Check on private hospitals - Oman Observer

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OMAN 

HM thanked by 

forum delegates 

PARTICIPANTS in the 10th Forum 

of GCC Lawyers and Arbitrators 

yesterday sent a cable of thanks to 

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos at the 

end of their meeting, which was 

organised by the GCC Commercial 

Arbitration Centre and hosted by 

the Omani Lawyers Association 

here under the theme "Towards 

Supporting the Rule of Law". The 

conferees highlighted the Royal 

directives of His Majesty the Sultan 

on various issues. See page 2 

Masarra Hospital 

opens today 

The Ministry of Health will today 

mark the opening of Al Masarra 

Hospital, an institution which will 

enhance the Sultanate’s reputation 

of top-quality health services. The 

RO 49 million project occupies 

an area of 60,000 square metres 

and will offer diagnostic and 

curative services, psychiatric and 

behavioural services. See page 4 

REGION 

Abbas accepts 

PM resignation 

PALESTINIAN President Mahmoud 

Abbas accepted the resignation 

of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad 

yesterday, a Palestinian oficial and 

the Palestinian news agency said. 

"Abbas agreed to accept Fayyad's 

resignation," the Palestinian oficial 

said. News agency Wafa said Abbas 

had asked Fayyad to stay on as 

caretaker until a new government 

was formed. Sources said Fayyad 

had offered his resignation to 

Abbas last Wednesday following 

a rift between the two men over 

government policy. 

KOREA 

FULL STORY ON PAGE 6 

China, US agree 

to defuse crisis 

CHINA and the United States vowed 

to work together to try to defuse 

nuclear tensions on the Korean 

peninsula, as US Secretary of State 

John Kerry said the world stood 

at a "critical" juncture. During an 

intense day of diplomacy in Beijing, 

Kerry warned Chinese leaders 

including President Xi Jinping that 

the stakes were high as China's ally 

North Korea threatens a missile 

launch that would extend a weekslong 

crisis. China is Pyongyang's 

sole major ally and backer, and is 

widely seen in the world as the only 

country with leverage to inluence 

its actions. 


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Vol. 32 No. 151 | 200 baisas | 32 pages www.omanobserver.om facebook.com/omanobserver twitter.com/omanobserver editor@omanobserver.om AppStore 

AUDIENCE 

<strong>Check</strong> on private hospitals 

Stringent action if any healthcare facility violates rules 

By Kabeer Yousuf 

MUSCAT — With a view to improve 

healthcare services provided by private 

hospitals, clinics and polyclinics in the country, 

the Ministry of Health (MoH) will bring 

changes in the private healthcare sector 

with revisions and corrective measures. 

“Private healthcare facilities or parallel 

services are highly advisable to a country 

and they are needed but they should operate 

within the set standards of the ministry," Dr 

Ahmed Mohamed al Qasmi, Director-General 

of Planning at the ministry, said. 

He said that there is a committee headed 

by the minister, with the director-general of 

Authorities rule out water shortages 

By A Staff Reporter 

MUSCAT — The Public Authority for Electricity 

and Water (PAEW) said that water 

supply was back to normal yesterday in the 

Wilayat of Seeb, namely in Al Hail North and 

Al Mawaleh, after a shortage hit the areas 

few days ago. 

Abdullah bin Mohammed al Nuaimi, Senior 

Operations Performance Manager at 

PAEW, denied that the shortage would recur 

or last one more week. He pointed out that 

part of the solution was to link the areas di- 

DR IBRAHIM BIN AHMED AL KINDI Chief Executive Officer 

FAHMI BIN KHALID AL HARTHY Editor-in-Chief 

Oman Establishment for Press, Publication and Advertising 

PO Box 974, Postal Code 100, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman 

Health Services monitoring the private sector 

and a number of key healthcare experts 

as members to study the circumstances under 

which these hospitals operate, qualiications 

of the staff, overall services provided 

and take appropriate actions as and when it 

is necessary. 

There are more than 50 government 

hospitals and primary health clinics in the 

country. Five national hospitals (Royal Hospital, 

Khoula Hospital, Al Nahdha Hospital, 

Ibn Sina Hospital and Al Masarrah Hospital) 

operate across the country along with six 

major private hospitals. 

The committee will also monitor the operations 

of these private hospitals and sug- 

rectly with the main distribution line. 

Water was distributed by tankers, but 

that was done at certain cost. Residents of 

the areas affected said that they used to pay 

RO 10 for one tanker, but they had to wait 

for long hours for their turn to get a single 

trip of tanker and that too at RO 30 to RO 50. 

The water tankers, making most of the 

situation, charged customers several times 

more than what they actually charged during 

other times. 

PAEW recently inalised a hydrological 

study for the distribution of water to the are- 

Sunday APRIL 14, 2013 | JUMADA AL THANIA 3, 1434 AH 

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos gave an audience at Bait al Baraka yesterday to Lt Gen Sir Jerry Mateparae, Governor General and 

Commander-in-Chief of New Zealand and his wife Janine Mateparae. See page 2 

gest from time to time necessary revisions to 

be carried out. The panel has so far ordered 

closure of many private healthcare facilities 

after inding them incapable of meeting the 

standards set by the ministry. 

It has also found that the conditions under 

which these institutes are being operated 

are not up to the mark, and will continue 

to crack down on such facilities, he said. 

“We have ordered the closure of many 

healthcare centres across the country after 

inding them not up to the mark. Any parallel 

healthcare facility that is found not meeting 

the standards will be treated severely." 

The committee is currently reviewing the 

present regulations. 

Salalah Port received cruise ship Seabourn Odyssey with 778 passengers on board including 432 tourists. See page 3 

as in the Wilayat of Seeb which usually experience 

low water pressure, said Al Nuaimi. 

Meanwhile, the Majlis Ash’shura Services 

and Social Development Committee said 

yesterday it will host PAEW Chairman to 

seek answers on the water shortage issue. 

The Committee will also inquire about the 

emergency plan in such situations, as well 

as the future plans to avoid the recurrence 

of such crises. 

The meeting also discussed the privatisation 

waste management, equal treatment for 

low-income groups. See also page 4 

Hamilton 

takes pole 

P27 

Inside 

6.3-magnitude quake hits Japan 

Coal scam rocks India again 

Russia bars 18 Americans with ban 

National strategy 

on urban growth 

MUSCAT — An agreement to draft the National Strategy 

for Urban Development was signed here yesterday with 

a view to achieving the comprehensive and sustainable 

growth goals of Oman Vision 2020. 

The pact for technical supervision of the project was 

inked by Sultan bin Salim al Habsi, Secretary-General of 

the Supreme Council for Planning, with Aspirants Consultancy. 

The national strategy seeks to outline a general 

framework for long-term urban development for different 

governorates and areas in the Sultanate and drawing 

out integrated layouts for land uses at the levels of the 

nation, the governorates and the cities. 

The project is prepared by houses of expertise in the 

associated ields, including economic development, urban 

growth, empowerment, natural resources, heritage, 

population, human resources, social services, transport, 

infrastructure, GIS and legal aspects. 

The supervision of the project will be through a committee 

comprising undersecretaries of 11 government 

agencies and a technical committee to offer consultancy 

on the project. 

Sustainable development means to keep a balance between 

social, economic and ecological aspects of urban 

life. Urban planning and the sustainable development of 

cities are urgent matters for today’s growing cities. The 

global population grows by more than 140 people per 

minute. A city with the population of Muscat needs to be 

built every week. Urban development in the Sultanate 

has changed rapidly in the past four decades. 

Oman ranks 5th 

in IT services 


MUSCAT — The Sultanate of Oman maintained its position 

as 40th in the world according to the World Economic 

Forum’s annual Global Information Technology 

Report 2013. The report examines 54 key indicators including 

individual, business and government usage, infrastructure, 

affordability, industry skills and the socioeconomic 

impacts of information technology services. 

Oman ranks ifth in the Middle East and North Africa 

(MENA) as the ICT industry continues to develop rapidly 

across the region, behind Qatar, the highest-ranked 

MENA country at 23rd, United Arab Emirates (25th), 

Bahrain (29th) and Saudi Arabia (31st). 

The report notes that: ‘Gulf Co-operation Council 

states have sharply improved their overall performances 

and have continued their investments to make ICT one 

of the key national industries that To page 4 

Germany opposes 

EU banking union 

DUBLIN — Germany said 

European banking union 

will require changes to 

EU law, in a call that could 

slow completion of the 

plan designed to underpin 

the euro currency. 

Speaking after a meeting 

of European Union inance 

ministers yesterday, 

German Finance Minister 

Wolfgang Schaeuble said 

the EU's Lisbon treaty had 

to be changed to allow 

common rules on shutting 

troubled banks — a central 

element of the union. 

"Banking union only 

makes sense ... if we also 

have rules for restructuring 

and resolving banks. 

But if we want European 

institutions for that, we 

will need a treaty change," 

he said. Designed to ensure 

vulnerable countries do 

not have to tackle inancial 

problems alone, the plan 

for banking union was one 

of the bloc's biggest political 

steps to stabilise the 

euro and prevent taxpayers 

from footing bills for 

bank rescues. 

"We will not be able to 

take any steps on the basis 

of a doubtful legal basis," 

Schaeuble told reporters. 

"That's why it's also 

crucial that we strengthen 

the network of national restructuring 

funds and authorities." 

As a irst step towards 

the union, the European 

Central Bank is set to start 

supervising euro zone 

banks from July 2014. 

This should be followed 

by a so-called bank resolution 

scheme to close or 

salvage struggling banks as 

well as pay for the costs involved. 

The third and inal 

step would be a coherent 

framework across Europe 

for deposit protection. 

Worried the supervisory 

role could compromise 

ECB monetary policy 

independence, Germany 

last Friday persuaded EU 

countries to sign a political 

declaration committing to 

future treaty change. 

Schaeuble also made 

clear legal change would 

be necessary for the uni- 

ied scheme for tackling 

failed banks. — Reuters

2 

OMAN 

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos gave an audience yesterday to Lt Gen Sir Jerry Mateparae, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of New 

Zealand. — Pictures by ONA, Mohamed Mostafa and Salim al Hashli 

Partners for Excellence 

Student Excellence 

Awards Oman 2013 

Sky is the limit? 

Ernst & Young’s “Student Excellence Awards” 

are designed to recognize, reward and celebrate 

outstanding Omani students in Accounting, 

inance and usiness Administration elds 

We are pleased to launch our “Student Excellence 

Awards, ” 

SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013 

Lawyers forum participants thank HM 

MUSCAT — Participants in the 10th 

Forum of GCC Lawyers and Arbitrators 

yesterday sent a cable of thanks 

to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos at the 

end of their meeting, which organised 

by the GCC Commercial Arbitration 

Centre and hosted by the Omani 

Lawyers Association here under the 

theme "Towards Supporting the Rule 

of Law". 

Oman Sail’s 

future plans 

outlined 

MUSCAT — The Economic 

and Financial Affairs Committee 

at Majlis Ash’shura 

yesterday hosted Maitha 

bint Saif al Mahrouqiya, 

Under-Secretary of the 

Ministry of Tourism and 

Chairperson of Oman 

Sail Company, and Board 

members and executive 

management to discuss 

with them cooperation 

between the Ministry of 

Tourism and Oman Sail 

Company. 

The meeting also discussed 

the policies and 

programmes implemented 

by Oman Sail, as well as 

details of operational support 

funds, contribution 

to capital in the last three 

years, the company’s current 

and future plans and 

the envisaged goals. 

Issa bin Sultan al Ismaili, 

Director General 

of Events at Oman Sail 

Company, made a visual 

presentation on aspects 

of co-ordination between 

the Ministry of Tourism 

and Oman Sail Company 

in the ield of tourism 

promotion, hosting of international 

events and organising 

exhibitions, inviting 

media men to visit the 

Sultanate and organising 

competitions for members 

of the public. The 

aim of the programmes, 

he said, is to establish 

business opportunities 

for local investors in the 

Sultanate. — ONA 

HM gives audience to 

NZ Governor General 

MUSCAT — His Majesty 

Sultan Qaboos gave an audience 

at Bait Al Baraka 

yesterday to Lt Gen Sir 

Jerry Mateparae, Governor 

General and Commander-in-Chief 

of New Zealand 

and his wife Janine 

Mateparae. 

His Majesty the Sultan 

and Mateparae exchanged 

friendly talks and views 

about means of promoting 

bilateral relations and 

upgrading co-operation 

between the Sultanate and 

New Zealand. 

The audience was attended 

by Yusuf bin Alawi 

bin Abdallah, Minister Responsible 

for Foreign Affairs, 

Dr Rawiya bint Saud 

al Busaidiya, Minister of 

Higher Education, Ahmed 

The conferees highlighted the 

Royal directives of His Majesty Sultan 

Qaboos on various issues and His 

Majesty the Sultan’s support for cooperation 

between the government 

and citizens. They noted that involving 

civil society institutions in development 

issues had an impact on the 

outcome of the forum. 

The conferees prayed to the Al- 

bin Nasser al Mehrzi, Minister 

of Tourism (Head of 

Mission of Honour Accompanying 

the Guest), Khalid 

bin Hashil al Meselhi, 

Oman’s ambassador to Japan 

and non-resident ambassador 

to New Zealand, 

and the delegation accompanying 

Governor General 

of New Zealand. 

— ONA 

mighty to grant His Majesty a good 

health, happiness and a long life. 

The two-day sessions, held with 

participation of lawyers, arbitrators, 

advocates, academics, representatives 

of commerce chambers, and students 

of law, discussed ‘alternative means 

of solving disputes and mediation 

and most effective alternative solutions 

for settlement of disputes’.


OMAN 

His Highness Sayyid Fahd and Lt Gen Sir Jerry Mateparae inspect the guard of honour. Right: HH Sayyid Fahd hosts a luncheon in honour of the guest. — Pictures by Mohamed al Rashdi 

Warm welcome for New Zealand Governor General 

MUSCAT — Lt Gen Sir Jerry Mateparae, Governor General 

and Commander-in-Chief of New Zealand, arrived here 

yesterday on an oficial three-day visit to the Sultanate. 

His Highness Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmood al Said, Deputy 

Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers, led the 

welcoming party at Muscat International Airport for the 

New Zealand Governor General and his accompanying 

delegation. 

An oficial ceremony was accorded for New Zealand 

SQU academician wins award 

MUSCAT — Professor Dr Sabah bint 

Ahmed al Sulaiman, academician at 

the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), 

Department of Mechanical and Industrial 

Engineering at the College of 

Engineering won Khalifa Award for 

Education in the ield of higher education 

category of the distinguished 

University Professor in the scientiic 

research at the Arab world level. 

The award aims to improve educational 

work in the UAE and the 

Governor General, his wife and other members of the delegation. 

HH Sayyid Fahd welcomed the guest, wishing him and 

his accompanying delegation a happy stay in the Sultanate. 

After that, HH Sayyid Fahd accompanied the guest 

to the Dais of Honour where the Protocols Guard of the 

Royal Oman Police gave the salute and played the Royal 

Anthem of New Zealand and the Royal Anthem of Oman. 

Arab world, by stimulating and encouraging 

talented and innovative 

people working in the education ield 

through highlighting and supporting 

the status of those working in educational 

ields. — ONA 

Then, the Commandant of the Protocols Guard proceeded 

to the Dais asking permission from Sayyid Fahd 

and the guest to inspect the irst column of the Protocols 

Guard. 

After inspecting the Protocols Guard, the guest shook 

hands with members of the Mission of Honour, Oman’s 

ambassador to Japan, who is the Sultanate's Non-resident 

to New Zealand, the ambassador of to the Sultanate, who 

is the Dean of Diplomatic Corps, the ambassador of New 

SALALAH — Salalah Port yesterday received 

the cruise ship "Seabourn Odyssey" 

with 778 passengers on its board 

including 432 tourists from various 

nationalities. 

The tourist programme of the cruise 

Arab labour 

issues to be 

discussed 

MUSCAT — The 

Sultanate will take part 

in the 40th session 

of the Arab Labour 

Conference, due to be 

opened in Algeria today 

and lasts till April 22nd. 

The Sultanate's 

delegation will be led 

by Shaikh Abdullah 

bin Nasser al Bakri, 

Minister of Manpower. 

The conference 

will discuss the future 

of employment in 

light of the economic 

and social changes 

in the Arab world, as 

well as aspirations of 

youths to secure job 

opportunities. 

The Sultanate's 

delegation will also 

comprise Khalil bin 

Abdullah al Khonji, 

Chairman of Oman 

Chamber of Commerce 

and Industry (OCCI), 

oficials at the Ministry 

and businessmen. 

— ONA 

ship, which came from Safaja Port in 

Egypt and heading to Sur Port in the 

Governorate of South Al Sharqiyah, included 

tours to the major archeological 

and historic landmarks renowned 

in the Governorate of Dhofar, such as 

3 

Zealand to the Sultanate and senior oficers of the Sultan's 

Armed Forces and the ROP. 

Later, HH Sayyid Fahd hosted a luncheon at Al Bustan 

Palace Hotel in honour of Lt Gen Sir Jerry Mateparae, Governor 

General and Commander-in-Chief of New Zealand, 

and his delegation. 

The luncheon was attended by Royal family members, 

ministers, under-secretaries and senior government oficials 

and dignitaries. — ONA 

More cruise ships visit Salalah 

sites of frankincense trees, Al Mughsail 

Beach, Al Baleed Archeological Park, 

Frankincense Land Museum, Taqah 

Castle, Samahram Archeological Site, 

besides visit to traditional markets in 

the Wilayat of Salalah. — ONA 

OCCI Board invites opinion on new law 

MUSCAT — Oman Chamber of 

Commerce and Industry (OCCI) 

Board yesterday held a meeting 

under the chairmanship of Khalil 

bin Abdullah al Khonji, Chairman 

of the OCCI Board to discuss the 

OCCI's new law. 

Al Khonji said that OCCI's Legal 

Committee has prepared a draft 

law which will be circulated to 

all members asking them to give 

their opinions and expectations of 

businessmen and businesswomen 

which will be discussed in the next 

meeting of the Board before submitting 

the inal draft to the Minister 

of Commerce and Industry. 

— ONA

4 

MUSCAT — Ali bin Khalfan al Jabri, 

Under-Secretary of the Ministry of 

Information, presided over a training 

programme on preparation of directors 

at City Seasons Hotel yesterday. 

The ive-day programme is organised 

by the Ministry of Information, 

in collaboration with Taleed International 

Centre for Human Resources 

Development. 

Al Jabri afirmed the ministry's 

keenness on developing human resources 

among employees of the ministry, 

adding that a comprehensive 

training programme has been adopted 

for all staff in various positions and 

specialties for providing them with 

the necessary management skills. 

He added that the ministry is 

currently applying a training programme 

for all staff especially the 

administrative leadership to achieve 

OMAN 

Al Masarra Hospital is set to open today. The hospital will offer high-quality diagnostic and curative services, psychiatric and behavioural health 

services, rehabilitation and emergency services, with specialised clinics in a variety of new ields of medicine. — ONA 

Comprehensive training programme for various positions 

the desired goals of development and 

modernisation of performance. 

Indian navy chief on visit 

MUSCAT — Admiral Devendra Kumar 

Joshi, Chief of Naval Staff of India, and his 

delegation arrived here yesterday on an 

oficial visit to the Sultanate. 

The guest and his delegation were 

received upon their arrival at Muscat 

International Airport by Rear Admiral 

Abdullah bin Khamis al Raisi, Commander 

of the Royal Navy of Oman (RNO), 

senior oficers at RNO Command and the 

Military Attaché at the Indian Embassy in 

Muscat. — ONA 

Al Jabri called upon trainees to 

make use of these training pro- 

The water supply was back to normal yesterday in the Wilayat of Seeb, namely in Al Hail North 

and Al Mawaleh, after a shortage for few days. 

grammes in which very carefully selected 

experts are lecturing. 

The training programme, involving 

a number of heads of departments 

in various directorates of the 

Ministry of Information, aims at preparing 

department heads on management 

and leadership skills, how 

to inluence others, dealing with administrative 

problems and the ability 

to use emotional intelligence to 

improve performance of employees 

to enable them practicing professional 

personnel leadership. 

Dr Mahmoud Ezz Eddine al Arab, 

trainer and consultant in the ield of 

leadership development, delivered 

lectures in this training programme. 

He is a PhD holder in quality management, 

policy planning and strategic 

planning from University of 

Pittsburgh in the US. — ONA 

Sultanate, Iran review 

parliamentary issues 

TEHRAN — Dr Ali Larijani, 

Speaker of the Iranian Shura 

Council, yesterday received 

Shaikh Khalid bin Hilal al Maawali, 

Majlis Ash’shura Chairman. 

During the meeting, Dr Larijani 

welcomed Al Maawali and 

his delegation, commending the 

good bilateral relations binding 

the two friendly countries in 

various spheres. 

He hailed the Sultanate's wise 

stances under the leadership of 

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos towards 

the current issues in the 

region, afirming that the Iranian 

Parliament seeks to promote 

the Omani-Iranian relations and 

activating the friendship groups 

between the two countries. 

The municipality at Seeb yesterday organised a campaign to clean the beach area, with support from the local 

community. Volunteers of all age took part in the event which relected a high sense of social collaboration. 

On his turn, Al Maawali commended 

the historic relations 

between the Sultanate and Iran, 

touching on various ields of cooperation, 

particularly areas of 

the parliamentary co-operation. 

Further, the meeting also 

discussed regional and international 

issues of common concern, 

most importantly the Palestinian 

cause. The meeting was 

attended by Sheikh Yahya bin 

Abdullah al Oraimi, Sultanate's 

Ambassador to Iran, Ali Ridha'ei, 

Head of the Omani-Iranian Joint 

Friendship Committee, oficials 

at the Iranian Shura Council and 

the delegation accompanying Al 

Maawali. — ONA Oman 

Al Roya Economic 

Forum begins 

next week 

MUSCAT — Al Roya Economic 

Forum 2013 will kick off next 

Saturday under the auspices 

of Darwish bin Ismaeel al 

Balushi, Minister Responsible 

for Financial Affairs. 

The two-day forum will 

discuss "Investment: Opportunities 

and Challenges," with 

the participation of decisionmakers, 

oficials, experts and 

those interested in economic 

affairs from inside and outside 

the Sultanate. 

Hatim al Ta'ei, Editor-in- 

Chief of Al Roya newspaper, 

said that the second version 

of the forum comes after the 

great success of its irst version 

and pursuing with the 

approach adopted by Al Roya 

newspaper in the area of "Media 

of Initiatives" to help supporting 

the economy through 

concrete and constructive 

proposals. 

The forum includes a 

number of working papers 

and discussion sessions and 

will include several themes. 

The irst theme will address 

the challenges of investment 

environment in the 

Sultanate of Oman, and the 

second theme will deal with 

productive and service investments, 

the third will address 

"Investment in Securities," 

and the fourth theme will 

come under the heading of 

"Banking Sector: Inexhaustible 

Investment Tributary". 

— ONA 

Conference on ethical 

workplace behaviour 



MUSCAT — The Studies and Research 

Centre of Oman Establishment 

for Press, Publication 

and Advertising (OEPPA), publishers 

of Oman Daily Observer 

and its sister daily Oman Arabic, 

is once again taking the lead in 

shining a light on an issue of 

pressing social and economic 

concern. 

‘Work Ethics to Improve Performance 

and Productivity’ is 

the theme of a four-day conference 

organised by the centre 

in line with its mandate to foster 

research and debate on issues 

pertinent to the broader 

national interest. It is only the 

second such forum organised 

by the centre after last October’s 

maiden conference on the 

theme, ‘Strategic Management 

and Change Management’. 

The latest forum on Work Ethics 

will be held from May 18 to 

21, 2013 at the InterContinental 

Muscat. It consists of a two-day 

conference spotlighting a gamut 

of issues at the heart of a problem 

that has been the bane of 

workplaces here in Oman and 

abroad. It will be followed by a 

pair of focused workshops on 

the themes, ‘Ethical Behaviour 

and Decision-Making’ and ‘The 

Power of Holistic Ethical Management’. 

Also taking place in parallel 

with the conference is an exhibition 

showcasing the services of 

management consultancy and 

training irms. Exhibitors have 

the opportunity to pitch their 

capabilities directly to decisionmakers 

from the government 

and corporate sectors, and network 

with potential clients. 

Commenting on the signiicance 

of the theme behind the 

latest conference, Dr Ibrahim bin 

Ahmed al Kindi, CEO of OEPPA, 

said: “There is no running away 

from the fact that workplaces in 

general — whether in the government, 

public or private sectors 

— continue to suffer from 

an absence of ethical behaviour, 

which in turn hurts performance 

and productivity. The central 

objective of this conference 

is to drive home the message 

that work ethics is a management, 

economic and national imperative 

that must be embraced 

Dr Ibrahim bin Ahmed al 

Kindi, CEO, OEPPA. 

across the board.” 

Prominent personalities from 

Oman and abroad will offer their 

perspectives on the importance 

of a strong work ethic in driving 

organisational performances. 

Through a series of insightful 

lectures and presentations, a 

distinguished array of speakers 

will debate the beneits of ethical 

behaviour on the part of employees, 

executive management, 

and employers. 

Employee work ethics, such 

as attendance, attitude, teamwork, 

respect, appearance and 

productivity, are behaviours and 

attitudes that workers are required 

to bring to the workplace. 

Employers and managers too 

have a fundamental responsibility 

in nurturing workplace environments 

that help sustain good 

work ethics, notably through 

the institution of a system that 

recognises and rewards hard 

work and diligence. Policies and 

practices that promote discrimination, 

arbitrariness and dissatisfaction 

should be eschewed. 

Managements too have a responsibility 

to ensure that employees 

have a stake in the success of the 

organisation. 

Given the important social 

and national signiicance of the 

conference, a number of leading 

corporate and public sector 

organisations are backing 

the event through sponsorship 

support and other partnership 

arrangements. For sponsorship 

details, reservations for 

the conference, workshop or 

exhibition, and other inquiries, 

call 24649148, 24649149, 

24649148, 24649141, 

24649146, or email: research@ 

omandaily.om 

ranks 5th in IT 

From page 1 

attempt to diversify and transform 

their economies’. This is relected in 

Oman’s global ranking. 

Focusing on the Sultanate’s gains 

this year, Dr Salem ben Nasser al Ismaily, 

Chairman of the Public Authority 

for Investment Promotion and 

Export Development (PAIPED), said: 

“Oman’s ranking places the country’s 

ICT readiness ahead of the large 

emerging BRIC economies of Brazil, 

Russia, India and China, showing that 

investment in the sector is seen as 

a key factor in developing business 

and human capacity. The report also 

relects the Sultanate’s strong leadership 

and focus on ICT as an economic 

and social driver. We believe the impact 

of His Majesty’s 2012 National 

Broadband Strategy will become 

more evident over time. 

“Given the investment and effort 

being made the Strategy will deliver 

signiicant returns.” 

The Sultanate’s overall performance 

within a iercely competitive 

industry shows consistent improvement 

across many of the report’s indicators, 

in particular the quality of 

ICT infrastructure, usage levels and 

social impact ratings, all show improvements. 

Major gains can be seen in the 

rise of household personal computers 

and the sharp increase of 

smartphone devices which has risen 

to 58 per cent of the population. Data 

has been identiied as a key driver for 

developing business and Oman has 

successfully introduced 4G broadband, 

placing the country’s internet 

provision on par side with the best in 

the world. 

Oman’s mobile tariffs have 

dropped by almost 50 per cent and 

broadband costs have also decreased, 

placing the Sultanate 34th in the 

world and irst in the GCC, representing 

a remarkable improvement of 48 

places from 2012. 

The penetration of mobile broadband 

access has nearly doubled 

in the past 12 months and mobile 

phone subscriptions are approaching 

200 per cent, an average of two 

subscriptions per person, and places 

Oman amongst the highest globally. 

The Nordic countries dominate 

the report with Finland, Sweden, 

Norway and Denmark all ranking in 

the top 10. Whereas the main driver 

for innovation in Scandinavia is business, 

the main proponent of ICT in 

Oman has been the Government’s 

commendable efforts in line with His 

Majesty’s vision to transform Oman 

into a sustainable, knowledge-based 

economy. 

Oman is 34th in the world for ICT 

political and regulatory environment 

and 33rd for business and innovation 

environment conditions, placing it 

above many much larger economies 

including Korea, Spain and China. 

Oman also ranks 21st in the world 

for government usage of ICT, placing 

the Sultanate in the top 25 per cent in 

the world for enhanced online processes 

that are helping citizens access 

a broad range of e-services. 

Dr Al Ismaily concluded by stating: 

“The government is committed 

to putting ICT to work for social and 

economic development, and driving 

the changes necessary to ensure 

it is used effectively. We recognise 

that technology is a powerful tool for 

transforming the way people do business, 

communicate with each other 

and access information. 

“Moreover, if we are to increase 

Oman’s national competitiveness 

we must ensure that our ICT training 

efforts are accelerated – and that 

the up-take of ICT courses at university 

continues to rise. The World Economic 

Forum’s Global Information 

Technology Report clearly indicates 

that ICT education is an area Oman 

has to focus on.”


Austria defies pressure to end bank secrecy 

DUBLIN — Austria deied growing 

pressure to follow Luxembourg in 

ending bank secrecy, after a group 

led by Europe's six biggest countries 

pledged to work together to tackle 

tax havens. 

