agreement,”
European Trade Commissioner Cecilia
Malmstrom told reporters after the
talks. “But it is important that we get it
right and that is why we proposed this
roadmap, a stock-taking event by the
end of the year.”
The EU is already holding separate
talks on potential free-trade agreements
with ASEAN members Malaysia,
Vietnam and Thailand. It concluded
an agreement with Singapore, another
ASEAN member, in December 2012.
Indonesia, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar,
the Philippines and Cambodia round
out ASEAN’s membership.
The EU is ASEAN’s secondlargest trading partner with total trade
amounting to $248 billion in 2014 and
was Southeast Asia’s largest source of
foreign direct investment in 2014 with
$29.1 billion or 21.3 per cent of foreign
inflows to the region, the joint statement
said.
Myanmar was plunged into isolation
by a military regime that seized power
in 1962. But it has won praise for
widespread economic and political
reforms since it emerged from outright
military rule in 2011.
— AFP
Vienna-born Piech gave up all his positions with immediate effect
Volkswagen patriarch and chairman
steps down amid power struggle
FRANKFURT: Volkswagen patriarch
Ferdinand Piech (pictured) has
resigned as head of the German auto
giant’s supervisory board, the company
announced, in the wake of his bitter
power struggle with the VW chief
executive.
The news came two days after Piech
rejected media reports that he was
plotting to oust the carmaker’s CEO
Martin Winterkorn.
But Piech, a member of the powerful
Porsche dynasty that is a shareholder
in Volkswagen, and one of the most
important figures in German business,
sent shockwaves through the industry
last weekend by declaring in a magazine
interview that he was “distancing
himself ” from Winterkorn.
Volkswagen had attempted on Friday
to draw a line under the management
tug-of war, saying it would extend
Winterkorn’s contract.
According to German public
broadcaster NDR even after that
decision 78-year-old Piech was plotting
to have 67-year-old Winterkorn
replaced.
Piech was trying to drum up a
majority on the full supervisory board
to have the CEO removed from his post,
NDR reported.
Ironically, it was Piech who had
installed Winterkorn as VW boss in
2007.
But he appears to have become irked
by his former protege’s difficulties in
areas such as making substantial inroads
into the US market and VW’s overdependence on the Chinese market.
Winterkorn had been seen as Piech’s
close ally and heir apparent and the
idea of a poisonous rift between the two
ignited fears about the future running
of Europe’s biggest carmaker, whose
empire spans 12 brands and annual
sales of 200 billion euros ($215 billion).
In a statement on Saturday,
influential members of the supervisory
body said that “in view of the past weeks,
the mutual trust necessary for good
collaboration was no longer present,”
precipitating Piech’s departure.
Vienna-born Piech gave up all
his positions in the VW group with
immediate effect, along with his wife
Ursula Piech — a former family nanny
— who had been on the VW board
since 2012.
He will be provisionally replaced
by deputy chairman of the supervisory
board Berthold Huber, according to the
company statement.
Piech is the grandson of the inventor
of the iconic Beetle, the model on which
VW’s fortune was built, and was himself
VW’s chief executive between 1993 and
2002, before becoming its supervisory
board chief.
But the veteran auto executive
appeared to be facing criticism for being
out of step with the times.
The weekly newspaper Die Zeit
in a recent editorial said Piech’s
“authoritarian style” was becoming
anachronistic. “The big global players
who want to succeed in the 21st century
are run differently,” it said.
Piech’s departure will open a new
chapter for the Volkswagen group which
must now choose a successor to steer
the world’s second largest automobile
maker.
— AFP
largest company in the world, worth
$755 billion by market capitalisation.
Google is the Nasdaq’s second largest
company at $372 billion, and Microsoft
is only third, worth $356 billion, its share
price still one-third lower than the peak
15 years ago.
Amazon, the online retailing king,
is fourth and a company no one had
dreamed of at the time, Facebook, fifth.
Intel and Cisco are still among
leading companies, but are now flanked
by telecoms — Comcast and Qualcomm
— and biotech firms like Gilead, Amgen,
Biogen and Celgene.
Those, and a range of other less
technology-focused
companies
BIZ BRIEF
Rolls-Royce names
Warren East as
new chief
LONDON: Aircraft engine maker
Rolls-Royce has turned to one of
Britain’s most successful technology
executives, Warren East, to restore its
fortunes after a year marred by falling
profit, job cuts and cancelled orders.
The British company’s surprise
announcement said that John
Rishton would retire in July after
four years at the helm and will be
succeeded by the former head of
ARM Holdings , Britain’s biggest listed
technology company.
East, who has been a nonexecutive director of Rolls-Royce since
January last year, was chief executive
of ARM between 2001 and 2013,
overseeing its expansion as a leading
developer of microchips for the likes
of Apple and Samsung.
Shares in Rolls-Royce rose to an
eight-month high in early trading,
with JP Morgan upgrading the stock
to “hold” from “underweight”.
Analysts at the bank said that
East, 53, would bring renewed vigour
to the development of civil aviation
engines and to the challenges posed
by shrinking western defence budgets
and a lower oil price.
East, who plays the organ at his
local church and favours sober suits
rather than the polo-shirted look
adopted by many US technology
executives, said that the opportunity
was one he could not refuse.
Rolls-Royce Chairman Ian Davis,
meanwhile, spoke of East’s “stellar
record” at ARM since taking over after
the dot-com bubble burst in 2001.
A pound invested in the company’s
stock a couple of years later would
have been worth 18 pounds ($27) by
the time he left.
East’s engineering background
with ARM is also seen as a key
attribute as Rolls-Royce looks to
develop quieter and more efficient
engines for aircraft made by Boeing
and Airbus , Edison Research analyst
Roger Johnston said.
Rishton, 57, steps down after a
difficult period for the 131-year-old
company. A decade of strong profit
and revenue growth came to an end
last year.
— Reuters
like Walgreens and Starbucks, have
underpinned what analysts say is a more
healthy rebound grounded in real profits
and growth of the companies.
Michael Stiller, a technology sector
analyst at Nasdaq, points out that the
world itself has changed since the
early dot-com days. Smartphones
have
revolutionised
personal
communications, access to the Internet
has spread globally through China,
Africa and elsewhere, and now doing
business online is near-universal.
But like the S&P 500, which barely
missed setting a new record on Thursday
(the previous one set just six weeks ago),
the Nasdaq market has reached its
new highs with the help of the Federal
Reserve keeping interest rates at their
lowest levels in history for more than six
years.
That has pushed money toward
stocks that, at more normal interest
rates, might not sustain such valuations,
say some analysts. But valuations on the
Nasdaq are still far more sane than they
were in 2000.
The price/earnings ratio for the
market on Thursday stood at about 25
times, compared to about 190 when the
market peaked in March 2000.
For the week, the S&P gained 1.8 per
cent, the Nasdaq gained 3.3 per cent and
the Dow added 1.4 per cent.
“This is a case of the equity market
looking a little bit forward to oil being
less of a drag going forward, and that
earnings in the second half will be
better than they are now,” said Anthony
Valeri, an investment strategist for LPL
Financial in San Diego.
While markets are at record highs,
March-quarter earnings of S&P 500
companies are expected to dip 1.3 per
cent, with revenues dropping 3.5 per
cent as the dollar hurts US
multinationals and low oil prices
affect energy companies, according to
Thomson Reuters data.
Xerox slumped 8.75 per cent after it
cut its 2015 profit forecast, blaming the
strong dollar.
Time Warner Cable (TWC.N)
jumped 4.37 per cent on news Charter
Communications Inc’s representatives
reached out to begin discussions on
a potential merger. Comcast earlier
abandoned its proposed $45 billion
merger with Time Warner Cable.
Apple (AAPL.O) could be among the
biggest market drivers when it reports
results after the bell on Monday.
Results thist week from several big
energy names, including Exxon Mobil
and Chevron , could keep investors on
edge.
Wall Street may get new clues on
the timing of an interest rate hike when
the Federal Reserve issues a statement
following its two-day meeting on
— AFP
Wednesday.
Sony raises profit view on sales turnaround
TOKYO: Japanese consumer electronics firm Sony Corp raised its earnings estimates
for the second time in three months, citing higher than expected sales of video games
and digital cameras.
Sony said it probably made an operating profit of 68 billion yen ($569 million) in
the year ended March 31, compared with 26.5 billion yen a year earlier.
That compares with its previous estimated operating profit of 20 billion yen.
The Tokyo-based firm is finally reaping the benefit of restructuring efforts after
weak TV and smartphone sales brought years of heavy losses.
After massive cost cuts, it has sought targeted expansion under Chief Executive
Kazuo Hirai in lucrative areas such as sensors for smartphone cameras.
Sony is set to make its official earnings statement for the year on April 30.
Before last week’s move, following an upward revision in February, the average
forecast among 19 analysts for operating profit was 50.3 billion yen.
As part of its restructuring, Sony has spun off its TV business.
It also plans to split off its audio and video business as part of a new strategy to
encourage greater autonomy among its subsidiaries. The company had struggled to
gain market share in high-end smartphones, lagging far behind leaders Apple Inc and
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. Sony on Wednesday also narrowed its overall net loss
estimate to 126 billion yen from 170 billion yen, and raised its revenue estimate to 8.2
trillion yen from 8.0 trillion yen.
— Reuters
Support Engineer, Ganesh Babu looks at a 3D printed object at the
inauguration of the 3D Printing Experience Center in Bengaluru. The 3D
Printing Experience Center features the latest in cutting-edge 3D printing
technologies using PolyJet and Fused Deposition Modeling using PolyJet
photopolymers and FDM thermoplastics to cater to the fast growing Indian
market. — AFP
BAE may sell part of US security business
LONDON: Europe’s biggest defence contractor BAE Systems has hired advisers to carry
out a review of its US-based IT and analysis support businesses in a move that could
lead to their sale.
The British company said on Friday it had received a number of enquiries from
potential buyers but there was no certainty a transaction would result from the review.
The businesses are part of BAE’s Intelligence and Security divisions and mainly
serve the US government.
The review does not include core services such as support for naval ships in the
United States and Britain, or commercial services operations.
Shares in the company rose 4 per cent in early trade and were 1.8 per cent higher
at 513 pence by 0746 GMT, putting them among the biggest gainers on the UK
benchmark FTSE 100 index.
“It doesn’t signal a change of strategy, it is just the continual process of review and
in this case something that has been triggered by an approach,” said analyst Edward
Stacey at Espirito Santo Investment Bank.
“The upside is that it shows that they are willing to be proactive” he said, adding a
share buyback could be a possibility for the firm, whose profits have been hit in recent
years by government spending cuts.
— Reuters
BAE said it would make a further announcement if appropriate.
PERSPECTIVE
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
TEXTILE
omandailyobserver
21
BOOM
International textile sector discovers Myanmar
Low wages, plentiful labour
and an image problem in
neighbouring Bangladesh
after the 2013 Rana Plaza
building collapse have
all boosted the emerging
country’s chances.
G
REEN collars piled
to one side, white
polo shirts to the
other — the young
woman
handles
them with practised
ease, creating a precise seam with her
humming sewing machine.
The garment in making then goes to
the next station, where her co-worker
applies a strip of green tape to the short
sleeves.
A fan rotates the warm air where 400
women labour eight hours each weekday
day - four on Saturday — in the Shweyi
Zabe textile plant on the outskirts of
Yangon.
“One new factory opened every
week in 2014,” Khine Khine Nwe, the
secretary of the Myanmar Garment
Makers Association (MGMA), tells dpa.
There are currently 200,000 workers
in more than 300 factories.
Neighbouring
Bangladesh
has
around 4,000 textile factories.
“In 10 years we want to have 3,000
factories,” she says.
The aim is to increase exports from
the current $1 billion a year 10 times
over and to provide a million jobs.
And investors are answering the call.
Chinese, Taiwanese and South
Korean companies are flooding into the
country.
Shweyi Zabe’s boss Aye Aye Han
complains that the competition is luring
her workers away by offering a couple of
dollars more.
The country is benefiting from
the waning star of neighbouring
Bangladesh, where the collapse of the
Rana Plaza textile factory with more
than 1,000 fatalities two years ago drew
attention to poor working conditions in
garment factories.
The timing is also good in the politics
of Myanmar, which is opening up
after decades under a closed military
dictatorship.
There is a sense of opportunity since
a nominally civilian government came
to power in 2011.
Garment makers in Myanmar “are
evidently in the starting blocks,”
says Thomas Ballweg of a German
fashion association.”I see real potential.”
He notes that factories have
apparently been well built, with only one
or two floors — unlike Rana Plaza with
its eight floors.
The workrooms are clean and the
supervisors open to ideas.
Christian Maag, who heads the
German underwear company ESGE,
with plants in Romania, Bulgaria, Greece
and India, is helping Shweyi Zabe to
modernise production in Myanmar.
ESGE has provided software for
production planning and assisted with
computer programmes to help cutting
Women work at a Japanese garment factory in Mingaladon Industrial Park in Yangon, Myanmar.
to reduce fabric waste.
“We raised our productivity 20 per
cent in 2013,” Aye Aye Han says.
But there is a long way to go.
Estimates put Myanmar productivity
at half that of China, where production
rates are high, but so are wages.
The Verisk Maplecroft consultancy
says labour costs are lower in Myanmar
than anywhere else in the world.
Clothing companies like Gap, H&M
and Adidas are already producing here.
“It’s a kind of development aid, but
with a business motivation,”
Maag says.”If things go well, we will
place orders.”
A trial run has proved reasonably
successful, with scope for expansion,
and Maag is convinced that “the textile
sector has a future here.”
Smart Myanmar, an EU project,
is helping to build up a sustainable
ONLINE MARKETING
Online store merger prods luxury
goods makers towards Internet
T
HE merger of the world’s
two biggest online fashion
stores,
Net-a-Porter
(NAP) and Yoox , sends a
warning to luxury brands
to embrace the Internet with more vim
after years of resistance.
Top brands such as Prada and
LVMH’s Christian Dior still baulk at the
idea of selling clothing online as well as
through their plush boutiques.
“Considering
the
level
of
sophistication and image of our readyto-wear, we feel the shopping experience
has to remain immaculate and in-store,”
says Stefano Cantino, head of marketing
and commercial development at Prada.
“You need the physical environment
to try the product on and you need an
exclusive service which you can only get
in a boutique.”
But as more people choose to buy
through a website instead of going to
Rue St Honore or New Bond Street, that
position looks increasingly untenable.
Brands whose goods are not available
online risk losing customers to rivals.
Luxury executives understand the
Internet will be vital for future sales,
particularly to so-called Millennials —
web-savvy customers born between
1980 and 2000. Yet top brands such as
LVMH’s Louis Vuitton, Hermes , Prada
and Chanel have been slow to invest in
e-commerce as other retail sectors have
done in the last decade.
Some have focused as much on
the shopping experience as on the
products themselves, spending heavily
on worldwide expansion and revamping
stores with help from famous designers.
“Many luxury brands have not
figured out yet how to be innovative
and creative online,” said Anant Sharma
of consultancy Matter of Form.”It looks
like they are scared to try things out.”
Sharma said many brands’ websites
mimicked the appearance of Net-aPorter’s black-and-white portal.”If they
had the same approach to physical retail,
we’d all be shopping in whitewashed
rooms with clothes lined up against the
four walls.”
Immediately after the Yoox/NAP
textile industry in Myanmar with the
aim of secure jobs and good working
conditions, along with conserving
energy, recycling waste and cutting
water consumption.
The head of the project is Simone
Lehmann of Sequa, an organisation of
German industrial associations with the
German GIZ development aid agency.