Late on Friday, the inance ministers 

of Germany, France, Britain, 

Italy, Spain and Poland announced 

their desire to jointly push for more 

bank transparency, a message they 

will take to the meeting of the Group 

of 20 top global economies in Washington 

next week. 

"Nobody can deny that bank secrecy 

is outdated, that we need an 

eficient system to tackle evasion 

strategies," French Finance Minister 

Pierre Moscovici told reporters, 

lanked by his counterparts from 

the other countries. "Our mission is 

to create momentum. When these 

six major capitals of Europe move 

together, it creates a strong signal 

which nobody can resist." 

Yesterday, three other countries 

— Belgium, the Netherlands and 

Romania — joined the initiative, the 

European Commission's oficial in 

charge of tax policy, Algirdas Semeta 

said. 

"It's about allowing member 

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states to make the right tax choices 

for them without being affected by 

the malpractices of others," Semeta 

told journalists, on the sidelines of 

an EU ministers' meeting. "In a nutshell, 

it's about fairness." 

Poland's inance minister told 

Reuters that he joined the group to 

ensure foreign multinationals do not 

abuse tax regimes for proit. Such 

companies are particularly important 

for central and eastern Europe. 

"The scale of the problem is 

smaller in Poland than in western 

Europe but some of the techniques 

used in western Europe to evade 

G20 to consider cutting 

debt to 90pc of GDP 

DUBLIN — Financial leaders 

of the world's 20 biggest 

economies will consider 

next week in Washington a 

proposal to cut their public 

debt over the longer term 

to well below 90 per cent of 

gross domestic product, a 

document prepared for the 

meeting showed. 

The proposal, prepared 

by the co-chairs of the G20 

Working Group on the 

Framework for Growth, follows 

agreement of the leaders 

of G20 countries in June 

last year to set ambitious 

debt reduction targets beyond 

2016, when, under an 

earlier agreement from Toronto 

in 2010, debt was to 

stop growing. 

"The co-chairs proposed 

that: 'over the longer-term, 

G20 members should gear 

their iscal policy towards 

achieving a debt level that 

is well below 90 per cent of 

GDP,'" a document prepared 

for European Union delegates 

for the meeting said. 

taxes are being transferred to Poland 

too," Jacek Rostowski said. 

"Citizens must have full conidence 

that the system is not being 

abused to evade taxes or for simply 

for tax fraud," he said. "The ight 

with tax fraud will be all the more 

effective if it is conducted on a European 

and even global level - that's 

why we joined." 

Announcing the co-operation, 

George Osborne, Britain's inance 

minister, had said he was pushing 

for more transparency from the UK 

overseas territories of the Cayman 

Islands and British Virgin Islands. 

"We take note of the proposal 

made by the co-chairs 

on iscal objectives as a good 

basis for discussion," said the 

document, endorsed by EU 

inance ministers yesterday. 

The European Union itself, 

however, has a more 

ambitious debt ceiling of 60 

per cent of GDP for its 27 

members and will suggest 

a lower target for the G20 

would be better, too. 

"Our experience with... 

the 60 per cent of GDP reference 

value shows the 

importance of a more ambitious 

debt anchor. Such a 

debt anchor is needed with 

a consolidation path that is 

carefully calibrated to sustain 

the recovery," it said. 

"Advanced G20 economies 

should commit to a 

common debt reduction anchor 

including iscal adjustment 

plans which point to 

a clear and credible downward 

path of general government 

debt levels," the 

document said. 

Robber in 

spectacular 

jailbreak 

LILLE, France — A wellknown 

robber with links 

to organised crime yesterday 

blasted his way out of 

jail with explosives as he 

took several prison wardens 

hostage in northern 

France, oficials said. 

Police and helicopters 

were trying to track the 

man, identiied by state 

prosecutor Frederic Fevre 

as Redoine Faid, a notorious 

criminal known for 

robbing cash-in-transit 

vehicles. 

Fevre said Faid, a "particularly 

dangerous prisoner", 

was armed and still 

in possession of explosives. 

The prisoner had used 

the explosives to blast 

through ive prison doors 

before making his way 

out of the prison in the 

town of Sequedin, said 

prison unionist Etiene 

Dobremetz. 

The state prosecutor 

said Faid had four hostages 

with him during 

the jailbreak. 

One was released just 

outside the prison, another 

a few hundred metres 

away and then the 

inal two were left along 

a highway. 

The prosecutor Fevre 

said that while extremely 

shocked, the wardens 

were safe and sound. 

Faid later set on ire 

his getaway car, abandoning 

it south of the 

city of Lille, and got into 

a second vehicle which 

police were attempting 

to track. 

Dobremetz said Faid 

had received a visit from 

his wife earlier on Saturday 

morning, who is believed 

to have given him 

the explosives hidden in 

small tissues. 

"It happened very 

quickly, it was clearly 

very well organised, we 

are still busy putting the 

facts together," a local administrative 

oficial said. 

EUROPE 

People take part in the Tweed Run cycle ride in London yesterday. — Reuters 

5

6 

REGION 

Young Palestinians hold portraits of Samer Issawi, a Palestinian prisoner who is on a long-term hunger strike, 

during a rally to ask for his release yesterday in the West Bank village of Abu Dis. — AFP 

Ahmadinejad to visit uranium-rich Niger 

TEHRAN — Iranian President 

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will leave 

today for a visit to Benin, Ghana and 

Niger, the world's fourth-largest 

uranium producer, the Fars news 

agency reported. 

He will meet the presidents of the 

three countries and sign agreements 

to develop economic and political 

relations, Fars said without providing 

details. 

Ahmadinejad is to arrive in Benin 

today afternoon on an oficial visit in 

his capacity as chairman of the Non- 

Girls hold portraits of the president of the National Council of Resistance 

of Iran (NCRI) and Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK) leader Maryam Rajavi and 

Massoud Rajavi during a demonstration of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran 

yesterday at Bastille square in Paris. — AFP 

Aligned Movement of countries, the 

country's foreign minister, Nassirou 

Arifari Bako, said. 

"Education, agriculture and, 

above all, energy" will be on the 

agenda, the minister said. 

The Iranian President then heads 

to Niger tomorrow for a two-day visit, 

the government in Niamey said. 

"He will lead a large delegation 

and both our nations will discuss 

co-operation and means of 

strengthening it," Iran's Ambassador 

told reporters after a meeting 

with Niger's President Mahamadou 

Issoufou. 

Mohammad Nikkhah said the visit 

would be a turning point in bilateral 

ties and would yield "excellent 

opportunities that will beneit both 

peoples". 

He did not elaborate, but Niger is 

one of the world's top producers of 

uranium, which Iran has long been 

seeking to acquire for its controversial 

nuclear programme. 

Niamey has recently criticised its 

historical agreement with France, 

which gets most of its uranium from 

the former colony, and has demanded 

a fairer share of the proits generated 

by uranium ore mining. 

Niger's foreign minister visited 

Tehran in February. It was not immediately 

clear when Ahmadinejad 

would go to Ghana. Ahmadinejad 

has previously visited 11 African 

countries on four trips. 

Most of these have been to seek 

support for Iran at the United Nations, 

which has imposed four 

rounds of sanctions on Tehran over 

its nuclear programme, speciically 

its refusal to stop enriching uranium. 

— AFP 


Palestinian plea for sick 

hunger-striker rejected 

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories, 

— Israel has rejected appeals to release 

to the West Bank a Palestinian 

prisoner on a life-threatening longterm 

hunger strike, Palestinian prisoner 

affairs minister Issa Qaraqea 

said on yesterday. 

Qaraqea said Israeli oficials told 

him that Samer Issawi, who has intermittently 

refused food for more than 

eight months, "is in critical condition 

and might die at any moment." 

Issawi, 33, was irst arrested in 

2002 and sentenced to 26 years for 

activity in the leftist Democratic Front 

for the Liberation of Palestine. 

He was released under a prisoner 

swap in October 2011, but rearrested 

in July for violating the terms of the 

agreement by travelling to the Israelioccupied 

West Bank from annexed 

Arab east Jerusalem. 

An Israeli oficial said on Friday 

that Issawi had gone to the West 

Bank to bring trouble." 

Israel has ordered that he serve 

the remainder of his original sentence. 

Issawi's health has deteriorated 

because of his prolonged fast, and he 

is being held in an Israeli hospital. 

The Israeli oficial said he could "immediately 

be released to Gaza." 

Qaraqea said the Palestinians had 

requested that he be released temporarily 

to the West Bank. 

"We proposed that they release 

him to Ramallah for a while and they 

refused," he said. 

"We agreed to send him to Europe 

for a few months to receive medical 

treatment and then come back again 

but they refused." 

Around 250 of Issawi's supporters 

rallied peacefully yesterday in Abu 

Dis, a Palestinian neighbourhood on 

the outskirts of Israeli-annexed east 

Jerusalem, carrying his picture and 

calling for his release. 

A group of Israeli intellectuals, 

including writers Amos Oz and A B 

Yehoshua, wrote to Issawi urging him 

to call off his hunger strike, Israeli 

army radio and news website Ynet 

reported. 

"Your act of suicide will add another 

element of tragedy and despair to 

the conlict between the two nations," 

Ynet quoted the message as saying. 

"Do not add despair to the despair 

that already exists," it said. "Give yourself 

hope and in this way, strengthen 

the hope amongst us all." 

An Israeli oficial said on Friday 

that Israel had told the European Union 

and the United Nations that it was 

willing to free Issawi and deport him 

overseas but his lawyer said his client 

strongly rejected the proposal. 

An EU spokesman said no oficial 

proposal had been received. 

Issawi is the last of four Palestinian 

prisoners who were on extended 

hunger strikes in Israeli prisons, after 

two ended their fast in February 

and a third was exiled from the West 

Bank last month to the Gaza Strip for 

10 years. — AFP 

12 dead, many hurt in Syria air raids 

BEIRUT — At least 12 people were 

killed and dozens more wounded 

yesterday in Syrian air raids on a 

town in the northwestern province 

of Idlib, the Syrian Observatory for 

Human Rights reported. 

"At least 12 citizens, including four 

members of one family — among 

them women and children — were 

killed, and dozens were injured in 

air raids on an industrial zone in the 

town of Saraqeb," the monitoring 

group said. 

Citing reports from activists in the 

area, the Observatory said a barrage 

of cluster munitions was ired at the 

area by regime forces after the air 

raids. 

Footage ilmed by local activists 

showed thick columns of smoke rising 

from the scene of the air strikes, 

as panicked residents tried to retrieve 

the dead and wounded. 

Others tried to put out ires using 

water hoses and buckets as a man 

appealed on camera: "There is no 

water, there is no electricity." 

Elsewhere in the province, the Observatory 

said at least ighters were 

killed in shelling and heavy ighting 

near the village of Babolin, which lies 

near the Damascus-Aleppo road and 

regime forces have been trying to 

capture. 

At least 105 people were killed 

throughout Syria on Friday, according 

to the Britain-based Observatory, 

including 29 civilians, 50 ighters and 

26 government forces. 

Italian journalists freed: Meanwhile 

reports from Rome said four 

Italian journalists who had been 

held hostage in Syria for more than 

Iraqi forces cast ballots ahead 

of provincial elections 

BAGHDAD — Iraqi soldiers and policemen 

cast their ballots for provincial 

elections yesterday, a week ahead 

of the main vote that comes amid an 

uptick in violence and a long-running 

political crisis. 

The credibility of the elections, the 

irst since March 2010 parliamentary 

polls, has been drawn into question 

following deadly attacks on candidates 

and a government decision to 

partly postpone voting that means 

only 12 of Iraq's 18 provinces will 

take part. 

At least a dozen election hopefuls 

have been killed while others have 

been wounded or kidnapped in the 

run-up to the polls. Although security 

has markedly improved since the 

height of Iraq's confessional conlict, 

March was still the deadliest month 

since August, according to igures. 

More than 8,000 candidates are 

standing in the elections, with 378 

seats on provincial councils up for 

grabs. An estimated 16.2 million Iraqis 

are eligible to vote, among them 

about 650,000 members of the security 

forces. "We have done our duty, 

and now we hope that they (candidates) 

will do their duty also," said 

federal police Colonel Abbas Kadhim, 

who cast his ballot in west Baghdad. 

"We wish that they will fulil the 

Smoke rises from Sheikh Saeed on the Airport Road near Aleppo city. 

a week have been freed, Prime Minister 

Mario Monti said in a statement 

yesterday. 

The four — three freelancers and 

a reporter working for the Italian 

public broadcaster RAI — had been 

abducted early this month while out 

ilming in northern Syria. 

Monti’s statement did not provide 

any details of how they were released, 

only thanking those involved 

for professionalism that “has enabled 

a positive outcome of this affair, 

which was made all the more complicated 

by the extreme danger of the 

situation.” 

The journalists were currently in 

An Iraqi policeman walks towards a ballot box to cast his vote. — AFP 

hopes of the Iraqi people." 

Election centres where voting was 

completed closed at 5:00 pm (1400 

GMT), although those where security 

forces were still waiting to vote could 

remain open later, an oficial from 

Iraq's Independent High Electoral 

Commission (IHEC) said. 

Voters persistently complain about 

poor basic services such as electricity 

Turkey, from where they were expected 

to leave for home shortly, a 

foreign ministry oficial said. 

“They are in Turkey right now,” a 

Turkish foreign ministry oficial said 

on condition of anonymity. “We are in 

touch with the Italian authorities, we 

will make sure they can return home 

as soon as possible.” 

In February, an Italian citizen and 

two Russians kidnapped on December 

12 in the west of Syria were freed 

as part of an exchange for militants. 

Abductions for religious, political 

or purely inancial reasons are becoming 

increasingly frequent in wartorn 

Syria. — AFP 

and sewerage, rampant corruption 

and high unemployment. 

The latest elections come with 

the country mired in a political crisis 

that has pitted Prime Minister Nuri al 

Maliki against several of his erstwhile 

national unity cabinet partners, and 

amid more than three months of antigovernment 

protests by the country's 

minority. — AFP


A Lion Air Boeing 737 is seen in water after skidding off the runaway during landing yesterday. — AFP 

Plane misses runway, lands in sea 

DENPASAR — An Indonesian plane 

carrying more than 100 passengers 

broke in two after missing the runway 

at Bali airport yesterday and 

landed in the sea, leaving dozens injured 

but no fatalities. 

The new Boeing 737-800 was operated 

by budget airline Lion Air, a 

rapidly expanding carrier which recently 

sealed blockbuster orders for 

hundreds of new planes but which is 

banned from US and European airspace 

over safety concerns. 

The domestic light ended with 

passengers screaming in terror as the 

aircraft hit the water after missing 

the runway at the popular resort island's 

Denpasar airport, despite ine 

weather. 

The plane, which was delivered to 

Lion Air just last month, came to rest 

partially submerged not far from the 

end of the runway, with inlatable 

slides deployed from the front exits 

and a gaping crack in the fuselage to- 

TOKYO — A strong 6.3-magnitude 

earthquake hit western Japan yesterday 

injuring at least 24 people 

and destroying some houses, oficials 

and reports said. 

Japan's meteorological agency, 

which reported the quake was 

measured at magnitude 6.0, revised 

the seismic reading to magnitude 

6.3. There was no risk of a 

wards the rear. 

Passengers in life jackets could be 

seen in the water as police in rubber 

dinghies rowed out from the shore. 

"The plane plunged into the sea at 

high speed," said passenger Ignatius 

Juan Sinduk, 45, from his hospital 

bed in Denpasar where he was being 

treated for breathing dificulties after 

his chest was injured in the crash. 

"Everybody screamed and water 

suddenly surged into the plane. Passengers 

panicked and scrambled for 

life jackets. Some passengers fell, 

some ran into others, it was chaos. 

"I managed to grab one (a lifejacket) 

and slowly swam out of the plane 

and to the shore." 

An airport spokeswoman said 

there were 45 passengers who needed 

hospital treatment. A hospital 

doctor said one female passenger 

had suffered a life-threatening brain 

haemorrhage. 

Worried relatives gathered at the 

tsunami, it said. 

The quake struck at 5:33 am 

near Awaji island in the Seto Inland 

Sea southwest of the city of Kobe, 

the agency said, also revising the 

depth of the focus at 15 kilometres. 

The US Geological Survey also 

measured the tremor at 6.0 but 

at an even shallower depth of ive 

kilometres. 

head ofice of Lion Air in Jakarta. 

They included Masriyah, who like 

many Indonesians goes by one name 

and whose 19-year-old daughter was 

a stewardess on the plane. 

"I called her hundreds of times but 

she didn't answer her phone. I need 

to know whether she is okay," she 

said, with tears running down her 

cheeks. 

Bali is a hugely popular holiday 

destination, welcoming millions of 

foreign tourists from around the 

world every year. 

Three foreigners were on board 

the Lion Air light — a Frenchman, a 

Singaporean woman and a Singaporean 

man, according to the airport's 

head of communications. 

Transport ministry oficial Herry 

Bhakti initially said the plane overshot 

the runway, but later clariied his 

comments to say it landed straight in 

the water. Oficials said they were still 

determining exactly why it ditched. 

6.3-magnitude quake hits western Japan 

It was the biggest earthquake to 

hit western Hyogo prefecture since 

1995, when a 7.2-magnitude quake 

destroyed its port city of Kobe and 

killed more than 6,000 people. 

But the damage was limited, 

the National Police Agency said, 

although at least 24 people were 

injured. 

— AFP 

Manila offers 

bases to US 

MANILA — The US would 

be allowed to station 

forces at military bases in 

the Philippines if it went 

to war with North Korea, 

Foreign Secretary Albert 

del Rosario said yesterday 

citing a treaty between 

the allies. 

"Our mutual defence 

treaty calls for joint action 

if either the Philippines 

or the US is attacked," del 

Rosario said. 

"It would then be logical 

to assume that in the 

event of an attack on the 

Philippines or on our 

treaty ally, the US would 

be allowed to use our 

bases," he added. 

Del Rosario was responding 

to a question 

about whether the archipelago, 

a former US 

colony, would allow the 

stationing of American 

troops on its soil in case 

war broke out between 

the US and North Korea. 

The Korean peninsula 

has been engulfed by escalating 

military tensions 

and dire threats of nuclear 

war since North Korea 

conducted a rocket test 

last December and a nuclear 

test in February. 

On Friday Philippine 

Defence Secretary Voltaire 

Gazmin said the government 

was prepared 

to undertake "extreme 

measures" including allowing 

US bases in the 

country, in the event of an 

"extreme emergency" on 

the Korean peninsula. 

— AFP 

First human 

H7N9 case 

in Beijing 

BEIJING — A seven-yearold 

girl is Beijing's irst human 

case of H7N9 bird lu, 

local authorities said yesterday 

as China's outbreak 

of the disease spread to 

the capital. 

The girl, whose parents 

are poultry traders, was in 

a stable condition in hospital, 

the Beijing health 

bureau said. 

Her mother and father 

had been quarantined 

for observation but had 

shown no symptoms so 

far, it added. 

She developed a fever, 

sore throat and headache 

on Thursday and her parents 

took her to hospital. 

Samples from her tested 

positive for H7N9 the 

following day, and the national 

disease control centre 

conirmed the results 

yesterday. 

Chinese oficials announced 

nearly two 

weeks ago that they had 

found the H7N9 strain in 

humans for the irst time, 

and the number of con- 

irmed infections rose to 

49 yesterday, 11 of whom 

have died. 

Until the girl's illness, all 

previous cases had been 

conined to eastern China, 

hundreds of kilometres 

from the capital. 

Experts fear the prospect 

of such viruses mutating 

into a form easily 

transmissible between humans, 

which would have 

the potential to trigger a 

pandemic. 

But the World Health 

Organisation (WHO) said 

this week that there was as 

yet no evidence of humanto-human 

transmission. 

ASIA 

7 

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8 

The intimidating cadre raj of the 

Left ensured that resentment 

continued to simmer underground, 

leading to an upsurge of popular 

anger, writes Amulya Ganguli 

Again in Bengal 

OLD-TIMERS are likely to see the current prolonged spell of violence in 

West Bengal as a throwback to the 1960s and 1970s when the state was 

in the throes of a similar upheaval. 

The protagonists, too, are mostly the same. In the earlier period, the communists, 

including the Naxalites (Maoists), fought pitched battles in the urban 

lanes and by-lanes and in the countryside with home-made bombs and pipeguns 

against their "class enemies", represented mainly by the Congress. 

Today, it is again the communists who are skirmishing with the Trinamool 

Congress, comprising former Congressmen who broke away from the mother 

party in 1997. If it was relatively quiet during the Left Front's rule between 

1977 and 2011, the reason was the political dominance of the communists and 

the emasculation of the Congress. But the peace was only on the surface. 

The intimidating cadre raj of the Left ensured that resentment continued 

to simmer underground, leading to an upsurge of popular anger which swept 

the comrades out of power in the 2011 elections. The beneiciaries were the 

Trinamool Congress and the Congress, which were allies at the time. 

Since then, however, the state has known no peace. If Chief Minister Mamata 

Banerjee had the visionary outlook of a statesman and not continued to be a 

rabble-rouser as before, West Bengal might have settled down to experience a 

period of political stability and economic progress. 

The overwhelming public support which she received would have enabled 

her to lead the state away from the path of confrontation between rival parties 

which has plagued its politics for so long. 

Initially, it did seem that she was on the right track because she said that 

her victory was for badal (change) and not badla (revenge). But the poriborton 

(transformation) which she promised turned out to be for the worse. First, 

her instincts of a street ighter, which served her so well in her battles with the 

communists, made her take on even her allies, leading to the rupture with the 

Congress in the state and at the centre. 

Perhaps aware of her inability to fulil her promises, she then began to 

regard every incident which relected poorly on the administration as a conspiracy 

against her. Hence her description of a case of rape in Park Street as 

"sajano ghatona" (concocted incident). Not only that, the summary transfer of 

a well-regarded police oficer, Damayanti Sen, who was diligently pursuing the 

case, showed that she had taken a leaf out of the book of the Left Front, which 

routinely used the police for partisan purposes. 

This wasn't the only incident of bending the police to her will. When the 

commissioner of Kolkata police, R K Pachnanda, went after the Trinamool "activists" 

following an incident of violence during which a police oficer was shot 

dead, he was transferred. 

The unambiguous message to the law-enforcing agencies was to let the 

Trinamool cadres have their way. This perhaps explains why the policemen 

present near Presidency University in Kolkata said that they had no orders to 

intervene when hooligans carrying the Trinamool lag vandalised the elite institution 

last Wednesday. The provocation for the goons was the heckling of 

the chief minister near the Planning Commission building in New Delhi on the 

previous day by supporters of the Students Federation of India (SFI), which is 

associated with the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM). 

The SFI followers had gathered near the building to protest against the 

death in police custody in Kolkata of a young member of the organisation. 

Tempers had been aggravated by the unfortunate description of the tragic incident 

as a "petty" matter by Mamata. 

Some in the Trinamool Congress, however, felt that the demonstrators intended 

to kill her. This was a throwback to an infamous incident in 1991 when 

Mamata was severely injured in an attack by CPI-M rowdies in the heart of 

Kolkata. Since then, she has harboured the suspicion that the Marxists were 

planning to kill her — a fear which she expressed in an interview. 

JAPANESE salarymen interrupted 

their commutes to buy Haruki 

Murakami's new novel, as papers 

and broadcasters raced to give the 

irst review of one of the most eagerly 

anticipated books of the year. 

Stores opened early in Tokyo, 

boasting special stands stacked high 

with the hardback books, as businessmen, 

housewives and students 

rushed to get a copy. 

But the new novel, Shikisai wo 

Motanai Tazaki Tsukuru to Kare no 

Junrei no Toshi (Colorless Tsukuru 

Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage), 

was unveiled irst to a dedicated 

band of followers at midnight. 

Readers locked to Tokyo's 

Daikanyama T-Site bookstore, which 

lung open its doors at exactly 12 am, 

bringing Murakami into that select 

band of authors — including Harry 

Potter writer JK Rowling — who can 

command late night loyalty. 

Sanseido bookstore temporarily 

became "Murakami Haruki-do 

(store)", installing a new name board 

to mark the release of the eagerly 

awaited novel. 

Fans were told virtually nothing 

about the book ahead of the release, 

adding to the mystique of an author 

who delights in setting riddles for 

ANALYSIS 

characters and readers alike. 

A skim reading of the work reveals 

it is the story of a young man 

struggling with an ordeal in his past, 

who uses the support offered by a 

romance to get back on his feet. The 

mass-circulation Yomiuri Shimbun 

managed a short article on the 370page 

book in its morning editions. 

Breakfast television programmes 

Farewell in Cold War zone 

THE hidden human face 

of North Korea's decision 

to shutter an industrial 

park it ran with Seoul is its 

53,000-strong workforce. At the 

Kaesong industrial zone, North 

Korean workers earned regular 

wages and formed bonds with 

their southern compatriots, even 

lirting once in a while. 

North Korea's most skilled labourers 

have kept South Korean 

factories at the park humming for 

nearly a decade, at the same time 

putting food on the tables of an 

estimated 200,000 people in one 

of the world's poorest countries. 

Kaesong was also the only 

place where people from the two 

Koreas mixed following the closure 

of a joint mountain resort 

in 2008 during an earlier bout of 

tension on the Korean peninsula. 

As ties between the two 

Koreas worsened in the wake of 

Pyongyang's February 12 nuclear 

test, some North Korean workers 

at Kaesong spoke about their 

fears for the future. 

"We've talked with each other 

a bit," said Shin Dong-chul, a 

55-year-old South Korean truck 

driver who last left Kaesong on 

March 30. "Although we didn't 

say a lot, they were also worried 

... about their work." 

Pyongyang suspended activity 

at Kaesong last Monday after barring 

access last week, all but closing 

down the last symbol of Korean 

co-operation. North Korea 

showed journalists who had been at 

their desks all night reading. 

"It's gripping," said one NHK 

reporter, adding he was mid-way 

through. The Asahi Shimbun posted 

what it called a "super-quick" review 

on its website at 7:46 am. 

"This is a story about a man who 

tries to get back into his life again," 

the review said. "You see the strength 

said no decision had been made 

on whether it would reopen the 

park, which lies on the outskirts 

of the city of Kaesong, just inside 

the country's heavily fortiied 

border with the South. 

South Korean irms paid $130 

a month for each worker to a 

North Korean state agency which 

then redistributed part of the 

cash in local currency and vouchers 

accepted at state-run stores. 

A single North Korean worker 

at Kaesong was responsible for 

the livelihoods of three others, a 

South Korean government oficial 

said on condition of anonymity 

due to the tensions. 

"That's 200,000 North Koreans 

that Kaesong was feeding," 

said the oficial. North Korea has 

blamed the South for the suspension 

at Kaesong, but especially 

bristled at suggestions from Seoul 

it would keep the park running 

because of the money it brings in. 

The 123 small- and mediumsized 

irms in the zone churned 

out $2 billion a year in clothing, 

shoes and other goods. 

One South Korean businessman 

whose irm has been at 

Kaesong since the park began 

shipments in 2004 said North 

Koreans were ideal workers because 

they were industrious and 

spoke Korean. "We've operated 

in third countries before, but they 

are by far the best workers, much 

better than the Chinese," said the 

executive, who asked not to be 

identiied because he was not authorised 

by the irm's owners to 

speak to the media. 

South Korean made Choco-pie 

snacks were initially handed out 

by employers as incentive bonuses, 

bringing a black market 

in Kaesong city where North Korean 

workers would trade them 

for cash. 

Over the years those perks 

have grown to include instant 

noodles, sausages and on national 

holidays, boshing-tang, a spicy 

dog meat stew, or chicken, the 

South Korean oficial said. 

Most workers would get to use 

the communal bath once a week, 

oficials said, although sometimes 

things got a little hot. 

One worker who left Kaesong 

last week recalled an incident 

where a South Korean man and 

a North Korean woman were 

seen leaving a quiet part of a factory 

together. The man was soon 

asked to leave the zone. 

"If a South Korean worker 

lirts with a North Korean worker, 

he would be immediately kicked 

out," said the South Korean. 

More normal was North Korean 

guards cadging cigarettes from 

their southern neighbours. 

When Kaesong began shipping 

goods, it was touted as a symbol 

of reconciliation under the "Sunshine 

Policy" of former South 

Korean President Kim Dae-jung, 

who went to Pyongyang in 2000 

to meet then North Korean leader 

Kim Jong-il. 

In 2005, Shinwon Corp., which 

makes mid-range clothing, even 

held a fashion show that stunned 

North Korea’s 

most skilled 

workers have 

kept South’s 

factories at a 

park humming 

for nearly a 

decade, at the 

same time 

feeding many 

North Koreans, 

says Jack Kim 

the North Korean workers who 

attended, according to those 

present. The show featured a 

young South Korean actress using 

a catwalk built on the second 

loor of the company's factory at 

the time. 

Visitors who cross the border 

travel 5 km through a barren 

landscape before reaching 

the factory park, built by a subsidiary 

of South Korea's Hyundai 

conglomerate and North Korea's 

state-run Land & Housing Corporation. 

Hyundai-built buses take 

North Koreans to the park, which 

occupies 3.3 million square meters 

on the outskirts of Kaesong 

city, once the seat of an ancient 

Korean dynasty. For centuries, 

the Kaesong region prospered 

as a commercial centre, with 

Pyongyang 160 km to the north 

and Seoul 60 km to the south and 

rich farmland to the west. 

The zone is powered by electricity 

from across the border and 

fuel trucked in from the South. 

When it opened, many companies 

were attracted by the promise 

of skilled labour at a fraction 

of the wages in South Korea. 

"We applied to be one of the 

15 companies going into Kaesong 

in 2004," an oficial at an apparel 

maker said, requesting anonymity. 

"We had some trade experience 

with North Korea in the 

1990s and knew North Korean 

workers had excellent manual 

skills, so we were looking for an 

opportunity to go in." 

Japanese race to read new Murakami novel 

Readers locked to Tokyo bookstores 

to buy Haruki Murakami’s new 

novel, bringing him into that select 

band of authors including Harry 

Potter’s J K Rowling, who can 

command late night loyalty, write 

Alan Wheatley & Daniel Alvarenga 

North Korean workers at a factory of a South Korean apparel maker in in Kaesong. — AFP 

Fans of Japanese author Haruki Murakami buy his newly published 

book at the Tsutaya book store in Tokyo yesterday. — AFP 


of a person who tries to overcome 

the feelings of loss and loneliness 

that he had amassed deep inside of 

himself," the Asahi said. 

By Friday evening, online book reviewer 

Kazunari Yonemitsu revealed 

more about the story's plot including 

the secret of "colourless Tsukuru 

Tazaki" and an astonishing development 

involving a murder. 

"I don't think I would be criticised 

if I say this is the irst mystery novel 

by Murakami," Yonemitsu wrote. 

The book's cover — featuring 

American artist Morris Louis's "Pillar 

of Fire" — was also the subject of 

debate on the micro-blog Twitter. 

Ryosuke Kawai, 26, who was one 

of the irst to get his copy at the midnight 

event said he had been caught 

off guard by its colourful stripes. 

"The title says 'colourless'. What 

does this illustration mean? I cannot 

wait to read it," he said excitedly. 

Some observers had speculated 

the title may be a deliberate echo of 

a collection of piano pieces called 

"Years of Pilgrimage" by Hungarian 

composer Franz Liszt. 

Twitter users praised the author 

for the excitement he had been able 

to engender with the book in a nation 

of people hooked to smartphones.


Obama has pressed for wealthy 

people like himself to pay a 

greater share in taxes. The 

issue was a sticking point in his 

campaign against Republican Mitt 

Romney, write Jeff Mason 

and Kevin Drawbaugh 

Setting example 

PRESIDENT Barack Obama paid an effective federal tax rate of 18.4 per 

cent in 2012 and saw income from his best-selling books drop as he ran 

for re-election, according to his tax returns released by the White House 

on Friday. Obama and his wife Michelle had adjusted gross income of $608,611 

last year, down from $789,674 in 2011, and paid $112,214 in total taxes, compared 

to $162,074 in 2011. Their total income came in at $662,076 — down 

almost 22 per cent from $844,585 the previous year. 

As president, Obama is entitled to a $400,000 annual salary. He reported 

salary income in 2011 and 2012 of $394,800, however, after deducting pretax 

amounts he paid for his health insurance premium, according to a White 

House oficial. The Obamas' outside business income fell sharply as the 

president's book sales declined. In 2012, the couple had business income of 

$258,772, down from $441,369 in 2011. 

Book sales have declined dramatically since the early days of his presidency. 

In 2009, his business income from book sales came in around $5.2 million. 

Dreams From My Father, an autobiographical look at his early life, was published 

in 1995, and The Audacity of Hope, which sketched out his policy vision, 

was published in 2006. The Obamas reported giving $150,034 to charities, 

representing roughly 25 per cent of their adjusted gross income. The largest 

gift was $103,871 to the Fisher House Foundation, an organisation that provides 

housing for military families near military hospitals. 

Michelle Obama has made supporting the military one of her top public 

causes as irst lady. The couple also gave $1,000 to the Palm Beach County Law 

Enforcement Foundation. One of its police oficers was killed in September 

2012 while working in the presidential motorcade. 

Vice-President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, reported adjusted gross income 

of $385,072 and paid $87,851 in total federal taxes last year. Their charitable 

contributions amounted to $7,190, including some $2,000 in donated clothing 

and other items. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, which tracks 

the non-proit world, Americans on average give about 4.7 per cent of their income 

to charity. Those who make more than $200,000 annually give about 4.2 

per cent of their income away. 

Obama has pressed for wealthy people like himself to pay a greater share 

in taxes. The issue was a sticking point in his campaign against Republican 

Mitt Romney, a wealthy former private equity executive who had an effective 

tax rate of 14.1 per cent in 2011. "Under the president's own tax proposals, 

including limitations on the value of tax preferences for high-income households, 

he would pay more in taxes while ensuring we cut taxes for the middle 

class and those trying to get in it," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in 

a statement. The president's effective tax rate in 2011 was 20.5 per cent. 

Effective tax rates vary wildly from one taxpayer to another because of the 

many tax breaks available, but counting all US taxpayers, the average income 

tax rate in 2010 was 11.8 per cent, according to the Tax Foundation, a business-oriented 

tax research group in Washington. 

In 2011, about 46 per cent of Americans paid no federal income tax, most of 

them because they were poor or elderly, according to the Tax Policy Centre, a 

centrist tax think tank. Almost two-thirds of those who paid no federal income 

tax did pay federal employment taxes that support the Social Security pension 

system and the Medicare health programme, the centre said. 

The Obamas were subject to the alternative minimum tax (AMT) — a parallel 

tax system set up to ensure the afluent do not avoid tax altogether. They 

paid about $21,220 extra in tax because the president was subject to the AMT 

in 2012, up from about $12,500 in 2011. 

The 2014 White House budget released this week proposed a new type of 

minimum tax for the wealthy known as the Buffett Rule, named for billionaire 

Warren Buffett, who has complained that his tax rate is lower than that paid 

by his secretary. 

THE left-wing regional government 

of Andalucia in southwestern 

Spain will temporarily 

block evictions from homes 

belonging to banks or real estate 

irms to help families in need. The 

measure, which came into force in 

Spain's most populous region on 

Friday just three days after it was 

approved by decree, is opposed by 

the central government, which sees 

it as an attack on private property 

rights. 

But the government of Andalucia, 

run by the Socialist Party and 

the far-left United Left, argues it is 

needed to protect the most vulnerable 

amid a sharp rise in evictions 

in a region. "We are defending the 

right to life in an emergency situation," 

a spokeswoman for the regional 

government said. 

The decree allows the regional 

government to expropriate properties 

from which people are about 

to be evicted for up to three years 

to allow them to continue to live 

there. The government will only act 

in cases where families meet certain 

conditions, such as having a net 

monthly income of less than 1,600 

euros ($2,000). 

Families that beneit from the 

measure will have to pay a modest 

rent to the regional government, 

which will compensate property 

owners. "The beneiciary will be 

obligated to pay 25 per cent of the 

household's revenues" in rent, said 

Andalucia's regional housing minister, 

Elena Cortes. 

The measure also imposes ines 

between 1,000 to 9,000 euros on 

banks and real estate irms that 

Delay in doing it right 

HOPES of a US-sponsored 

push to resume stalled 

Middle East peace talks 

have been scaled back following 

US Secretary of State John Kerry's 

latest visit, to securing economic 

goals for the West Bank. There 

had been rumours of the resignation 

of Palestinian Prime Minister 

Salam Fayyad that were seen as 

a hinerance to early revival of negotiations 

with Israel. Yesterday, 

Palestinian President Mahmoud 

Abbas accepted the resignation 

of Fayyad, the oficial Palestinian 

news agency announced. 

US President Barack Obama 

said on Thursday he believed 

there was a "window of opportunity" 

to kick-start peace talks, 

after Kerry returned from a threeday 

trip to the region. But before 

Kerry's departure on Tuesday, he 

made it clear that talks must be 

conducted properly rather than 

rushed. "Each of us agreed to do 

some homework," he said after 

meetings with Israeli Prime Minister 

Benjamin Netanyahu. But "doing 

it right is more important than 

doing it quickly". 

Direct Israeli-Palestinian talks 

have been on hold for almost three 

years after grinding to a halt shortly 

after they restarted in September 

2010, over the thorny issue 

of settlement construction. So far, 

according to Abdel Majid Swilam, 

politics professor at Al Quds University 

in east Jerusalem, "the Israelis 

haven't responded at all as 

yet" to Palestinian overtures. 

Palestinian president Mahmud 

hold on to empty homes that are it 

to live in a bid to increase the pool 

of affordable housing. 

There are at least 700,000 empty 

homes in Andalucia, according to 

the regional government. 

Deputy Prime Minister Soraya 

Sanz de Santamaria said the justice 

ministry would analyse the decree 

to see if it is constitutional. 

Abbas has offered to temporarily 

refrain from pursuing legal action 

against Israel through the UN and 

the International Criminal Court, 

particularly on issues such as settlement 

building. 

Obama had been counting 

on "goodwill" gestures from 

Netanyahu in return for bringing 

the Palestinians back to the negotiating 

table, Israeli media said, but 

received none. 

"With regard to Palestinian demands 

for gestures — that isn't going 

to happen unless it's (already) 

around the negotiation table", 

an Israeli oficial told the news 

website Ynet on Wednesday. 

Abbas demands that Israel stop 

settlement building in Palestinian 

territories and recognise the 1967 

borders that existed before that 

year's Six-Day War ahead of any 

resumption of talks. 

Additionally, other Palestinian 

demands such as releasing prisoners 

and transferring weapons 

to the Palestinian Authority's security 

services are "off the table", 

an editorial in the Israeli daily 

Haaretz said on Thursday. Kerry 

was only able to announce before 

he left Israel that there would be 

"efforts" towards strengthening 

the Palestinian economy. 

"We are going to engage in new 

efforts, very speciic efforts, to promote 

economic development and 

remove... bottlenecks and barriers 

that exist with respect to commerce 

in the West Bank," he said. 

The United States quietly unblocked 

$500 million in aid to the 

Palestinian Authority (PA), which 

governs the West Bank, after 

"It affects the right to private 

property," she told reporters 

following a regular weekly cabinet 

meeting. 

The measure has the backing of 

the opposition Socialist Party at the 

national level, as well as of consumer 

groups. 

"It is a very positive step which 

Obama's irst visit to the region as 

president in March. 

And Israel decided last month 

to unfreeze tax revenues it collects 

on behalf of the PA, which 

it had frozen after the Palestinian 

bid for upgraded UN status in 

November, a move which angered 

both the Jewish state and Washington. 

As such, "the outcome of Kerry's 

trip was a retreat from political 

negotiations to the so-called economic 

development plan", Hanna 

Amirah, an oficial in Abbas's Fatah 

party, told local media. But even an 

economic plan could run into trouble 

on the Palestinian side. 

The issue of Fayyad’s resignation 

was high on Thursday over 

the likelihood of early peace talks. 

The prime minister is widely admired 

abroad. During a visit to the 

region last month, Obama praised 

Fayyad as a partner in peace. The 

prime minister’s resignation came 

after inance minister Nabil Qassis 

earlier decided to quit his post as 

a result of questions raised against 

his economic policies. 

A senior oficial at the US State 

Department had said he did not 

believe Fayyad was on the verge 

of resigning. "He's not tendering 

his resignation to the best of my 

knowledge," the oficial said on the 

sidelines of G8 talks in London. 

Fayyad had offered his resignation 

in a letter to Abbas. “The 

president told Dr Salam Fayyad 

he accepted his resignation, and 

asked him to conduct the work of 

the government until a new government 

is formed,” oficial news 

agency WAFA said. 

other regions should follow," said 

Ruben Sanchez, a spokesman for Seville-based 

consumer group FACUA. 

"If apartments are empty, it is 

generally because banks want to 

speculate and perpetuate a system 

which sets a price (for housing) 

that is well above the real value and 

maintain the great fraud that existed 

Palestinian 

president has 

offered to 

temporarily 

refrain from 

pursuing legal 

action against 

Israel, particularly 

on issues such 

as settlement 

building. Obama 

had been counting 

on “goodwill” 

gestures from 

Netanyahu in 

return for holding 

talks but received 

none, recounts 

Selim Saheb 

Ettaba 

Home evictions — right of resident or of private property holder? 

The measure imposes ines 

between 1,000 to 9,000 euros on 

banks and real estate irms that 

hold on to empty homes that are 

it to live in a bid to increase the 

pool of affordable housing, 

reports Anna Cuenca 

Palestinian celebrations over release of prisoner from Israeli jail. — AFP 

ANALYSIS 

An anti-eviction activist holds up stickers during a protest in Madrid 

9 

in Spain during the property boom," 

he added. 

Spanish courts have executed 

252,826 eviction orders — including 

a record 75,605 last year — 

since 2008, when a decade-long 

property bubble burst and Spain 

sank into recession, throwing millions 

out of work. 

A series of suicides by people 

about to be evicted and regular television 

images of weeping families 

who have just been thrown from 

their homes has pushed the issue to 

the top of the political agenda. 

In recent weeks a grass-roots 

group, the Platform for Mortgage 

Victims, has started staging small 

protests outside of the homes or of- 

ices of lawmakers from the ruling 

Popular Party to push for changes 

to Spain's tough mortgage laws. 

They want the law to be changed 

to allow mortgage debts to be eliminated 

once a home is repossessed, a 

proposal which the government opposes. 

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy 

has called the protests outside of 

lawmakers' homes "harassment" 

and earlier this week his government 

announced a ban on gatherings 

within three blocks of any politician's 

home.

10 

INDIA 

Flowers are offered as a tribute on the 94th anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the 

Amritsar massacre, when British Indian Army soldiers opened ire on an unarmed gathering. — AFP 


BJP demands SIT probe in 

coal blocks allocation 

NEW DELHI Calling the UPA government 

a "rogue", the BJP yesterday 

accused it of pressuring the Central 

Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to 

"save" Prime Minister Manmohan 

Singh and demanded a Special Investigation 

Team (SIT) probe into the alleged 

irregularities in the allocation 

of coal blocks. 

The Congress said the investigative 

agency has been "working independently". 

Reacting to a report in The Indian 

Express that claimed that the United 

Progressive Alliance (UPA) government 

"vetted" the coal blocks allocations 

probe status report before it 

was submitted to the Supreme Court, 

BJP leader Sushma Swaraj (pictured) 

said this was a "very serious matter". 

"This is evidence of the government's 

pressure on the CBI to save 

the prime minister," Sushma Swaraj 

said on Twitter. 

The news report said that the CBI 

probe report, submitted last month, 

had been vetted by Law Minister 

Ashwani Kumar and oficials of the 

Prime Minister's Ofice (PMO). 

It further said that senior CBI oficials, 

including its director Ranjit Sinha, 

were summoned by Kumar days 

before the status report was iled. 

Goa corporates chant Modi mantra 

PANAJI Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi 

and the industrial might of the state stole the show 

yesterday at a corporate brainstorming session 

here to throw up suggestions for Goa's proposed 

investment policy. 

Nearly every speaker at the 'Industrial growth 

through new Investment Policy-2013' extolled the 

virtues of Modi and how he attracted and cleared 

the road for industrial investment in his state. 

"This was the irst time that the allotment of 

plots by the IDC (Industrial Development Corporation) 

was carried out in a fair and transparent 

manner. It was based on the Gujarat model," said 

Anil Kher, former chairman of the Goa unit of the 

Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), one of the 

early champions of Modi at the meeting. 

Allotment of plots by the IDC has been wrought 

with controversy over decades in Goa, with the government-run 

corporation being accused of opaque 

functioning and industrial scale corruption. 

According to Kher, an educationist, the transparency 

advocated by the Modi model did the trick 

this year, something even the president of the Goa 

Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Manguirish 

Pai Raikar acknowledged. 

"This transparency in plot allotment is what 

we learnt from Gujarat government. This was perhaps 

the irst time that the allottee was allowed 

to choose a plot, instead of being allotted one. The 

latter method kept doors open for partisanship," 

Raikar said at the seminar, where some of the top 

Goan industrialists and corporate honchos were 

present. The objective of the meeting was to draw 

up a charter of ideas and suggestions for the Goa 

government, which is in the process of formulating 

an investment policy, before making a push for investments 

into the state. 

Arun Naik, managing director of the Goa-based 

Merit Parmaceuticals and former head of the 

Goa Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association 

(GPMA), said that while there was a huge chunk 

of people who were critical of Brand Modi, it was 

imperative to see how he had actually managed to 

attract investment worth billions to the western 

state. 

He recounted an instance of a Goan businessman, 

who had set up an industrial unit in Gujarat, 

who was actually received at the airport by the 

Gujarat chief minister himself. 

"He makes people feel wanted. That is why he 

has attracted so much investment there," Naik said. 

However, former Congressman and now an independent 

legislator Vijai Sardessai, said that the 

story of Gujarat's success lies in the Godhra riots. 

"We do not want a replication of Modi's model 

here because his success story began with Godhra. 

We do not want that kind of development here," 

Sardessai said, who alleged that Goa Chief Minister 

Manohar Parrikar was only keen on following Gujarat's 

mode of development. 

Prisoner’s death: No autopsy report yet 

NEW DELHI India is still awaiting 

the post-mortem report of an Indian 

prisoner who died in a Pakistani jail 

allegedly after being tortured. 

India has been "repeatedly requesting 

the Pakistani authorities 

for a post-mortem report" of Chamel 

Singh who died in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat 

Jail on January 15, external affairs 

ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin 

told reporters here. 

Responding to a question, he said 

India has been following the case of 

the "unfortunate death" of the Indian 

prisoner for the past over two 

months. 

"As far as we know, the post-mortem 

report has not been provided to 

us as yet. Once we receive the report, 

we will study it and decide on the further 

course of action. 

"But the irst order of business is 

to get the post-mortem report as early 

as possible, and we have requested 

the Pakistani foreign ministry on several 

occasions to speed up the process," 

he added. 

Chamel Singh, said to be in his 60s, 

was serving a ive-year term for espionage 

and died at Pakistan's Jinnah 

Hospital on January 15. During an 

autopsy done on March 13 — nearly 

two months after his death — marks 

of injury had reportedly been found 

on the body. 

Soon after Chamel Singh's death, 

reports surfaced that he had been 

beaten up by prison staff for washing 

clothes in the prison compound. 

In view of the media reports, an inquiry 

was conducted after which the 

post-mortem was conducted, and the 

body was handed over to the Indian 

high commission soon after. 

The Indian high commission had 

requested the foreign ofice of Pakistan 

to provide a copy of the autopsy 

report. Pakistani authorities have denied 

that Chamel Singh died after being 

assaulted by jail staff. 

A jail oficial had said that Singh, 

a native of Jammu and Kashmir, had 

suffered a stroke while working in the 

compound of Barrack No 4 with other 

Indian inmates and was rushed to the 

nearby Jinnah Hospital. However, he 

died on way to hospital. — IANS 

Issues with JD-U will be sorted out: Rajnath 

NEW DELHI With the 

Janata Dal-United (JD-U) 

national meeting expected 

to dwell on the issue of 

prime ministerial candidate 

of the NDA, BJP president 

Rajnath Singh yesterday 

said any issues between 

the two parties would be 

sorted out. 

He was referring to reservations 

that the JD-U 

have expressed over the 

clamour within the BJP to 

project Gujarat Chief Minister 

Narendra Modi as the 

alliance's prime minister 

candidate, ahead of Lok 

Sabha elections 2014. 

"JD-U is an old ally. If 

there is any issue, it will be 

sorted out mutually," Rajnath 

Singh told reporters 

here. The national executive 

meeting of JD-U began here 

and the national convention 

will take place today. 

Sources said that there 

had been back channel 

talks between the senior 

BJP and JD-U leaders as tensions 

were simmering over 

the choice of prime ministerial 

candidate. They said 

the BJP does not want the 

JD-U to set any immediate 

deadline for the declaration 

of a prime ministerial candidate. 

Speculation was rife in 

political circles that the 

JD-U would press for an 

early decision on the prime 

ministerial candidate, given 

the party's reservations 

to projecting Modi for the 

post. 

JD-U sources asserted that 

the party was working, in alliance 

with the BJP, on a common 

national agenda, and 

would not compromise on 

the principle of secularism. 

Sources had indicated 

that the JD-U could decide 

to part ways with the BJPled 

National Democratic 

Alliance (NDA) if Modi is 

projected as prime ministerial 

candidate for the 

2014 Lok Sabha polls. 

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar 

has, on more than one occasion, 

expressed grave 

reservations over Modi's 

candidature for prime 

ministership. — IANS 

CM was unsuccessful in dealing 

with Gujarat riots: JD-U 

NEW DELHI Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra 

Modi was "unsuccessful" in dealing with the 2002 

riots in the state, the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) said. 

"As a head of the state of Gujarat, Narendra Modi 

was unsuccessful in dealing with the riots which 

occurred in 2002," JD-U spokesperson KC Tyagi 

said when asked whether the party considers Modi 

a secular person. 

On being asked whether the party would give a 

time frame to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for 

declaring its prime ministerial candidate, Tyagi 

said: "BJP is our friend and there is no business and 

pressure tactics which is adopted with an ally." 

"We will wait for the BJP to declare its PM candidate 

and we will comment then," he said. 

There has been a growing demand for Modi as 

BJP's prime ministerial candidate. 

JD-U leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish 

Kumar has several times expressed grave reservations 

over Modi's candidature for prime ministership, 

given his alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots 

in which over 1,000 people died. "We will pass our 

political resolution tomorrow," Tygai told reporters. 

While the JD-U national executive met, the national 

convention will take place today. — IANS 

Rae Bareli and 

Amethi get normal 

power again 

LUCKNOW Pushed on the backfoot 

after "strong political reactions" 

from New Delhi, the Uttar Pradesh 

government has restored 24x7 

power supply to Rae Bareli and Amethi 

- parliamentary constituencies 

of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. 

While the Uttar Pradesh Power 

Corporation Limited (UPPCL) had 

conirmed Thursday that power 

cuts had been effected in the two 

VIP districts owing to acute power 

shortage, it now says that power 

rostering in the two districts was 

"part of routine adjustments". 

"There were no speciic instructions 

for these two districts. Power 

cuts have been happening even in 

VIP areas like Kannauj, a parliamentary 

constituency represented by 

Dimple Yadav, wife of the chief minister," 

managing director of UPPCL 

AP Mishra pointed out. 

Asked why such rostering was 

not done in other VIP constituencies, 

Mishra refused to respond, saying 

only that "24x7 power supply 

has been restored to Rae Bareli and 

Amethi". 

With the onset of summer, Uttar 

Pradesh is reeling under a severe 

power crisis, with peak demand for 

electricity going up to 11,500 mega 

watt, while supply from different 

sources in around 8,000 mega watt. 

The state faces a shortfall of over 

3,000 MW. 

Power oficials say they are 

trying their best to sort out the 

mess, but admit that in coming days, 

the power scenario is likely to be 

grim. — IANS 

During the meeting with Kumar, 

several amendments in the status report 

were suggested and some also 

incorporated by the CBI, the newspaper 

report said. 

BJP leader Arun Jaitley told reporters 

that the newspaper report 

showed that the government would 

not allow the CBI to carry out its 

work with honesty. 

He termed the UPA government a 

"rogue". 

"The CBI's image of an independent 

agency is now completely demolished 

and dismantled. The CBI cannot 

go to the root of the matter and ind 

the truth, and even if some honest of- 

icer tries to ind the truth, the UPA is 

a rogue government which will not 

allow it to act independently," Jaitley 

said. 

"Therefore the system will have 

to seriously consider whether a SIT 

must take over the administration 

and investigation of coal scam," he 

said. 

Jaitley said the search for truth has 

now been interfered with, and this 

was being done at the level of minister 

and PMO oficials, raising serious 

questions. 

The BJP leader said that interference 

in the CBI's work has been prohibited 

by an apex court ruling. 

"The coal scam clearly shows that 

allocation of coal was tainted, and it 

was a case of nepotism. Power plants 

of the country are starved of coal and 

favourites of this government were 

allocated coal mines, and actual mining 

has not begun," he said. 

Jaitley said the government wants 

to dilute its own guilt and owes an explanation. 

"Persons named in the report 

should publicly speak whether this is 

true or otherwise. The original unaltered 

report of the CBI must be made 

public and also placed before the Supreme 

Court," he said. — IANS 

UPA is vulnerable, be prepared 

for elections, says Pawar 

THANE — Claiming that general 

elections were round the corner, 

union Agriculture Minister Sharad 

Pawar said yesterday the ruling 

United Progressive Alliance (UPA) 

government at the centre had become 

vulnerable after the DMK 

withdrew support. 

"The UPA has become vulnerable 

after the DMK pullout. We have to be 

prepared for the elections. I have already 

suggested to UPA chairman Sonia 

Gandhi to convene a meeting on 

this issue... She is of a similar view," 

the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) 

chief told mediapersons here. 

Referring to the prime ministerial 

candidate, Sharad Pawar said 

the UPA has only Congress, NCP and 

National Conference and that "the 

bigger party will decide on the prime 

ministerial candidate and we shall 

respect that". 

The NCP chief's statement comes 

weeks after Samajwadi Party chief 

Mulayam Singh Yadav asked his party 

members to be prepared for early 

polls. Yadav had claimed in Lucknow 

that a "conidential report" indicated 

that the polls would be held around 

November and the party should be 

ready for it. 

Referring to former Bharatiya 

Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin 

Gadkari's claims Friday that a senior 

UPA leader had sought his (Gadkari's) 

help to topple the UPA-II, Pawar 

pointed out that the NCP has only 

nine MPs and the government could 

survive if they withdrew support. 

He also pulled up his nephew and 

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister 

Ajit Pawar, terming his remarks on 

drought-hit and power deicit areas 

as "improper" but said that now that 

he has apologised, he should be forgiven. 

"As the party president, I will say 

that Ajit Pawar's statement was improper 

and unfortunate," Sharad 

Pawar said. 

"He ought to be a lot more careful 

of the choice of his words and 

language when occupying such a responsible 

public position," he added 

while giving an earful to his nephew. 

However, he said that since Ajit 

Pawar has tendered a public apology 

for his comments, the matter must 

now end. — IANS 

Sikhs participate in a 'Turban Pride Movement Day March' in Amritsar 

yesterday. The march was organised by the Akal Purakh Ki Fauj to 

celebrate 'Turban Day'. — AFP


Will strain every nerve to protect 

environment, says Natarajan 

NEW DELHI Facing the ire of industry 

and her colleagues for blocking 

crucial infrastructure projects 

citing green norms, Environment 

Minister Jayanthi Natarajan (pictured) 

yesterday said it was her mandate 

to protect forests and she would 

strain every nerve to shield them. 

"The minutes of the meeting of the 

Group of Ministers (GoM) are conidential. 

My colleagues in the government 

are entitled to their views. But 

it's my mandate to ensure that forests 

are protected and personally I 

will strain every nerve to see that inviolate 

areas are shielded," Natarajan 

told a TV channel in an interview. 

"There should be forest areas 

which should be declared inviolate 

(barred for mining) on scientiic parameters. 

I will hold more discussions 

with the GoM," the minister said. 

Industry and several ministries 

have accused the environment ministry 

of delaying green clearances to 

crucial projects. 

The government has constituted a 

cabinet committee on infrastructure 

to speed up the green clearances for 

important projects. 

Cautioning investors violating forest 

laws, Natarajan said: "If they are 

going against the law, they should be 

prepared to face the consequences. 

I am the custodian of India's forests, 

which can never be replaced. A tree 

with 60 cm girth takes 100 years to 

grow. We cannot have compensatory 

Future electoral alliances 

inally ruled out in J&K? 

SRINAGAR Despite past assertions 

by its leaders that the regional National 

Conference (NC) and the Congress 

would ight the 2014 assembly 

elections in alliance, the NC has inally 

decided to ight both the state and 

parliamentary polls on its own. 

After its recent central working 

committee (CWC) meeting, NC 

leaders have come out more vocally 

against the local Congress 

leadership, indicating that the NC has 

now revised its poll strategy for the 

future. 

Senior NC leader and legislator 

Mustafa Kamal has challenged state 

Congress president Saif-ud-Din Soz 

to prove his contention that the Congress 

would get a majority on its own 

in the assembly elections. 

"Let him prove his statement,", 

Kamal told reporters. Although 

Kamal has been known for his anti- 

Congress statements in the past, NC 

sources this time suggest he has been 

stating what appears to have been 

the consensus arrived at the CWC 

meet. 

Another senior NC leader, who 

did not want to be named, said contesting 

in alliance with the Congress 

would go against the party's stand on 

various issues. 

"We stand for the repeal of the 

armed forces special powers act 

(AFSPA). We stand for restoration of 

autonomy to the state, we stand for 

the return of Afzal Guru's body to his 

family. We have publicly stated that 

Afzal did not get a fair trial. 

"These things would not go down 

well with the voters if we were to 

ight the elections in alliance with the 

Congress", the NC leader said. 

Of all the senior NC leaders, 

the party patron and union Minister 

for Renewable Energy Farooq 

Abdullah is still believed to be in 

favour of some sort of a broad-based 

electoral understanding with the 

Congress. 

"But, given the general mood in 

the CWC, Dr Abdullah has chosen not 

to make his desire public so far. This 

could be because he also believes in 

his heart of hearts that the NC might 

stand to lose if it decides to run an 

electoral alliance with the Congress", 

sources close to the NC patron said 

here. 