“Our focus is on small and mediumsized enterprises,” she says.”We are
BANK CREDIT
India’s banks turn to
consumer loans to counter
corporate slowdown
I
People stroll past Prada’s fashion store in downtown Milan. — Reuters
deal was unveiled last month, Chanel
said it would start retailing online next
year.
This month, it is selling a new
jewellery line exclusively through Net-aPorter (NAP) for just three weeks.
“The merger between Yoox and NAP
sends the message that you need to be
online or you may be out of the game,”
Euromonitor luxury goods analyst Fflur
Roberts said.
Euromonitor expects 40 per cent of
all luxury goods sales will be made via
the Internet in less than five years.
Online annual luxury goods sales
have been growing at 15-25 per cent
while the industry’s average growth
rate has slumped to 5 per cent this year
from above 10 per cent four years ago as
brands have completed big global rollouts.
Analysts estimate that 5-6 per cent
of luxury goods are purchased online,
although that jumps to around 8 per
cent for leather goods such as shoes and
handbags.
Designer websites vary in usability
but few offer customers as much help as
sites like NAP, which shows clothes on
models, gives details of fit and sizing and
“The merger between Yoox
and NAP sends the message
that you need to be online
or you may be out of the
game”
carries styling tips.
Prada’s e-commerce site carries no
ready-to-wear, sticking to bags, shoes
and other accessories.
Kering’s Saint Laurent and Gucci
have slicker sites, offering a wide range
of clothing and proposing complete
looks.
Saint Laurent also features designer
Hedi Slimane’s black and white
photographs of musicians such as
Marilyn Manson and Marianne Faithful.
But Hermes’s iconic 8,000 euro
Birkin or Kelly bags still cannot be
bought online — and may take more
than year to arrive after being ordered
from a store.
DEPARTMENT STORES PUSH
While many big luxury brands are still
figuring out an Internet strategy, highend department stores already sell their
products online.
The Neiman Marcus chain, which
includes New York’s Bergdorf Goodman,
does 24 per cent of its business online,
up from 15 per cent five or six years ago.
Last year, it acquired German online
fashion retailer My Theresa, aiming
to better serve customers outside the
United States.
London’s Harrods, whose website
gets 3 million visitors a month and sells
brands such as Valentino and LVMH’s
Givenchy, is also stepping up online
investment.
“Our customer demands an omnichannel shopping experience, and to
remain at the forefront of luxury retail
we need to respond to this,” Harrods
managing director Michael Ward said.
Chief Executive Bernard Arnault
said at LVMH’s annual general meeting
last week that “more and more products
would be sold online” and the group was
“currently adapting to this situation”.
LVMH labels such as Fendi, Kenzo
and Emilio Pucci already offer many
products online — Fendi sells 750
euro baguette bags and 6,180 euro blue
feathered dresses — but Louis Vuitton
sells only accessories, pens, watches and
jewellery.
— Reuters
supporting 16 of the 80 factories with
local management.”
Lars Droemer, sustainability manager
at Swedish fashion company Lindex, is
also optimistic on Myanmar.
He praises the code of conduct
agreed by the textile sector, which bans
employing children younger than 15,
guarantees a minimum wage,
restricts working hours to a
maximum of 60 hours a week and allows
trade unions.
“We are interested in Myanmar,
because we were able to help set up the
standards from the start,” he says.
Lindex operates according to the
principle “People -Planet - Profit,” in that
order, he says.
Promoting local industry is part of
the sustainability drive.
“Foreign companies take down their
factories [and relocate] when operations
become cheaper somewhere else, but
local employers do not,” Droemer says.
The smaller Myanmar companies
have yet to master the full production
chain.
At present they sew and package, but
the big clients want a complete service,
from supplying fabric and thread to
dealing with customs and loading for
shipment.
The MGMA is working in this
direction.”We need textile weaving
plants in Myanmar, and our companies
need financing, duty-free imports of
goods for re-export and we need more
trained seamstresses,” Aye Aye Han says.
Ballweg is confident.”Myanmar is
today where Bangladesh was 10 years
ago,” he says.”But things develop three
times more quickly today.”
— dpa
NDIAN banks, hoping to offset a slow recovery in corporate lending,
are pushing into credit cards and personal loans, using blanket
advertising, cold call campaigns and even sending employees to
malls to lure customers.
Lending to companies has traditionally been the mainstay for banks in
Asia’s third-largest economy.
But as India emerges from two years of slower economic growth, those
loans are sour, large investment projects are stalled and company profits
lacklustre. Meanwhile, retail borrowers have escaped largely unscathed,
with income levels still growing, albeit at a slower pace, and no large-scale
job losses. The current push is the boldest since before the 2008 financial
crisis, with some lenders aiming to increase loan books annually by a
third or more, capitalising on Indians’ growing appetite for luxuries like
holidays abroad.
And it is easy to see why, given the high margins and huge growth
potential. India’s 20 million credit cards — for a population of 1.3 billion
— amount to just 0.5 per cent of total outstanding bank credit.
Unsecured personal loans make up just under 4 per cent of all loans.
“For the industry as a whole, since a couple of years ago we’ve seen a
slowdown in corporate (lending).So there is a genuine push towards the
consumer lending space,”
said Sumit Bali, a senior
executive vice president at
Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.
While home loans continue
to make up about half of
consumer loans, Bali said
there was an “increasing
appetite” for credit cards
and unsecured lending,
with Kotak aiming for up
to 35 per cent and 45 per
cent growth, respectively.
Axis Bank Ltd has already increased the share of unsecured loans to
9 per cent of its retail arm from 6 per cent, retail lending head Jairam
Sridharan said. He aims to increase that to 15 per cent in three years.
Housing loans, he says, are stable and less risky — but returns are also
lower. “We’d like to balance that out,” Sridharan said.
WIPING OUT: RBL Bank, a small private sector lender, acquired RBS’
Indian credit cards business in 2013 and is growing aggressively, using
cards to lure in new clients. Unlike big banks who issue cards mostly to
existing customers, for RBL, up to four-fifths of cards are for new clients.
But with that comes risks.
“If an unsecured portfolio goes bad, then it can wipe out your profits
pretty fast which is what most of the people saw when it happened (after
the financial crisis),” said Harjeet Toor, head of retail assets and small
business lending at RBL. Currently, across the industry, 3 to 5 per cent of
credit card loans and 2 to 3 per cent of personal loans go bad — mostly
below the sector’s overall bad loans ratio of 4.5 per cent.
But that could grow, even with credit bureaus which banks say now
cover more than 40 per cent of rural applicants.
Many Indians have no credit history: millions have never borrowed
from a bank, and own phones that are prepaid.
— Reuters
22
LEISURE
omandailyobserver
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
Online Editor’s Choice
CARTOONS
ADAM @ HOME
1
6
9
by Brian Basset
10
11
12
13
15
17
18
19
CALVIN AND HOBBES
20
22
by Bill Watterson
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
GARFIELD
DOWN
2 Still, it’s no way to shuffle around
Crouch End (6)
3 Songs of an idler tipsy around
closing time (6)
4 Fiendish finish? (3)
5 Team capable of awing the
spectators? (5)
6 For some vicar to be in hell seems
screwy! (7)
7 What a pity it’s in central Asia (4)
8 Highest point, but one can be over
it (3,3)
12 It’s tasteful and very clean at one
end (5)
by Jim Davis
STONE SOUP
CRYPTIC PUZZLE
ACROSS
He has everything in town (5)
A tendency to race in heats (5)
One who doesn’t believe he can
possibly find a lie out? (7)
Written maybe by a deputy
wanting a uniform (5)
Modern invention giving some
ladies faultless service (5)
Capital line in short paragraphs (5)
A quick tour of bases (4,3)
Fish possibly demanded by one’s
deliverer! (3)
Vessel returning from Crewe (4)
Is able to imitate something
savoury (6)
Could she harbour a lot of sailors?
(5)
Not a single sort of jump (6)
Garment obtainable from a glove
store (4)
All that’s needed to be determined
(3)
Scolds a traitor amid the workers
(7)
Survived a tangle with the devil (5)
May come in for use as a
condiment (5)
For a start, a broken rib and some
teeth missing (5)
Many girls from study groups (7)
Sharp character (5)
Show appreciation of what’s hot in
the tank (5)
4
5
6
7
8
12
13
14
15
16
18
19
21
22
23
25
26
28
CR O SSW O R D
13 Absurdly, hates athletics (5)
14 The value of some rituals (5)
15 Youngster training to be a little
rogue? (5)
16 Those due to many bets going
wrong? (5)
18 Faith expressed in a letter to read
aloud (5)
19 Openly and in pally style (7)
21 Rubbish in free circulation around
the States (6)
22 Go and get right out of varnish (6)
23 A cross in stone possibly seen at a
church (6)
25 He’s no beauty (5)
26 Defeat at a good speed (4)
28 Be short of time at the races? (3)
EASY PUZZLE
ACROSS
1 Baked food (5)
6 Film (5)
9
10
11
12
13
15
17
18
19
20
22
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
YESTERDAY’S CRYPTIC
SOLUTIONS
ACROSS: 3, P-R-oem 8, Arrow
10, Yodel 11, Go-O 12, Finer 13,
Sandman 15, F-all-s 18, Can 19,
Mulish 21, Curt-AI-l 22, MO-at 23,
Meal 24, Fin-ic-al 26, Travel 29, MaX 31, Holes 32, Cut-ICL-e 34, Strum
35, Mud 36, Slate 37, Tuber 38, Aries.
DOWN: 1, Organ 2, Woodcut 4, Rain
(reign) 5, Eyeful 6, Moral 7, Veils 9,
Ron 12, Fan-tail 14, Mar 16, Libel 17,
Shelf 19, Mini-mum 20, (word-)Smith
21, Canal 23, Ma-XI-mum 24, Fe-St.er 25, Cat 27, Rolls 28, Vesta 30, Elder
32, Cut-E 33, Cub.
Bounded (7)
Foe (5)
Courage (5)
US coins (5)
Royal companion (7)
Peculiar (3)
Leave out (4)
Straw hat (6)
Cutlery item (5)
Elf (6)
Pulse (4)
Digit (3)
Contrition (7)
Entreaties (5)
Cancel (5)
Undress (5)
Calm (7)
Enquired (5)
At no time (5)
YESTERDAY’S EASY SOLUTIONS
ACROSS: 3, State 8, Hazel 10, Ranch
11, Tic 12, Blues 13, Capital 15, Below
18, Tar 19, Allure 21, Caprice 22, Rill
23, Mind 24, Fleeced 26, Tastes 29,
Pal 31, Ewers 32, Attains 34, Atoms
35, Not 36, Pride 37, Liner 38, Erase.
DOWN: 1, Fatal 2, Recital 4, Tall 5,
Treble 6, Easel 7, Actor 9, Zip 12,
Barrels 14, Tap 16, Lurid 17, Weedy
19, Accepts 20, Crate 21, Close 23,
Melanin 24, Fester 25, Cat 27, Aware
28, Trade 30, Enter 32, Amps 33, Ion.
DOWN
2 Kidnapper’s demand (6)
3 Nearly (6)
Hospitals
by Jan Eliot
Hospital. . . . . Board . . . . . . . Emergency
Royal . . . . . . . 24599000 . . . 24590491
Health Services Department
‘YO UR STARS ‘
Muttrah . . . . . . . 24797602
Quriyat . . . . . . . 24845001 . . . . 24845003
SQH, Salalah. . . 23211555 . . . . 23211151
Police. . . . . . . . . 24603988 . . . . 24603980
Al Nahda . . . . . . 24831255 . . . . 24837800
Ibn Sina. . . . . . . 24876322 . . . . 24877361
Nizwa. . . . . . . . . 25439361 . . . . 25425033
Al Rustaq. . . . . . 26875055 . . . . 26877186
Sumayil. . . . . . . 25350055 . . . . 25350022
Izki . . . . . . . . . . . 25340033 . . . . 25340033
IF IT’S YOUR
BIRTHDAY:
Travel abroad
in the coming
year will have
a salutary
influence on
your conduct
in the future.
You will meet
a number of
influential
people who
will make you
change some of
your fixed ideas
and give you a
different outlook
on aspects
of life. You
could find your
earnings are
improved.
Home improvement (3)
Metal fastener (5)
Say in passing (7)
Poems (4)
Attack (6)
Pancake (5)
Shore (5)
Gunpowder ingredient (5)
Freshwater mammal (5)
Hum (5)
Skeleton parts (5)
Delayed (7)
Imperial weights (6)
Drinks container (6)
Hope (6)
Bad-tempered (5)
Unsullied (4)
Star (3)
Haima . . . . . . . . 23436013 . . . . 23436055
Sohar . . . . . . . . . 26840022 . . . . 26840099
Al Buraimi. . . . . 25650855 . . . . 25652319
Sur . . . . . . . . . . . 25440244 . . . . 25461373
Tanam . . . . . . . . 25499011 . . . . 25499033
Masirah . . . . . . . 25404018 . . . . 25404018
Ibra. . . . . . . . . . . 25470533 . . . . 25470535
Adam. . . . . . . . . 25434167 . . . . 25434055
Bidiya . . . . . . . . 25483535 . . . . 25483535
Ibri . . . . . . . . . . . 25491011 . . . . 25491990
Saham . . . . . . . . 26854427 . . . . 26855148
Khasab . . . . . . . 26830187 . . . . 26830187
Dibba. . . . . . . . . 26836443 . . . . 26836443
Burkha. . . . . . . . 26828397 . . . . 26828397
Sinaw. . . . . . . . . 25474338
TAURUS
GEMINI
CANCER
LEO
VIRGO
LIBRA
April 21May 20
May 21June 21
June 22July 21
July 22August 21
August 22September 22
September 23October 22
It would be better to reach agreement by mutual consent than to
involve yourself in a lengthy dispute. By all means avoid a costly
legal transaction.
The gift you have taken so much
trouble to choose for celebrating
a happy event will be very acceptable and prove to be just what was
wanted.
If a young member of the family
shows a certain amount of originality, encourage him to express
himself freely without fear of being
ridiculed.
Your friendly approach and helpful attitude towards a new member
of your organisation will go a long
way towards making him feel at
ease.
Try using ordinary common sense
to solve a problem which may be
more simple than it first seems.
Don’t look for complications
where none exist.
A close friend of many yeas standing will soon be moving away, and
you will be hard put to find somebody of equal sympathy and understanding.
SCORPIO
SAGITTARIUS
CAPRICORN
AQUARIUS
PISCES
ARIES
October 23November 21
November 22December 21
December 22January 20
January 21February 19
February 20March 20
March 21April 20
Your restless mood which is slowing down your efficiency could
be eased if you could arrange to
spend a few days away from routine.
If some of your time is taken up
by a relative who seeks your help,
offer it freely since he feels you
are the only person who can help
him.
You may try in vain today to get
the co-operation you need to do
a domestic job. Refuse to start
until you get the assistance you
deserve.
If you think you know better
about a certain matter under dispute than your partner, you will
find positive proof is the only
way to show that you are right.
You should be satisfied with a modest return on an investment you
made, and not be tempted to plunge
too deeply in case you should lose
what you have gained so far.
Since you can only be satisfied with
relationships that endure, try to be
more selective in the choice of people with whom you wish to make
friends.
CLASSIFIEDS
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
Situation Vacant
Situation Vacant
URGENTLY required
IT Teacher male or
female for a school in
Oman. 24696254,
24491912, 99547714.
·····
SENIOR marketing
executive required
for leading shopping
complex is Salalah for
immediate appointment.
Experience in same
ϐ‹‡Ž†’”‡ˆ‡””‡†Ǥ‘–ƒ…–ǣ
E-mail: mctbookings@
gmail.com
·····
REQUIRED urgently —
Pharmacists (male):
Pharmacy graduates
with minimum 3
years experience as
Pharmacist. Prefers
Ministry of Health
licence holders. Medical
Sales Representatives
(male): Pharmacy
Graduates, minimum
3 years experience in
a reputed national/
multinatinal
pharmaceutical
company and excellent
communication skills
in English. Omani
driving licence holders
preferred. Salary
commensurate with
–Š‡“—ƒŽ‹ϐ‹…ƒ–‹‘ƒ†
experience. Send CV
with photograph &
…‘’‹‡•‘ˆ…‡”–‹ϐ‹…ƒ–‡•
to: Fax: 24708671 or
E-mail: natpharm@
omantel.net.om
·····
LOOKING for an Indian
Legal Adviser (Ghanim
al Saidi Advocates and
‡‰ƒŽ†˜‹•‘”•ˆϐ‹…‡Ȍ
97283490, 95555393.
·····
WANTED
1. Expert in marketing
lab equipment.
2. Pathologist for
managing lab referral
service.
™ Males only.
™ Driving Licence.
Send CV with photo to:
mubasu23@gmail.com.
·····
Situation Vacant
REQUIRED
Salesman cum
Hardware Engineer
for Computer
Shop at Ruwi with
minimum 2 years
experience. E-mail:
strns1@gmail.
com 98825805/
98825806.
·····
REQUIRED Chief
welder - minimum 4
years experience. Fax:
25437122.
·····
WANTED Professional
Trainer for soft skills.
Send your CV to eetco@
yahoo.com
·····
REQUIRED Salesman
ˆ‘”‘‹Žϐ‹‡Ž†•…‘’ƒ›ǡ
must have experience
‘‘‹Žϐ‹‡Ž†•ƒ††”‹˜‹‰
licence. Contact:
alkhatwa2009@hotmail.
com
·····
REQUIRED (M/F)
waiters and a captain
with Gulf experience.
If in Oman, local NOC
required. Contact
95339249.
·····
1. WANTED an
experienced Window
Tint and body paint
protection installer to
work for a well known
brand.
2. Wanted an experienced
Manager and Marketing
employee to work for
a well known window
tinting business.
3. Wanted an experienced
Engineer to manage a
new elevator installation
and maintenance
business. Call:
93332224. e-mail:
abdullah.alhinai86@
gmail.com.
·····
CIVIL Engineer min 4
yrs experience. Send CV:
ansari_eruv@yahoo.co.in
99194949.
·····
LOOKING for a male
or female nurse
twice a day in
morning and evening
to look after an
Asian eldery person.
99249920.
·····
WANTED Sales Manager,
for a leading Interior
Fitout and Furniture
Supply Company in
Oman. Experience: 7+
years, preferably in
Oman. Salary: negotiable.
Preference for Omani
nationals. Interested
candidates may please
forward their resume to
e-mail id: recruitment.
hr73@gamil.com
·····
URGENTLY required
Accountant/Accounts
Executive with 7 to 10
years experience. Send
the CV to hr-gdm@
outlook.com
·····
VACANCY — Light
driver (1), Heavy
driver (1), and a
diploma holder in Civil
Engineering. Interested
in the vacancies may call .
97299373.
·····
WANTED: 1. A/C
Mechanic; 2. Electrician
plumber; 3. Computer
hardware Tec. Contact
No. 99447257/
97014234 mansur75@
hotmail.co.uk.
·····
SALES Manager of
Medical device, GCC
experience driving
licence, preferably
pharmaceutical based.
Biomedical Technician
with sales experience
in medical devices,
GCC experience,
driving licence.
Contact 24520056.
E-mail: info@
khalidmedicalsupplies.
com
·····
AGRICULTRE
Engineers for a reputed
Agricultre Trading
Company in Muscat.
Should have Agricultre
degree with relevant
experience. Good
communication, liaison
and coordination skills
with agricultural farms,
various ministries
and government
departments. Should
have valid driving
license. Interested
candidates may forward
their CV with copies of
‡†—…ƒ–‹‘ƒŽ…‡”–‹ϐ‹…ƒ–‡•
and work experience
within 10 days to:
almarooj@omnatel.net.
om.
·····
NEW International
School in Oman begins
in Sept 2015. The
announced vacancies
are as follows: 1.
Principal, 2, Early Years
& Foundation Stage and
Cambridge Primary
Teachers (Homeroom
and Co-teachers),
3. Operational
Manager, 4. Parents
Relationship Manager,
5. Admission Manager.
Please submit a
resume/CV and open
letters of references to:
gharsoman@gmail.com
marwa@amjad.com.
kw or contact us on:
0069555789779/
0096894665998.
·····
FILIPINA Housemaid,
with release required
for a family in Medinat
Al Alam. 24704994,
99238012.
·····
REQUIRED family
driver with valid
Omani driving licence.
Accommodation will be
provided. 92230282.
·····
REQUIRED Public
‡Žƒ–‹‘ˆϐ‹…‡” with
7 years experience.
95955041.
·····
SYRIAN Mashavi Cook
and Moroccan Lady
Cook for Qurum Beach
Hotel.24704994 or
99238012.
·····
WE need HSE personal,
Salesman and
Electrical Supervisor
with Omani Driving
licence. Apply to:
grandmuscat@yahoo.
com Contact No: 00968
95714746.
·····
SALESPERSON
™‹–Š‘—–†‘‘”Ȁϐ‹‡Ž†
experience, minimum
5 years in building
material industry,
having valid Omani
driving licence. Contact
99467248, 99232901
·····
Situation Wanted
BSC degree civil
engineer, looking for a
suitable job with one
year experience and
GCC driving licence
NOC is available.
Contact 93929310.
·····
INDIAN male 26 years,
B-Tech ECE having 4
years experience (2
years in Oman). Seeks
suitable placement
NOC available and
can join immediately.
Contact 99486839.
E-mail: imanujohn@
gmail.com.
INDIAN CA, (Finance
Manager) more than
8 years experience
(Oman, UAE and
India) in accounts,
ƒ—†‹–ϐ‹ƒ…‡ǡ
seeking a suitable
senior position in
Muscat, can join
immediately, NOC
available. Contact:
98707434. E-mail:
casmart007@gmial.com.
·····
FREELANCE translator
from English to Arabic
and vice versa. Contact
94232988.
FINANCE Manager
CA Rank Holder,
young talented Indian
Female having 5.5
years experience
‹–Š‡ϐ‹‡Ž†•‘ˆ
Accounts/ Auditing/
Finance. Ready to join
immediately. Contact
92530131. E-mail:
catanalur131@gmail.com
·····
·····
MANAGER/ Business
†‡˜‡Ž‘’‡–‘ˆϐ‹…‡”ǡ
young, talented,
enthusiastic Indian
male, MBA having
excellent managerial
experience (Around
5 years) in MultiNational companies,
including GCC
experience. Ready
to join immediately.
Contact 92700670.
E-mail: fardhaan@
gmail.com
INDIAN male, 27
years, Electronics
& Instrumentation
Engineer, with 5
years experience
in Oman on visit
visa seeks suitable
placement. Contact:
95483064, e-mail:
nishanthkarottu@
hotmail.com.
·····
·····
MANAGEMENT
professional, resultsoriented with
strategic thinking,
integrity. 11 years
Oman experience.
Excellent track
record in EPC/
Media/ Services/
Health Care handling
admin, operations,
Credit, management,
international
procurement, etc.
Immediate, release.
Contact: 98179887.
·····
INDIAN male,
mechanical
engineering, 2
years experience
in fabrication and
erection of heavy
structures as a
project engineer now
on visit visa seeks
suitable placement.
92151818. E-mail:
krishnakumarkkq@
gmail.com
·····
INSTRUMENTATION
B-Tech Indian Engineer,
4 years experience in
various production
companies Automation
work. (Steel plant,
Fertilizer, Chemical,
‡ϐ‹‡”›ǡ’‘™‡”
plant Project) in
coordination with
Honeywell, Yokagawa
etc. In India and Middle
East project. Excellent
skill in PLC, DCS site
commissioning work,
looking for good
opportunity. Contact
93670890. E-mail:
mojin.a.kabeer@gmail.com
·····
ACCOUNTANT cum
HR/Admin Manager,
Indian, male, BCom,
MBA, 26 years. Having
good experience.
NOC available, with
Omani Driving
Licence. Immediate
joining. Contact:
94282980, Email
: shirasvelliyath@
gmail.com
·····
For Sale
Services
USED portacabin (5
Nos) for sale.
Interested parties
may contact Mr Arif
on GSM No
99259157/
92332088 at NTS
Ghala Camp for
inspection. Sealed
offers should be
submitted on or
before 17.03.2015.
·····
1. AC maintenance
and servicing.
2. Fridge, washing
machine and dish
washer repairing.
3. Painting and
cleaning services. 4.
Electrical, plumbing
and carpentry
work 97014234,
99447257,
24504281.
·····
SHOP vacant for sale
in Muscat City Centre
Seeb (MCC) 52 sq
metres. Best for
restaurant, Cafe,
Juices, price is
negotiable for any
further quires.
99886656.
·····
BICYCLE stocks
clearance sales to be
brands of bicycles in
Sohar. 99416824.
·····
2 PRIME Movers
Man 2008 with
40 ton petrol tank
each working at the
moment in Al Maha.
Price RO 35,000,000
each. 97000155 or
92688692.
·····
23, 886 sq mtrs
agriculture land
with water well in
Al Salwa, Barka,
RO 260,000,000.
99333479 or
95215360.
·····
3 FLOOR building in
Muttrah behind police,
generating income
of RO 18,000,000
annually, neat and
well maintained.
Built on 197 sq m
land. 2 tailor shops
‘‰”‘—†ϐŽ‘‘”ƒ†͸
ϐŽƒ–•ǡʹ͹ͲǡͲͲͲǡͲͲͲǤ
99333479 or
95215360.
·····
INDIAN female, 27, BE
ƒ†…‡”–‹ϐ‹‡†Ǥͷ
years experience in SAP
and Quality Assurance.
Seeking suitable
opportunities in reputed
companies. Contact
91728060, E-mail:
bergs_palsngals@yahoo.
com.
·····
EGYPTION accountant,
15 years expereince.
97933950.
·····
EUROPEAN IT Engineer,
speaks: Croatian,
English, German, Arabic
& Russian, looking for
suitable job 96297003.
·····
MALE, 22 years, B.Tech in
Mechanical Engineering
Fresher, seeks suitable
opportunity to gain
experience. Currently
on Visit Visa. Contact:
98067184, Email :
calvinjsp@gmail.com
·····
·····
·····
WORKING, 8 years
experience in Kuwait
I know to make Thai,
Italian, Arabian and
Chinese food. Contact
98854305.
·····
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.
·····
ONE STOP SHOP
BUSINESS SERVICES
Public relation
Services (PRO),
Auditing, Formation
New Companies,
Foreign Investors
Visa, Legal Services.
Contact Saleh:
96723485.
·····
MAINTENANCE: 1.
A/C Maintenance &
Servicing; 2. Fridge,
Washing Machine
& Dish washer
repairing; 3. Painting
& cleaning services; 4.
Electrical & Plumbing
Carpentry work.
Contact: 99447257,
97014234, 24504281.
·····
Situation Wanted
PAKISTAN Civil
Diploma, 3 years
experience in Oman as
a building Site Engineer,
shop drawing,
building quantity,
building layouting,
maintenance dumpy
levelling. Having
driving licence, seeks
suitable job.99012590.
·····
ELECTRONIC engineer
with SAP, ABAP
…‡”–‹ϐ‹…ƒ–‡ǡͷ›‡ƒ”•
experience at SAP, seeks
job in a prominent
company. 91728060.
E-mail: bergs_palsngals@
yahoo.com
·····
23
omandailyobserver
INDIAN female, B.B.M.
graduate Knowledge of
DCA and tally, E-Finance
in computer. 2 years
experience in accounting
and administration
dept. looking for good
placement.95601158.
·····
10 YEARS in HSE
management risk
assessment on
consultancy available.
Having experience in all
management system in
logistics and solutions.
92825053.
EXPERIENCED Graphic
Designer, worked for
magazines and other
publications. Done
Bachelor of Computer
Application, familiar
with C, C++, Java, VB,
vb.net, HTML, XHTML,
Php, IndesignCS3, CS4,
CS5, CS6, Illustrator CS5,
DBMS, Tally and CSS.
Looking for immediate
opening.92927187.
·····
MALE, 25 years, MBA IT
+ BSC electronics. Having
3 years experience in TI
support currently on visit
visa. Looking for suitable
placement. 92364368.
e-mail: noble008kochethu@yahoo.com
·····
CLASSIFIED
SECTION
RUWI
: 24785668
Behind
Royal Oman
Police
Adjacent to
Dhofar
Building,
Ruwi
Ȉ
Ȉ
Ȉ
Ȉ
Ȉ
Ȉ
ƒ”•ˆ‘”•ƒŽ‡
‘””‡–
‘„ƒ’’Ž‹…ƒ–‹‘
Šƒ”‹‰”‡•‹†‡…‡
”ƒ•’‘”–…ƒ”•
‡ƒŽ•–ƒ–‡ȋ•ƒŽ‡Ǧ
”‡–Ǧ‹˜‡•–‡–•
Ȉ ƒŒŒƒ†”ƒ
Ȉ •‡†ˆ—”‹–—”‡ˆ‘”•ƒŽ‡
Ȉ ƒ—…Š…‡”‡‘‹‡•‘ˆȋ”‡•–ƒ—”ƒ–•Ǧ
•Š‘’•Ǧ…Ž‹‹…•Ȍ
Ȉ ‘„ƒ†•
Ȉ ‡ƒ…Š‹‰†”‹˜‹‰
Ȉ ‘—•‡•…Ž‡ƒ‹‰Ǧ•‡”˜‹…‡•ƒ†’‡•–
…‘–”‘Ž
For information, please call:
99841230-95919344
92721879 - 99639264
Tel: 24649597, Fax: 24649590
BankMuscat account: 0397003776610011
Bank Dhofar account: 01040141195001
E-mail: a.almashari@omandaily.om
MONDAY l APRIL 27, 2015 l RAJAB 8, 1436 AH
editor@omanobserver.om
www.omanobserver.om
RENTING & LEASING
Tours and Airport Transfer
Tel: 24582663
GSM: 95859497,
Fax: 24582664,
abcrent@omantel.net.om
·····
AHAD 2000 for rent car.
93203481, 93204595.
·····
Manpower
FRIENDS
MANPOWER: Filipino
housemaids and all
kinds of workers.
24489268 Tel:/Fax:
24478153, 92462496.
·····
KHALIFA AlSinani Manpower
— labourers &
housemaid from
Indonesia, Kenya,
Uganda and other
countries. Al Suwaiq.
To communicate
26713500,
26713600.
·····
Umrah/Haj
AL Hikmani for
HAJ and UMRAH
— With a host of
services including
the following: Hiring
luxurious coaches,
arranging weekly
trips, preparing
visas for expats
at cost-effective
price, including
transport, housing,
meals and visits to
shrine locations.
Land and air trips
weekly. (99311310,
24566016,
99361982,
99707248,
99322124.
·····
Tourism
ARE you looking for a
voyage with your
family on a legacyboat, including
buffet? Only with RO
15/-. For more info@
ƒŽƒ‹ƒ‹–‘—”‹•Ǥ
com 92808636.
·····
Supply
of
Pesticides,
Gel (Cockroaches),
Public Health
chemicals,
Agriculture
chemicals,
Snake repellent, Rodent
baits
and
other insect
repellent from
Agropharm
Ltd UK.
PROFESSIONALS
in Pest Control Service,
Bedbug Treatment, Rodent
Treatment, Snake Treatment
and Termite Treatment
(Pre and Post Construction).