Interestingly, seeing the NC backtrack 

on its desire to ight the elections 

in alliance with the Congress, 

the opposition People's Democratic 

Party (PDP) also announced it would 

not ally with the Congress. 

Addressing a media conference in 

summer capital Srinagar on Wednesday, 

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti 

said the PDP was not looking forward 

to an electoral alliance with the 

Congress even if the NC parted ways 

with the party. 

The PDP leadership has been in 

the forefront of opposing the policies 

and programmes of the ruling NC 

during the last ive years it has been 

in the opposition although its criticism 

against the Congress has always 

been muted. 

"That is perhaps because the PDP 

does not want to completely shut 

its doors on the possibility of aligning 

with the Congress after the 2014 

elections if that becomes necessary 

to keep the NC out of power", said a 

middle rung NC leader here. — IANS 

Artist Dhara Shilpi Naik, daughter of the late Jasuben Shilpi, who was 

known as the 'Bronze Woman of India', polishes a bronze statue of 

Ambedkar on the eve of his birth anniversary today. — AFP 

afforestation." 

Denying that her ministry is holding 

up infrastructure projects, she 

said: "I challenge anybody who claims 

that environment ministry is a hurdle 

to development." 

"But investors should also realise 

that nobody can destroy natural 

wealth in the impatience to push development 

without environmental 

integrity." 

Natarajan also questioned inancial 

institutions funding projects 

without green clearance. 

"India's pristine forests cannot be 

held hostage to infrastructure. The 

environment ministry cannot be presented 

with a fait accompli situation 

where thousands of crores of investments 

are made but environmental 

norms are violated," she said. 

"Why do banks and inancial institutions 

fund projects which do not 

have environmental clearance? Often, 

investors do not provide complete information 

or even the coordinates of 

the areas where projects have to be 

set up." — IANS 

Vice President on 

Tajikistan visit 

NEW DELHI Vice President 

Hamid Ansari is to pay a four-day 

oficial visit to Tajikistan from today, 

the irst by an Indian vice president 

to the Central Asian country with 

which India shares close strategic 

ties. 

Ansari will hold talks with the 

prime minister and the defence, 

trade and foreign ministers during 

his stay and visit Nurek in Khatlon 

province where the Nurek dam, 

considered the tallest in the worls, 

is situated. He will also visit the 

Tajik Technical University where 

India has set up a modern engineering 

workshop that was inaugurated 

in 2011. 

Relations between India and 

Tajikistan have traditionally been 

cordial and close in the two decades 

since its independence, said Ajay 

Bisaria, joint secretary (Eurasia Division) 

in the external affairs ministry. 

During the 2012 visit of President 

Emomalii Rahmon, India announced 

new projects in Tajikistan, 

including an IT centre of excellence 

and a pan-Central Asian e-network 

that would include tele education 

and telemedicine delivery in the region, 

medical centres and an entrepreneurship 

development institute, 

said Bisaria. 

Landlocked Tajikistan is of "immense 

geo strategic importance" to 

India, sharing a 520 km border with 

China and a porous 1,425 km border 

with Afghanistan, including the narrow 

Afghan-Wakhan corridor which 

at its narrowest point is 16 km away 

from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. 

Afghanistan would be in focus during 

talks, said Bisaria. — IANS 

INDIA 

A puppy walks past Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services personnel during a parade rehearsal in 

Ahmedabad, ahead of National Fire Service Day today. — AFP 

11 

Girl with swollen head needs ‘miracle’, say parents 

JIRANIA KHOLA — A desperate Indian father 

whose young child suffers from a condition that 

caused her head to swell up to an enormous size 

said yesterday he is praying for a "miracle" to save 

her life. 

Eighteen-month-old Roona Begum was diagnosed 

with hydrocephalus, in which cerebrospinal 

luid builds up in the brain, just weeks after 

her birth in a government-run hospital in remote 

Tripura state in northeast India. 

The potentially fatal illness has caused Roona's 

head to swell to a circumference of 91-centimetres 

(36-inches), putting pressure on her brain. 

Her father, Abdul Rahman, 18, who lives in a 

mud hut with his family in the village of Jirania 

Khola, said he prays for "a miracle" that will save 

his only child. 

"Day by day, I saw her head growing too big after 

she was born," said the illiterate labourer who 

works in a brick-making factory. 

Doctors told him to go to a specialist hospital 

in a big city such as Kolkata in eastern India to 

get medical help but Rahman, who earns Rs 150 

($2.75) a day working in the brick plant, said he 

does not have the money to take her. 

"It's very dificult to watch her in pain. I pray 

several times a day for a miracle — for something 

to make my child better," he said. 

The US government's National Institute of Neurological 

Disorders and Stroke estimates about one 

in every 500 children suffers from hydrocephalus. 

The most common treatment involves the surgical 

insertion of a shunt system to drain cerebrospinal 

luid away from the brain and towards another 

part of the body where it can be easily absorbed 

into the bloodstream. 

Cases like Roona's, where the head has doubled 

No one from mission hurt in blasts 

NEW DELHI The external affairs 

ministry yesterday clariied that no 

one from the Indian High Commission 

was injured in the crude bomb 

attacks that took place Friday near 

where the Indian envoy was attending 

a function in Khulna, Bangladesh. 

The bomb attacks took place 20 

metres away from where a car hired 

by the High Commission was parked, 

said external affairs ministry spokesperson 

Syed Akbaruddin at a media 

brieing here. 

"...yesterday (Friday) while the 

high commissioner (Pankaj Saran) 

was attending a function in Khulna, 

there were crude bomb explosions 

approximately 20 meters away from 

where his car was parked. 

"As per our information, nobody 

involved with the High Commission 

was injured, nor was the car damaged 

in any form," he said, adding that the 

car did not belong to the High Com- 

mission and was a local car hired by 

the Indian mission. 

The High Commissioner "continued 

with his engagements in Khulna 

and he is in Jessore visiting the Ramakrishna 

Mission there and he will 

ly back to Dhaka in accordance with 

his pre-scheduled programme", Akbaruddin 

added. 

Following the explosions, the 

high commissioner "received a large 

number of calls conveying concern to 

him and assuring him that all security 

will be provided to him and all High 

Commission oficials", the spokesperson 

said, adding: "So, we have no 

cause for concern there." 

The Indian High Commission is in 

touch with Bangladeshi authorities 

who have launched a probe. 

"Let us wait for the outcome of 

those investigations before jumping 

to any conclusion whether this was 

even an attack related to the High 

Fatima Khatun 25 (C), feeds her 18-month-old daughter Roona Begum. — AFP 

in size in a relatively short span of time, are extremely 

rare, according to leading Indian neurosurgeon 

Sandeep Vaishya. 

"It's dificult to assess the situation without seeing 

the patient, but a surgery, even at this late stage, 

would give her brain the best chance it has to grow 

and develop normally," Vaishya said. 

Vaishya, who is the head of neurosurgery at the 

privately run Fortis lagship hospital in Gurgaon, a 

satellite city of the national capital Delhi, said that 

Commission at all," he said. 

According to media reports, three 

people were injured when some miscreants 

hurled crude bombs in front 

of parked cars in Khulna while the 

high commissioner was addressing a 

meeting at the Chamber of Commerce 

and Industries building. 

Police suspect it could be the 

handiwork of cadres of the Jamaat-e- 

Islami, ahead of their planned general 

strike in Khulna district. 

Last month, a low-intensity 

crude bomb, later described by of- 

icials as a "irecracker", had been 

hurled on the road outside the Pan 

Paciic Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka 

where Indian President Pranab 

Mukherjee was staying during his 

March 3-5 visit. 

No one was hurt in that incident, 

which took place during a two-day 

nationwide hartal or strike called by 

the Jamaat-e-Islami. — IANS 

Minister’s remark on Jagan sparks furore 

HYDERABAD An Andhra Pradesh 

minister's remark calling for hanging 

of jailed MP YS Jaganmohan Reddy 

has sparked a furore with the latter's 

YSR Congress party yesterday staging 

protests against him across the state. 

YSR party leaders staged demonstrations 

in various parts of the state, 

burning the efigies of Finance Minister 

Anam Ramnarayan Reddy, who 

demanded Friday that Jaganmohan 

Reddy be hanged for corruption. 

Jagan, as the MP from Kadapa 

is popularly known, is currently in 

Chanchalguda jail, in a a case of illegal 

assets. The Central Bureau of 

Investigation (CBI) has charged him 

with entering into a conspiracy with 

his father and then chief minister Y.S. 

Rajasekhara Reddy to grant undue 

favours to companies and individuals 

who invested in his business. 

YSR party leaders found fault with 

Ramnarayan Reddy for attacking the 

family of late Rajasekhara Reddy, who 

made him a minister. 

Raising slogans against the ministers, 

the YSR party activists held his 

mock funeral n Visakhapatnam. 

Protests were also held against 

the inance minister in Hyderabad, 

Tirupati, Anantapur, Kadapa, Nellore, 

Guntur, Vijayawada, Karimnagar and 

other places. 

Ramnarayan Reddy had on Friday 

stated that Jagan was the most cor- 

rupt leader in the country. "If there is 

a provision in law for capital punishment 

for corruption, no one deserves 

it better than Jagan," the minister 

said. 

Accusing Jagan of looting the state, 

Ramnarayan Reddy said he committed 

lot of inancial irregularities taking 

advantage of his father's rule. 

The inance minister also alleged 

that despite being in jail, Jagan was 

trying to destabilize the Congress 

government. 

Ramnarayan Reddy's acerbic attack 

on Jagan came a few days after 

the CBI iled the ifth chargesheet, 

naming Home Minister Sabitha Indra 

Reddy as an accused. — IANS 

surgeries to treat hydrocephalus cases are "not 

particularly risky". 

Although the cost differs from case to case, he 

estimated that a complex surgery like this one 

would cost about Rs 125,000 ($2,300) and require 

a three-day hospital stay. 

Roona now is conined to her bed and unable to 

move her head but she is a playful child, quick to 

smile and giggle and is able to move her limbs, according 

to her father. — AFP

12 

AMERICAS 

Family members consol each other following a funeral service for 17-year-old Rehtaeh Parsons at St Mark's 

Anglican church in Halifax, Nova Scotia, yesterday. Parsons, a local high school student, was taken off life 

support on April 7, three days after she tried to hang herself. The teen was bullied for more than a year after 

an alleged assault which happened when she was 15, her family said. — Reuters 

Police to probe Canadian 

teen’s suicide reasons 

OTTAWA — Police announced on 

Friday they were reopening an investigation 

into a Canadian teen's suicide 

following alleged assault by four 

boys, following a public outcry over 

her subsequent suicide. 

Rehtaeh Parsons, 17, died in hospital 

on Sunday in Halifax in easternmost 

Canada after a suicide attempt 

that her mother blames on the 

November 2011 sexual assault and 

a subsequent barrage of taunts by 

schoolmates calling her a "slut." 

Parsons was said to have been 

drunk at a party when she was assaulted. 

One of the suspects later 

posted a photo of the incident online. 

The case reignited concerns over 

cyber bullying, after a similar tragedy 

in British Columbia in October, and led 

hacker group Anonymous this week 

to press for an inquiry, saying they 

had identiied two of the suspects. 

Police had investigated Parsons' 

initial complaint but no charges were 

made. Parsons meanwhile changed 

cities and schools, but the harassment 

persisted. 

"She was never left alone. Her 

friends turned against her, people 

harassed her, boys she didn't know 

started texting her and Facebooking 

asking her to have sex with them 

since she had had sex with their 

friends. It just never stopped," her 

mother Leah Parsons told public 

broadcaster CBC. 

Halifax police initially balked at 

reopening the case, but now say they 

have received "new and credible information" 

and have asked the Royal 

Canadian Mounted Police to join 

them in a criminal investigation. 

Police added, however, that the 

new leads "did not come from an online 

source." 

Family shares last text of 

dead crash son to help others 

LOS ANGELES — A US family has 

published the last, cut-off text message 

written by their 22-year-old son 

who crashed his car and died while 

using his cellphone, in the hope of 

preventing similar tragedies. 

Alexander Heit, a 22-year-old student, 

drifted across the road while 

exchanging texts with a friend, realized 

suddenly and over-corrected 

with the steering wheel, sending his 

car rolling off the road. 

He was pronounced dead at North 

Colorado Medical Center on April 3 

after the late afternoon crash — and 

his family have agreed with police to 

issue a photograph of his last text exchange. 

The text shows two messages 

from a friend, who says: "Hey man 

I had to run out for like an hour," to 

Venezuela foils bid to destabilise vote 

CARACAS — Venezuela's government 

said on Friday it foiled a plot to 

destabilise today's presidential election, 

the latest in a lurry of claims 

that the opposition has derided as 

crude attempts to distract voters 

from the country's problems. 

Vice-President Jorge Arreaza 

went on national television to announce 

that security forces had 

captured two Colombians posing as 

Venezuelan military oficials who 

were allegedly planning to disrupt 

this weekend's vote, though he did 

not say how. 

Flanked by the military's top 

brass, Arreaza held up photos of 

the Colombian suspects. He also 

displayed about 50 assault rile 

cartridges and explosives that he 

said were linked to a group of Salvadoran 

mercenaries previously 

accused by the Venezuelan government 

of plotting to kill acting 

President Nicolas Maduro, who is 

favoured to win today. 

"We've managed to dismantle a 

plan that would try to inluence the 

which Heit was replying: "Sounds 

good my man, seeya soon, ill tw .." before 

abruptly stopping. 

"Heit had been travelling eastbound... 

Witnesses stated he seemed 

to have his head down, and began 

drifting into the oncoming lane of 

trafic. A westbound vehicle slowed 

and moved over just before Mr. Heit 

looked up. 

"As he did, he jerked the steering 

wheel hard, over-correcting, resulting 

in his leaving the south side 

of the roadway, rolling and lipping 

the vehicle," said a statement by 

police in Greeley, 55 miles north of 

Denver. 

His mother Sharon Heit said: "I 

can't bear the thought of anyone else 

having to go through something like 

this. 

election or the post-election period," 

said Arreaza, a son-in-law of late 

president Hugo Chavez, whose death 

from cancer on March 5 triggered this 

weekend's vote. 

"This is wonderful news, because 

it means that we can all vote on Sunday 

in peace." 

The accusations are the latest twist 

in an election campaign marked by 

one dramatic claim after another. In 

March Maduro said US oficials were 

orchestrating a plot to kill opposition 

candidate Henrique Capriles as a way 

of sparking a coup, an accusation that 

Washington categorically denied. 

Then came charges that the Salvadoran 

mercenaries were out to assassinate 

Maduro and sabotage the 

power grid to sow chaos. 

The Capriles camp, for its part, 

warned of a government scheme to 

plant illegal arms and explosives on 

senior opposition igures in order to 

arrest them before the election. 

Such inger-pointing has been a 

mainstay of Venezuelan politics since 

Chavez was irst elected president in 

At least 26 dead 

in Peru bus crash 

LIMA — At least 26 people died and 

seven others were injured early yesterday 

after a bus plunged 200 meters 

down a ravine in northern Peru, 

police said. 

The bus veered off a mountain 

road near the town of Otuzco some 

570 kilometers north of Lima. 

"So far, we've recovered 26 bodies, 

and seven people have been 

hurt," said Asto Moreno, an oficial 

with Otuzco's police force. 

Authorities blamed the region's 

treacherous, winding roads, the 

poor condition of the vehicle and 

driver error for the accident. 

Road accidents are common in 

the Peruvian Andes due to poorly 

maintained roads, inconsistent vehicle 

maintenance, and the propensity 

of overworked bus drivers to speed. 

In 2011, 1,124 people were killed 

and 2,583 injured in 1,108 highway 

accidents, according to the latest of- 

icial igures. 

Demand worries 

send US oil price 

down 2.3 per cent 

NEW YORK — Oil prices sank on 

Friday as concerns about weak demand 

growth took deeper hold in 

the market. 

New York's main contract, West 

Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for 

May delivery, fell $2.22 from Thursday 

to $91.29 a barrel. 

In London, Brent North Sea 

crude for delivery in May inished at 

$103.11, down $1.16. 

"The petroleum markets are 

breaking to the downside in relatively 

dramatic fashion on likely 

long liquidation amid growing concerns 

about the demand prospects," 

said Timothy Evans of Citi Futures. 

He noted the fall came as part of 

"what has become a broader commodity 

sell-off." 

1998 and began pushing ahead with 

a self-proclaimed "socialist revolution" 

that pit the government against 

the private sector. 

Chavez's 14 years in power thoroughly 

polarized Venezuela, an OPEC 

member that sits on the world's largest 

oil reserves. 

Chavez himself frequently said he 

was the target of assassination plots, 

which the opposition dismissed as a 

tactic to distract Venezuelans from 

daily problems such as rampant violent 

crime, high inlation and deteriorating 

infrastructure. 

Maduro went so far as to suggest 

Chavez's illness might have been 

caused by "imperialist" enemies in 

the United States. 

The Capriles camp scoffed at the 

government's latest claims. 

"These kinds of actions are intended 

to plant fear, intimidate and 

keep Venezuelans away from voting 

booths," Ramon Guillermo Aveledo, 

head of the opposition coalition, said 

at a news conference in Caracas on 

Friday. — Reuters 


China, US pledge to address 

cyber security; set up body 

BEIJING — China and the US, which 

are embroiled in a bitter dispute over 

hacking, have agreed to set up a cybersecurity 

working group, US Secretary 

of State John Kerry said yesterday. 

"All of us, every nation, has an interest 

in protecting its people, protecting 

its rights, protecting its infrastructure," 

he told reporters on a visit 

to Beijing. 

"Cybersecurity affects everybody," 

he said. "It affects airplanes in the 

sky, trains on their tracks, it affects 

the low of water through dams, it affects 

transportation networks, power 

plants, it affects the inancial sector, 

banks, inancial transactions. 

"So we are going to work immediately 

on an accelerated basis on 

cyber." 

The world's two largest economies 

have traded accusations this year 

over cyber attacks after US research 

company Mandiant said in February 

that a Chinese army unit had stolen 

huge amounts of data, from mostly 

US companies. 

China dismissed the report as 

"groundless", saying its defence ministry 

websites were often subjected to 

hacking attacks originating in the US. 

Last month President Barack 

Obama said cyber threats affecting 

US irms and infrastructure were increasing 

and some were "state sponsored". 

That prompted to Beijing to repeat 

an offer to hold international talks 

on hacking, with the foreign ministry 

saying it wanted "constructive dialogue 

and co-operation with the international 

community, including the 

US". 

China's new premier Li Keqiang 

last month used his irst press conference 

after taking ofice to reject the 

US accusations, saying that Beijing 

did not support cyber spying and 

calling China a "major victim of cyber 

attacks". 

Also last month, Obama signed a 

spending bill blocking government 

buying of information technology 

equipment "produced, manufactured 

or assembled" by irms "owned, directed 

or subsidised by the People's 

Republic of China". 

Federal government agencies 

could buy IT products from China if 

they passed an oficial assessment of 

risks involving "cyber-espionage or 

sabotage associated with the acquisition 

of such system", the bill said. 

China criticised the bill as "biased". 

The American Chamber of Commerce 

in China also said two weeks 

ago that more than a quarter of its 

members had experienced data theft. 

Beijing's foreign ministry dismissed 

the report and called on the 

US to stop "hyping cybersecurity issues". 

— AFP 

Newtown mom makes emotional appeal 

WASHINGTON — Francine Wheeler 

blinked past her tears, looked straight 

into the camera and asked Americans 

to push for tougher gun laws, drawing 

on courage she said comes from the 

memory of her 6-year-old son, Ben, 

murdered in his irst-grade classroom 

in Newtown, Connecticut. 

"His boundless energy kept him 

running across the soccer ield long 

after the game was over," said Wheeler, 

describing her son during what is 

usually President Barack Obama's 

weekly Saturday address to nation. 

"He couldn't wait to get to school 

every morning," she said, her voice 

breaking, her husband David beside 

her, sighing and swallowing hard. 

The address was the culmination 

of a week of emotional pleas in Washington 

from families of the 26 people 

killed by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary 

School on December 14. 

"To us, it feels as if it happened just 

yesterday," Wheeler said, recounting 

the horror of waiting at the irehouse 

after the shooting "for the boy who 

would never come home." 

The massacre has spurred Obama 

to propose new restrictions on guns 

- politically dificult measures in a 

country where constitutional rights 

to own guns are defended by powerful 

lobby groups like the National Ri- 

le Association. 

Obama brought the Newtown 

families to Washington on Monday 

aboard Air Force One after he gave a 

speech in Connecticut urging action 

on his plans. 

Obama's proposals to ban more 

types of military-style assault weapons 

like the one used in Connecticut 

and to limit the capacity of ammunition 

magazines appear to have a slim 

chance of clearing the Senate. 

Even proposals widely supported 

by Americans — more background 

checks for gun sales and tougher penalties 

for gun traficking — were at 

risk of faltering. 

This week the Wheelers and other 

families of victims met with senators 

to urge them to support new laws. 

"I feel Ben's presence illing me with 

courage for what I have to do - for 

him and all the others taken from us 

so violently and too soon," Wheeler 

said in the address, which was broadcast 

on radio stations and streamed 

on the Internet. 

There were signs of progress this 

week, she said. 

Two conservative senators crafted 

a breakthrough deal to expand background 

checks, and others backed 

away from trying to block any debate 

on the measures. 

"But that's only the start," Wheeler 

said. "They haven't yet passed any 

bills that will help keep guns out of 

the hands of dangerous people. And a 

lot of people are ighting to make sure 

they never do." 

Next week the Senate will begin 

what is expected to be weeks of debate 

on gun legislation. 

The Republican-controlled House 

of Representatives is waiting to see 

what the Senate approves before it 

begins work on the issue. — Reuters 

Pentagon denies Guantanamo 

prosecutors saw defence e-mails 

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon denied 

on Friday that military prosecutors 

saw the contents of conidential 

emails of lawyers defending 

the ive detainees at Guantanamo 

accused of the September 11, 2001 

attacks. 

Defence lawyers have asked for a 

delay in an upcoming April 22 pretrial 

hearing after learning that their 

email communications with their clients 

had been compromised. 

Judge James Pohl, who is presiding 

over the military commission 

trying the Guantanamo suspects, had 

already delayed a hearing for Abd al- 

Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi national accused 

of masterminding the bombing 

of the USS Cole in 2000, for the same 

reason. 

Colonel Karen Mayberry, the 

military's chief defence counsel at 

Guantanamo, ordered lawyers representing 

detainees to stop exchanging 

conidential e-mails over the Pentagon's 

network. 

Her order followed the discovery 

that defence e-mails and computer 

iles in another case had been turned 

over to prosecutors by military personnel 

in charge of information security. 

Pentagon spokesman Todd Breasseale, 

however, denied that prosecutors 

saw the contents of the defence 

e-mails, calling it "the biggest myth." 

He admitted that a prosecutor and 

another Pentagon attorney did see 

one piece of conidential email but insisted 

they had not seen the contents 

of the communication, only the address 

line. 

He also disputed a defence assertion 

that over 500,000 conidential 

defence e-mails had been seized, saying 

that prosecutors had no access to 

them and it was unknown how many 

were defence e-mails because they 

had not been reviewed. 

While insisting that prosecutors 

had acted properly, Breasseale recounted 

a series of mistakes that suggested 

sloppy handling of conidential 

materials. 

He said the prosecution received 

the conidential defence communications 

by mistake after it made a request 

through security channels for 

a search of e-mails between the prosecution 

and the defence. 

Colombian police take some citizens into custody in the Siloe neighbourhood during a raid on Friday in Cali, 

Valle del Cauca department, Colombia. The National Police has ordered a special group to combat violence 

by drug micro traficking gangs ighting for the control of the territory. — AFP


A boy yawns as he waits to perform at the opening ceremony of a water pavilion during a celebration for Thingyan, Myanmar's New Year 

Water Festival, in Yangon, yesterday. — Reuters 

Counter terrorism talks with China 

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan and China 

will devise new methods to counter 

terrorism in their respective countries 

with mutual cooperation when 

the fresh round of dialogue between 

the two countries will take place in 

the Chinese capital Beijing early next 

week. 

Additional Foreign Secretary 

Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry has left for 

Beijing to take part in the high echelon 

talks with the Chinese senior 

oficials on the question of counter 

terrorism. 

It would be irst interaction of the 

senior oficials of the two countries 

for the purpose ever-since new government 

has taken up its position in 

China. 

The new Chinese government is 

keenly interested to strengthen further 

the co-operative ties with Pakistan. 

China is also confronting the menace 

of terrorism like Pakistan and intriguingly 

the external forces which 

Police oficers inspect burnt printing machines 

in the Uthayan printing press after an attack by 

unidentiied men in Jaffna, yesterday. — Reuters 

are out to destabilise Pakistan trough 

terror activities are also at work in 

some parts of China. 

Aizaz Chaudhry, who is heading 

United Nations and Economic Coordination 

Affairs in the Foreign Of- 

ice, said yesterday before leaving for 

Beijing that it would be eighth round 

of dialogue between Pakistan and 

China where the two countries will 

not only share their experiences and 

challenges on account of terror activities 

but they will also work out strategy 

to deal with the common threat. 

The talks will commence on Monday 

and will continue for two days. 

Aizaz Chaudhry will also have meetings 

with top oficials of Chinese Foreign 

Ofice before returning home. 

Pakistan’s Ambassador in China 

Masood Khalid will assist Pakistan?s 

four-member delegation in the talks. 

Meanwhile, diplomatic sources 

said that extremist activities in Chinese 

province Xinjiang, neighbouring 

with Pakistan, will also igure in 

the talks informally. China has been 

appreciating Pakistan’s vital role in 

the global war on terrorism throughout 

and it has been urging the international 

community to recognise 

Pakistan?s contribution and sacriices 

in this struggle. 

The Chinese have always appreciated 

Pakistan for its unwavering support 

on issues that relate to China’s 

core interests, including Taiwan, Tibet 

and Xinjiang. 

The two countries indeed enjoyed 

complete convergence of views on all 

important regional and global issues. 

Pakistan regards any threat to China’s 

interests as a threat to its own 

interests. 

Pakistan has been supporting China’s 

efforts to resolve the South China 

Sea issue through peaceful means 

and diplomacy. 

Aizaz Chaudhry sought guidance 

from Foreign Secretary Syed Jalil 

Abbas Jilani before leaving for the 

Chinese capital. — Internews 

Many poll 

candidates lack 

tax number 

ISLAMABAD — Prominent 

politicians and election 

candidates belonging 

to inluential political 

and business families in 

pakistan have been found 

to be paying income tax 

even below the salaried 

executives. 

As many as 10,000 out 

of 24,000 candidates who 

have iled their nomination 

papers for National 

Assembly as well as four 

provincial assemblies 

and reserved seats do not 

have National Tax Numbers 

(NTN). 

The clearance certiicates 

issued by the Federal 

Board of Revenue 

have shown the meagre 

amount of taxes paid by 

'would-be' public representatives. 

— Internews 

Spurt in mobile-banking 

ISLAMABAD — Mobile banking has grown 

considerably in Pakistan as the number of 

mobile accounts (m-wallets) had reached 

1.4 million by 2012. This depicts an increase 

of 156 per cent from the previous 

year, reported telecom sector regulator, 

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority 

(PTA). The current number of m-banking 

accounts is seven times higher than the 

numbers at the end of September 2010. Of 

the total 1.4 million m-banking accounts, 

66 per cent are active accounts and the ratio 

of active accounts has increased from 

54 per cent as of the end of December 

2011. 

The PTA has revealed in its report 

that this increase in active accounts is 

mainly due to an increase in the small 

transaction m-banking accounts by UBL 

Omni. The latter has been facilitated by 

regulatory lexibility in account-opening, 

adopted by the State Bank of Pakistan 

(SBP). Cellular mobile subscription 

exceeds 120 million. Considering this, 

the igure of 1.4 million m-banking accounts 

is quite small. 

The report said Pakistan has two major 

players: Telenor with Easypaisa, which 

was launched in October 2009 and United 

Bank Limited (UBL) with Omni, initiated 

in April 2010. These two major m-banking 

initiatives have contributed signiicantly 

to the growth of mobile banking in the 

country. During the last two years, there 

has been massive growth in terms of basic 

m-banking indicators including m-banking 

agents, m-wallet accounts, number of 

transactions undertaken per day and the 

outreach to low-income subscribers. 

The network of m-banking agents 

provides a necessary contact point for 

m-banking account opening and transactions, 

and is therefore vital. 

More than 95 per cent of transactions 

are carried out through agents whereas 

account-to-account transfers by individual 

customers are limited when seen in comparison. 

Currently, there are more than 29,254 

m-banking registered agents, which are 

almost three times the total number of 

bank branches (9,399) in Pakistan. This 

shows the potential of m-banking to reach 

the unserved. 

These agents are spread across the 

country but are mostly concentrated in 

the urban areas. There is a need to introduce 

incentives and initiate an awareness 

campaign to take agents to far-lung areas 

of the country. Major concentration of mbanking 

agents is in the province of Punjab. 

— Internews 

MFN status to India likely soon, says top oficial 

KARACHI — Zubair Motiwala, the chairman 

of the Pakistan’s Sindh Board of Investment 

(SBoI), has said that the negative list will be dismantled 

and Pakistan will accord the most favoured 

nation (MFN) status to India soon. 