Tel: 24787606 / 24787503
Fax: 24787607
E-mail: pcomctom@omantel.net.om
P. O. Box: 565, Wadi Kabir,
Postal Code: 117,
SULTANATE OF OMAN
If you would like to know
more about
Islam, please call:
Tel : 99425598, 96050000,
99353988, 99253818,
99341395, 99379133, For
ladies: 99415818, 99321360,
99730723
Or visit: www.islamfact.com
Good News
FOR back or neck pain/
discomfort due to injury,
illness, stress or
computer overuse; let
us help you restore your
body & get you back on
track. For more
information contact our
coordinators at:
22094265.
·····
DOES your family
member require full
time Medical help?
Dedicated to chronic
care and physical
rehabilitation from
injury or illness;
Rochester Wellness
offers specialised
medical recovery
services. For more
information contact
our coordinators at
22094265.
CAR FOR SALE
As-is-where-is the condition.
Vehicles can be inspected from
Sunday 3.30pm and 6.00pm at
OIG Head Office Building, Wattayah.
Telephone toll free 80076900.
Interested parties may submit quotation
in a Sealed envelope with payment of
RO 50 which will be reimbursed.
Reimbursed conditions apply.
INVESTOR required.
New project under
process. Gourmet
sweet brand. Call:
91131398.
·····
EXPATRIATE partner
(Omani partner is
already available)
required to establish
a LLC Company
(Expatriate investors’
LLC Company). Please
contact on 99332510.
·····
LOOKING for an
investor for a fullequipped existing
medical complex as
soon as possible in
Wilayat of Haima,
Governorate of Al
Wusta. 92212557,
99242249.
·····
Lost
SUBASH Chandradas
has lost Bangladeshi
passport No
EI332883. Finder
please handover to
ROP.
·····
·····
AYURVEDIC
Treatment, Yoga
Massage &
slimming. Web
address: www.
siddhayur.com
92504980/
24475280.
·····
For Sale/Rent
Available on very GOOD prices
ȍ͵
VILLAS for sale/
rents WADI KABIR/
AL KHUWAIR),
ȋŠ‘’•Ȁ‘ˆϐ‹…‡•ˆ‘”
rent/ Al Khuwair)
(Flats for rent/
Wadi Kabir).
ͻ͸ͷͻ͸͵ͶͺǤ
·····
VISIT US
Investment
FREE INFORMATION
ABOUT ISLAM
GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!!
COMEX 2015
GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!!
SPECIAL Rates on
New Cars & 4 WDs
PEST CONTROL
OMAN CO. LLC.
CLASSIFIED
SECTION
RUWI
: 24785668
Behind Royal
Oman Police
Adjacent to Dhofar
Building, Ruwi
AT STALL
NO: 1631
PRINTERS,
Laptops & PC’s
CD’s, DVD’s & Flash Drives
& Cartridges
AII HP, Epson, Canon,
Lexmark, Samsung
Cartridges also available
Guest House
COMPUTER SUPPLIES
Ruwi: 24792-792
QURUM BEACH
HOTEL24564070.
·····
GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!!
For Rent
For Rent
HOUSE for rent in Al
Wadi Al Kabir, 3
bedrooms + sitting
room + living area,
two bathrooms.
Apartment for rent
in Darsait, 3
bedrooms + two
bathrooms.
99459342.
·····
2 FLOOR house at Al Hail
North. Each floor: 3
bedrooms, 3 bathrooms,
kitchen, store, 1 sitting
room. 92133551,
95067585
·····
NEW villa in Al Khoud 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.
·····
SEMI furnished 2 & 3
BHK flats at Bausher near Atlas Hospital.
99348493/
93200424/ 24502254.
EXECUTIVE 3 bedroom
flat all attached
bathroom with aircondition, curtains,
sitting room and big
varanda Athaiba roundabout behind Bank
Muscat Sohar building
way No 4216 Hse No
1067. Call owner
99331413/ 99105169.
·····
VILLA in Al Khuwair and
Seeb. 95250300/
99119699/ 92125648.
·····
FAMILY flats in Wadi
Kabir, MBD, Ruwi,
Muttrah, Al Khuwair, Al
Hail and Seeb.
96055889/
95250300/ 92125648.
·····
VILLA for rent in Misfa Bausher 99203083.
·····
A FLAT in Al Maabela
encompasses 3
bedrooms, majlis, living
room, kitchen (spacious)
and 4 toilets. Contact
99357404.
·····
·····
A ǧhouse in Al
Maabela encompasses 2
bedrooms, kitchen, living
room, and 3 toilets.
Contact 99357404.
FLAT in Darsait, 2
bedroom, sitting room,
kitchen, 1 toilet, RO
230/-. 91709793.
·····
Car for Sale
4WD Chevrolet
Suburban 2013 is
offered for sale by the
owner. Only instalment
payment is required.
contact.96778877.
·····
BMW 745i, 2002, silver
with black, very good
condition, good price.
99328280.
·····
Required
For Rent
WE have some
companies for rent
with the following
activities: Press
Publishing &
Advertising,
Information
Consultancy,
Organizing Event
Management &
Conference, Real
Estate, Landscaping,
Maintenance etc.
Please call
93946622 &
91408005.
·····
2 STOREY villa
encompasses 2 majlis
along with toilets, 2
living rooms and 3
bedrooms along with
toilets and located in a
nearby place in Maabela
supplied with water
service. Contact
99357404.
·····
2 BEDROOM flat in Al
Ghubra near Oman Oil
18 November Street, RO
330 monthly.
99333479 or
95215360.
·····
ǧfloor house
behind German
University of Technology
in Halban is offered for
rent. The house contains
4 bedrooms, living room,
a kitchen and 3 toilets.
91239119.
·····
APARTMENT in Al
Khuwair-33 with 1
room, 2 bathrooms, 1
kitchen and living room,
maitained and has new
ACs, rent include water
& electricity.
99486805/
99580484.
·····
A FLAT for rent, 2
bedrooms, 2 bathrooms,
1 sitting room, kitchen
for RO 350. Location: At
Al Ghubrah North, near
to Al Ghubrah Health
Centre. 92277043/
95347854.
·····
Sale and Buy
OFFICE & Household
furniture and
electronics items.
99834373,
97102699.
·····
Reputed engineering
consultancy firm in
Muscat looking for
following placement:
1. Omani Secretary
(Female)
2. Autocad Technician
(Omani female)
3. Civil Engineer min 5
years experience
having driving
licence
4. Electrical Engineer
degree/diploma min
3 years experience.
E-mail: alfurjar06@
gmail.com/ hope4u99@
icloud.com
·····
Scrap Business Sale
RUNNING Scrap
Business Sale with 60
Ton weigh bridge, press
machine and cutting
sets, cylinders etc.
92295780. e-mail:
abh67@Live.com
·····
A 1,500 M2 commercialresidential plot is offered
for rent or investment in
Al Maabela. Interested,
please call 95646045.
·····
FLAT for rent Athaiba RO
500/-. 99417021.
1 B/R available in Rex
Road, Ruwi.
99889590.
300 sqmts available in
Wadi Kabir. Suitable for
workshop or warehouse.
96001855.
·····
·····
·····
·····
CLASSIFIED SECTION:
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
94501166
DIRECT: 24649595 — FAX : 24649590
MONDAY | APRIL 27, 2015 | RAJAB 8, 1436 AH
P26
P27
P28
Inside
Super Kings stay on top after beating Kings XI Fernandinho seals City win in Villa thriller Steady Wu secures landmark China Open victory FOLLOW US ON:
www.omanobserver.om
editor@omanobserver.om
Oman bags two podium
finishes in Kuwait
ALL SET FOR THE BATTLE
‘It was good to see
the teams from Oman
putting up a good fight
till the finish. The level of
competition in Kuwait was
quite high as it was a top
GCC-level championship.
I’m particularly impressed
by the ladies’
MUSCAT: In a double delight for
Oman, the Sultanate’s junior boys’
and ladies’ golf teams finished on the
podium as the GCC Gulf Cup Golf
Championship 2015 concluded on
Saturday at the lush green Sahara
Kuwait Golf Club in Kuwait City.
Oman’s junior boys’ team, which
consisted of Rashad Al Harthy, Fahad
Al Kitani, Hamood Al Harthy and
Amjad Al Touqi, produced scores
of 156, 154 and 167 over three days
to take the third position. The junior
boys’ crown was won by Bahrain,
which had scores of 163, 149 and
160 over three days. The runnersup position was taken by Qatar.
The victorious Bahraini contingent
comprised Sulaiman Ali, Ali Al
Hakam and Ahmed Mohammad.
In the ladies’ competition,
the Omanis took the third place.
Comprising Asma Al Rashdi and
Huwaida Al Barwani, the squad was
Oman’s maiden participation in the
ladies’ category of an international
golf championship. The duo of Asma
and Huwaida produced scores of
231, 223 and 206.
The ladies’ crown was taken
by Kuwait, though, who managed
scores of 172, 177 and 184. The
Kuwait ladies’ team included Fadia
Emadi, Burgais Keem and Noor Al
Dousari. The UAE finished runners-
up in the ladies’ event.
Oman didn’t have the best of
outings in the seniors’ competition,
though, with the Sultanate side
finishing fourth. The combination of
Azaan Al Rumhy, Hamed Al Rumhy,
Ahmed Al Balushi and Ali Hameed
managed scores of 248, 237, 246 and
261. Bahrain finished champion in
the seniors’ event, producing scores
of 223, 212, 224 and 229. The second
place went to Saudi Arabia. The
victorious Bahraini side included
Sultan Abdullah, Nasser Yaqoub,
Hamad Al Afnan, Mohammad Al
Nuaimi.
Hailing Oman’s third-place finish
in the junior and ladies’ contests, the
Oman Golf Committee’s Chairman
Mundhir Al Barwani said: “It was
good to see the teams from Oman
putting up a good fight till the
finish. The level of competition in
Kuwait was quite high as it was a
top GCC-level championship. I
am particularly impressed with the
brave effort put in by Oman’s lady
golfers, considering this was their
first outing at this level.”
Oman Junior team member
Fahad Al Kitani said: “We took
the lead at the initial stage of the
competition, but the Bahraini golfers
put up a good show and finally we
came third.” Oman ladies’ team
member Asma sounded elated,
saying: “It was good that we are now
representing our country abroad.
We were able to finish third in our
debut competition and gained some
valuable experience.”
The Omani contingent in Kuwait
was accompanied by national coach
Milo Breitenwischer, Oman Golf
Committee Chairman Mundhir
Al Barwani and its Vice-Chairman
Ahmed Al Jhdhamy.
Oman team leaves for
Bahrain for Davis Cup
MUSCAT: The Oman national tennis team
left for Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain, on
Saturday 25 April 2015 for participation in
the International Davis Cup Men’s Tennis
Championship which will be held during
the period from 26 April – 3 May 2015. The
national team will remain in a preparatory
camp during from 23 – 25 April before playing
the competition matches. The team comprises
Mr. Siddiq bin Qamar Al Hashimi, head of
delegation and team captain; Mr. Arjay Canoza,
team coach; players Ahmed bin Hamdi Al
Barwani, Younus bin Tufail Al Rawahi, Omran
bin Mohammed Al Balushi and Fawwaz bin
Said Al Manzari; and Mr. Mohammed bin
Rashid Al Falahy, accompanying referee.
Played on the basis of groups, the
competitions will be played by teams of
11 countries, namely Sultanate of Oman,
Kingdom of Bahrain, UAE, Yemen, Iraq,
Jordan, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Singapore,
Mongolia and Pacific Oceania.
ON THE BALL
Krasoza nets to power
leaders Al Oruba in OPL
MUSCAT: Angil Krasoza’s 86th minute goal
helped league leaders Al Oruba edge past Al
Khaboura 1-0 in the Omantel Professional
League match at the Sur Sports Complex.
With the victory, Al Oruba extended their
lead at the top and are on 42 points from 21
matches while Al Khaboura stay at the fifth
place with 33 points from 21 games.
In the second match of the day, Al
Musnaa and Dhofar played out a 1-1 draw.
Mohammad Rabee’s 28th minute goal
gave Dhofar the lead but Saied al Dhaboni
equalised for Al Musnaa with his 74th
minute strike.
Sur defeated Saham 1-0 in the last match
of the day with a goal from Khalid Saleh in
the 28th minute.
RESULTS: Al Oruba: 1 (Angil Krasoza
86th) bt Al Khaboura: 0; Al Musnaa: 1
(Saied al Dhaboni 74th) drew with Dhofar:
1 (Mohammed Rabee 28th); Sur: 1 (Khalid
Saleh 28th) bt Saham: 0.
Kipchoge, Tufa race to London Marathon victories
LONDON: Eliud Kipchoge beat
defending champion Wilson Kipsang
and world record holder Dennis
Kimetto for victory in a Kenyan
sweep at the London Marathon men’s
race on Sunday.
But Kenya missed a fifth straight
women’s win when the 2011 and 2012
champion Mary Keitany had to settle
for second behind Ethiopia’s Tigist
Tufa, who celebrated her biggest
career win to date in what was the
farewell race of 41-year-old British
legend and world record holder Paula
Radclife.
Kipchoge attacked Kipsang in the
closing stages and clocked 2 hours 4
minutes 42 seconds, just 13 seconds
off Kipsang’s course record from last
year, and the third best winning time
in London in cool conditions.
Kipsang was five seconds off the
pace for the fastest ever runner-up
time, while Kimetto had 2:05:50.
Kimetto’s world record 2:02:57
from last year in Berlin was not under
threat in London where the huge field
also included British Formula One
driver Jenson Button.
Kipchoge is a 5,000 metres world
champion from 2003 and also has
Olympic silver and bronze over the
Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge (1st, centre), Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang (2nd, left) and Kenya’s Dennis Kimetto (3rd, right)
pose with their trophies and Prince Harry after the Men’s Elite race in London. — Reuters
distance in 2008 and 2004.
He won the Rotterdam and
Chicago marathons last year and in
2013 was second behind Kipsang in
Berlin.
“It was a tough race.
My training paid off and it went
to plan. The crowd were wonderful
and lifted me for my sprint finish,”
Kipchoge said.
The former world record holder
Kipsang said he was “happy with
second” and enjoyed “a wonderful
atmosphere as always” in front
hundreds of thousands of fans in the
British capital.
Tufa meanwhile clocked 2:23:22,
one and a half minutes slower than
her personal best 2:21:52 from a
Shanghai win last year and the slowest
winning time in London since 2008.
Keitany had 2:23:40 and Tirfi
Tsegaye of Ethiopia was another
second behind in third.
Last year’s winner Edna Kiplagat
had to settle for 11th.
Tufa is the first Ethiopian woman
in 14 years to cross the line first in
London, since Derartu Tulu’s success
in 2001.
But Aselefech Mergia could still be
declared 2010 winner if the original
first place finisher Lilya Shobukova
of Russia is stripped of her result
in connection with a doping rules
violation.
The course record, and world
record, 2:15:25 from Radcliffe in 2003
was not threatened.
An emotional Radcliffe, a threetime winner in London and New
York, and world champion from
2005, ended her injury-marred
career amid huge cheers from the big
crowds in 2:36:55, with her family
waiting at the finish line.
“I didn’t care about the time all the
way round and I just wanted to thank
as many people as possible,” Radcliffe
said.”I went off way too fast and then
it got more and more emotional.”
Some 38,000 athletes were
registered for the 35th edition of the
race which is part of the elite six-race
World Marathon Majors.
— dpa
British runner Paula Radcliffe (centre) competes in her last
ever race during the 2015 London Marathon in central
London. Eliud Kipchoge led a Kenyan clean sweep of the
podium places as he won the men’s London Marathon on
Sunday in an unofficial time of two hours, four minutes and
41 seconds. — AFP
26
SPORT
omandailyobserver
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
IPL: With the win, CSK took the summit spot in the standings via a superior run rate with 10 points from six matches overtaking Royals
Super Kings on top after crushing Kings XI
CHENNAI: Chennai Super Kings
(CSK) marched to the top of the Indian
Premier League (IPL) points table with
a comfortable 97-run victory over
Kings XI Punjab in their league match
at the M A Chidambaram Stadium here
on Saturday.
The home team always had the upper
hand after winning the toss and opting
to take first strike, posting a formidable
192 for three. Set a target of 193, Punjab
were never in contention during their
run chase.
Their batting collapsed spectacularly
to ultimately manage a paltry 95 for
nine.
With the win, CSK took the summit
spot in the standings via a superior run
rate with 10 points from six matches
overtaking Rajasthan Royals (10 from
seven games). Punjab dropped to the
bottom spot with just four points from
six outings.
Punjab needed a strong start to have
any chance of chasing the big total, but
they began on the wrong foot, losing
star man Virender Sehwag (1) in the
fifth ball of their innings.
That marked the beginning of their
downfall as they lost wickets at regular
intervals to be reduced to 40 for three in
6.3 overs and then a precarious 69 for
seven in 12.2 overs.
None of the batsmen of Punjab,
which boasts of big names like
Australian duo of Shaun Marsh (10)
and skipper George Bailey (1), settled
at the crease as the CSK bowlers made
merry.
Indian spinners Ravichandran
Ashwin (2/14) and Ravindra Jadeja
(3/22) were at the peak of their powers,
snaring crucial wickets to set their team
on its way to a comprehensive victory.
They were well supported by veteran
pacer Ashish Nehra, who grabbed two
wickets for 16 runs.
Earlier, an aggressive batting display
from the hosts helped them post a
strong score of 192 for three.
CSK won the toss and chose to
bat. And skipper Mahendra Singh
Dhoni’s decision was justified by the
performance of their batsmen.
The opening duo of Dwayne Smith
and Brendon McCullum started in top
gear and piled the pressure quickly on
the Punjab bowlers, putting up 50 runs
on the board in just 4.4 overs.
Even Smith’s (26 runs off 13 balls)
departure, after a cameo knock
punctuated by three fours and two
sixes, didn’t slow down the momentum.
McCullum (66 off 44) took over the
reins of brisk run-scoring and together
with Suresh Raina put up a 66 run
second-wicket stand.
Their task was made easier by the
Punjab men who were sloppy on the
field, dropping several catches.
That put CSK in a strong position
of launching into an all-out attack in
the death overs when McCullum
perished after bludgeoning eight fours
Brendon McCullum
and three sixes with the score at 116 for
two in 12.1 overs.
Dhoni (41 off 27) ensured they
his team had a grand stand finish
entertaining the crowd with some lusty
— IANS
blows towards the end.
SCOREBOARD
Chennai Super Kings: Dwayne Smith b Anureet
Singh 26, Brendon McCullum c Miller b Patel 66,
Suresh Raina (run out) 29, MS Dhoni (not out) 41,
Ravindra Jadeja (not out) 18. Extras (LB-2, W-10)
12. Total (for 3 wkts, 20 overs) 192.
Fall of wickets: 1-50, 2-116, 3-144.
Bowling: Karanveer Singh 4-0-43-0, Sandeep
Sharma 4-0-32-0, Anureet Singh 4-0-40-1, Mitchell
Johnson 4-0-40-0, Axar Patel 4-0-35-1.
Kings XI Punjab: Murali Vijay c Bravo b Ashwin
34, Virender Sehwag c du Plessis b Pandey 1, Shaun
Marsh lbw Nehra 10, George Bailey c Dhoni b Jadeja
1, David Miller c Raina b Jadeja 3, Wriddhiman Saha
c Ashwin b Nehra 15, Axar Patel st Dhoni b Ashwin 9,
Mitchell Johnson c Nehra b Jadeja 1, Anureet Singh
c Jadeja b Sharma 10, Karanveer Singh (not out) 1,
Sandeep Sharma (not out) 2. Extras (LB-3, W-5) 8.
Total (for 9 wkts, 20 overs) 95.
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-35, 3-40, 4-55, 5-55, 6-66,
7-69, 8-90, 9-94.
Bowling: Ishwar Pandey 2-0-17-1, Ashish Nehra 4-016-2, Mohit Sharma 3-0-10-1, Ravindra Jadeja 4-022-3, Ravichandran Ashwin 4-0-14-2, Dwayne Bravo
3-0-13-0.
Schweinsteiger strikes as Bayern wait for title ‘Team Fireballs’ wins
BUNDESLIGA
ISC Bowling event
BERLIN: Bayern Munich are virtually
guaranteed their 25th German league
title after Bastian Schweinsteiger’s late
goal sealed their 1-0 home win over
Hertha Berlin on Saturday.
Schweinsteiger’s 80th-minute winner
leaves Bayern 15 points clear in the
league table with only four games
left and Pep Guariola’s side poised to
finish the weekend with a third straight
Bundesliga title.
But Munich’s champagne must wait
on ice until second-placed VfL Wolfsburg
play at Borussia Moenchengladbach
when a Wolves’ defeat or draw would
remove all mathematical doubt and
confirm Bayern as champions.
After Bayern’s stunning Champions
League quarterfinal win over Porto on
Tuesday, Guardiola’s side struggled to
breach Berlin’s goal despite nearly 80 per
cent possesion.
Guardiola used the depth of his squad
as teenage midfielder Gianluca Gaudino
started for the second week running and
fellow 18-year-old striker Sinan Kurt
made his debut in the famous red shirt.
Bayern finally got the break through
when midfielder Mitchell Weiser, who
was playing out of position at left-back,
beat two defenders on the right and put
in a cross which found Schweinsteiger
unmarked to fire home.
With the title effectively in the bag,
Bayern are poised to take the first step
towards repeating their 2013 treble of
European, league and cup titles.
Earlier, Hamburg boosted their
Bayern Munich’s Bastian Schweinsteiger celebrates with his team-mate Mitchell
Weiser (right) after scoring a goal against Hertha Berlin during their Bundesliga
match in Munich.
— Reuters
hopes of avoiding an historic relegation
with a dramatic 3-2 win over Augsburg
to climb off the bottom of the table to
leap from last to 16th place.
Pierre-Michel Lasogga, who has been
capped by Germany, was Hamburg’s
hero with two goals including the
crucial late effort.
Hamburg are the only team to have
never been relegated from Germany’s
top-flight and Bruno Labbadia’s side are
now only one point from safety after
picking up their first win in 10 matches
having raced into a 2-0 lead with only 19
minutes gone.
But Germany striker Lasogga sealed
the three points just two minutes later
when he smashed home his shot.
Paderborn drop to bottom of the
table ahead of Sunday’s home clash with
Werder Bremen.
Stuttgart remain second from bottom
after throwing away a two-goal lead and
having Czech midfielder Adam Hlousek
sent off for a second yellow card to draw
2-2 at home to Freiburg, who are just
two points from the drop zone.
Schalke’s 2-0 defeat to Mainz on
Friday and Augsburg’s loss in Hamburg
left both Hoffenheim and Borussia
Dortmund within striking distance of
the Europa League places.
Dortmund, the 2013 Champions
League finalists who are three points
from a European place, romped to a 2-0
win at home to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Gabon
winger
Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang converted a first-half
penalty, then set up Japan attacking
midfielder Shinji Kagawa’s 34th minute
strike which left Borussia eighth.
Seventh-placed Hoffenheim are two
points from a Europa League spot after
Adam Schipplock scored their winner
in a 2-1 victory over Hanover 96, whose
new coach Michael Frontzeck lost his
first game in charge having been given a
five-game contract to keep them up.
Bayer Leverkusen stay third after
their 1-1 draw with Cologne as Julian
Brandt’s first-half goal was cancelled
out by Bard Finne’s late equaliser in the
Rhine derby.
Borussia Moenchengladbach can
knock Leverkusen from third place —
which carries an automatic Champions
League place for next season — when
they host Wolfsburg on Sunday with the
rest of the league waiting to see if the
result will see Bayern crowned. — AFP
MUSCAT: Team “Fireballs” stole the
lime light at the ISC-Matharoo family
bowling tournament organised by the
Indian Social Club Muscat recently.
The tournament was sponsored by
Matharoo LLC and held at the Oman
Bowling Centre in Al Khuwair.
Twenty teams of enthusiastic
members entered the tournament.
Each team of six had to enter at least
two lady players. After two rounds, six
teams, Fireballs Katchchi Wing with
797 points, Incredibowls (737), Strikers
(717), Moksh-Charity Wing (710)
Green Klean-Charity Wingh (650) and
Urdu Wing (584) qualified for the final
round.
Fireballs
(Parimal
Sampat,
Dipa Sampat, Kamiya Popat, Sagar
Tarantukar, Vatsal Vaidya and Mahek
Ashar) with 697 won the first place
followed by Incredibowls (Shiv Gupta,
Kaushal Vaisya, Amit Vaidya, Vatsal
Soni, Roma Karla and Mini Sambi) with
654 points finished second and Moksh
(Neha Matani, Sania Zameel, Suhail
Khan, Imran Khan, Faizaan Dawnech
and Zameel Ameen with a score of 647
finished in third place. Dipal Sampat
with 129 and Fauziya Usman with a
score of 122 were the top lady bowlers.
Imran Khan who nothched a top score
of 180 was the best bowler of the day
followed by Sagar Tarantukar (172) and
Jai Odhrani (162).
Karanjeet Singh Matharoo of
Matharoo LLC gave away the prizes in
the presence of Dr Sathish Nambiar,
Hon Chairman of the Indian Social
Club Muscat and other office bearers.
Saturday’s result in favour of Inter also gave Lazio the upper hand in the battle for the second place and an automatic Champions League berth
Roma defeat edges Juventus closer to Serie A spoils
AS Roma’s Jose’ Holebas (left) challenges Inter Milan’s Lukas Podolski during their
Serie A match at the San Siro Stadium in Milan.
— Reuters
MILAN: Inter Milan defeated AS Roma
2-1 on Saturday to help nudge Juventus
closer to a fourth successive Serie A title.
If Juventus beat Torino on Sunday
and second-placed Lazio lose to Chievo,
they will be crowned champions.
Juve would be 18 points clear with
six games remaining but could not be
caught because they hold the headto-head tiebreaker on both Roma and
Lazio.
Saturday’s result between Roma and
Inter — which featured 10 yellow cards
— also gave Lazio the upper hand in the
battle for second place and an automatic
Champions League berth.
Inter took the lead after 15 minutes
when Hernanes fired home from inside
the box to give Roma’s Italian goalkeeper
Morgan De Sanctis little chance.
Roma dominated possession and
pushed hard following the goal but had
to wait until the 63rd minute to get back
on level terms.
A sweeping move led to a a crossfield pass that found Belgian midfielder
Radja Nainggolan who drilled a fierce
low shot past the despairing dive of
Slovenian ‘keeper Samir Handanovic.
However, the Roma defence collapsed
again with two minutes left when Mauro
Icardi swept home a loose ball in the
box to give Inter three morale-boosting
points that lifts them to seventh in the
table.
“We hit the woodwork in the first
half, but after the break we played more
like Roma,” said Roma coach Rudi
Garcia.
“I have nothing to complain about
when it comes to the attitude and desire
to win in the second half from my lads.
We don’t have time to complain, as
there’s another game on Wednesday.”
Earlier, struggling AC Milan were
beaten 2-1 at Udinese as the pressure
increased on coach Filippo Inzaghi
following what was a ninth league defeat
of the season.
Giampiero Pinzi opened the scoring
just before the hour mark for Udinese
when he lashed home a low shot
following a corner before Emmanuel
Agyemang Badu pounced on a loose
ball to put the home side 2-0 up wuth 16
minutes left.
Seven-time European champions
Milan, who are 10th in the table and
a distant 30 points behind Juventus,
grabbed a consolation goal with two
minutes left thanks to a Giampaolo
Pazzini strike but it was too little too
late.
Udinese climb to 12th as they pick
up their ninth win of the season.
Inzaghi, in his first season as a head
coach and the fifth highest scorer in
Italian history with 313 goals, is hanging
onto his job with the team well outside
the European places and now playing
only for pride.
— AFP
SPORT
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
omandailyobserver
27
EPL: Victory saw City climb into second place, nine points behind Chelsea but having played two games more than Mourinho’s leaders
Fernandinho seals City win in Villa thriller
MANCHESTER, UK: Fernandinho
claimed a dramatic 89th-minute
winning goal for Manchester City to
secure a 3-2 victory over Aston Villa
on Saturday, a result which could have
major ramifications at both ends of the
Premier League.
It was the second goal in four minutes
at Eastlands after Carlos Sanchez
appeared to have earned FA Cup finalists
Villa a priceless point when he was on
hand to skilfully hook the ball into the
goal from 12 yards after City goalkeeper
Joe Hart had failed to deal with a Charles
N’Zogbia corner.
But with normal time running out,
Aleksandar Kolarov’s left-wing corner
passed through a crowded Villa area and
reached the unmarked Fernandinho,
who took a controlling touch before
scoring with an acrobatic half-volley.
Sergio Aguero, with his 21st league
goal of the season, and Kolarov had
previously been on target for Manuel
Pellegrini’s side although, after Tom
Cleverley had pulled a goal back for
Villa, the visitors looked well capable of
escaping with at least a point.
Victory saw reigning champions City
climb into second place, nine points
behind Chelsea but having played two
games more than Jose Mourinho’s
leaders. City were gifted the lead in the
third minute following an extraordinary
error by the United States goalkeeper
Brad Guzan, who panicked in receiving
a back-pass from Ron Vlaar as the home
side pressed high up the field.
Guzan succeeded only in mis-hitting
a square pass across the face of goal
directly to Aguero, who was left with the
routine task of tapping the ball into an
open goal from six yards.
It was hardly a start in keeping with
the recent form shown by Villa under
manager Tim Sherwood that has left
them with a genuine chance of avoiding
relegation, along with a place in the FA
Cup final following last week’s semifinal
victory over Liverpool.
Guzan, who has surrendered his
starting place to veteran deputy Shay
Given in the FA Cup, then flapped
embarrassingly at a Kolarov free-kick in
the 16th minute with Fernando heading
just wide of a gaping goal.
City, playing with a confidence that
has been lacking for much of the year
to date, also threatened with Yaya Toure
volleying just wide from the edge of the
area and Guzan smothering an Aguero
shot. But Villa responded impressively
to a nervy start with Christian Benteke
heading over from a Jack Grealish cross
and the Belgium striker then being
denied by the legs of Joe Hart after
latching onto Vlaar’s deflected shot.
TOURE TAKEN OFF
Toure, whose future at the Etihad has
been the subject of much speculation
during a disappointing title defence, was
replaced at half-time, apparently because
of injury, and Frank Lampard exited
early in the second half as Pellegrini
attempted to gain control of midfield.
It scarcely worked, although Aguero
had strong claims for a penalty turned
down, and had Fabian Delph’s 18-yard
snapshot been a foot to the left after
55 minutes, Villa might have had an
equaliser.
Finally, after 65 minutes, Villa’s
discipline wavered with Carlos Sanchez
upending Fernandinho, earning a
caution in the process and presenting
Kolarov with a free-kick 22 yards from
goal. The City left-back curled a brilliant
shot, through a gap in the wall left by
Leandro Bacuna and Kieran Richardson,
and past Guzan’s desperate dive.
Villa’s response was swift and
impressive, however, as they reduced
arrears from a Grealish free-kick just
two minutes later.