He made these remarks, while heading a 

trade delegation of businessmen, including past 

and present presidents of the Karachi Chamber 

of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) to meet 

Sharat Sabharwal, Indian high commissioner of 

India to Pakistan, during his visit to Karachi, a 

statement issued here Saturday said. 

Motiwala, who is also the president of the Pakistan-Afghanistan 

Joint Chamber of Commerce 

and Industry, said that opening of Indo-Pak 

cross-border trade from Khokharapar-Munabao 

route on the pattern of Wagah-Atari would 

facilitate the business community of Sindh and 

Balochistan. 

Adequate infrastructure, modern integrated 

check-posts and indispensable services should 

be planned and implemented at the earliest, 

he said. He proposed to introduce mediation/ 

arbitration committees in Mumbai and Karachi, 

comprising presidents of Karachi and Bombay 

Chambers or their nominees, retired judges; 

and retired customs oficials of the commissioner 

level to address the grievances of importers 

and exporters of the two countries. 

This six-member committee (three mem- 

bers from each country) would evaluate the 

grievances of the importers/exporters of the 

two countries and would address their grievances 

accordingly. 

Exchanging views on Indo-Pak bilateral 

trade liberalisation, Sabharwal said that the two 

sides have to walk the last mile. He said that Indo-Pak 

dialogues during the last two years were 

satisfactory and subsequent developments will 

be beneicial for the two countries. 

New liberalised visa regime has been applied, 

he said, adding that the number of 137 

items presently allowed for import from India 

through land route from Wagah should be enhanced. 

— Internews 

SUBCONTINENT 

13 

Blast on bus claims 9 in 

northwest Pakistan 

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A 

bomb exploded on a bus in 

Pakistan's troubled northwestern 

city of Peshawar 

yesterday, killing at least 

nine people and wounding 

seven others, oficials said. 

"At least nine passengers 

have been killed and seven 

injured. Bomb disposal of- 

icials told me that it was a 

timed device," Fazal Wahid, 

a senior police oficial said. 

Shai Ullah Khan, another 

police oficial, conirmed 

the attack which occurred 

as the was bus passing 

through the city's Matani 

suburb. 

Sayed Jameel Shah, a 

spokesman for Peshawar's 

main Lady Reading Hospital 

said nine dead bodies 

and 19 injured, including 

three women, had been 

brought to his hospital. 

There was no immediate 

claim of responsibility 

for the blast, but Peshawar, 

which is the capital of the 

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 

is routinely targeted 

by the Pakistani Taliban 

who are waging an insurgency 

against the state. 

An intelligence oficial 

in the city said the attack 

may be a reaction to a fresh 

military push in the Tirah 

valley of the Khbyer tribal 

district, where the army 

has been ighting Taliban 

and Lashkar-e-Islam activists. 

Military oficials said 

heavy ighting between 

Pakistani troops and militants 

has killed 23 soldiers 

and 110 activists in Khyber 

this week. 

Khyber straddles the 

Nato supply line into Afghanistan, 

used by US-led 

troops to evacuate military 

equipment ahead of their 

2014 withdrawal, and oficials 

say it is key to protecting 

security in Peshawar 

for elections next month. 

Another senior police 

oficial, Imran Shahid said 

police were investigating 

the possibility a bomber 

was involved. 

Subhan Ullah, a shopkeeper 

in the nearby market, 

who sustained an inju- 

ry on his left shoulder said 

from his hospital bed that 

the bus was moving when 

the the blast took place. 

"The bus was moving 

at the time of the blast. It 

stopped for a while in the 

market and the blast took 

place some minutes after 

it took on passengers," he 

said. 

Hours earlier, activists 

blew up the election ofice 

on an independent candidate 

standing in elections 

next month, adding to security 

fears ahead of historic 

national polls next month. 

A recent wave of terror 

attacks has fuelled concerns 

that violence will mar 

general elections on May 

11, which will mark the 

country's irst democratic 

transition of power after 

a civilian government has 

served a full term in ofice. 

Pakistan says more than 

35,000 people have been 

killed as a result of terrorism 

in the country since the 

9/11 attacks on the United 

States. — AFP 

Police oficials gather evidence from a damaged van at the site of a bomb blast in 

the Mattani Bazaar, on the outskirts of Peshawar, yesterday. — Reuters 

Sudden surge in imports seen 

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s imports suddenly 

jumped to $4.3 billion in March 

after remaining steady at around $3.5 

billion, indicating that dwindling foreign 

currency reserves of the country will cover 

slightly more than a month of imports. 

The surge of approximately $1 billion 

in import bill has exposed the vulnerability 

on the external front, heightening concerns 

over meeting international inancial 

obligations if the government remains 

undecided about the timing of a fresh 

bailout package from the International 

Monetary Fund. 

The import bill for March was $962 

million or 28.5 per cent higher than imports 

worth $3.38 billion in February this 

year, according to latest igures released 

by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. 

The double-digit growth in imports left 

a yawning trade gap of 42.8 per cent in 

March over February as growth in exports 

could not match the growth in imports. 

Exports in March stood at $2.13 billion, 

an increase of $299 million or 16.3 

per cent over February. Trade deicit widened 

to $2.2 billion against $1.5 billion in 

February. According to the State Bank of 

Pakistan, net foreign currency reserves 

held by it dropped to $6.697 billion on 

April 5, including forward cover facility 

for imports. Though the central bank has 

not revealed the amount covered by forward 

contracts, market analysts say it is 

between $1.5 billion and $2.5 billion. 

Excluding this, actual reserves held 

by the central bank stand much less than 

$5 billion, only suficient to inance one 

month of imports. Reserves held by commercial 

banks at $5.06 billion are in addition 

to the SBP’s reserves. 

Experts believe the central bank may 

soon ind itself in a catch-22 situation 

where it will be forced to resort to multitasking 

with limited reserves - help the 

market inance the import bill besides defending 

the exchange rate and keep servicing 

the country’s foreign debt. 

The last coalition government wasted 

months in debating whether the country 

needed another IMF programme and 

when. According to minutes of the last 

Monetary and Fiscal Policies Co-ordination 

Board, Anwar opposed the bailout 

programme, but failed to suggest an alternative, 

said a board member who attended 

the meeting. 

Data for nine months (July-March) of 

the current iscal year showed that the 

trade deicit narrowed to $15.4 billion, a 

contraction of 4.9 per cent. Against $18.1 

billion worth of exports, the import bill 

stood at $33.4 billion in July-March 2012- 

13. — Internews 

Taliban willing to back polio vaccination 

ISLAMABAD The Pakistani Taliban has 

said they will back the government's polio 

vaccination program if they are guaranteed 

it will not be used to mask a US espionage 

campaign. "We're not opposed to any vaccination 

if we are convinced that the dose 

for polio is allowed by Islam and that espionage 

agents are not using it to kill our militants," 

Taliban spokesman Ehsanula Eshan 

told Dawn television. 

"This is in the public interest," he said. 

Since last December, a series of attacks 

against vaccination teams has taken a score 

of lives. The most recent attack occurred 

Wednesday in the northwestern town of 

Mardan, where a police oficer was slain 

while escorting a vaccination team. 

The Taliban spokesman denied Friday 

that his movement was involved in those 

attacks, but recalled that insurgents are 

suspicious of the vaccination programs. 

The CIA organised a fake vaccination 

campaign against hepatitis B in order to 

ind Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad. 

"Our opposition and suspicion toward 

vaccination programmes intensiied after 

what happened at Abbottabad," the insurgent 

chief said. "We're ready to accept the 

campaigns if our distrust can be allayed. 

We won't oppose them if we are guaranteed 

they will not be used to serve any other 

foreign interests," he said. — IANS

14 

KOREA 

US, China pledge joint 

efforts to defuse crisis 

BEIJING — The United States and 

China yesterday agreed to make a 

joint effort to push for the peaceful 

denuclearisation of the Korean 

peninsula, following weeks of bellicose 

rhetoric from North Korea and 

rising tensions in northeast Asia. 

US Secretary of State John Kerry 

met China's top leaders in a bid to 

persuade them to exert pressure 

on North Korea, whose main diplomatic 

supporter is Beijing, to scale 

back its belligerence and, eventually, 

return to nuclear talks. 

Before travelling to Beijing for 

the irst time as secretary of state, 

Kerry had made no secret of his desire 

to see China take a more active 

stance towards North Korea, which 

in recent weeks has threatened nuclear 

war against the United States 

and South Korea. 

Kerry and China's top diplomat, 

State Councillor Yang Jiechi, said 

both countries supported the goal 

of denuclearising the Korean peninsula. 

"We are able, the US and 

China, to underscore our joint commitment 

to the denuclearisation of 

the Korean peninsula in a peaceful 

manner," Kerry told reporters, 

standing next to Yang at a state 

guesthouse in western Beijing. 

"We agreed that this is critically 

important for the stability of the 

region and indeed for the world 

and for all of our nonproliferation 

efforts." 

But North Korea has repeatedly 

said it will not abandon nuclear 

weapons which it described last 

Friday as its "treasured" guarantor 

of security. Yang said China's stance 

on maintaining peace and stability 

on the peninsula was clear and 

consistent. 

US Secretary of State John Kerry is greeted by Chinese President 

Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday. 

"We maintain that the issue 

should be handled and resolved 

peacefully through dialogue and 

consultation. To properly address 

the Korea nuclear issue serves the 

common interests of all parties. 

It is also the shared responsibility 

of all parties," he said, speaking 

through an interpreter. 

"China will work with other relevant 

parties, including the United 

States, to play a constructive role in 

promoting the six-party talks and 

balanced implementation of the 

goals set out in the September 19 

joint statement of 2005." 

At a news conference in Seoul 

last Friday and in a US-South Korean 

joint statement issued yesterday, 

Kerry signalled the US preference 

for diplomacy to end the 

tension, but stressed North Korea 

A North Korean soldier uses a camera at the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarised zone yesterday. — AFP 

must take "meaningful" steps on 

denuclearisation. 

The US and its allies believe the 

North violated the 2005 aid-for-denuclearisation 

deal by conducting a 

nuclear test in 2006 and pursuing 

a uranium enrichment programme 

that would give it a second path to 

a nuclear weapon in addition to its 

plutonium-based programme. 

As the North's main trading 

partner, inancial backer and the 

closest thing it has to a diplomatic 

ally, China has a unique ability to 

use its leverage against the state, 

Kerry said in Seoul before leaving 

for Beijing. 

Kerry earlier in the day characterised 

his meeting with Chinese 

President Xi Jinping as "constructive 

and forward-leaning", though 

he did not elaborate. 

Beijing, which sided with North 

Korea in the 1950-53 civil war 

against the US-backed South, has 

been reluctant to apply pressure 

on Pyongyang, fearing the instability 

that could result if the North 

were to implode and send loods of 

refugees into China. 

Xinhua said in a commentary 

that Washington had itself been 

"fanning the lames" on the Korean 

peninsula with its shows of force. 

"It keeps sending more ighters, 

bombers and missile-defence ships 

to the waters of East Asia and carrying 

out massive military drills 

with Asian allies in a dramatic display 

of preemptive power," it said. 

Chinese state television quoted 

Premier Li Keqiang as telling Kerry 

that rising tensions on the Korean 

peninsula were in nobody's interests, 

in apparent reference to both 

Washington and Pyongyang. 

Enigmatic North poses tough target 

By Dan De Luce 

WASHINGTON — Conlicting accounts 

from US intelligence about 

the status of North Korea's nuclear 

weapons programme underscore 

just how dificult it is for American 

spy agencies to penetrate the inscrutable 

regime in Pyongyang, of- 

icials and experts said. 

The world's most powerful intelligence 

apparatus is often left to 

guesswork when it comes to tracking 

a regime that has cut off its 

population from the outside world. 

"I also have to say that North 

Korea, of course, is now and always 

has been one of the, if not the, 

toughest intelligence targets," National 

Intelligence Director James 

Clapper told lawmakers at a hearing. 

The spy chief acknowledged 

that North Korea's young, untested 

leader Kim Jong-Un remained a 

mystery igure whose motives and 

mindset were largely unknown. 

"There's no telling how he's going 

to behave," Clapper said. 

The United States gleans most 

of its intelligence from satellites 

tracking North Korean military 

movements, as Western spies cannot 

effectively operate in such a 

tightly-controlled dictatorship. 

"It is virtually impossible to 

run a human spy in the north and 

penetrate the Korean state," Bruce 

Riedel, a former CIA oficer and fellow 

at the Brookings Institution, 

said. The vexing challenge posed 

by North Korea was driven home 

when a Defence Intelligence Agency 

report came to light last Thursday 

that seemed to paint a more 

dangerous picture of the country's 

nuclear weapons, unlike previous 

accounts from US oficials. 

The DIA report, revealed by a 

lawmaker from Colorado with a 

keen interest in missile defence 

funding, concluded Pyongyang 

likely had succeeded in miniaturising 

a nuclear warhead that could 

be it onto a ballistic missile. 


A South Korean soldier walks at an observation post near the demilitarised 

zone in Paju, north of Seoul, yesterday. — Reuters 

Psy vows shout out at 

‘Happening’ concert 

SEOUL — South Korean pop star Psy yesterday 

unveiled the hip-swinging dance 

and music video for his new song, aimed at 

replicating the global success of "Gangnam 

Style" and its famed horse-riding dance. 

The singer showed off the much-anticipated 

dance moves — a simple swaying, 

grinding hip movement — at a promotional 

concert in Seoul, held at a time of heightened 

military tensions with North Korea. 

The long-awaited video, released a day 

after the new single "Gentleman" hit online 

stores worldwide, was posted on YouTube 

shortly after the concert which was 

streamed live on the video-sharing site. 

At a press conference before the show, 

the 35-year-old singer described the division 

of the Korean peninsula as a "tragedy" 

and said he wanted North Korean people 

to share in the "fun and happiness" of his 

music. 

"Tonight me and 50,000 Korean people... 

we are going to sing out loud. We are 

going to shout out loud and we are really 

close to them, so they can hear," he said. 

"Hopefully with my 'Gangnam style', 

'Gentleman', and my music video, choreography 

... hopefully they might enjoy it too," 

he added. The video showed Psy, wearing 

his signature sunglasses, dancing at 

various locations in and around the capital 

Seoul including a high-end clothing store, 

restaurant and swimming pool. 

The story line featured the obnoxious 

"Gentleman" singer teasing and playing 

practical jokes, such as pulling their chairs 

away as they were about to sit, before 

meeting his match. 

The song contains more English lyrics 

than "Gangnam Style" in a clear nod to the 

singer's newfound global audience. 

"Let me tell you about myself. I'm such 

a charmer with guts, vigour and humour," 

Psy sings in Korean before launching into 

the song's English catch-line: "I'm a mother-father 

gentleman." 

"Gonna make you sweat. Gonna make 

you wet. You know who I am? Wet Psy!" 

he sings in English, calling himself a "party 

maia." 

It was the video of "Gangnam Style", and 

in particular Psy's signature horse-riding 

dance, that pushed him to global stardom 

last year after it was posted on YouTube 

and turned into a viral sensation. 

A satire on the luxury lifestyle of Seoul's 

upscale Gangnam district, it has become 

the most-watched YouTube video of all 

time, registering more than 1.5 billion 

views since it debuted last July. 

The quirky singer/rapper belted out 

some 20 hits of his own and other artists 

at the packed concert that featured guest 

performances by other popular K-pop acts 

such as 2Ne1 and G-Dragon. 

Long known at home for his lamboyant, 

wacky stage persona, he even delivered 

a dance performance of Beyonce's 

"Single Ladies." 

At the press conference, Psy acknowledged 

the "enormous pressure" of 

following a global phenomenon like "Gangnam 

Style, but argued he had been singing 

too long to be called a one-hit wonder. 

Senior US oficials, caught off 

guard by the report, played down 

the document as a "low-level" assessment 

and insisted North Korea 

did not have nuclear-armed missiles 

ready to ire and that war on 

the Korean peninsula remained a 

remote possibility. 

North has "pieces" of a nuclear 

programme "but they haven't 

shown the ability to deploy nuclear 

weapons," said a US oficial. 

This message was reinforced by 

White House spokesman Jay Carney, 

who insisted that it was "our 

assessment that North Korea has 

not demonstrated the capability to 

deploy a nuclear-armed missile." "Gangnam Style" star Psy performs during his concert in Seoul yesterday. — AFP


Russia hits 18 US officials 

with tit-for-tat entry ban 

MOSCOW — Russia yesterday published 

its own blacklist of US oficials 

banned from entering the country in 

retaliation for Washington blackballing 

18 Russians over alleged human 

rights abuses. 

Already-strained relations between 

the two countries chilled further 

as Russia hit back at what it 

called an unfriendly move by Washington. 

Among the 18 oficials sanctioned 

by Russia were former Bush administration 

aide John Yoo, former CIA 

lawyer David Spears Addington, two 

former Guantanamo prison chiefs 

and oficials who prosecuted convicted 

arms smuggler Viktor Bout. 

"The war of lists is not our choice, 

but we cannot ignore outright blackmail," 

the Russian foreign ministry 

said in a statement. 

On Friday the US Treasury released 

a list barring 16 Russians allegedly 

linked to the death of jailed human 

New Caledonia 

president probed 

NOUMEA, New Caledonia — The 

president of the government of New 

Caledonia said he has been placed 

under formal investigation over a 

suspect land sale. 

Harold Martin said he did not 

understand the judge's decision to 

investigate him, which followed a 

court hearing in Noumea on Friday. 

"I have land that belongs to me, 

to me and my family since 1860. 

I decide to sell it, it's my absolute 

right. And I am guilty, but guilty of 

what?" he told reporters. 

Martin said he was being investigated 

for changing the planning 

restrictions to allow commercial 

building on the land, after selling it 

to three businessmen for $2.75 million 

in June 2007. 

rights lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, as 

well as two Chechens tied to other alleged 

rights abuses, from travelling to 

the US or holding assets there under 

the 2012 Sergei Magnitsky Act. 

The measure infuriated Moscow. 

The foreign ministry yesterday called 

the Magnitsky Act an "absurd" law 

that "intervenes in our domestic affairs" 

and "delivers a strong blow to 

bilateral relations." 

While the US list mostly targeted 

mid- and low-level interior ministry 

oficials involved in the case against 

the lawyer, Russia chose names already 

known internationally due to 

torture allegations against them. 

"Unlike the American list, which is 

formed arbitrarily, our list primarily 

includes those who are implicated in 

legalisation of torture and perpetual 

detentions in Guantanamo prison, to 

the arrests and kidnapping of Russian 

citizens," the ministry said. 

"Politicians in Washington should 

inally realise that it is futile to build a 

relationship with a country like Russia 

in the spirit of mentoring and undisguised 

dictating," it said. 

The list names four people allegedly 

implicated in Guantanamo abuses, 

including Addington, who served 

as chief of staff to former vice president 

Dick Cheney, Bush aide Yoo, and 

former Guantanamo heads Geoffrey 

Miller and Jeffrey Harbeson. 

Another 14 people are named as 

having violated the rights of Russian 

citizens abroad. They include US District 

Judge Jed Rakoff and several 

prosecutors in the state of New York, 

as well as several Drug Enforcement 

Administration oficers and FBI agent 

Gregory Coleman. 

Most of the Americans in the 

"stop-list" had been involved in cases 

against Russian arm smuggler Viktor 

Bout and drug-traficker Konstantin 

Yaroshenko in the US, both of which 

were hotly contested by Moscow. 

London braces for Thatcher rallies 

LONDON — Police were braced yesterday 

for a mass 'party' staged by opponents 

of Margaret Thatcher in London's 

Trafalgar Square after the death 

of the former British prime minister. 

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said 

the authorities were prepared for potential 

violence, after trouble erupted 

at several impromptu street gatherings 

earlier in the week. 

Any unrest is likely to feed concerns 

about security at the Iron Lady's 

funeral in the capital on Wednesday, 

which will be attended by Queen 

Elizabeth II, Prime Minister David 

Cameron and 2,000 guests, including 

many political and world igures. 

Former Republican White House 

hopeful Newt Gingrich, Tim Berners- 

Lee, inventor of the world wide web, 

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen 

Harper and former Australian premier 

John Howard were among the 

latest guests conirmed to attend. 

No formal demonstration has been 

Body to help reforms 

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis yesterday 

set up a group of cardinals to 

advise him on church governance 

and study reforms, marking the new 

pontiff's irst step toward reforming 

the Catholic Church's administration. 

In a statement, the Vatican said 

that Francis had named eight cardinals 

from around the world to the 

group that will examine updating the 

constitution of the Roman Curia — 

the Church administration which analysts 

say is badly in need of reform. 

The cardinals include two Europeans 

(Giuseppe Bertello from Italy and 

Reinhard Marx from Germany), two 

from Latin America (Francisco Javier 

Errazuriz Ossa from Chile and Oscar 

Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga from 

Honduras), one from North America 

(Sean O'Malley from Boston in the 

organised but almost 1,500 people 

have pledged on Facebook to attend 

a "Thatcher's Dead" party at Trafalgar 

Square. Representatives of the 

coal miners who battled Thatcher in 

a year-long strike in 1985, before accepting 

sweeping pit closures, plan 

to travel to the capital for the event 

alongside students and left-wing 

groups, The Guardian reported. 

A spokesman for Scotland Yard 

said oficers had "contacted a number 

of individuals who have stated they 

intend to take part in protest. 

London's mayor said people were 

entitled to demonstrate but warned 

police would take a tough line on violence. 

"We live in a democracy where 

people are entitled to protest, they 

are entitled to have fun and do what 

they want," Johnson told LBC radio 

on Friday when asked about the Trafalgar 

Square event. 

"What they can't do is, I think, is 

use the death of an elderly person to 

US), one from Asia (Oswald Gracias 

from India), one African (Laurent 

Monsengwo Pasinya from the Democratic 

Republic of Congo) and one 

Australian (George Pell of Sydney). 

The group is due to hold its irst 

meeting on October 1-3, the Vatican 

statement said. 

The announcement came a month 

after Francis was elected leader of 

the Catholics and a week after he 

made his irst appointment to the 

Vatican bureaucracy, naming a leader 

of the main Franciscan order as the 

number two of the institution that 

oversees all Catholic religious orders. 

Vatican observers are eagerly 

awaiting other key nominations to 

top Curia posts which could provide 

vital insights into the new pope's intentions 

for the Church. — AFP 

Participants shout slogans during a ‘Day of Russian rage’ protest by nationalist activists in Moscow yesterday. 

begin riot or that kind of thing. 

"So we're getting ready for all that. 

The police are going to be making 

sure that if people do break the law 

they will be properly dealt with." 

Police are mounting a major security 

operation for Wednesday's 

funeral, when Thatcher's cofin will 

be taken through streets lined with 

members of the armed forces to St 

Paul's Cathedral. 

The ceremony itself will be carried 

out in line with instructions left by 

the former premier herself, according 

to the Daily Telegraph newspaper. 

She requested that Cameron, as 

prime minister of the day, read a 

passage from the Bible but did not 

want any political eulogy, it said. She 

also asked that her favourite hymns 

be sung. In a relection of her strong 

partnership with Ronald Reagan in 

ighting communism in the Cold War, 

the guest list includes all the surviving 

US presidents. 

THE WORLD 

15 

Demonstrators block the road to Mount Athos to protest against plans to develop a gold mine by a Canadian 

mining company, in Ierissos yesterday. — AFP 

Protest against Canadian goldmine project 

ATHENS — Thousands of Greek protesters 

yesterday rallied against a 

Canadian gold mining project under 

way in the northeastern region of 

Halkidiki, which locals say will cause 

irreversible damage to environment. 

About 2,000 people took part in 

the march in Athens and another 

1,500 in Greece's second-largest city 

Thessaloniki, according to journalists. 

Carrying banners against the 

project run by Hellenic Gold, a subsidiary 

of Canadian irm Eldorado 

Gold, the demonstrators chanted: 

"We want forests, land and water, not 

a grave made out of gold." 

"Fields full of cyanide and arsenic, 

that is what remains from gold" was 

another slogan. 

They also called for the release of 

two people who were arrested earlier 

this week in connection with a sabo- 

tage attack carried out on the mining 

worksite two months ago. 

Citizens' groups have been trying 

to halt the project since 2011, when 

the Greek government gave Hellenic 

Gold permission to dig in the region. 

While the investment is expected 

to create hundreds of jobs in the 

country — where unemployment rate 

has topped 27 per cent — opponents 

say it will drain and contaminate local 

water reserves and ill the air with 

hazardous chemicals including lead, 

cadmium, arsenic and mercury. 

Frequent marches have taken 

place in recent months, with protesters 

enjoying the backing of main opposition 

radical leftist party Syriza, 

the second-largest in parliament. 

In the February attack, dozens of 

hooded activists irebombed Hellenic 

Gold's worksite, injuring a guard and 

damaging equipment. 

Earlier this week, angry locals 

trashed the police station of the nearby 

Ierissos village over claims that of- 

icers had used excessive force in the 

pre-dawn arrest of the pair suspected 

to be linked to the sabotage attack. 

Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias 

accused the local community 

of Ierissos of wanting "to impose its 

own law and operate like a Gaulish 

village," in a reference to the Asterix 

comic books. 

Despite the opposition, the Canadian 

irm announced earlier this 

month that it intends to remain in 

Greece and create thousands of jobs 

over the next two years. Halkidiki, a 

picturesque and forested peninsula, 

is a popular destination for tourists, 

especially from Russia and the neighbouring 

Balkan states. — AFP 

Italy’s left seeks deal on president 

ROME — Italy's centre-left leader 

Pier Luigi Bersani said again yesterday 

he would work with rightwing 

former prime minister Silvio 

Berlusconi to elect a president but 

not to form a government with him. 

The February election left parliament 

split between three hostile 

blocs, none of which can govern 

alone, making an early return to the 

polls a growing possibility. 

Speaking at a small theatre in an 

impoverished suburb of Rome, Bersani 

said the next president should 

be a igure of "national unity". 

He rejected forming a government 

with Berlusconi, saying: "A 

grand coalition is not the right response 

to the problems of the country." 

Bersani has been under mounting 

pressure from inside and outside 

his party to back a government 

with centre-right leader Berlusconi 

to end the political stalemate now in 

its second month. 

The PD rally was called as a "protest 

against poverty" and Bersani 

repeated his recipe to try to cre- 

ate jobs and loosen the suffocating 

austerity that has worsened Italy's 

recession, which already equals the 

longest in postwar history. 

But the political deadlock has put 

the PD at risk of splitting, and the 

need for a government has even led 

to an unprecedented "pact" between 

employers' lobbies with labour unions 

calling for economic reforms. 

Parliament begins voting to elect 

a new president on Thursday. The 

election will be vital because constitutional 

rules prevent current 

President Giorgio Napolitano from 

dissolving parliament at the end of 

his mandate. 

So Napolitano's successor, who 

will receive a seven-year mandate, 

will have another chance to ind a 

solution that allows the formation 

of a government, or else he will have 

call new elections. 

Under intense pressure, the 61year-old 

Bersani was more feisty 

and animated during his speech on 

Saturday than he was during the 

lacklustre campaign earlier this year 

in which Berlusconi closed a 10-per- 

centage-point gap and came up just 

short of the PD. 

"After the president of the Republic 

(is elected), a government is 

needed," Bersani said. 

Since failing to woo the 5-Star 

Movement to join him, Bersani has 

hoped form a minority government 

tolerated by enough members of the 

rival parties to pass a limited set of 

reforms. But it too would probably 

need the tacit support of Berlusconi. 

The 76-year-old media magnate 

will speak later on Saturday in an 

outdoor rally that is expected to attract 

thousands in the southern city 

of Bari. 

Comic Beppe Grillo's 5-Star Movement 

held a irst round of online 

voting to select 10 candidates that it 

will back for president. Another online 

vote will be held on Monday to 

narrow the ield down to one. 

The 5-Star candidates include 

former Prime Minister Romano Prodi, 

investigative journalist Milena 

Gabanelli, prosecutor Gian Carlo Caselli 

and former European commissioner 

Emma Bonino. 

French farmers demonstrate with goats in front of the prefecture in Lyon, as part of a protest called by the 

local farmers' union FDSEA to demand higher wages. — AFP

16 

PANORAMA 

Participants cross the dunes of Merzouga during the last stage of the 28th Marathon des Sables yesterday, 

some 300 kms south of Ourzazate. — AFP) 

Fireworks are lit at the 

Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam 

yesterday where thousands 

gathered outside Amsterdam's 

home to Rembrandt van Rijn's 

"The Night Watch" and other 

Dutch masterpieces, as Queen 

Beatrix declared the national 

museum open after a decadelong 

renovation. — Reuters 

Not a missile, it’s 

an earthquake 

TOKYO — A Japanese oficial 

mistakenly announced the launch 

of a North Korean missile instead 

of sending an alert about a strong 

earthquake that hit western Japan 

yesterday morning. 

An oficial at the transport 

ministry's western Osaka aviation 

bureau mistakenly e-mailed 87 

airport ofices that a North Korean 

missile had been launched, the 

ministry said. 

The oficial was trying to send 

a message to check on possible 

airport damage after the 6.3magnitude 

earthquake hit the 

western Hyogo prefecture, it said. 