Eliaquim Mangala and goalkeeper
Hart failed to communicate properly,
with the defender heading to the edge
of his area where, after Fernando and
Milner failed to clear, Cleverley was on
hand to lash an 18-yard shot into the
goal. In the frantic finale, Villa seemed
about to claim a winner with the game
tied as N’Zogbia and Christian Benteke
broke upfield but the latter was flagged
for offside with only Hart to beat —
a decision that proved all the more
significant given Fernandinho’s winner
Fernandinho celebrates scoring the third goal for Manchester City.
followed within seconds.
— AFP
No Euro hangover as PSG hit Lille for six
PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain quickly
got back on track after their Champions
League loss to Barcelona as Ezequiel
Lavezzi netted a hat-trick in a
resounding 6-1 win over Lille at the Parc
des Princes on Saturday.
With
leading
scorer
Zlatan
Ibrahimovic
suspended,
Maxwell
opened the scoring inside the first
minute, Edinson Cavani netted twice
and Argentine forward Lavezzi got the
first hat-trick of his Ligue 1 career to
hand the capital club their biggest league
win since April 2012.
The win moved them three points
clear of Lyon at the top of the table
before OL face Reims on Sunday.
With Lille having won six of their
previous seven matches to move into
contention for European qualification,
this looked likely to be PSG’s toughest
remaining fixture as they battle it out for
the title with Lyon.
However, the northern club’s
normally watertight defence crumbled
as they fell to their biggest top-flight
defeat since a 6-1 hammering at Monaco
in April 1985.
But for PSG it was the perfect
response after what was ultimately
a rather meek Champions League
quarterfinal loss at the hands of a far
superior Barcelona side.
“After the disappointment of our
elimination we needed to focus on the
league again, that was the aim of our
preparation over the last three days,” said
coach Laurent Blanc, who dismissed
suggestions that his side had sent out a
message to their title rivals.
“We have not sent anything at all. We
are just worrying about ourselves and
we need to pick up points.
“It was good to score so many goals
and it would be good to carry on like
this. We have respect for the other teams
but our destiny is in our own hands.”
Paris came flying out of the blocks
and no Lille player had touched the
ball before they fell behind with just 25
Paris Saint-Germain’s Ezequiel Lavezzi (right) scores a goal during the French L1 against Lille at the Parc des Princes in Paris.
— AFP
seconds on the clock.
Serge Aurier crossed low from the
right and Maxwell’s first-time shot
evaded the grasp of Vincent Enyeama
in goal.
The lead had been doubled with fewer
than four minutes played, Javier Pastore
finding Cavani, who beat Enyeama with
a brilliant chip.
Cavani then set up Lavezzi to tap
in the third and he struck again from
a Blaise Matuidi assist just before the
break.
It was not a perfect first half for Blanc
though as he lost goalkeeper Salvatore
Sirigu and Aurier to injury.
Nevertheless, the outcome of the
game had been put beyond doubt before
Marko Basa headed in for the visitors,
and the hosts then underlined their
superiority by adding two more goals in
the final 20 minutes.
RED CARD
First Cavani scored his 11th league
goal of the season from the penalty
spot after Lavezzi had been pushed over
on the point of shooting by Sebastien
Corchia, who was shown a red card.
And then Lavezzi held off two
defenders and finished into the bottomleft corner to secure a superb win that
is a big step towards a third consecutive
league title as Paris bid to win an
unprecedented domestic treble.
“Lavezzi is an example of how things
can change,” added Blanc of the former
Napoli forward, who had previously
netted just four league goals this season.
“He has often had a lot of chances but
converted very few of them. Today he
scores a hat-trick. That proves you need
to believe in players and make sure they
are in the best possible condition.”
It was another high-scoring
encounter
following
Marseille’s
spectacular collapse in losing 5-3
to Lorient on Friday at the Stade
Velodrome.
— AFP
— Reuters
PREMIER LEAGUE
Pellegrini aims for
unbeaten finish
MANCHESTER, UK: Manchester City
manager Manuel Pellegrini believes his
team can go through the remainder of
the Premier League season unbeaten
if they show the same character they
displayed in a 3-2 victory over Aston
Villa.
Saturday’s
thrilling
win
at
Eastlands, settled by Fernandinho’s
89th-minute shot, left City firmly
on course for a top-four finish and
Champions League football next
season.
But while unhappy with City’s
defending
against
relegationthreatened opponents, Pellegrini said
his side had showed the character that
would carry them to second place
behind champions-elect Chelsea.
“We didn’t play well today (Saturday),
maybe it was one of our worst games in
possession,” said Pellegrini, whose side
have rarely hit the heights this term that
saw them win the Premier League title
last season.
“We have so much possession every
game, against every team, so it was
strange to see how much possession we
lost,” the Chilean added.
“But it is not easy when you are
winning 2-0, and they come back to
2-2, to go on and get the winner but we
did it. If we play with this spirit, maybe
we don’t lose another game.
“We have to play for another 12
points and I think it was important to
win these three points and see what
happens tomorrow (Sunday) with
(Manchester) United and Arsenal. But
it will not be decided this weekend.
“With another 12 points to play for
it is very important to continue playing
with the spirit we had today.”
City were gifted an early lead after an
error by goalkeeper Brad Guzan which
saw Sergio Aguero score his 21st league
goal of the campaign and remain on
course to finish as the division’s leading
scorer.
“I think it is important, after the
team, to have individual awards for
different players,” said Pellegrini.
“Also it is important for Kun
(Aguero) to score more goals but it is
more important to win the game. That’s
why we’re trying to work as a team.
“But he has started scoring again the
last three games which is important for
him.”
BENTEKE DRAMA
Aleksandar
Kolarov
extended
City’s lead before Tom Cleverley and
Carlos Sanchez claimed the goals
which levelled the game at 2-2 after 85
minutes.
Following the equaliser, Villa striker
Christian Benteke was clean through on
goal with only Joe Hart to beat but was
flagged offside incorrectly according to
replays.
City’s winner followed within
seconds and the manner of the
disallowed goal frustrated Villa
manager Tim Sherwood who,
nevertheless, remained optimistic
regarding his FA Cup finalists’ chances
of avoiding relegation, even though
the Birmingham club are now just two
points above the bottom three.
“It’s onside, it’s a penalty and
a sending-off for Joe Hart,” said
Sherwood.
“You get some, you don’t get others
but at this stage of the season it’s difficult
and I’m saying that with a lump in my
throat, to be honest.”
— AFP
28
omandailyobserver
SPORT
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
CHINA OPEN: Wu joined Liang Wenchong and Zhang Lian-wei as Chinese winners in European tour after the duo’s Singapore Masters win
Steady Wu secures landmark victory
SHANGHAI: Wu Ashun became the
first Chinese golfer to win a European
Tour title on home soil by claiming his
national open by one shot on Sunday
after Englishman David Howell faltered
on the last.
Howell needed a birdie on the parfive 18th for victory but sent his lengthy
first putt from off the green seven feet
past the hole and his par attempt missed
tamely on the low side to hand Wu the
China Open title in front of a delighted
gallery.
Wu, 29, twice a winner on the Japan
Golf Tour, joined Liang Wenchong and
Zhang Lian-wei as Chinese winners
of European Tour events after the
duo claimed previous editions of the
Singapore Masters.
“Its a wonderful day today. Everyone
knows how tough it was,” Wu said after
finishing the tournament on nine-under
par.
“I played very good today. Its very
special for a Chinese winner of the
China Open. Very exciting.”
The duo had started the day in a
four-way tie for the lead with China’s Li
Hao-tong and Alexander Levy but Wu’s
round of one-under-par 71 on the tricky
Shanghai Pudong course was enough
for victory in the 20 million yuan ($3.23
million) event.
Howell, playing in the final group,
had led for much of the final round but
a bogey-five on 14 dropped him in a tie
with Wu before his disappointing final
hole, where a wayward second from the
fairway made his approach to the green
much tougher.
Defending champion Levy (71) began
his round with a bogey and a doublebogey five at the eighth left him with too
much to claw back and he settled for a
share of third on seven under.
Talented teenager Li finished in a
share of sixth after struggling on the
final day at his home event, one of four
tournaments the country will host on
the European Tour this year.
Argentine Emiliano Grillo looked set
to post the clubhouse target after racking
six birdies in his round to take him to
nine-under but a costly double-bogey
five at the penultimate hole left him in a
— Reuters
share of third after a 69.
Wu Ashun of China waves behind his
trophy after winning the China Open
at Tomson Golf Club in Pudong,
Shanghai, China, April 26, 2015. Wu
became the first Chinese golfer to
win a European Tour title on home
soil by claiming his national open by
one shot on Sunday after Englishman
David Howell faltered on the last.
—Reuters
Westwood makes it an Indonesian hat-trick
JAKARTA: Briton Lee Westwood made
it an Indonesian Masters hat-trick by
winning the Asian Tour title on Sunday
but only after surviving a playoff with
Thai Chapchai Nirat after blowing a fiveshot lead.
The former world number one,
winner of the event on his two previous
appearances in 2011 and 2012, could
only muster a final round of one-overpar 73 and seven-under total of 281
after letting slip the healthy overnight
advantage.
He had the opportunity to register
victory on the par-five 18th only to
fail with a birdie effort, meaning a
playoff with Chapchai, who produced
a sparkling 66 after snapping an iron
against a tree early in Saturday’s third
round.
The Englishman made no mistake
on the 18th in the playoff, however,
notching a birdie on the first extra hole
to edge out the four-times Asian Tour
winner Chapchai.
“I was lucky that I already had a
read on (my putt on) 18 for the playoff,”
Westwood said.
“It was a tough day out there.. but
LPGA
TRIUMPHANT
clear of Chapchai at the Royal Jakarta
Golf Club after covering his back nine of
the third round in just 29 shots, but gave
encouragement to the chasing back with
two bogey fours on his opening nine.
He seemed to find his game again
with three birdies in four holes,
including a long, snaking downhill
putt on the par-four 11th to start his
back nine but back-to-back bogeys
on 16 and 17 dropped him level with
Chapchai.
Australian
Kalem
Richardson
This handout picture taken and released by the Asian Tour on April 26, 2015 shows
finished third after a strong 66 left him
Lee Westwood of England posing with the trophy after winning the Asian Tour’s
Indonesia Masters at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club in Jakarta.
— AFP at six-under, with Dane Thomas Bjorn
(70) a further shot back in fourth and
former U.S. PGA Champion Yang Yongmanaged to battle back.
times, its a good hat-trick.”
“Its nice to have won here three
Westwood had started the day seven eun (71) in a share of fifth. — Reuters
CLASSIC
Henderson stays on
top at Swinging Skirts
SAN FRANCISCO: Canadian teenager
Brooke Henderson clung to a oneshot lead in the Swinging Skirts LPGA
Classic on Saturday after an even-par 72
in the third round.
Henderson, who had seized the lead
on Friday with a sizzling 65, had a 54hole total of nine-under par 207 and a
one-stroke lead over American Morgan
Pressel and South Korea’s Kwak MinSeo. Pressel carded a five-under 67,
while Kwak posted a 69 for 208.
They were two strokes in front of
world number one Lydia Ko of New
Zealand, the first-round leader who
posted a one-under 71 for 210.
Henderson, a 17-year-old seeking
her first tour win after turning pro
this year, stretched her lead to as many
as five strokes, but faltered down the
stretch. She moved to 10-under with an
opening birdie, but gave the shot back at
the next hole.
After a birdie at the par-five sixth,
she reeled off seven straight pars before
she got up and down for birdie at the
par-five 14th.
Leading by three with four to play,
she closed with back-to-back bogeys to
see her lead dwindle to one heading into
the final round.
“It was a great day out there. It was
really tough conditions and I was able
to play really well,” Henderson said.
‘I was lucky that I already
had a read on (my putt on)
18 for the playoff. It was a
tough day out there..but
managed to battle back. It’s
nice to have won here three
times, it’s a good-hatrick’
‘It was a great day out
there. It was really tough
conditions and I was able
to play really well. Couple
of times my short game
needed to bail me out
and it was able to do that,
especially the first 16 holes’
“Couple of times my short game needed
to bail me out, and it was able to do that,
especially the first 16 holes.
“The last two, unfortunately I
dropped two shots. Overall it was a great
day and I’m really happy to be where I
am.” Pressel surged up the leaderboard
with a round that included six birdies —
four of them on her last six holes.
“I wouldn’t say it was the absolute
very best I could’ve played, but I
certainly kept control of the golf ball
in the wind,” said Pressel, whose two
LPGA tour wins include a major title at
the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship.
“It was a completely different golf course
today. It was very interesting with all the
rain overnight.”
Kwak’s round included four bogeys,
five birdies and an eagle at the par-five
ninth, where she holed out from the
fairway. — AFP
ZURICH
CLASSIC
Day, Compton share
lead despite weather
NEW ORLEANS: Australian Jason
Day and Erik Compton shared the lead
on Saturday when the third round of
the US PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic was
halted by darkness.
Day, ranked sixth in the world, had
seized a one-stroke halfway lead earlier
Saturday when he completed a secondround 65 for a 12-under par total of
132.
He was one-under par through
three holes of the third round while
Compton vaulted into a share of the
lead on 13-under par thanks to four
birdies in his first five holes of the third
round.
After weather delays on the first two
days, third-round action was halted
Saturday for five hours and 43 minutes
by more storms.
Organisers managed to get
everyone underway before darkness
fell, and insisted they hope to get a full
72 holes in and not shorten the event.
“Fifty-four holes is not in the mix,”
said Slugger White, PGA Tour vice
president of rules and competitions.
If more delays materialise on
Sunday, White said, “we would be
here Monday.” A late start would
make for an extra-quick turnaround
for seven players in the field who are
scheduled to compete in the World
Golf Championships Match Play
Championship that starts in San
Francisco on Wednesday.
That group includes Day, who
birdied two of his final four holes in the
second round on Saturday morning to
move atop the leaderboard.
He moved to 13-under for the
tournament with a four-foot birdie at
the second hole of the third round.
He had knocked his approach at
the par-four fourth to 31 feet when the
horn sounded to stop play.
— AFP
BM presents green playground to Al Khutum
MUSCAT:
Bank
Muscat,
the
flagship financial services provider
in the Sultanate, handed over a green
playground developed as part of the
Green Sports initiative to Al Khutum
Team in Fanja in the wilayat of Bid Bid
under the auspices of H.E. Dr Hamad
Bin Said Al Aufi, Under-Secretary
at the Ministry of Agriculture and
Fisheries. The ceremony was attended
by dignitaries, senior bank officials and
a large turn-out of football enthusiasts.
H.E. Dr. Al Aufi congratulated Bank
Muscat for the success achieved by the
unique Green Sports CSR programme.
H.E. Al Aufi said: “The Green Sports
initiative complements the government
efforts in building a sporting nation
by providing youth the required
infrastructure facilities. The initiative
benefiting communities, especially
youth, contributes to sustainable
development and protection of the
environment, thereby ensuring allround development in Oman.”
The Green Sports initiative was
launched by the bank in 2012 to lay the
foundation at the grass-root level for a
sustainable sports infrastructure.
In a record time, the bank has
achieved notable success in developing
green fields in all parts of the Sultanate,
thus contributing to realising the
sporting dreams of clubs and teams.
Till date in the first three years of the
programme, 34 sports clubs have been
given support to green their playing
fields.
Saleh Al Maaini, Senior Regional
Manager — North-West Muscat,
South Batinah and Dhahirah Regions,
said: “The inauguration of the green
playground in Fanja endorses the
bank’s commitment to support youth
representing the country’s future. We
congratulate Al Khutum Team for
seizing the opportunity to green their
playing field, thereby setting a fine
example for other clubs and teams in
Oman to promote Oman as a sporting
nation.”