But instead, the oficial 

dispatched a pre-prepared alert 

ready to go in the event of a North 

Korean missile launch, it said. 

The incorrect message was 

retracted six minutes later but 

at least one domestic light was 

delayed due to the mistake, the 

ministry said. 

Japan is on full alert ahead of 

an expected mid-range missile 

launch by North Korea, with Patriot 

missiles stationed in its capital to 

protect the 30 million people who 

live there. 

In addition to PAC-3 batteries, 

Aegis destroyers equipped with 

sea-based interceptor missiles have 

been deployed in the Sea of Japan 

(East Sea). 


A concert-goer dances using an illuminated hula hoop during the 

Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California on Friday. — Reuters 

People ly kites on the beach of the northern French 

resort of Berck-sur-Mer during the 27th Berck-sur-Mer 

Kite Meeting, which will be on till April 21. — AFP 

Afghan boys play in a pool in Mazar-i-Sharif, capital of 

Balkh province of Afghanistan, yesterday. Polls show 

that Afghans are less concerned about security issues 

than they are about jobs, electricity and roads. — AFP 

Shrinking glaciers in 2012 

VIENNA — Nearly all of Austria's glaciers shrank 

signiicantly last year, with one glacier receding a record 

97.3 metres, Austrian Alpine Association (OeAV) said. 

Out of the 95 glaciers measured, 93 retreated an 

average 17.4 metres in 2012 while just two were 

unchanged, the body said in its annual report. 

One of the masses of ice, the Pasterze glacier that 

counts as Austria's longest, showed the biggest recorded 

loss — 97.3 metres — since records began in 1879. In 

2011, the group found Austrian glaciers declined by an 

average of 17 metres, compared to 14 metres in 2010. 

Flags and posters of a political party in Pakistan 

being transported to be delivered in Lahore 

yesterday for the upcoming general election. — AFP 

Everything in the name 

THE HAGUE — A newly discovered species of orangecoloured 

mould has been named after soon-to-be Dutch 

king Willem-Alexander and his family, the scientists 

behind the move said on Friday. 

The mould was named after the Prince of Orange, 

the title given to the Dutch crown prince, "because what 

distinguishes this penicillin is its orange colour, a very 

rare phenomenon," Pedro Crous, head of the Dutch CBS- 

KNAW fungal research centre said in a statement. — AFP

International 

P23 JPMorgan CEO under more pressure P18 Mars Hypermarket opens its 8th outlet 

P18 P24 

P19 

ECONOMY 

Sunday 

APRIL 14, 2013 | JUMADA AL THANIA 3, 1434 AH 

www.omanobserver.om facebook.com/omanobserver twitter.com/omanobserver editor@omanobserver.om AppStore 

RAECO and Al Maha sign 

RO 41m worth agreement 

By Kabeer Yousuf 

MUSCAT — The Rural Areas Electricity 

Company SAOC (RAECO) has 

signed a contract with the Al Maha 

Petroleum Products Marketing Company 

SAOG for the supply of diesel for 

some of the power plants of the latter 

in Musandam and Al Wusta Governorates. 

The biggest project worth nearly 

41 million was issued and awarded 

by the Tender Board and will be valid 

for the next two years starting from 

June 2013. 

In terms of volume, a whopping 

300 million litres of diesel will be 

supplied for the total period of the 

contract. 

“We have several contract and similar 

arrangements with various suppliers 

but this is the irst of its kind 

and the biggest for its volume be- 

Omantel broadband 

to expand services 

MUSCAT — The broadband services 

offered by the Omantel have been 

known for its three superior 

qualities such as the Broadest 

Choice, Widest Coverage, and 

Superior Quality. ith these three 

unique features, the committed 

telecom provider is all set to cater to 

the 95 per cent of Oman population, 

according to its Chief Executive 

Oficer. Currently Omantel is able 

to provide broadband services 

to 88 per cent of the population. 

“We are committed to expand our 

broadband networks as we already 

built out our mobile networks. Our 

aspiration is to cover to 95 per cent 

of the population. 


tween RAECO and Al Maha”, Hamed 

bin Salim al Magdheri, Chief Executive 

Oficer, RAECO said. “The increasing 

demand for electricity in these areas 

has necessitated such a contract 

with Al Maha and we hope that this 

will add value to our services to the 

customers”, he added. 

He further said the company has 

covered more than 3,600 kilometres 

of network last year and has 

plans to connect all the households 

near the mountainous and other dif- 

icult terrains by 2015 given the load 

development challenges are sorted 

out. 

Ahmed Bakhit al Shanfari, General 

Manager, Marketing and Promotion, 

Al Maha Petroleum Products Marketing 

Company SAOG said, “We are 

happy to enter into an agreement 

with the RAECO to supply diesel fuel 

and it gives us additional opportunity 

to serve the major electricity generating 

company. This is one of the major 

contracts and tenders that the company 

won in the recent years which 

will have an exponential impact to 

the sales volumes and inancial position 

of the company”. 

“We are a major supplier to RAE- 

CO for a long time and we have a loyal 

relationship with the organisation”, 

Muna Sultan al Hosni, Senior Manager-Marketing, 

Al Maha Petroleum 

Products Marketing Company SAOG 

said. 

“We are sure that we can convert 

our loyalty into uninterrupted services 

to the company and it will relect 

on our performance during the Q2”. 

She further said that the necessary 

resources, logistics and manpower 

are being arranged to deliver the requirement 

of RAECO on time. 

— Photo by Saeed al Harrassi 

EU’s six largest members 

agree to ight tax havens 

DUBLIN — The European Union's six 

biggest countries agreed to cooperate 

in the ight against tax havens, 

piling pressure on Austria to follow 

Luxembourg in ending bank secrecy. 

The inance ministers of Germany, 

France, Britain, Italy, Spain and Poland 

announced their plans to push 

for more bank transparency within 

Europe and beyond. 

"Nobody can deny that bank secrecy 

is outdated, that we need an 

eficient system to tackle evasion 

strategies," French Finance Minister 

Pierre Moscovici told reporters, 

lanked by his counterparts from 

the other countries. "Our mission is 

to create momentum. When these 

six major capitals of Europe move 

together, it creates a strong signal 

which nobody can resist." 

George Osborne, Britain's inance 

minister, said he was pushing for 

more transparency from the UK overseas 

territories of the Cayman Islands 

and British Virgin Islands. 

"The places that you can hide are 

getting smaller and smaller," he said. 

"We are in advanced stages of discus- 

sions," he said of talks with the two 

territories. "They are in no doubt 

about what we expect." 

The announcement adds to pressure 

on Vienna to sign up to EU rules 

for the automatic exchange of information 

on bank depositors. It follows 

Luxembourg's decision this week to 

share foreign bank account details 

with EU governments from 2015, 

bringing it into line with all other 

member states bar one - Austria. 

Earlier, however, Austrian Finance 

Minister Maria Fekter dismissed exchanges 

of information as an invasion 

of privacy and criticised other 

countries for failing to tackle what 

she called the real "hot spots" of 

money laundering. 

Google, EU near deal on search probe 

BRUSSELS — US Internet giant 

Google is preparing changes to its 

dominant search system to satisfy EU 

anti-trust authorities, the Financial 

Times said yesterday. 

In a ive-year accord with Brussels, 

Google has promised to make users 

"clearly aware" when promoting its 

own search services in specialised areas 

such as restaurants, inance and 

shopping, the FT said, citing people 

familiar with the deal. 

It will also highlight links to rival 

specialised search services. EU 

Competition Commissioner Joaquin 

Almunia told the New York Times on 

Tuesday that Google had to clearly 

differentiate its services from others 

but stressed that the company would 

not have to change the key underlying 

algorithms which drive the product. 

The EU launched its investigation 

of Google in November 2010 

following a complaint by several 

companies, including US software giant 

Microsoft. 

In February, Brussels said it had 

received proposals aimed at ending 

the probe and was examining them 

with a view to announcing its deci- 

sion by the middle of the year. 

Earlier, the US Federal Trade Commission 

dropped a similar investigation, 

saying it lacked a legal basis to 

bring a case against Google. Critics 

say Google controls about 70 per cent 

of the Internet search market and the 

advertising that goes along with it. 

The search probe is one of a series 

of regulatory problems facing Google. 

Last week, a group of major companies, 

including Microsoft and Oracle, 

complained to the European Commission 

over Google's offerings for its 

Android-powered mobile phones.

18 OMAN/INTERNATIONAL 

Lexus takes safety to the next level 

MUSCAT — Earlier this year, Lexus unveiled its advanced zctive safety 

research vehicle (AASRV) based on a Lexus LS. This move advances the 

industry toward a new era of integrated safety management technologies. 

While on the road, active safety systems help avoid a crash. If an imminent 

crash is detected, the vehicle has systems programmed to prepare for the 

inevitable. Passive safety systems are used to help the driver survive a crash. 

“In our pursuit of developing more advanced automated technologies, we 

believe the driver must be fully engaged,” said Mark Templin, General Manger, 

Lexus. “For Lexus, a driverless car is just a part of the story. Our vision is a car 

equipped with an intelligent, always-attentive co-pilot whose skills contribute 

to safer driving.” 

Based on the company’s Integrated Safety Management Concept, the 

AASRV test vehicle includes technology that could be used to make a selfdriving 

car, but that is not Lexus’ goal. It is Lexus’ approach to use this 

technology to enhance the driver’s skill. 

The AASRV is equipped with automated control systems working with 

sensors such as high-deinition stereo cameras and Light Detection and 

Ranging (LIDAR) laser tracking. These do everything from scanning for objects 

up to 150 metres (492 ft) away to seeing if the trafic lights are green. 

There’s also radar on the front and sides of the car to track objects and 

eliminate blind spots, while gyroscopes, accelerometers and GPS track the 

car’s angle and orientation. The point of all this is not only to feed the car’s 

automated systems with data, but to keep the driver informed so they are able 

to quickly make the best decisions. 

The vehicle systems are capable of tasks such as scanning movement of 

objects around it, identifying a green light from a red light, and measuring the 

trajectory of the vehicle on the road. 

The research vehicle is a testing platform for the development of systems 

that are capable of enhancing the driver’s perception of his or her environment. 

These systems will assist in the decision-making process and improve 

overall driving skills. 

Lexus vehicles are marketed in Oman by the Saud Bahwan Group. In Oman, 

every Lexus vehicle comes with special beneits and privileges such as 6 years 

unlimited extended mileage protection – Aman Bahwan and Lexus Prestige 

Club Card that offers 24 hours on-road assistance from AAA. 

‘Super Deals’ on Toyota Fortuner 

“SUPER Deals has arrived and now the Toyota Fortuner is even more tempting 

to own.” These words are often heard at locations where people sit down to 

have a quick bite and chat with friends. The word has quickly spread that 

Saud Bahwan Automotive is offering the Fortuner at an attractive price of RO 

10,999 onwards. Apart from the tempting price, there is free insurance, quick 

and easy inancing, special low interest rates, affordable instalment options – 

and all with hassle-free and easy documentation. (Conditions apply speciic to 

the model purchased. Full details are available at the nearest showroom.) 

“And there is more,” adds a Saud Bahwan Automotive spokesperson, “Every 

Fortuner customer enters a Grand Rafle for a chance to win the Sequoia” 

Enthusiastically responding to the offer, many customers said that the 

Super Deals beneits, together with Toyota’s legendary performance, valuefor-money 

and the nationwide support of Saud Bahwan Automotive — make 

it a fantastic deal. 

The macho, stylish Toyota Fortuner Safari turns heads wherever it goes. Its 

new front colour-coded bumper spoiler, rear 2-tone bumper spoiler, chrome 

garnish on fog lamps, side cladding panels, expressive Safari side decal, 

chrome rear licence garnish, loor mats with safari logo and daytime running 

lights create a remarkable presence on the road. 

Fortuner Safari’s luxurious interior is equipped with a horizontal-theme 

instrument panel set within strikingly beautiful black wood grain paneling. 

Abundant storage spaces, rich appointments and generous cabin space can 

accommodate various combinations of people and luggage. Three rows of 

upmarket leather seats lodge 7 people comfortably. The third and second row 

seats can be quickly folded and stowed away to create large luggage space 

with room for big or long loads. 

In Oman, Toyota is a household name, a part of people's lives. Toyota offers 

enduring quality and nothing comes close to it in terms of value-retention. It 

is no surprise; therefore, that Toyota soars far above the rest, with a dominant 

market share and ever-expanding customer base. 

The unmatched, nationwide parts and service support of Saud Bahwan 

Group makes Toyota's pride of place a reality. Toyota customers in Oman 

enjoy 6-year unlimited mileage protection, over 98 per cent parts availability 

and round-the-clock care, amongst many other exclusive privileges from the 

Group. 

McDonald’s rafle draw winners 

SEVENTEEN lucky winners of the McDonald’s ‘Muscat Festival Rafle’ 

promotion received their prizes at an awards ceremony held at McDonald’s 

Qurum recently. 

Prizes awarded were necklaces with diamond pendants from Damas, LG 

Smart Televisions and the grand prize, Hyundai Sonata car. 

Beaming and proud of the new Hyundai Sonata car, Mohamed Hamoud 

al’Shabibi said: “I remember when the crew at McDonald’s gave me a coupon 

after I bought a value meal, I was hesitant to accept it. I said “No I don’t need 

it”. But the Crew said “Try it who knows you would be a winner. It never 

occurred in my mind that I would win the car. I even did not believe right away 

when I received a call informing me that I was the winner of Hyundai Sonata, 

I thought it was a joke. It makes me feel very excited. Thank you so much to 

McDonald’s”, the happy grand prize winner said. 

Ali K Daud, Development Licensee and President of McDonald’s Oman, 

commented: “It is our great pleasure to always provide our customers with 

simple, easy enjoyment to our valued customers along with great value for 

their money. It is very heartwarming to see our customers happy with the 

prizes they received. We thank our partners LG Electronics, Damas and 

Hyundai Sonata for such fabulous prizes”, he said. 

Juke — an award winning Crossover 

IN a recently held poll by the Kelley Blue Book, the 2012 Nissan Juke won 

‘Total Cost of Ownership Award’ in the Compact Crossover division. Basing 

their selections on the combined cost of fair purchase price (FPP), inancing 

costs, state fees, insurance costs, project depreciation, and the anticipated 

costs of repairs, scheduled maintenance, and petrol, the 2012 Nissan Juke was 

a clear winner. 

Although the fair purchase prices in this division were quite similar, 

the 2012 Nissan Juke was a standout in long-term fuel cost and insurance. 

Apart from winning the Total Cost of Ownership Award, Kelley Blue Book 

also showcased some of their favorite aspects of the 2012 Nissan Juke. As 

for performance, the 2012 Nissan Juke provides Intelligent All-Wheel Drive 

(AWD) with Torque Vectoring. This innovative system creates a 50/50 front/ 


OEPPA inks pact for production of special book on Duqm SEZ 

Business Alert 


MUSCAT — The Special Economic 

Zone Authority at Duqm (SEZAD) 

will tap the unrivalled expertise and 

resources of Oman Establishment for 

Press, Publication and Advertising 

(OEPPA), publishers of Oman Daily 

Observer and Oman Arabic Daily, in 

the joint production of a special book 

to promote the vision and objectives 

of the Sultanate’s biggest free zone 

development on the Wusta coast. 

An agreement to this effect was 

signed here yesterday between Dr 

Ibrahim Ahmed al Kindi, CEO of 

OEPPA, and Lee Chee Khian, CEO of 

SEZAD. Also present at the signing, 

which took place at the Medinat al 

Ilam ofices of OEPPA, were senior of- 

icials from both organisations. 

Under the agreement, the newly 

established Communications and Special 

Projects Department of OEPPA 

will collaborate with SEZAD in the 

compilation and production of a highquality 

book that will detail the Authority’s 

vision for the establishment 

of a mega-industrial and economic 

hub at Duqm, anchored by a worldscale 

port and dry-dock complex. 

The bilingual English-Arabic book 

will be produced in the style of a fully-illustrated 

coffee table publication 

that will offer, at a glance, a comprehensive 

account of SEZAD’s strategy 

for developing one of the largest free 

zones in the Middle East. 

Sadiq Mohammed al Lawati 

Through a series of interviews 

and articles, the Authority will outline 

opportunities for investment in 

a broad spectrum of industrial and 

economic sectors, including reining 

and petrochemicals, mining and 

mineral processing, steel production, 

light manufacturing and downstream 

processing, warehousing and logistics, 

aquaculture and ish processing, 

tourism and hotel development, utilities, 

and so on. 

The Special Economic Zone at 

Duqm is envisaged as a strategicallylocated, 

multi-industrial and commercial 

hub in the Al Wusta Governorate 

which will drive the Sultanate’s socioeconomic 

growth over the long term. 

With a regulatory regime that allows 

up to 100 per cent foreign ownership 

and tax exemptions, the SEZ scheme 

is expected to create 20,000 new jobs 

and attract $15 billion in investment 

within the next 10 years. 

Commenting on the signiicance 

of the publication project, Sadiq Mohammed 

al Lawati, Head of PR and 

Media and Secretary to the Board of 

Directors, SEZAD, said: “This book 

will serve as a valuable tool to market 

Duqm locally, regionally and globally. 

Through this high-quality publication, 

we shall be able to provide prospective 

investors with a detailed account 

of the investment opportunities that 

Duqm has to offer, along with useful 

information about the regulatory 

framework in place within the SEZ, facilities 

and tax incentives available to 

investors, and the support extended 

by the Authority and the government 

to those who wish to set up their businesses 

at Duqm. Furthermore, this 

publication will also help document 

the vision and strategies of the Authority, 

as well as its ambitions for the 

future.” 

Al Lawati further added: “We are 

delighted to partner with OEPPA in 

the production of this book because 

of its formidable media resources, the 

expertise and caliber of its editorial 

team, and its extensive distribution 

capabilities. We have conidence in 

their ability to produce and publish a 

high-quality publication that relects 

the vision and prestige of the Authority.” 

— Picture by Huda al Bahriya 

rear power split and distributes torque from the side to the rear for improved 

cornering. 

The Nissan Juke was deemed safe by the Insurance Institute for Highway 

Safety in 2011. The IIHS awarded the 2011 Nissan Juke a ‘Top Safety Pick’ 

rating. 

As always, the rating is only given to vehicles that achieve the agency’s 

highest rating of ‘Good’ in front, rear and side impact protection as well as 

being equipped with electronic stability control and earn a good rating in roof 

strength. 

“Nissan’s commitment to safety and innovation is relected in the Nissan 

Juke receiving the Top Safety Pick from IIHS,” commented a senior SBA Oficial. 

“The Nissan Juke has a unique combination of motorsports-inspired design 

and unexpected levels of technology and safety features — all starting at a 

very competitive price tag. 

SBA is largely committed to supporting Nissan’s growth in the Sultanate 

through major emphasis on customer satisfaction and by providing worldclass 

after-sales services in Oman. With a national network of more than 17 

showrooms, 22 Service centres and 35 Spare Parts outlets, SBA has further 

built upon its legacy of trust, excellent customer service and providing value 

for money to each of its customers. 

Mars opens 8th outlet in Oman 

MARS International LLC, one of the leading retail groups of Sultanate opened 

its eighth outlet in Al Qurum under the auspices of Shaikh Ibrahim bin Yahya 

al Rawahi, Wali of Bausher yesterday. 

The hypermarket, spread over three stories showcases the best quality 

products available in the Sultanate with a wide variety of sections comprising 

of FMCG, electronics, IT products, Stationery and many more. The Products 

arranged in three loors ensure the customers are getting a much delightful 

shopping experience. Moreover, a “Vegetable Garden” has been set to provide 

fresh fruits and vegetables. 

There is ample parking facility and 9 checkout counters for a hassle free 

shopping experience. 

“We have crafted an entirely new layout for the hypermarket which will 

enable a perfect shopping environment to the customers. The outlet has 

been blended with passion, knowledge and excitement with outstanding 

quality, value and variety to offer a one of a kind shopping experience to our 

customers. Our aim of ten branches across Sultanate will be fulilled by the 

end of 2013”, V T Vinod, Managing Director, Mars International LLC said. 

“I would say the people created the brand ‘Mars’ rather saying we created 

it”, Naveej Vinod, Executive Director, Mars International Group added. “We are 

planning to open outlets in other parts of Oman including Wadi al Kabir, Sur, 

Al Khoud and many more. Also the group is sketching huge expansion plans in 

other GCC countries”.

Rent-A-Car 

Latest Model Cars — Excellent Service 

Saloon Cars, 4WD, Pick-ups, Buses 

Luxury Cars with Chauffeur 

Al Khuwair: 2448 9248/9648 

Ruwi: 24707074, Qurum: 24691110 

Mct. Airport: 24521189, 

Sohar: 26845565 

Salalah: 23296246, 

Sll.Airport 99323619 

SPECIAL Rates on 

New Cars & 4 WDs 

RENTING & LEASING 

Tours and Airport Transfer 

Tel: 24582663 

GSM: 95859497, 

Fax: 24582664, 

abcrent@omantel.net.om 

MARBLE Marble 

polishing and 

crystallisation building, 

cleaning floor, floor 

polishing, carpet, sofa 

shampooing, pest 

control, anti-termite, 

shifting, maintenance. 

99504275. 

· · · · · 

HOOPOE SMART 

CARD SERVICES Sanad 

Service Centre 

We provide the 

following services: 

Typing, clearing all 

transactions related 

to government 

departments and 

private sector, eg 

labour agreement for 

Omanis and expatriates, 

typing of labour 

card for expatriates, 

typing of visas and 

document clearing 

from immigration 

department, Ministry of 

Commerce & Industry, 

Ministry of Manpower, 

Commercial names 

reservation, renewal of 

commercial registration, 

renewal of OCCI 

membership, attestation 

of all documents from 

OCCI & Ministry of 

Foreign Affairs. Renewal 

of labour cards through 

electronic payment or 

cash payment. Please 

note you may deliver 

your transaction 

through our e-mail 

and our representative 

will deliver it to your 

ofice personally after 

completion. Our address 

is: Ruwi, near Gulf 

Transport Co. (GTC), 

Fax: 24793331, GSM: 

98793665 (Direct) 

99231500. 

E-mail: hoopoeoman@ 

gmail.com 

AL FAHAD 

TRANSLATION 

SERVICES 

Translation of all 

kinds of legal, medical, 

and other types of 

documents, Commercial 

Agencies, etc. Ruwi, near 

Gulf Transport Co (GTC), 

Fax: 24794286. GSM: 

98793665 (Direct) 

95959838. E-mail: 

bptland@gmail.com 

LANDRAIL TRADING 

& SERVICES (Smart 

Card) Ruwi, near 

Gulf Transport Co. 

(GTC), Tel: 24789117, 

GSM 98793666 (Dir), 

96777170. E-mail: 

landrailoman@gmail. 

com 

· · · · · 

Services 

PEST CONTROL 

OMAN CO. LLC. 

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: 233, Wadi Kabir, 

Postal Code: 117, 

SULTANATE OF OMAN 

FOR Building 

maintenances and 

repairs. 95218056 

· · · · · 

INSTALLING, transferring 

furniture. 92471173. 

· · · · · 

INSTALLING, transferring 

furniture. 98949690. 

· · · · · 

1. AC, Fridge & Washing 

Machine Servicing & 

Repairing 2. Painting, 

Plumbing, Electrical 

& Carpentry Works. 

Contact: 97014234/ 

97123569, 24504281. 

· · · · · 

MURAHIB HOTEL 

APARTMENTS 

welcome our 

valuable GUESTS to 

our excellent 

location, 

AL KHUWAIR, near 

AL ZAWAWI 

MOSQUE, a single 

bedroom, a 

bedroom & majlis, 

two bedrooms & 

majlis. 

24478087, 

Fax: 24482454. 

QURUM BEACH HOTEL 

24564070. 

· · · · · 

REQUIRE Computer 

Engineer, specialised 

in networking and 

hardware. Contact: 

99337414. 

· · · · · 

Wanted female in 

marketing. 

92868636. 

· · · · · 

Guest House 

For Sale 

REAL estate services, 

renting, selling and 

brokerage for lands, 

construction contracting 

with special prices and 

service. 94222882. 

· · · · · 

Situation Vacant 

SALES clerks 

required. • Two clerks 

• Experience in the 

field of decor • Fluent 

Arabic/English skills 

• Holding a valid 

licence. 95453149. 

· · · · · 

Sunday 

APRIL 14, 2013 JUMADA AL THANIA 3, 1434 AH 

www.omanobserver.om facebook.com/oman observer twitter.com/omanobserver editor@omanobserver.om AppStore 

SAVILLS OMAN 

QUALITY homes 

for rent throughout 

Capital Area 

Muscat. Contact: 

24692151. 

www.sav-oman. 

com 

OFFICES, shops, 

lats (Al Khuwair), 

furnished 1 bedroom 

deluxe lats (Al 

Ghubra), new 6 

bedroom villas 

(Mumtaz), lats (Wadi 

Kabir) 

96596348. 

· · · · · 

EXCELLENT 4 bedroom 

apartment with utilities 

in Al Hail. 92817777. 

· · · · · 

A BUILDING at Falaj 

A’Sham, besides the 

express way, consists of 

wide shops, 16 lats with 

ACs and kitchens. 

22019136, 97719555. 

· · · · · 

A FLAT for rent in 

Wattayah near Abu 

Bakir Mosque (5 

bedrooms and 3 wash 

rooms), recently 

renovated, suitable for 

single company staff. For 

enquiries contact. 

99245088. 

· · · · · 

RESIDENTIAL Villa 5 

bedrooms, 2 sitting 

rooms, fully furnished at 

Al Ghubrah near Indian 

School. 

93632943, 

24482230. 

· · · · · 

FLAT for rent in Al 

Hail South near Sultan 

School, 3 bedrooms, 

furnished. 95120900. 

· · · · · 

SHOWROOM/Shops for 

rent in Barka industrial 

area. 99374727. 

· · · · · 

A BUILDING in south 

Al Hail consisting of 18 

apartments and 6 shops 

with ACs. The apartment 

consists of two rooms 

and a living room, to be 

rented to one direction 

or certiied companies. 

94222882. 

· · · · · 

VILLA for rent in 

Wattayah 3 bedroom. 

99071071, 

99469636. 

· · · · · 

PENTHOUSE, 3 

bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 

kitchen & sitting room, 

balcony. 99332907. 

· · · · · 

For Rent 

TWO bedroom lat at 

Wadi Kabir, near Sri 

Lankan school. 

99319482. 

· · · · · 

FLAT at Darsait, near 

Church. 95347496, 

92107267. 

· · · · · 

1 AND 2 BR lats with 

majlis, 2 baths & wash 

area, at Darsait. 

99466532. 

· · · · · 

ILYA MANPOWER 

HOUSEMAIDS 

available from 

Philippines, Sri 

Lanka & Africa. 

All types of 

SKILLED 

WORKERS 

(Waiters, 

Cooks, Drivers, 

Constructions, 

Industrials, Hotels 

& Ministries...) 

Tel/Fax: 

22050086 

Hail Shimaly al Jabri 

Bldg, next to Bahja 

Mall. 

Sale/Rent/Purchase 

REQUIRED immediately 

on sale, lease or 

purchase plots in Seeb 

or nearest places. We 

sell your industrial and 

commercial land. 

95490842, 

99323957. 

· · · · · 

ALL Season clinic 

Ayurvedic Treatment, 

Yoga massage & 

slimming. Contact: 

92504980/24475280. 

· · · · · 

Car Buy & Sell 

IF you are interested 

to sell your cars, send 

SMS, we pay cash. 

Contact: 

99333088. 

· · · · · 

FRIENDS MANPOWER: 

Filipino housemaids 

and all kinds of workers. 

24489268 Tel/Fax: 

24478153. 

· · · · · 

Good News 

Manpower 

CLASSIFIED SECTION: 

FREE 

INFORMATION 

ABOUT ISLAM 

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 

KIA Sportage EXI TE, 

4WD, 2009 model for 

sale. 98262308. 

· · · · · 

2007 - 2008 Model 

used cars for sale, three 

Corollas (M/T) and one 

Yaris (A/T). 

99563922. 

· · · · · 

Vehicle Sale 

Buying/Selling 

BUY and sell — Land 

anywhere in Muscat 

97222272. 

· · · · · 

Driving School 

MORNING STAR 

DRIVING SCHOOL — 

Learn driving manual/ 

automatic with 

professionally 

qualified male/ female 

trainees in brand new 

cars and flexible 

payments. Call: 

99043283, 

24478589, 24478505, 

www.chamberman. 

com/member/ 

morningstar www. 

morningstar.com 

· · · · · 

Ali al Maashari: 99639264 

Salim al Naamani: 99355675 

GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! 

GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! 

Available on very GOOD prices 

HP 1050 Wireless Printer 

RO 13.900 only 

HP 4610 4 in 1 Printer 


HP OJ 8100 wifi Printer 


HP LED 18.5” Monitor 


AII HP, Epson, Canon, Lexmark, 

Samsung Cartridges also available 

COMPUTER SUPPLIES 

Ruwi: 24792792 

INDIAN female, 28 

years, MSc with good 

computer knowledge 

and 4 years experience 

in Oman, looking 

for good placement. 

99189614. 