The bank’s Green Sports support
stems from its commitment to giving a
helping hand to all deserving teams and
clubs in Oman to green their playing
fields.
The bank recognises that local
clubs wield immense influence on
neighbourhood communities, especially
youth, hence clubs with modern
infrastructure facilities can help raise
sporting heroes for the country.
The funding criteria of the
programme, include that sports clubs/
teams should have been in existence
for three years with a minimum
membership of 300 youth from the local
community.
Yarub Mubarak Al Hadhrami
representing Al Khutum Team, said:
“The Green Sports initiative has
made vital contributions to create an
environment encouraging Omani
sports talents. The unique initiative is a
big support for the country’s youth and
we are confident that many youngsters
will benefit from this programme and
become sporting heroes for the country.”
In 2015, the bank widened the
scope of Green Sports initiative beyond
greening of playgrounds.
From this year, sports teams and
clubs seeking Green Sports support
can choose from four options to either
green their playgrounds with natural
or synthetic turf, or avail support to
affix flood lights or water desalination
equipment to facilitate greening of
fields in areas facing problems of water
salinity.
The move is aimed at providing wider
representation to sports clubs and teams
to build sustainable sports infrastructure
in all parts of the Sultanate.
ENTERTAINMENT
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
omandailyobserver
29
TINSELTOWN
Eva is in a ‘complete
place’ in her life
H
“Virgin Mountain,” won the best narrative award
Virgin Mountain, Democrats
win Tribeca Film festival prizes
BY PATRICIA REANEY
“
V
i r g i n
Mountain,”
a DanishIcelandic
fi
l
m
about late
bloomers and first love, won the best
narrative award at the 14th Tribeca
Film Festival and Democrats, which
follows the quest for democracy
in Zimbabwe, was named best
documentary.
Gunnar Jonsson, who portrays
the 43-year-old outsider who finds
love in Virgin Mountain was named
best actor at an awards ceremony on
Thursday night.
Hannah Murray, the star of the
Danish drama Bridgend, picked up
the best actress prize.
“With its mixture of humour
and pathos, this film captured our
hearts,” the jurors said about Virgin
Mountain, written and directed by
Hannah Murray picked up the best
Dagur Kari of Iceland.
“Beyond the deceptively small actress prize
frame of a mismatched love story, the
film deals with the issues of bigotry,
loneliness, bullying, mental illness,
and ultimately the triumph of the
human spirit and meaning in love,”
they added.
Jonsson was noted for his subtle
performance, which jurors said
evoked Charlie Chaplin and Buster
Keaton, while Murray was praised
for capturing the “hopelessness of a
lost generation” a teenager who gets
involved in the ritualistic celebration
of her friends’ suicides.
Bridgend also won prizes for
best cinematography and narrative
editing, while “Virgin Mountain”
won best screenplay.
The documentary Democrats
chronicles the story of two political
rivals in Zimbabwe as they try to
bridge their differences to create a
new constitution for the African
nation.
The film, by Danish director
Camilla Nielsson, was cited for its
important subject and “for filming
in conditions where simply to be
present is a triumph.”
Zachary Treitz won the best new
narrative director award for the
US film Men Go to Battle, which
jurors praised for its “historical and
emotional authenticity.”
The
Albert
Maysles
new
documentary director award, named
for the director who died earlier
this year, went to Ewan McNicol
and Anna Sandilands for their film
Uncertain, about a Texas town whose
livelihood is being threatened.
Sworn Virgin, directed by Laura
Bispuri, won the Nora Ephron prize,
which is named for the late writerdirector and is awarded to a female
director or writer.
The winners were chosen from
12 narrative and documentary films
submitted by 19 countries, and the
best new directors were selected from
26 submitted feature films.
The Tribeca Film festival was
established after the September
11, 2001 attacks to revitalise the
downtown area and help business
and arts production. — Reuters
Chris Pratt, Anna Faris ‘meant to be together’
A
ctor Chris Pratt says he and Anna Faris “are
meant to be together” and believes it was his
“destiny” to share his life with her.
The 35-year-old actor married the Mom actress in
2009 — two years after the duo met on the set of Take
Me Home.
“Anna and I are meant to be together.
Our relationship has made me believe in divine
intervention and destiny, just as much as my crazy
career and the way I fell into this life,” he told fans in a
Reddit Ask Me Anything session, reports femalefirst.
co.uk.
Pratt thinks he and Faris, who have two-year-old
son Jack together, are the perfect match because they
have so much in common.
“She and I grew up 20 minutes away from each
other but never met until we met in L.A.
We both got our start in horror spoofs. We both did
an animated movie for Phil Lord and Chris Miller.
We both made our careers playing guileless nitwits
for laughs. We both have parents that have suffered
with MS (Multiple Sclerosis). The similarities go on
and on,” he wrote.
Pratt also praised the 38-year-old actress’ parenting
skills and his extended family.
He wrote: “Anna is a great wife. Very patient and
understanding.
Very supportive. So kind and genuine always. And
she gave me a wonderful son and family of in-laws that
72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards — Arrivals
I truly love.”
aving a successful acting career
and in a relationship with
businessman Jose Antonio
Baston, actress Eva Longoria says
she is in a “complete place” in her
life.
The 40-year-old has gushed
about how life has been good to
her as of late, reports people.com.
“I’m just in a happy place in my
life that it’s easy to be open and in
love because I am in a complete
place in my life,” Longoria said at
the Eva Longoria Home Collection
launch for JCPenney on Thursday.
“Whether it’s personally, career,
new projects, going back to television,
there’s just so much happiness and joy in
my life and I think you know that transmits
to everything,” she added.
Longoria, who has been dating Baston since late 2013, was confirmed in
January to be returning to TV with a new series titled “Telenovela”. Apart
from her lead role in the show, she will also serve as its executive producer.
Blake, more confident
cook than actress
H
ollywood star Blake Lively says she
is more confident about cooking
than acting.
The 27-year-old, who is married to
actor Ryan Reynolds and gave birth
to their first child in December last
year, told the Los Angeles Times
newspaper that she lacks confidence
in front of the camera and feels
more comfortable cooking and
decorating their home, reports
femalefirst.co.uk.
“I always feel like I’m faking it
when I’m acting.
I do the best I can do to tell the story
in the best way, but I always feel really
lucky when I get a job,” she said.
“I feel confident when I’m cooking or
decorating. It’s something I control beginning, middle and end. That
ownership feels good,” she added.
Jessica ‘madly in love’
with goddaughter
S
inger Jessica Simpson’s longtime
best friend CaCee Cobb and
Donald Faison have named her
the godmother of their newborn
daughter Wilder Francis.
Simpson announced the
news herself on Instagram on
Friday by posting a photograph
of herself snuggling up with
the couple’s daughter, reports
usmagazine.com.
“Madly in love with my
goddaughter Wilder Frances
Faison,” the mother of two
captioned the image.
“I am beyond proud of (Casey and
Donald),” she added.
FILM FESTIVAL
Not going to Cannes to set any trend: KATRINA
I WILL FIND SOMETHING
THAT I’M COMFORTABLE IN
AND WILL NOT GET CARRIED
AWAY TO MAKE A STATEMENT.
I THINK ONE SHOULD BE
TRUE TO ONE’S OWN SELF
AND ENJOY THE FESTIVAL
AND THE PLATFORM WHICH
CELEBRATES CINEMA,
FASHION AND BEAUTY TRENDS
AS WELL
B
ollywood beauty Katrina Kaif is
ready to make her red carpet debut
at the 68th Cannes International Film
Festival, but the actress says she intends to
enjoy the platform, which weaves cinema,
fashion and beauty together, instead of
fretting over her looks.
The Bang Bang! actress will walk the red
carpet at the 68th Cannes International Film
Festival as the ambassador of cosmetic brand
L’Oréal Paris, and to be a part of the opening
ceremony of the film gala on May 13.
“I don’t think I’m going there to set any
trend or look.
I don’t think that is my intention.
I think my intention is to be me,” the
actress said over phone from Mumbai.
“That’s the reason L’Oréal has signed me as
the ambassador — for what I represent.
I will find something that I’m comfortable
in and will not get carried away to make
a statement. I think one should be true to
one’s own self and enjoy the festival and the
platform which celebrates cinema, fashion
and beauty trends as well,” she added.
The 31-year-old is yet to decide on her
look for the film fest, but notes that she will
pick the ensembles soon.
“I have not decided the look yet.
We would be working with the team at
Cannes, which consists of some amazing hair
and beauty technicians.
We haven’t thought whether it would be
Indian or western look.
We haven’t made any plans but we will
zero in on it soon,” the talented actress said.
L’Oréal Paris will celebrate 18 years of its
partnership as the official makeup partner for
Festival De Cannes this year with ‘Matte or
Gloss’ as the beauty trend.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Sonam
Kapoor will also bring Bollywood glamour to
the red carpet as ambassadors of the brand.
A cursory glance at the bouquet of films at
the fest will highlight lack of Indian presence.
Apart from first look of Jazbaa, Punjabi
film Chauthi Koot and Neeraj Ghaywan’s
debut feature Masaan are headed to the
international film festival.
The actress terms the dearth of Indian
films as a passing phase.
“I think every year is different.
Sometimes we have the right kind of films
for the festival and sometimes we don’t.
So I think this is just not year.”
“I’m sure there will be many more years
to come,” Katrina, who had a slow start in
Bollywood with Boom, but went to draft
a successful story with hits like Namastey
London, Welcome and Singh Is Kinng, she said.
On the professional front, Katrina is busy
with Fitoor and Jagga Jasoos.
30
LIFESTYLE
omandailyobserver
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
MUSIC
Preservation Hall Jazz
Band comes to ROHM
EY announces winners of
Student Excellence Award 2015 T
E
Y announced the winners
of the fourth “Student
Excellence Award” (SEA)
held under the patronage
of Yahya Said Abdullah
al Jabri, Chairman of
Special Economic Zone Authority at
Duqm. The SEA recognises Oman’s
best students in the fields of accounting,
finance and information technology by
rewarding Omani students for their hard
work and efforts with internships in
leading companies.
The winners in Finance in order
of rank were: Nawal Hamed Zahran
al Mahrouqi; Majed Khalfan Said
al Mashari and Al Yaqdhan Yaqoob
Humaid Al Jadidi, all from Sultan
Qaboos University.
The winners in Accounting in order
of rank were: Tariq Suhail Ali al Shaibani
from Higher College of Technology,
Afaf Mohamed Bahram al Zadjali from
The Modern College for Business and
Science and Laila Said Saif al Hinai from
Sultan Qaboos University.
The winners in Information
Technology in order of rank were: Lamis
Sugar and carbs
actually making
you fat
Ghuson Hilal al Alawi from Sultan
Qaboos University, Nusaiba Shukry
Mohammed al Sulaimani from The
German University of Technology and
Zeyana Ahmed Saleh al Maawali from
Sultan Qaboos University.
Ahmed al Esry, Partner, EY, Oman,
said: “We are very proud to play a role
in supporting education and emerging
talent within the Sultanate of Oman.
The SEA recognises Omani graduates
that have the skills and drive that are
necessary to succeed in the workplace.
The competitive spirit that is cultivated
at the event is something that we hope
the students take with them into the
workplace. We shall strive to continue
providing high potential students a
platform to showcase their abilities and
avail them the opportunity to advance
into the first stage of their careers.”
In addition to cash prizes and an ipad
each, the top three winners from each
discipline were offered the opportunity
of a paid internship with EY or one of the
companies associated with the award:
Bank Muscat, BAE Systems, Namagroup
and Omantel.
HEALTH FILE
O
ur calorie-laden diets are
generating more ill health
than physical inactivity,
alcohol and smoking combined, reveals
significant research.
The results bust the myth that
anyone — and that includes athletes —
can outrun a bad diet.
“The evidence now suggests that up
to 40 per cent of those within a normal
weight (BMI) range will nonetheless
harbour
harmful
metabolic
abnormalities typically associated with
obesity,” warned experts in an editorial
that appeared in the British Journal of
Sports Medicine.
Few people realise this and many
wrongly believe that obesity is entirely
due to lack of exercise — a perception
that is firmly rooted in corporate
marketing.
The prevalence of diabetes increases
11-fold for every 150 additional sugar
calories consumed daily, compared
with the equivalent amount of calories
consumed as fat.
The evidence now suggests that
carbs are no better.
Recent research indicates that
cutting down on dietary carbohydrate
is the single most effective approach
for reducing all of the features of the
metabolic syndrome and should be the
primary strategy for treating diabetes,
with benefits occurring even in the
absence of weight loss.
Furthermore, research suggests that
rather than carbohydrate loading ahead
of intense exercise, athletes would be
better off adopting a high fat low-carb
diet. The food environment needs to be
changed so that people automatically
make healthy choices, suggest the
authors.
This “will have far greater impact
on population health than counselling
or education. Healthy choice must
become the easy choice”, they wrote.
They describe the public relations
tactics of the food industry as “chillingly
similar to those of Big Tobacco”, which
deployed denial, doubt, confusion and
“bent scientists” to convince the public
that smoking was not linked to lung
cancer.
Be aware of fatty liver disease,
can lead to cancer
EXPERTS SAID NAFL
DISEASE IS NOW ONE
OF THE MOST COMMON
CAUSES OF CHRONIC
LIVER DISEASE,
WHICH COULD BE
CAUSED BY OBESITY,
EATING JUNK FOOD,
LACK OF EXERCISE,
DIABETES AND HIGH
CHOLESTEROL.
Q SHWETA SHARMA
R
ampant downing of alcohol
and increasing prevalence
of obesity would in a few
decades lead to patients with fatty
liver disease requiring transplants
surpassing those of hepatitis B and
C, say experts.
“Due to vaccination for hepatitis
B and effective medications now
available for both hepatitis B and C,
the incidence of liver failure due to
them has been on the decline.
Alcoholic and NAFL (nonalcoholic fatty liver) disease could
also lead to cancer, and liver
cancer is the third leading cause of
cancer-related deaths in the world,”
Ravi Mohanka, chief surgeon
and head of department, hepatopancreato-biliary surgery and liver
transplantation, Global Hospitals,
Mumbai, said.
He added that if the damage is not
controlled at this stage by lifestyle
changes, “it may progressively lead
to liver cirrhosis, requiring a liver
transplant”. The liver is the second
largest organ in one’s body, which
is located under the rib cage on the
right side, and performs many jobs in
the body.
It processes what one eats and
drinks into energy and nutrients the
body uses.
The liver also removes harmful
substances from the blood.
Experts said NAFL disease is now
one of the most common causes of
chronic liver disease, which could be
caused by obesity, eating junk food,
lack of exercise, diabetes and high
cholesterol.
“It has been seen in various studies
that nearly 20 per cent of the general
population suffers from NAFL.
This figure increases to up to 80
per cent in the obese and diabetics.
Up to 5 per cent of these can
develop progressive disease,” Yogesh
Batra, director and senior consultant,
gastroenterology,
BLK
Super
Specialty Hospital, said.
“Hepatitis B carriers are there in
two to four per cent of the general
population and hepatitis C is about
1.5 per cent .
Hence as the incidence of fatty
liver increases progressively, patients
of fatty liver requiring transplant
may soon surpass those of hepatitis
B and C,” he added.
Rajnish
Monga,
consultant
gastroenterology and hepatology at
Paras Hospitals, said that fatty liver
is the accumulation of fat in the liver
cells.
He added that fatty liver may
be associated with liver swelling
(inflammation) in some patients
leading to slow liver cell death,
scarring, ultimately causing cirrhosis.
Explaining the diagnosis, Batra
said ultrasound diagnoses the disease
easily.