· · · · · 

ASST General Manager, 

MCom, MBA, Indian 

male, 25 years 

experience (10 in India, 

3 in Saudi Arabia & 12 

in Oman) as Finance 

Manager, capable to 

handle overall business 

operations as Asst 

General Manager to 

develop and grow 

the business (Ready 

to join immediately). 

Please contact: 

99509450. E-mail: 

gm.anand2013@yahoo. 

com 

· · · · · 

FINANCE MANAGER, 

MCom, MBA, Indian 

male 25 years 

experience (including 

3 in Saudi Arabia 

& 12 in Oman) in 

Accounts, Finance, 

Budgeting, Cashlow, 

MIS Reports & Business 

development. (Ready to 

join immediately) Please 

contact: 94117488, 

E-mail: fmanand@ 

yahoo.com. 

· · · · · 

LOOKING for job, House 

boy/ House hold etc 

well educated well 

mannered and faithful 

+ Honest worked for 

any families. Please call: 

93285453. 

· · · · · 

10 YEARS experienced, 

sales and store keeper 

looking for job. 

96101540 

· · · · · 

GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! 

Situation Wanted 

DIRECT: 24649595 — FAX : 24649590 

e-mail: classified@omandaily.om 

PORTA CABINS / TURNKEY CAMPS 

Our Services Manufacturing, Erection, Mobilization. 

Our Products Camps, Kitchens, Offices, Ablutions 

Phone 24503725 Fax 24503723 

Mobile 95228450 Mobile 99277505 

e-mail info@speedhouseoman.com 

Web www.speedhouseoman.com 

SPEED HOUSE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION LLC 

GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! 

ACCOUNTANT having 

7 years experience 

and 5 years middle 

east experience in the 

ield of Construction, 

Accounts and 

Administration with 

knowledge of SAP 

software. Currently 

in Oman on visit visa, 

seeking for suitable 

position. Contact 

93630285/96536295, 

E-mail: juryckpdel@ 

yahoo.com. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male B Tech 

electronics and 

instrumentation 

engineer having 2yrs 

experience in Oil & 

Gas projects in India 

seeking suitable 

position in projects, 

design & maintenance 

NOC-Release available: 

91154728. 

· · · · · 

GENERAL manager 

with more than 

20 (Twenty) years 

experience in civil 

construction, currently 

working in a reputed 

construction company, 

seeks change. 

94006761. 

· · · · · 

MALE 27years BBA, 5 

years experience in 

sales & Purchasing 

sector. Working as 

Purchaser in MNC, 

seeks a suitable job. 

95417920. vimalff@ 

gmail.com 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male, 35, M.com 

(tax) accountant, more 

than 8 years experience 

in accounts, 2 years in 

Oman. Seeks placement. 

98563942. 

E-mail: ajithparappur@ 

yahoo.com 

· · · · · 

al-haditha 

AUTO REPAIR 

CENTRE 

(ROP approved Grade A Workshop) 

HURRY! HURRY! 

FREE AC CHECKUP 

with every Service 

of your Vehicle 

50% DISCOUNT 

on every 3rd Service 

(Offer valid for a limited period only) 

Conditions apply 

Best Mechanical & 

Electrical Repairs 

Top Class Denting & Painting 

with Quality Service at Very 

Reasonable cost 

Call: 24595951/Fax: 24597979 

Workshop@ahoman.com 

www.AlHadithaOman.com 

Tours 

DOLPHIN WATCHING 

Snorkelling & Sunset 

Trip 

Private Luxury Yacht 

charter 

For booking: 

94110088 

Coral Ocean Tours LLC 

E-mail: 

coraloceantours@ 

gmail.com 

Web: www. 

coraloceantours.com 

MARINE Tourism 

92808636, e-mail: 

info@alainain.com 

Umra/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. 

LOST 

RENJITH Rajan has 

lost Indian Passport 

No F-7398172. Finder 

please handover to ROP. 

· · · · · 

MOLLETI Simhachalam 

has lost Indian Passport 

No F-9750903. Finder 

please handover to ROP. 

· · · · · 

Classifieds 

Continued on P21

B-Tech mechanical 

engineer (age-27) with 

51 / years experience 

2 

in construction 

industry (structural 

steel projects, oil and 

gas piping jobs, MEP 

projects), seeks a 

suitable placement in 

procurement/sales 

sector. Having valid 

Oman driving licence. 


95124592. E-mail: 

aneeshmenon999@ 

gmail.com 

· · · · · 

PROJECT Manager/ 

client representative 

— ten years client 

representative and 

twenty years plus 

as contractor, thirty 

years plus available. 

95204002. 

· · · · · 


FEMALE, graduated 

from Sultan Qaboos 

University - Tourism 

Operations Management 

is looking for a 

suitable job. Two years 

experience on coordination. 

92440509/ 

95247995. noor_313@ 

hotmail.com 

· · · · · 


years, BE Electronics 

& Communication, 2 

years work experience 

in procurement/ 

administration (Dubai) 

seeks suitable job. 

95986104. E-mail: 

rodriguespreethi@ 

gmail.com 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male 41 years, 

Diploma Engineering 

in Electronics with 10+ 

years of experience in 

sales in India (furniture 

industry), seeking 

suitable placement, 

holding valid 

Oman D/L. Contact 

96151002. E-mail: 

binomathew.2008@ 

rediffmail.com. 

· · · · · 

SRI LANKAN Muslim, 

well experienced trust 

worthy (bus/light 

vehicle) driver (45 

age) worked in Saudi, 

speaking Arabic, Hindi 

and English. Looking for 

a suitable placement. 


+94776184096. 

· · · · · 

Mailing Address: OBSERVER CLASSIFIEDS SECTION, P.O. Box 974, Muscat, P.C. 100 

Location: OEPPA HEAD OFFICE, Medinat Al Alam, 

Near Ministry of Information 24649 593, 594, 594, 595, 596, 597 

& OEPPA Ruwi Office, Next to Dhofar Bldg, Behind Ruwi Police Station 24785668 

QUALIFIED Indian 

Architect three years 

Oman experience with 

CAD, 3DMax, Revit 

searching for immediate 

placement with 

consultants. Contact: 

95328729. 

· · · · · 

MECHANICAL engineer 

with professional 

certiicate in PPM, 6 

months experience in 

production ield seeks 


Contact: 98947181. 

· · · · · 

ASST general manager, 

M.Com, MBA, Indian 



3 in Saudi Arabia and 

12 in Oman) as inance 

manager, capable to 


operations as Asst. 

general manager to 

develop and grow the 

business (Ready to join 

immediately). Please . 

contact: 99509450. 

E-mail: gm.anand2013@ 

yahoo.com 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male, 41 

years accounts/ 

inance, data entry, 

computer operating, 

stores keeping, sales 

and purchase entries. 

BA (Eco), DCA, Auto- 

Cad, Tally 9 Wings, 

Focus A/C packages 

done. 10 years India 

exp in accounts, 

currently working 

in reputed company 

in Oman seeks 

suitable placement. 

95244766. 

· · · · · 

17 YEARS experienced 

Accountant, seeks 

suitable position. 

Contact: +968 

95370549 or e-mail: 

nilappana1970@ 

yahoo.co.in 

· · · · · 


B-Tech electrical 

engineer (age- 

26) with 4 years 

experience in power 

distribution (switch 

gear projects), seeking 

a suitable placement in 

marketing/sales sector. 

Having valid Oman 

driving licence. Contact: 

98568796. E-mail: 

jijishkumartv@gmail. 

com 

· · · · · 

B TECH graduate in 

electrical, 2 years 

experience, Indian 

male, 27 years, seeks 



95127014. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male, BE 

Mechanical, 4 years 

experience, PG diploma 

in pipeline engineering, 

seeks suitable 

placement. 

98267801. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male, 

graduate having 

diploma in computer 

management, working 

as Logistics Supervisor 

(PDO approved) with 

14 years of experience 

in logistic ield in 

Oman, seeks suitable 

placement. Contact: 

96093876. 

· · · · · 

DEGREE in Civil Engg 

(BE) 5 years exp in 

Muscat. Indian male 

(28) well exp in govt 

and multi storeyed 

projects, seeks suitable 

position in reputed 

company. Oil and gas 

preferred. Contact: 

96381205. E-mail: 

civilenggjob2013@ 

gmail.com 

· · · · · 

PAYROLL & payable 

accountant , NOC 

release available, I 

will be available in 

Oman till April 20. 

BCom, 29 years, Indian 

male, total 7 years 

experience. Last 5½ 

yrs working in Oman 

as payroll & payable 

accountant. Also prefer 

inventory & logistic 

co-ordinator position, 

Can join immediately. 

96979350, 

98738602. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN female 26 yrs, 

(diploma nursing) with 

MoH licence, 5 yrs exp, 

presently working 

in Oman, seeks 

suitable placement 

in hospital. 

96114228. 

· · · · · 

OMAN / CLASSIFIEDS 

Omantel broadband aims to cater to 95pc of population 




known for its three superior qualities 

such as the Broadest Choice, Widest 

Coverage, and Superior Quality. 

With these three unique features, 

the committed telecom provider is all 

set to cater to the 95 per cent of Oman 

population, according to its Chief Executive 

Oficer. Currently Omantel is 

able to provide broadband services to 

88 per cent of the population. 




aspiration is to provide broadband 

coverage to 95 per cent of the population. 

Currently, we can provide broadband 

services to 88 per cent of the 

population”, Samy al Ghassany, Chief 

Operating Oficer of Omantel told media 

fraternity yesterday. 

In the meeting, Omantel illustrated 

the current year’s and targeted broadband 

population coverage across the 

Sultanate, including Muscat, Salalah, 

Batinah, Buraimi, Duqm, Ibra, Ibri, 

Musandam, Nizwa, Bahla and Sur. 

“We are committed to provide our 

customers the best broadband experience 

and Omantel will continue to 

stick onto our three kudos, the broadest 

choice, the widest coverage and 

superior quality of broadband services”, 

Samy added. 

Broadest choice 

“We aim to provide all customers 

with a broadband service which its 

their speciic requirements, leveraging 

our ixed and mobile networks. 

Our range of offerings is wide, and we 

trust we can offer something for eve- 


customers the best broadband 

experience and Omantel will continue to 


choice, the widest coverage and superior 

quality of broadband services” 

ryone”. 

For light and occasional users, 

which typically uses broadband on 

sporadic basis, and with low volumes, 

Omantel offers mobile broadband 

package from RO1 with a 1GB allowance 

and Home Broadband services 

from RO 7 per month. 

For the connected users who always 

want to stay in touch and who 

often has a smartphone or a tablet at 

hand, Omantel offers mobile broadband 

package for RO 5 with 1 GB included 

and a Mada 10 package which 

comes with 500 MB of included data 

in addition to 200 minutes of voice. 

“For the connected users, our unlimited 

Home Broadband is uniquely 

positioned. It provides everyone at 

home with the opportunity to download 

as much as they want.” Al Ghassany 

added. Omantel’s Home Broadband, 

is offered at various speeds and 

from RO 20 per month inclusive of 

ixed line rental and free minutes of 

voice usage. 

For multimedia and gaming users, 

who typically have high requirements 

also for download speeds, Omantel 

provides Home Broadband packages 

with speeds up to 40 Mbps with unlimited 

download as well as Mobile 

Broadband packages for up to 30 GB 

of monthly usage. With Omantel, Mobile 

broadband for 3.5G and 4G has 

the same price. 

Omantel is one of the irst operators 

in the region to introduce LTE 

technology. By end of 2012, Omantel 

also introduced the LTE FDD technology 

using 1.8 GHz spectrum which 

had been made available for 4G services. 

“We took an important decision 

to adopt LTE FDD technology as this 

is in line with global and regional 

trends. This will ultimately beneit 

our customers, as majority of the 

smartphones and devices support the 

LTE FDD version particularly in 1.8 

GHz spectrum range”. 

The adoption of FDD has enabled 

the service provider to introduce 

more devices including the 4G enabled 

smartphones and modems from 

Samsung, Nokia and Huawei. These 

smartphones and devices allow its 

customers to truly enjoy the beneits 

of mobile broadband, be it based on 

3.5G or 4G technology. 

Updated coverage maps for 3.5G 

and 4G are available on www.omantel. 

om. 

Superior quality 

Addressing customer´s quality experience, 

Samy Ahmed Al Ghassany 

said, “Quality has always been a priority 

to us as we continuously work to 

improve our customers’ experience.” 

Investments in high-speed redundant 

networks are critical to ensure a 

TUNISIAN male, having 

4 years experience as 

Tourist Guide, knows 

English, Arabic, French, 

Spanish, Italian looking 

for suitable placement. 

Contact 92623297. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN with 5 

years experience as 

driver seeks suitable 

openings as Driver for 

companies. 

Knowledge of Arabic 

and Hindi. Contact 

93324375 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male (30 years) 

M Sc postgraduate 

having 9 years of rich 

experience in Admin/ 

secretarial ields, seeks 


95912433. 

· · · · · 

EVENTS and Marketing 

Communication 

Professional with 18 

years of consolidated 

experience in Marketing, 

Corporate and Brand 

Communication, Event 

Operations, Business 

Management and 

Resource Consulting 

Skills seeks Career 

Opportunity. 

Indian Male on Visit 

Visa: Mob- 96377131. 

Email- igeez.marcom@ 

gmail.com 

· · · · 

INDIAN male, B Com, 

ICWAI intermediate 

having 5 years 

experience in accounts, 

credit operations, 

audit, insurance, 

cashlow statement 

and inalisation, seeks 



· · · · · 

CLASSIFIED SECTION 

RUWI: 24785668 

Behind Royal Oman 

Police, Adjacent to 

Dhofar Building 

21 

high quality experience. Omantel has 

already invested in a redundant nationwide 

backbone network as well as 

a global network consisting of 9 submarine 

cable systems. This currently 

provides for 50 GPBS international 

connectivity. 

Best broadband experience 

“Ultimately, the promise we would 

like to extend to our customers is to 

provide the best broadband experience. 

Our commitment has been and 

is to relentlessly work to provide 

more choice, broader coverage and 

a superior quality. And we recognize 

the importance of always meeting and 

exceeding our customers’ expectations.” 

Samy al Ghassany further said. 

Omantel is the leading provider of 

broadband services in the Sultanate of 

Oman connecting individuals and corporate 

customers in different regions 

through advanced ixed, mobile and 

Internet network. By offering innovative 

products and unmatched aftersales 

service, Omantel has the largest 

customer base in the Sultanate with 

more than 2.95 million customers. 

Omantel has been recently selected 

as the winner of the “Platinum Award 

for Quality and Best Trade Name” by 

European “OtherWays” Association 

for the quality of its network and efforts 

made to improve the customer 

experience.

B-Tech mechanical 

engineer (age-27) with 

51 / years experience 

2 

in construction 

industry (structural 

steel projects, oil and 

gas piping jobs, MEP 

projects), seeks a 

suitable placement in 

procurement/sales 

sector. Having valid 

Oman driving licence. 


95124592. E-mail: 

aneeshmenon999@ 

gmail.com 

· · · · · 

PROJECT Manager/ 

client representative 

— ten years client 

representative and 

twenty years plus 

as contractor, thirty 

years plus available. 

95204002. 

· · · · · 


FEMALE, graduated 

from Sultan Qaboos 

University - Tourism 

Operations Management 

is looking for a 

suitable job. Two years 

experience on coordination. 

92440509/ 

95247995. noor_313@ 

hotmail.com 

· · · · · 


years, BE Electronics 

& Communication, 2 

years work experience 

in procurement/ 

administration (Dubai) 

seeks suitable job. 

95986104. E-mail: 

rodriguespreethi@ 

gmail.com 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male 41 years, 

Diploma Engineering 

in Electronics with 10+ 

years of experience in 

sales in India (furniture 

industry), seeking 

suitable placement, 

holding valid 

Oman D/L. Contact 

96151002. E-mail: 

binomathew.2008@ 

rediffmail.com. 

· · · · · 

SRI LANKAN Muslim, 

well experienced trust 

worthy (bus/light 

vehicle) driver (45 

age) worked in Saudi, 

speaking Arabic, Hindi 

and English. Looking for 



+94776184096. 

· · · · · 

Mailing Address: OBSERVER CLASSIFIEDS SECTION, P.O. Box 974, Muscat, P.C. 100 

Location: OEPPA HEAD OFFICE, Medinat Al Alam, 

Near Ministry of Information 24649 593, 594, 594, 595, 596, 597 

& OEPPA Ruwi Office, Next to Dhofar Bldg, Behind Ruwi Police Station 24785668 

QUALIFIED Indian 

Architect three years 

Oman experience with 

CAD, 3DMax, Revit 

searching for immediate 

placement with 

consultants. Contact: 

95328729. 

· · · · · 

MECHANICAL engineer 

with professional 

certiicate in PPM, 6 

months experience in 

production ield seeks 



· · · · · 

ASST general manager, 

M.Com, MBA, Indian 



3 in Saudi Arabia and 

12 in Oman) as inance 

manager, capable to 


operations as Asst. 

general manager to 

develop and grow the 

business (Ready to join 

immediately). Please . 

contact: 99509450. 

E-mail: gm.anand2013@ 

yahoo.com 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male, 41 

years accounts/ 

inance, data entry, 

computer operating, 

stores keeping, sales 

and purchase entries. 

BA (Eco), DCA, Auto- 

Cad, Tally 9 Wings, 

Focus A/C packages 

done. 10 years India 

exp in accounts, 

currently working 

in reputed company 

in Oman seeks 


95244766. 

· · · · · 

17 YEARS experienced 

Accountant, seeks 

suitable position. 

Contact: +968 

95370549 or e-mail: 

nilappana1970@ 

yahoo.co.in 

· · · · · 


B-Tech electrical 

engineer (age- 

26) with 4 years 

experience in power 

distribution (switch 

gear projects), seeking 

a suitable placement in 

marketing/sales sector. 

Having valid Oman 

driving licence. Contact: 

98568796. E-mail: 

jijishkumartv@gmail. 

com 

· · · · · 

B TECH graduate in 

electrical, 2 years 

experience, Indian 

male, 27 years, seeks 



95127014. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male, BE 

Mechanical, 4 years 

experience, PG diploma 

in pipeline engineering, 

seeks suitable 

placement. 

98267801. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male, 

graduate having 

diploma in computer 

management, working 

as Logistics Supervisor 

(PDO approved) with 

14 years of experience 

in logistic ield in 

Oman, seeks suitable 

placement. Contact: 

96093876. 

· · · · · 

DEGREE in Civil Engg 

(BE) 5 years exp in 

Muscat. Indian male 

(28) well exp in govt 

and multi storeyed 

projects, seeks suitable 

position in reputed 

company. Oil and gas 

preferred. Contact: 

96381205. E-mail: 

civilenggjob2013@ 

gmail.com 

· · · · · 

PAYROLL & payable 

accountant , NOC 

release available, I 

will be available in 

Oman till April 20. 

BCom, 29 years, Indian 

male, total 7 years 

experience. Last 5½ 

yrs working in Oman 

as payroll & payable 

accountant. Also prefer 

inventory & logistic 

co-ordinator position, 

Can join immediately. 

96979350, 

98738602. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN female 26 yrs, 

(diploma nursing) with 

MoH licence, 5 yrs exp, 

presently working 

in Oman, seeks 

suitable placement 

in hospital. 

96114228. 

· · · · · 

OMAN / CLASSIFIEDS 

Omantel broadband aims to cater to 95pc of population 




known for its three superior qualities 

such as the Broadest Choice, Widest 

Coverage, and Superior Quality. 

With these three unique features, 

the committed telecom provider is all 

set to cater to the 95 per cent of Oman 

population, according to its Chief Executive 

Oficer. Currently Omantel is 

able to provide broadband services to 

88 per cent of the population. 




aspiration is to provide broadband 

coverage to 95 per cent of the population. 

Currently, we can provide broadband 

services to 88 per cent of the 

population”, Samy al Ghassany, Chief 

Operating Oficer of Omantel told media 

fraternity yesterday. 

In the meeting, Omantel illustrated 

the current year’s and targeted broadband 

population coverage across the 

Sultanate, including Muscat, Salalah, 

Batinah, Buraimi, Duqm, Ibra, Ibri, 

Musandam, Nizwa, Bahla and Sur. 


customers the best broadband experience 

and Omantel will continue to 


choice, the widest coverage and 

superior quality of broadband services”, 

Samy added. 

Broadest choice 

“We aim to provide all customers 

with a broadband service which its 

their speciic requirements, leveraging 

our ixed and mobile networks. 

Our range of offerings is wide, and we 

trust we can offer something for eve- 


customers the best broadband 

experience and Omantel will continue to 


choice, the widest coverage and superior 

quality of broadband services” 

ryone”. 

For light and occasional users, 

which typically uses broadband on 

sporadic basis, and with low volumes, 

Omantel offers mobile broadband 

package from RO1 with a 1GB allowance 

and Home Broadband services 

from RO 7 per month. 

For the connected users who always 

want to stay in touch and who 

often has a smartphone or a tablet at 

hand, Omantel offers mobile broadband 

package for RO 5 with 1 GB included 

and a Mada 10 package which 

comes with 500 MB of included data 

in addition to 200 minutes of voice. 

“For the connected users, our unlimited 

Home Broadband is uniquely 

positioned. It provides everyone at 

home with the opportunity to download 

as much as they want.” Al Ghassany 

added. Omantel’s Home Broadband, 

is offered at various speeds and 

from RO 20 per month inclusive of 

ixed line rental and free minutes of 

voice usage. 

For multimedia and gaming users, 

who typically have high requirements 

also for download speeds, Omantel 

provides Home Broadband packages 

with speeds up to 40 Mbps with unlimited 

download as well as Mobile 

Broadband packages for up to 30 GB 

of monthly usage. With Omantel, Mobile 

broadband for 3.5G and 4G has 

the same price. 

Omantel is one of the irst operators 

in the region to introduce LTE 

technology. By end of 2012, Omantel 

also introduced the LTE FDD technology 

using 1.8 GHz spectrum which 

had been made available for 4G services. 

“We took an important decision 

to adopt LTE FDD technology as this 

is in line with global and regional 

trends. This will ultimately beneit 

our customers, as majority of the 

smartphones and devices support the 

LTE FDD version particularly in 1.8 

GHz spectrum range”. 

The adoption of FDD has enabled 

the service provider to introduce 

more devices including the 4G enabled 

smartphones and modems from 

Samsung, Nokia and Huawei. These 

smartphones and devices allow its 

customers to truly enjoy the beneits 

of mobile broadband, be it based on 

3.5G or 4G technology. 

Updated coverage maps for 3.5G 

and 4G are available on www.omantel. 

om. 

Superior quality 

Addressing customer´s quality experience, 

Samy Ahmed Al Ghassany 

said, “Quality has always been a priority 

to us as we continuously work to 

improve our customers’ experience.” 

Investments in high-speed redundant 

networks are critical to ensure a 

TUNISIAN male, having 

4 years experience as 

Tourist Guide, knows 

English, Arabic, French, 

Spanish, Italian looking 

for suitable placement. 

Contact 92623297. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN with 5 

years experience as 

driver seeks suitable 

openings as Driver for 

companies. 

Knowledge of Arabic 

and Hindi. Contact 

93324375 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male (30 years) 

M Sc postgraduate 

having 9 years of rich 

experience in Admin/ 

secretarial ields, seeks 


95912433. 

· · · · · 

EVENTS and Marketing 

Communication 

Professional with 18 

years of consolidated 

experience in Marketing, 

Corporate and Brand 

Communication, Event 

Operations, Business 

Management and 

Resource Consulting 

Skills seeks Career 

Opportunity. 

Indian Male on Visit 

Visa: Mob- 96377131. 

Email- igeez.marcom@ 

gmail.com 

· · · · 

INDIAN male, B Com, 

ICWAI intermediate 

having 5 years 

experience in accounts, 

credit operations, 

audit, insurance, 

cashlow statement 

and inalisation, seeks 



· · · · · 

CLASSIFIED SECTION 

RUWI: 24785668 

Behind Royal Oman 

Police, Adjacent to 

Dhofar Building 

21 

high quality experience. Omantel has 

already invested in a redundant nationwide 

backbone network as well as 

a global network consisting of 9 submarine 

cable systems. This currently 

provides for 50 GPBS international 

connectivity. 

Best broadband experience 

“Ultimately, the promise we would 

like to extend to our customers is to 

provide the best broadband experience. 

Our commitment has been and 

is to relentlessly work to provide 

more choice, broader coverage and 

a superior quality. And we recognize 

the importance of always meeting and 

exceeding our customers’ expectations.” 

Samy al Ghassany further said. 

Omantel is the leading provider of 

broadband services in the Sultanate of 

Oman connecting individuals and corporate 

customers in different regions 

through advanced ixed, mobile and 

Internet network. By offering innovative 

products and unmatched aftersales 

service, Omantel has the largest 

customer base in the Sultanate with 

more than 2.95 million customers. 

Omantel has been recently selected 

as the winner of the “Platinum Award 

for Quality and Best Trade Name” by 

European “OtherWays” Association 

for the quality of its network and efforts 

made to improve the customer 

experience.

22 

Cinema 

FILM INFORMATION 

www.citycinemaoman.net 

AL BAHJA CINEMA: 

24540856, 24540855. 

AL NASR CINEMA: 

24831358, 24831809 (after 3pm) 

AL SHATTI PLAZA: 

24607360, 24692656 (after 2pm) 

STARS CINEMA: 

24791641, 24792360 

Majlis A’Shura 

Addresses 

Keep in touch with Majlis Ash’shura’s news. 

Log on to the Majlis’s website: 

www.shura.om 

and the Majlis’s 

e-mail: info@shura.om 

Or write to the Majlis’s postal address: 

P O Box 981 

Postal Code 111, Muscat 

Tel: 24510344 / 24521427/ 

Fax 24510560 

Information 

Ministry Websites 

Ministry: www.omanet.om 

Oman TV: 

www.oman-tv.gov.om 

Oman Radio: 

www.oman-radio.gov.om 

Omani Centre for Traditional Music: www. 

octm-folk.gov.om 

Oman Radio 

06.00 am Opening, Royal Anthem, The Holy 

Quran, Preview of Morning Programme, 

Weather Forecast, Pharmacies on Duty; 06.15 

Good Morning Oman; 07.00 News Bulletin; 

07.10 Good Morning Oman (Sat-Wed); 10.00 

News Headlines; 10.02 Classical Music; 12.00 

News Headlines; 12.02 Flash Back (June); 

02.30 News Bulletin; 02.40 Words in Action 

(Judith) Repeat 02.40PM Thursday; 02.55; 

Mix Music; 03.00 Behind the Wheel (Laxmi); 

04.00 News Headlines; 04.02 Women in Focus 

(Laxmi); 06.30 News Bulletin; 06.40 Herbs 

and Health (Huda Sultan); 07.00 Premium 

League (Murtadha) Live; 08.00 News 

Headlines; 08.02 The Oasis (Frank); 10.00 

News Bulletin; 10.10 Reggae (Mubarak); 

11.00 Selector Part 1 (Repeat); 12.00 Selector 

Part 2 (Repeat); 12.40 News Summary; 12.45 

The Holy Quran; 01.00 National Anthem, Close 

Down. 

INFORMATION / LEISURE 

Flight Schedule 

ARRIVALS RIVALS — SUNDAY DEPARTURES 

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Quotations for Today 

If a man is not faithful to his own 

individuality, he cannot be loyal to 

anything. 

— Claude McKay 

If you would have a faithful servant, and 

one that you like, serve yourself. 

— Benjamin Franklin 

ARIES 

(March 21-April 20) 

You may think that an 

invitation to go away 

for the weekend has come at an 

inconvenient time, but it would 

be a shame to turn it down. Grab 

the chance to enjoy yourself. 

TAURUS 

(April 21-May 20) 

A relation whose 

approaching retirement 

is causing you worry will 

manage better than you think. 

Like all sensible people he has 

planned for this stage of his life. 

GEMINI 

(May 21-June 21) 

If you are hoping 

to make changes in 

regard to your employment position, 

then unexpected developments 

may arise and you will 

need to act quickly to gain an 

advantage. 

CANCER 

(June 22-July 21) 

You will have a chance 

to join a discussion 

group, and it would be a good 

idea to take advantage of this, 

even if it takes a while before you 

have the courage to speak. 

PHARMACIES 

24-HOUR SERVICE 

Al Hashar ph, Ruwi 24783334 

Muscat ph, Ruwi, 24702542 

Al Sarooj, 24695536 

Scientific ph, Qurum, 24566601 

Muscat 

DAY DUTY 

Atlas 24811715 

Al Bawariq 24455561 

Ibn Sina 24597942 

Alexandria 24541644 

Sur Al Rawdha 25546454 

Ibri Al Huda 25692604 

Buraimi Al Shamsi 25650452 

Nizwa LuLu 25447721 

Salalah Muscat 23291635 

Sohar Ibn Sina 26842426 

NIGHT DUTY 

Muscat Apollo 24787766 

Lifeline 24422039 

Atlas 24503585 

Taiba 24540924 

Sur Badr Al Samaa 

25546112 

Ibri Sara 25691424 

Buraimi Yass 25653855 

Barka Al Farooq 26884553 

Rustaq Badr Al Jasmi 26875798 

Nizwa Al Basma 25410540 

Samayil Samayil 25350653 

Salalah Al Riyadh 23295296 

Ibra Muscat 25570473 

Sohar Badr Al Samaa 26847033 

Saham Scientific 26854302 

Mudhaibi Badr Al Jashmi 25524533 

Khoula Hospital Visiting Hours 

Private & Other Wards 

Working Days: 16:00-18:00. Weekends & Public 

Holidays: 10:-12:00, 16:00-18:00 

ICU 

Working Days: 16:00-17:00. Weekends & Public 

Holidays: 16:00-17:00 

Special Care Baby Unit 

Working Days: Parents may visit at any time. 