“Patients come either with nonspecific pain and lethargy.
Ultrasound diagnoses the disease
easily. MRI is more specific, final
diagnosis and classification is done
by a liver biopsy,” he said.
While doctors said that the
disease is not passed in generations,
they pointed out that dietary patterns
within families are usually the same.
“In a patient with end stage liver
disease and life expectancy of less
than one year the only viable option
with long term survival is liver
transplant.” — IANS
he catchy rhythms of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band return to the
Royal Opera House Muscat for an exhilarating evening of traditional
New Orleans jazz on Tuesday, April 28.
When the Preservation Hall Jazz Band made their Omani debut in April
2013, their sold-out concert was a huge success, so it’s with great enthusiasm
that the ROHM welcomes the legendary band back.
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band includes Mark Braud on trumpet and
vocals, Louis Ford on Clarinet, Clint Maedgen on saxophone and vocals, Joe
Lastie, Jr. on drums, Rickie Monie on piano, Ronell Johnson on tuba, trombone
and vocals, and Jeffrey Hills on tuba.
Each of the musicians was born and raised in New Orleans and has the spirit
of jazz in their blood.
The band will play some tracks from their latest album That’s It! which was
released in 2013, and some New Orleans favourites such as Basin Street Blues,
Tiger Rag, Shake That Thing, and Tailgate Ramble.
ROHM’s Acting Director General and Artistic Director Umberto Fanni
stated: “The Preservation Hall Jazz Band is the ideal ambassador for New
Orleans-style jazz.
The energy and fun that these musicians bring to the stage is infectious and
it’s impossible not to move along to the music.”
Named after the iconic Preservation Hall music venue in New Orleans’
French Quarter, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band was founded in 1961 by Allan
and Sandra Jaffe.
Since 1963 the band has been touring around the world, sharing the art of
New Orleans Jazz.
Many of the band’s original members performed with the jazz pioneers
including Buddy Bolden, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, and Bunk
Johnson.
Over the years the band leaders have included the brothers Willie and Percy
Humphrey, husband and wife Billie and De De Pierce, famed pianist Sweet
Emma Barrett, and more recently Wendell and John Brunious.
As different musicians joined the band over the years, the founding artists,
and dozens of others, passed on the lessons of their music to a younger
generation who now follow in their footsteps like the current lineup.
Under the auspices of current director, Ben Jaffe, the son of founders
Allan and Sandra, Preservation Hall continues with a deep reverence and
consciousness of its greatest attributes in the modern day as a venue, band, and
record label.
The Preservation Hall Jazz Bandwill perform for one night only on April 28
at 7:30pm.
MISO conducts exhibition
‘Confluence 2014-15’
T
he imagination and creativity of budding stars of Modern International
School, Oman (MISO) were showcased with a dynamic burst of energy
last week in the school Exhibition “Confluence 2014-15”.
It was inaugurated by Suad al Shihi, Director Supervision and Evaluation,
Directorate of Private Schools, Ministry of Education Oman. She expressed her
appreciation for the creativity and enthusiasm of the young learners of MISO.
The exhibition was open to all students and parents. It stood out as it had
100 per cent student participation. The exhibition was on all the subjects
taught in the school
— English, Science,
Social,
Math,
Arabic, Performing
& Visual Art,
Music and Physical
Education.
The
amazing
array of displays
completely
mesmerised
the
onlookers.
The
students
were
appreciated
and
applauded for their uninhibited presentation skills with ample confidence
in front of the crowd. The school directors, Zohair al Lwati and Dr Keshav
Mandadi were present during the event and thanked the chief guest for her
gracious presence.
SPOTLIGHT
M O N DAY
APRIL 27 l 2015
omandailyobserver
31
ON THE
AIR
WAVES
LAKSHMI KOTHANETH
lkairwaves@gmail.com
Flower Delight
F
Residents walk beside a temple severely damaged by earthquake. — AFP
QUAKE DEALS HEAVY BLOW TO
Nepal’s rich cultural heritage
IN THE HEART
OF KATHMANDU,
MANY OF A CLUSTER
OF TEMPLES AND
STATUES BUILT
BETWEEN THE 12TH
AND 18TH CENTURIES
BY THE ANCIENT
KINGS OF NEPAL
HAVE COLLAPSED
Q PAAVAN MATHEMA
R
educed to piles of
rubble and splintered
wood, Nepal’s rich
cultural heritage has
suffered a devastating
blow from a massive
earthquake that tore through the
country, experts said yesterday.
In the heart of Kathmandu, many
of a cluster of temples and statues built
between the 12th and 18th centuries
by the ancient kings of Nepal have
collapsed, killing scores and trapping
others underneath.
The nine-storey Dharahara tower,
a major tourist attraction in the city’s
Durbar square with its spiral staircase
of 200 steps, was reduced to just its base
when the 7.8-magnitude quake struck at
Rescuers use a makeshift stretcher to carry an injured after an avalanche.
lunchtime on Saturday.
“I had just bought tickets to climb
the tower and was at its base when I felt
a sudden shaking,” Dharmu Subedi, 36,
said from a hospital bed in Kathmandu.
“Within minutes, the Dharahara had
crumbled to the ground with maybe
more than 100 people in it,” Subedi said.
Unesco was trying to gather
information on the extent of the
destruction, including at three palacefilled squares in the cities of Patan and
Bhaktapur, both former kingdoms in
the Kathmandu Valley, as well as in
Kathmandu.
“We understand the historic
Durbar squares of Kathmandu,
Patan and Bhaktapur have
been
badly
damaged,”
Christian
Manhart,
Unesco’s representative to
Nepal, said.
“Several temples have
collapsed. Two temples
in Patan have been
completely
collapsed,
and Durbar Square (in
Kathmandu) is worse.
“Right now we are
An army personnel stands in front of a collapsed temple.
assessing the situation, and collecting
information on what the damage is. All
UN agencies have received a request
from the (Nepalese) government for
assistance,” he added.
He said it was too early to talk about
reconstruction of the monuments and
how much assistance Unesco could
provide.
Manhart said his office was also trying
to determine whether another Unesco
Wo r l d
The bell of a temple lies
in the debris. — Reuters
Tourists wait outside Kathmandu Airport. — AFP
Heritage site, that of Lumbini, the place
where Buddha was born more than
2,600 years ago, had also been hit.
“We haven’t received reports of
severe damage in Lumbini, but we are
still trying to collect information,” he
said of the site, some 280 kilometres
(170 miles) west of Kathmandu.
‘Irreparable loss for Nepal’
In Kathmandu, residents were seen
clawing through the rubble, using their
hands, buckets and shovels to try to find
those feared trapped in Durbar Square,
which had been crowded on
Saturday with local and foreign
tourists.
Large piles of bricks,
wooden beams and
other debris were
dotted throughout the
historic square, where
minutes earlier stood
double-roofed
temples and other
monuments built by
the Malla kings. The
monuments are the
“social, religious and
urban focal point of
the city” which has a rich
history of Hindu, Buddhist
and Tantrism religion and
culture, Unesco says on its
website.
“Kathmandu with its unique
architectural
heritage,
palaces,
temples and courtyards has inspired
many writers, artists, and poets, both
foreign and Nepalese,” it says.
Expert P D Balaji cast doubt on
whether the monuments could be
completely rebuilt, saying television
footage showed extensive damage.
“What I can say is that it’s an
irreparable loss for Nepal and the
rest of the world,” Balaji, head of the
history and archaeology department
at the University of Madras, said.
“Complete restoration is not
possible on account of the extensive
damage to the historical sites in
Nepal.”
According to Unesco, “two
catastrophic earthquakes” in 1833 and
1934 led to some monuments in the
Kathmandu Valley being rebuilt. — AFP
lowers can make your day. A drive around the city looking for flowers
made my day. There are gardeners who make all the difference.
Muscat Municipality has brought out the beauty of the beach
road in Qurum with the planting of flowering shrubs along the road as
breaks as we enjoy the sight of sea.
Against the beautiful blue was the brilliant dark pink of desert roses and
just underneath the yellow flowers reflecting the sunlight? Drove around
a bit more and I came across one of the most delicate yellow flowers and
they belonged to the cactus.
Looking for flowers I found there were more surprises and was amazed
how these gifts of nature with such delicate petals can withstand the
harshness of the summer sun.
Yet they gleefully smile spreading happiness around.
Driving to Sultan Qaboos University was a special treat to the eye as the
brilliance of the sun and colours of the variety of flowers teased the eyes.
The campus now has full grown trees providing shades and then when
you need it just look down for your eyes to rest on yet another wonderful
essence from nature.
You naturally smile and somewhere along there is a sense of relief from
thoughts that you might have been pondering about.
A campus is never complete without those wonderful trees.
I am sure if you were to look back there must have been one tree or trees
that played a background role during your school or college days.
A tree to sit under and study or share stories.
We might not have realised then but trees are known to generate
positive energy and why not, after all they continuously clean our air.
Is it not funny how much a tree can heal the air we breathe and we
cannot even take time to plant a tree?
There is a flowering plant that loves the coast and the sun and the breeze
and that is the Frangipani.
The flowers are graceful and they hold onto until flowering from
December to April.
All year there is one plant that will keep giving you the colours especially
during the summer and that is the Bouganvilla.
There are a variety of colours but the common one is the pink and it
just spread cheers.
Oman has plenty of it as garden lovers adore to keep them close to walls
and if the walls are white the scene is exceptional!
It might be fascinating to watch a garden but the real experience comes
when you get involved in the watering process.
Plants do say thank you and I think it is in the form of spreading their
fragrances.
The notes vary and after a while you begin to communicate back
because you can stand there with your eyes closed and through the air you
will know which plant is reaching out.
Breathe in and fill your lungs with the goodness.
The Holy Basil in the garden not only gives you herbal benefit for health
but this shrub along with its variety known as ‘Reyhan’ in Arabic are well
known to keep insects away.
It is not us humans who are attracted to aromatic plants and the flowers.
At present the pollinating insects are all around and they are all busy,
but somehow they cooperate your presence in their surroundings.
The garden is all fun and it is one place where you have your mind
relaxed but of course the whole experience is even more enjoyable when
you have the experts to guide you.
LIFESTYLE
Use face cleanser
twice a day
T
o keep your facial skin fresh
looking, you should develop
the habit of using a facial
cleanser morning and night,
Germany’s trade association of
personal hygiene manufacturers, the
IKW, advises.
Cleansing your skin at night is
especially important, as it encourages
blood circulation and makes the skin
more receptive to skincare products.
Many women don’t bother cleaning
their skin much in the morning,
figuring that nothing changes while
asleep.
They forget that while sleeping, the
human body sweats, which can lead to
blocked pores.
Very sensitive skin should be
treated with a mild skincare product so
that cleaning twice a day won’t irritate
it.
It’s also a good idea to use a face
cream or lotion to finish off your
cleansing routine, says the IKW in a
recent advice bulletin. — dpa
MONDAY | APRIL 27, 2015 | RAJAB 8, 1436 AH
P29
P30
P31
Inside
Not going to Cannes to set any trend Winners of Student Excellence Award Use face cleanser twice a day FOLLOW US ON:
www.omanobserver.om
editor@omanobserver.om
Flamingoes near Quriyat with the highway in the background
O
Marta, Mihai and Khaled refreshing in the “sublime basin”
Sublime beauty of a waterfall
Marta reminded
me of Julie
Andrews in the
film “The sound
of music” when
she started
singing and
dancing on the
green grass!
The “sublime basin
“ at Al Shiyya
Khaled measuring
the big waterfall
Mihai on the
way to the big
waterfall
ne week after our
exploration trip with
Mihai we took our
best halves, Marta
and Elena, to visit
the first waterfall of
Al Shiyya and to hike further up Wadi al
Naqma and get to the big waterfall I’d seen
from a distance with my binoculars.
We started very early in the morning to
make sure we got to the cascade and came
back to our vehicle before darkness.
On our way there we stopped at
the swamps near Quriyat to take some
pictures of the flamingoes that used to
gather there before the coastal highway to
Sur was built.
There were plenty of them and we
managed to take some superb pictures.
We reached the village of Al Swayh
around 7am and started our hike on the
left bank of the canyon following the falaj
for a short distance before getting on the
old trail, which was in bad condition
because it hadn’t been used for a long time
since the villagers moved from Al Shiyya.
After an hour we had to get to the wadi
bed to progress. This time we could move
faster than a week earlier because there
was no water in the wadi compared to
our previous trip with Mihai, where we
were obliged to avoid the deep pools full
of water.
We arrived at the abandoned village
around 11 o’clock where we decided to
have a break before heading to the great
green pool we’d discovered a week before
with Mihai.
There are many houses built on the
cliffs. We think there must have been
a large community living in this
village to be able to maintain all
the terraces spread on both
sides of the wadi.
After a short break
we headed to our next
destination through the
green terraces. Marta, my
wife, reminded me of Julie
Andrews in the film “The
sound of music” when she
started singing and dancing
on the green grass!!!
We got to the “sublime basin”
KHALED H ABDUL MALAK
kamkam@omantel.net.om
after 45 minutes. The girls were enchanted
with that magnificent spot and decided
to stop there while Mihai and I moved
further towards our final goal “the big
waterfall”.
We followed a trail on the right bank of
the canyon passing through other terraces
built high up on the side of the wadi.
In one place we saw a small basin built
to collect the rain water for cattle.
We reached our final goal after 45
minutes, landing at the bottom of a 150m
green waterfall.
I spotted on the right side of that
cascade a possible access to a place from
where I could abseil a part of that waterfall
from a height of approximately 100m.
We took some shots of the site and
went back to our wives for lunch.
I was very happy that we’d managed
to reach our target and at the same time I
had all the information I needed to come
back in the future and abseil this fantastic
cascade.
(To be continued).
Marta at the village
of Al Shiyya
HEALTH HAZARD
AIR POLLUTION BAD FOR YOUR BRAIN TOO
L
ong-term exposure to fine particle air
pollution may cause subtle structural
changes in the brain that increase risks
of poor cognitive function and dementia, says a
study. Fine particle air pollution — smaller than
2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM2.5) — may
be the most common and hazardous type of air
pollution.
It comes from burning wood or coal, car
exhaust and other sources.
“Long-term exposure to air pollution showed
harmful effects on the brain in this study, even
at low levels, particularly with older people and
even those who are relatively healthy,” said lead
study author Elissa Wilker, instructor of medicine
at the Harvard Medical School.
Researchers analysed 943 adults who were
healthy and free of dementia and stroke.
The participants lived in the greater Boston
area and throughout New England and New
York — regions where air pollution levels are low
compared to other parts of the nation and the
world.
During 1995-2005, researchers used magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) to determine the effect
of long-term exposure to air pollution on markers
of brain structure.
They found a two microgram per cubic metre
of air increase in particulate matter (PM) 2.5
was associated with a 0.32 per cent smaller total
cerebral brain volume and a 46 per cent higher
risk of covert brain infarcts, a type of silent stroke.
“The magnitude of association that we
observed for brain volume was similar to
approximately one year of brain ageing,” Wilker
said.
Fundamental changes in the structure of the
cerebral brain volume and smaller brain size are
markers of age-associated brain atrophy. The
small infarcts, typically located in deep regions of
the brain, have been associated with neurological
abnormalities, poorer cognitive function,
dementia, and are thought to reflect small vessel
disease, she concluded.
The findings appeared in the journal Stroke.
“LONG-TERM
EXPOSURE TO AIR
POLLUTION SHOWED
HARMFUL EFFECTS
ON THE BRAIN, EVEN
AT LOW LEVELS,
PARTICULARLY WITH
OLDER PEOPLE AND
EVEN THOSE WHO ARE
RELATIVELY HEALTHY”