Weekends & Public Holidays: Parents may visit at 

any time 

YOUR STARS 

IF IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY: After protracted negotiations you will in the coming year obtain a certain person’s approval of 

a loan that is of the utmost importance to you as it will achieve the result you have been working for. When things are 

settled, you will find you have the opportunity for worldwide travel. 

LEO 

(July 22-August 21) 

You are feeling on 

top of the world at 

present, even money matters are 

going well, but you will need to 

be on your guard later on where 

finances are concerned. 

VIRGO 

(August 22- 

September 22) 

You are likely to meet 

a very interesting person when 

you decide, on the spur of the 

moment, to visit the home of a 

friend. 

LIBRA 

(September 23- 

October 22) 

You must realise that 

you cannot expect an ambitious 

colleague to be so altruistic as to 

put your interests ahead of his 

own. 

SCORPIO 

(October 23- 

November 21) 

After a few days of rest 

and relaxation the nervous tension 

you have been feeling lately 

will give way to a more tranquil 

frame of mind. 

CARTOONS 

SAGITTARIUS 

(November 22- 

December 21) 

If your partner has 

made a deinite date 

for the two of you for tonight, be 

gracious enough to fall in with the 

plan. 

CAPRICORN 

(December 22- 

January 20) 

Expect a surprise visit 

from an old friend 

who is in your area today. You 

will both enjoy a chat about old 

times and mutual friends. 

AQUARIUS 

(January 21- 

February 19) 

Don’t be discouraged 

by a minor set-back 

in your career. It is not important 

enough to affect your steady and 

continued progress. 

PISCES 

(February 20- 

March 20) 

If you realise that you 

have made an error 

of judgement, be brave enough to 

shoulder the blame yourself 

instead of placing it on somebody 

else. 

ADAM @ HOME by Brian Basset 

CALVIN AND HOBBES by Bill Watterson 

GARFIELD by Jim Davis 

STONE SOUP by Jan Eliot 

Hospital. . . . . Board . . . . . . . Emergency 

Royal . . . . . . . 24599000 . . . 24590491 

Health Services Department 

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 

Haima . . . . . . . . 23436013 . . . . 23436055 

Sohar . . . . . . . . . 26840022 . . . . 26840099 

Other Hospitals 

CRYPTIC PUZZLE 

ACROSS 

1 A town destroyed by a 

supreme deity (5) 

6 American dog (5) 

9 Opposed to aristocracy 

and royalty? (7) 

10 He flies a good amount, 

evidently (5) 

11 Had a penchant for the 

field of the theatre? (5) 

12 Pole in a ragged suit 

abroad (5) 

13 Form of finance backed 

by Charles Dickens (7) 

15 Meadow in an arable 

area (3) 

17 The girl one takes most 

risks with? (4) 

18 Compulsive producers? 

(6) 

19 A major marine body 

(5) 

20 State of a famous 

building (6) 

22 One-woman opera (4) 

24 Fishy fellow, but bright 

(3) 

25 Bird getting on with 

the cheese (7) 

26 Keeps saints out of a 

building! (5) 

27 Sam turns on good 

people in Africa (5) 

28 Mendelssohn’s cat (5) 

29 Idly consuming ale 

brewed in the best 

manner (7) 

30 Swell new source of oil 

(5) 

31 Rosie’s willowy form 

(5) 

DOWN 

2 A name for duck offal 

(6) 

3 They make no scar, 

though just one can be 

painful! (6) 

4 It quite alters one’s 

meaning (3) 

5 A no-good American 

fellow? (5) 

6 Creature related to the 

zebra? (7) 

7 Zero reserves of 

minerals (4) 

ACROSS 

1 Purloin (5) 

5 Pester (6) 

8 Emblem (5) 

10 Procession (6) 

11 Deer (4) 

14 Venerate (6) 

15 Diminished (7) 

18 Enclosure (3) 

19 Hill (3) 

21 Deceased (4) 

23 Stitched (5) 

24 Soon (4) 

27 Lair (3) 

29 Uncooked (3) 

31 Prised (7) 

32 Bomb-hole (6) 

34 Board-game (4) 

35 Schedule (6) 

38 Lubricated (5) 

39 Choose (6) 

40 Principle (5) 

DOWN 

2 Beverage (3) 

3 Counting-frame (6) 

4 Youth (3) 

5 Network (4) 

6 Lent (6) 

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 

8 Run around in a trance 

(6) 

12 A moment of electric 

effect (5) 

13 Its rider can’t dismount 

(5) 

14 Quick to describe the 

weather as cold (5) 

15 Joe, let out to run away 

(3,2) 

16 A large waterfowl seen 

by a dam (5) 

18 Standing upright, they 

start talking during 

mass (5) 

19 No ordinary bloomers 

(7) 

21 Contrive to be the boss 

(6) 

22 Ways of bowling (6) 

23 A hundred-to-one payout 

for being obedient 

(6) 

25 Street light out of place 

(5) 

26 Take Lisa for a boat 

trip (4) 

28 For her, flogging would 

be excessive (3) 

EASY PUZZLE 

ACROSS 

1 Perspire (5) 

6 Banquet (5) 


Museums in Oman 

FAISAL BIN ALI AL SAID MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24641650 

MUSEUM OF OMANI HERITAGE, 

Tel: 24600946 

CHILDREN’S SCIENCE MUSEUM. 

Tel: 24605368 

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24641374 

NATIONAL MUSEUM, Tel: 24701289 

SULTAN’S ARMED FORCES 

MUSEUM, Tel: 24312646 

CURRENCY MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24796102 

MUSCAT GATE MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24739005. 

OMANI-FRENCH MUSEUM (Bait 

Fransa), Tel: 24736613 

BAIT AL ZUBAIR, Tel: 24736688 

BAIT A’NAMAN, Tel: 24641300 

SOHAR FORT MUSEUM, 

Tel: 26844758 

NAHKAL FORT, Tel: 26781384 

BAIT AL MAKHAM, Tel: 24641300 

BAIT ADAM MUSEUM, QURUM, 

Tel: 24605033, 24605013 

OIL AND GAS EXHIBITION CENTRE 

AND PLANETARIUM, Tel: 24677834. 

PLANETARIUM, Tel: 24675542. 

AQUARIUM at the Marine Science 

and Fisheries Centre (located next 

to Marina Bandar Rowdha, Sidab). 

SALALAH MUSEUM, Tel: 23294549 

CULTURAL CENTRE, Tel: 23294549. 

SUR MARITIME MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24541466. 

BAIT AL BARANDA, Tel: 24714262. 

CROSSWORD 

9 Outline (7) 

10 Cut (5) 

11 Tumbles (5) 

12 Defeats (5) 

13 Friendly (7) 

15 Expert (3) 

17 Fencing sword (4) 

18 Rot (6) 

19 Merriment (5) 

20 Steady (6) 

22 Ring of light (4) 

24 Devour (3) 

25 Mentor (7) 

26 Leaves out (5) 

27 Backbone (5) 

28 Proverb (5) 

29 Derange (7) 

30 Faith (5) 

31 Access (5) 

DOWN 

2 Strike hard (6) 

3 Agree (6) 

4 Digit (3) 

5 Alloy (5) 

6 More distant (7) 

7 Cupid (4) 

8 Comfort (6) 

12 Wash (5) 

13 Stop (5) 

14 Took an exam again (5) 

15 Book of maps (5) 

16 Mistake (5) 

QUICK CROSSWORD 

7 Fiery (6) 

9 Erased (7) 

12 Summit (3) 

13 Departed (4) 

16 Deserve (4) 

17 Peg (5) 

20 Renovation (7) 

22 Competent (4) 

24 Entry (6) 

25 Spoken (4) 

Royal Oman Police 

EMERGENCY 9 9 9 9 

DG of Passports & Residency, 24569603 

DG of Customs, 24714626 

Traffic offences, 24510227/228 

ROP Public Relations, 24569270 

Consumer Complaints Cell, 24817013 

Muscat Governorate Headquarters, 24560021 

Muscat, 24736611 

Wattayah, 24677990 

Ruwi, 24701099 

Muttrah, 24712211 

Bausher, 24600099 

Al Amerat, 24875999 

Qurayat, 24845555 

A’Seeb, 24420099 

Al-Athaiba, 24521099 

AI-Khodh, 24425012 

Directorate of the University Security, 

24513999 

Directorate of Traffic Muscat, 24567898 

Al Batinah Headquarters, 26840096 

Al Rustaq Division, 26875099 

Al Dakhiliyah, 25425099 

Nizwa Division, 25425099 

Samayil Division, 25350099 

Al Sharqiyah Headquarters, 25545070 

Ibra Division, 25570100 

Al Dhahirah Headquarters, 25650099 

Al Buraimi Division, 25650199 

Ibri Division, 25689099 

Al Wusta Headquarters, 23436099 

Haima Division, 23436211 

Special Task Force, 24560088 

Coastguard Headquarters, 24714888 

Dhofar Governorate Headquarters, 23234599 

Salalah Police Station, 23290099 

Thamrait Division, 23279099 

Musandam Governorate Headquarters, 

26730299 

Khasab Division, 26731502 

ROP websites: www.rop.gov.om, www. 

ropoman.net and 

e-mail: ropnet@omantel.net.om 

18 Provides food (5) 

19 Merciful (7) 

21 Interfere (6) 

22 Concealed (6) 

23 Accounts book (6) 

25 Garret (5) 

26 Responsibility (4) 

28 Era (3) 

YESTERDAY’S CRYPTIC 

SOLUTIONS 

ACROSS: 3, S-can-S 8, 

Marat 10, Etude 11, Car 

12, Hour-I 13, Ketch-up 

15, V-Ena-L 18, H-e-r. 19, 

Resale 21, Gentle-S 22, 

F-OO-d 23, Mile (End) 24, 

Hustler 26, A-R-tful 29, 

Dad 31, Loser 32, Radical 

34, At bay 35, Con 36, Pearl 

37, Barg-e 38, Serge. 

DOWN: 1, Ra-C-er 2, 

P-arched 4, Co-op 5, 

Nerves 6, Sties 7, I-Deal 

9, Rat 12, Hurtful 14, 

Hen 16, Nad-ir 17, Le-ver 

19, Rest day 20, Off-al 

21, Goats 23, Medical 24, 

Hurt-le 25, L-AD 27, Rover 

28, Fears 30, Mange 32, 

RA-NG 33, Cor. 

YESTERDAY’S EASY 

SOLUTIONS 

ACROSS: 3, Harsh 8, 

Break 10, Tower 11, Gel 

12, Treat 13, Gallery 15, 

Pedal 18, Era 19, Allure 

21, Porcine 22, Open 23, 

Lens 24, Defused 26, 

Abated 29, Lax 31, Liner 

32, Radical 34, Nicer 35, 

Con 36, Stood 37, Motor 

38, Nests. 

DOWN: 1, Organ 2, 

Galleon 4, Awry 5, Staple 

6, Hotel 7, Cedar 9, Eel 

12, Tracked 14, Err 16, 

Duped 17, Lease 19, 

Angular 20, Local 21, 

Pecan 23, Lexicon 24, 

Deride 25, Sad 27, Birth 

28, Tenon 30, Manor 32, 

Rest 33, Cot. 

26 Character (6) 

28 Ebb (6) 

30 Marry (3) 

33 Foundation (4) 

36 Obtain (3) 

37 Rabbit (3) 

YESTERDAY’S QUICK 

SOLUTIONS 

ACROSS: 1, Sacred 5, Void 

8, Organ 9, Arc 10, Cone 

11, Clan 12, Essay 13, 

Evened 16, Dawn 18, Crab 

20, Gem 22, Cot 23, Yen 

24, Halo 25, Heed 28, Divert 

30, Lithe 32, Glut 33, 

Unit 34, Van 35, Round 36, 

Deer 37, Pledge. 

DOWN: 1, Shamed 2, Cockerel 

3, Exceed 4, Presented 

5, Vacancy 6, Only 7, Dent 

8, One 14, Dachshund 15, 

Pan 17, Woe 19, Reserved 

20, Gap 21, Monitor 26, 

Distil 27, Stance 29, Aged 

30, Lure 31, End.

Trading 


PERSPECTIVE 

When options trading ahead of deals raises eyebrows 

By Angela Moon and Doris 

Frankel 

WITHIN 36 hours of Warren 

Buffett's announcement of 

a deal to buy H J Heinz, US 

authorities froze an account linked to 

possible insider trading. 

The speed of the crackdown on a 

lucrative options bet, combined with 

successful prosecutions of insider 

trading rings, suggested that regulators 

were quickly jumping on any suspicious 

activity. 

Yet some veterans of the options 

business are unconvinced. They worry 

that very proitable options trading 

ahead of big corporate news is undermining 

investor conidence in the fairness 

of markets. 

A study for Reuters by options research 

irm Schaeffer's Investment 

Research of 181 such announcements 

in the 14 months to the end of February 

shows that such activity prior to 

news of takeovers, big stock repurchases 

or a major investment occurs 

on a regular basis. 

There were 41 examples of companies, 

or 23 per cent of the sample, 

where the volume of new call options 

positions — effectively bets that the 

underlying stock would rise — had 

risen by at least 50 per cent in the ive 

days before the news when compared 

with the average of the previous six 

months. For 33 of these companies, 

the volume more than doubled. 

The US Securities and Exchange 

Commission has announced litigation 

or enforcement action for alleged 

insider trading involving options 

trading in two of these companies 

— Heinz and Shaw Group, a nuclear 

power plant builder acquired by Chi- 

Corporate Governance Currency 

By David Henry and Dan Wilchins 

JPMorgan Chase & Co Chairman 

and CEO Jamie Dimon, who came 

through the inancial crisis relatively 

unscathed, is suddenly looking 

a little less secure. 

The top US bank by assets reported 

tepid irst-quarter results on Friday. 

Income in its biggest businesses 

— investment banking and consumer 

lending — fell, excluding accounting 

adjustments. Outstanding loans grew 

by just 1 per cent, and proit margins 

on lending narrowed. Stock and bond 

trading revenue fell. 

Every bank chief executive suffers 

from similar headwinds, but Dimon 

is also facing a shareholder vote next 

month at JPMorgan's annual meeting 

that could push the board to strip him 

of his chairman's role. A group of investors 

behind the proposal says the 

bank needs to separate the roles of 

chairman and CEO so that the board 

can provide more oversight of management. 

That follows a similar proposal in 

2012 and comes after the bank posted 

$6.2 billion of derivatives losses 

last year that came to be known as 

the "London whale" trades. The losses 

were recorded by an investment of- 

ice whose head reported to Dimon. 

JPMorgan's stock has lost some of 

the premium valuation it used to enjoy 

over the shares of other big banks. 

Worse still for Dimon, the bank's 

relationship with regulators has deteriorated 

in recent years, and JPMorgan's 

board blames that in part on the 

CEO, two sources familiar with the 

matter said. 

"If the board wants to send a message 

that they want to restore regulatory 

conidence in the company, it 

will name an independent chairman," 

said Michael Garland, who oversees 

corporate governance for New York 

City Comptroller John Liu, one of the 

pension fund investors backing the 

shareholder proposal. 

Garland said the trading loss 

showed that Dimon needed better 

oversight from his board of directors. 

Dimon was not available for comment. 

Strong support 

While Dimon's reputation as one 

of the best risk managers in the business 

may have taken a hit, and his pay 

was cut in half for 2012, he still has 

Traders work on the loor of the New York Stock Exchange. — Reuters 

cago Bridge & Iron for $3 billion. Neither 

Heinz nor Chicago Bridge & Iron 

would comment on the trading. 

A sudden increase in bets in a particular 

stock does not indicate there 

was any wrongdoing, as questionable 

trades often have innocuous explanations. 

Some of the bets, while prescient, 

may have been due to lucky 

speculation, smart analysis, or hedging 

strategies rather than inside information. 

"You can't look at an option 

trade in a vacuum; it could be a hedge. 

strong support from investors and the 

bank's directors. JPMorgan's board, 

for example, said last month that it 

"strongly endorses" keeping Dimon 

as both CEO and chairman. 

"I think he's safe," said Alan Villalon, 

a senior research analyst at 

Nuveen Asset Management, which 

has $120 billion of assets and owns 

JPMorgan shares. 

Dimon has been working to repair 

his relationship with regulators as 

well. In his annual letter to shareholders 

this week, he said, "I feel terrible 

that we let our regulators down." Getting 

control of the company's compliance 

systems is the irm's top priority, 

he said. 

Still, Dimon has signaled that the 

loss of his chairmanship may make 

him feel far from comfortable. He 

told analysts in February he would 

not have agreed to become CEO of 

Bank One, which was later bought by 

JPMorgan, if he could not have been 

chairman too. 

"Troubled company, big turnaround, 

divided board. Not me. Life is 

too short," Dimon said at the time. 

To Dimon's supporters, the London 

whale episode underscores his 

The regulator has to look at what the 

pattern and practice of trading was in 

that account," said Thomas Sporkin, 

a partner at law irm BuckleySandler 

LLP and a former senior SEC enforcement 

oficial. 

The SEC could also be investigating 

some of these instances of "welltimed" 

trading, as many in the industry 

term it, but have made no public 

announcement. It can sometimes take 

several years to build a case and many 

probes get dropped because insider 

JPMorgan CEO under more pressure 

JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon testiies before the House Financial Services hearing on ‘’Examining 

Bank Supervision and Risk Management in Light of JPMorgan Chase’s Trading Loss’’ on Capitol Hill. 

abilities as a manager. In spite of losing 

more than $6 billion on the trades, 

the bank posted record proits last 

year. 

"I would hope, as a shareholder, 

that we see him running the institution 

as long as I hold the shares," said 

Kevin O'Keefe, inancial services analyst 

at Brown Advisory, which manages 

$33 billion of institutional and high 

net worth assets. 

Pressure increases 

The extent of the dysfunction between 

JPMorgan and regulators was 

revealed in a report last month by a 

US Senate subcommittee, which was 

probing the trading losses. According 

to the report, JPMorgan browbeat one 

of its main regulators, the Ofice of the 

Comptroller of the Currency. 

In one episode outlined in the report, 

Dimon declined to provide a 

daily trading statement to the OCC 

because he feared the regulator was 

leaking some of the data. 

When Doug Braunstein, the bank's 

chief inancial oficer at the time, resumed 

giving the information to regulators, 

Dimon shouted at him, accord- 

trading is dificult to prove. 

When asked for comment, an SEC 

spokesman said the options market 

"has been and will continue to be an 

area of focus," adding that a "simple 

search of the SEC website will show 

many, many insider trading enforcement 

actions involving options." 

Investors use call options — which 

give the right but not the obligation to 

buy a stock at a certain price — as a 

way of betting a stock will rise. Speculators 

often use "out-of-the-money" 

ing to the report. 

A JPMorgan spokeswoman said at 

the time, "While we have repeatedly 

acknowledged mistakes, our senior 

management acted in good faith and 

never had any intent to mislead anyone." 

Last month, the Federal Reserve 

also told JPMorgan to ix laws in the 

way it determines how much capital 

the bank can return to shareholders. 

In its stress testing of major banks, 

the Fed said JPMorgan could increase 

its quarterly dividend to 38 cents a 

share from 30 cents, and buy back $6 

billion of its shares. 

Meanwhile, the opposition to Dimon's 

dual roles at the bank has 

grown. 

The proposal to split the chairman 

and CEO roles last year received 40.1 

per cent of votes cast. 

Since that vote, which happened 

only ive days after the company irst 

acknowledged losing billions of dollars 

on the trades, shareholders have 

learned much more about the company's 

failed risk controls and the trouble 

it has had with regulators. More 

investors have joined the call for the 

splitting of the roles. 

call options, which mean they will 

expire worthless unless the underlying 

stock price rises above the strike 

price. If the stock surges, the options 

can be worth many times their initial 

cost. 

For example, Heinz had been trading 

around $60 a share, but an unnamed 

investor bet on shares rising to 

more than $65 each by late June — an 

investment that cost about $92,000. 

After the deal was announced, that 

bet produced a $1.7 million proit. 

Still, without some kind of additional 

knowledge, many of these call 

options are no better than "lottery 

tickets," said Randy Frederick, managing 

director of active trading and derivatives 

at Charles Schwab. But with 

inside information, it is like knowing 

what the lottery numbers are before 

they are announced, he said. 

Public remarks from SEC oficials 

on the Heinz case point to the potential 

for more action in the future. 

"It may well have been the swiftest 

enforcement action that we have 

ever iled," Sanjay Wadhwa, senior 

associate director of enforcement in 

the SEC's New York ofice who was 

involved in the Heinz case, said at an 

event in February. As global deal activity 

rebounds, "I dare say you will 

see more of these actions coming out 

of the SEC," he said. 

Options trading specialists said 

such trades add to concerns there 

isn't a level playing ield for smaller 

investors. 

So-called "mom and pop" investors 

have not returned to the equities market 

in large numbers after the battering 

they took in the inancial crisis 

and following market disruptions 

such as the "lash crash." 

By Anna 

Yukhananov 

23 

"The bigger point is the damage 

that is done to the underlying conidence 

in our market and the perception 

that things are not fair," said Ed 

Boyle, senior vice president of business 

development and strategy at the 

BOX options exchange. 

Since the beginning of 2012, the 

SEC has issued about 90 different releases 

related to litigation of insider 

trading, of which 18 involve the options 

market. Some of those cases 

date back as far as 2006. 

Market makers, those who facilitate 

orderly trading by providing the 

market with both buy and sell quotes 

on a security, say they ind themselves 

taking the losing side of the bets made 

by those with inside information. 

When a market maker sells a call 

option, they are exposing themselves 

to the chance the stock will rise sharply 

or become more volatile. These 

irms attempt to offset that risk, but 

these hedging strategies won't fully 

cover a market maker's exposure to 

extreme moves in a stock. 

"We estimate that insider traders 

who use the derivatives market end 

up being a very signiicant expense 

for market-making irms like ourselves," 

said Jeff Shaw, head of trading 

at Timber Hill, a division of Interactive 

Brokers Group. 

Aside from the damage to market 

makers, insider trading can force 

the prices of takeover deals higher 

— costing the shareholders of the acquiring 

companies — and it can leave 

the shareholders of target companies, 

who sold ahead of a deal announcement 

feeling cheated. It can even scuttle 

a takeover proposal altogether if 

the target gets too expensive as a result 

of insider trading. 

United States puts 

Japan on notice 

WASHINGTON — The 

Obama administration 

put Japan on notice 

that it was watching 

its economic policies 

to ensure they were 

not aimed at devaluing 

the yen to gain a 

competitive advantage. 

In a semi-annual 

report on currency 

practices of major 

trade partners, the United States also said China's currency remained 

"signiicantly undervalued," but again stopped short of labeling the 

world's second-biggest economy a currency manipulator. 

It has been more than 18 years since the US Treasury has designated 

any country a manipulator. China was labeled a manipulator 

between 1992 and 1994. 

The US Treasury said it would press Japan to adhere to the commitment 

it made in February as a member of the Group of Seven and 

Group of 20 nations to let the market determine exchange rates. The 

US move followed comments by Japanese oficials that suggested 

they were targeting a weaker yen. 

Treasury's report highlighted statements made by Japanese oficials 

last year who said they wanted to "correct the excessively strong 

yen," and also some proposals to ease monetary policy by purchasing 

foreign bonds. 

But since then, Japan has mostly avoided commenting on the yen 

and has not intervened in currency markets, according to the congressionally-mandated 

report. 

"We will continue to press Japan to adhere to the commitments 

agreed to in the G7 and G20 ... and to refrain from competitive devaluation 

and targeting its exchange rate for competitive purposes," the 

report said. 

The Treasury also said it was closely monitoring policies in Japan 

meant to support the growth of domestic demand. The Bank of Japan 

launched a massive bond-buying program earlier this month to try to 

shock the economy out of two decades of stagnation. 

The policy has sharply undercut the value of the yen — ending 

the dollar to another four-year high against the Japanese currency on 

Thursday — and refuelled a debate about competitive devaluations. 

The US Treasury also said China did not meet the legal requirements 

to be deemed a currency manipulator, although Beijing controls 

the pace at which the yuan can rise by intervening in foreign 

exchange markets. 

The label is largely symbolic, but would require Washington to 

open discussions with Beijing on adjusting the yuan's value. Many US 

lawmakers have accused China of deliberately keeping the yuan undervalued 

to gain a trade advantage. 

As in other reports over the last several years, the analysis on 

China relected both the administration's desire to maintain good relations 

with its top creditor and an attempt to keep up pressure for 

changes in China that could beneit the US economy and mollify domestic 

critics.

24 

A 

DISTINGUISHED roll-call of 

industry veterans from Oman 

and abroad will speak at the 

GCC Supply Chain and Logistics Conference, 

which opens at Al Bustan 

Palace — A Ritz Carlton Hotel tomorrow. 

Organised by Al Nimr Expo, 

the two-day forum will spotlight innovations, 

opportunities and challenges 

facing the supply chain and 

logistics industry. 

Inaugural proceedings will take 

place under the auspices of Dr Ahmed 

bin Mohammed al Futaisi, Minister 

of Transport and Communications, 

OMAN 

GCC Supply Chain and Logistics Conference 2013 

Sultanate of Oman. Also gracing the 

opening will be Melanie Schultz van 

Haegen, Minister of Infrastructure 

and Environment, Kingdom of the 

Netherlands. They will be joined by 

renowned industry leaders and experts 

Robert D Kaplan, Chief Geopolitical 

Analyst for Stratfor, and Roger 

Agnelli, Founding Partner and CEO of 

AGN Holdings and Chairman of B&A 

Mining, Brazil. 

The GCC Supply Chain and Logistics 

Conference will focus on the 

following key themes: Oman as The 

Logistics Gateway from the Indian 

Ocean into the GCC; The Future of the 

Airline Industry and Supply Chain Logistics 

with Emphasis on SME Development 

and Job Creation; Oman and 

GCC Railway Projects; and Strategies 

and Technology to Support Trade Facilitation. 

The conference will also feature 

interactive discussions on: Maritime 

Gateway & Economic Panel: Oman 

— Logistics Gateway from the Indian 

Ocean into the GCC — Challenges & 

Prospects; Industry & Ports Panel: 

The Role of GCC Ports as Gateways in 

Supply Chain Logistics; Sea-Air Logistics 

Panel: Exploring the Potentials; 

Investors & Entrepreneur Panel: Important 

Role of SME in the Economic 

Development & Contribution to Job 

Creation; Railway Panel: Pan GCC 

Railway Project — Challenges & Opportunities. 

Importantly, the forum will also 

highlight the Sultanate’s vision, 

through mega infrastructure projects 

currently in the pipeline, to leverage 

its strategic geographical location to 

emerge as the next regional hub and 

ideal gateway for global businesses. 

“The GCC Supply Chain and Logistics 

Conference is an international 


Industry veterans to spotlight opportunities, challenges 

Bank Muscat wins Citibank 

award for fund transfers 

By A Business Reporter 

MUSCAT — Bank Muscat, the lagship 

inancial institution in the Sultanate, 

has won a prestigious Citibank award 

for forex transactions related to dollar 

payments. Bank Muscat was among a 

select group of regional institutions to 

receive the award for achieving outstanding 

straight through processing 

(STP) rates for dollar remittances. 

Ali Amin Moosa, AGM – Central 

Operations, said: “Winning this 

award is testimony to the bank’s 

commitment to high standards of 

quality in meeting the stringent criteria 

for fund transfer. The Central 

Operations electronic payments department, 

Treasury back ofice and 

Global Trade Services department are 

handling fund transfer operations in 

the bank while the technical and security 

issues are handled by the Systems 

& Procedures department. The 

Financial Institutions Group has established 

more than 500 correspondent 

banking relationships across the 

world and is acknowledged as one of 

the leading FI teams in the region.” 

The award recognised Bank Muscat’s 

exceptional quality of SWIFT 

messages on dollar payment, maintaining 

an outstanding level of errorfree 

rate for remittances in 2012. The 

award was based on evaluation of the 

quality and accuracy of SWIFT payment 

messages routed through Citibank. 

Citibank is one of Bank Muscat's 

main correspondent banks for US 

dollar payments. Citibank representatives 

commended the operational 

teams involved in processing payments 

at Bank Muscat for the errorfree 

rate maintained consistently 

throughout the high volume of remittances 

processed during 2012. 

The award acknowledged Bank 

Muscat for exceptional quality in the 

“The GCC logistics conference is an international 

event that will provide participating companies 

and delegates the opportunity to explore and 

identify key investment opportunities in Oman’s 

world-class ports, domestic and international 

airports and free zones” 

delivery of commercial payments 

and transfers. The award also recognised 

Bank Muscat’s state-of-theart 

in-house payment architecture 

and afirmed that the bank consistently 

maintained high SWIFT standards, 

which facilitated automated 

processing throughout the payment 

chain resulting in extremely high 

STP rates. 

A multi-award winning organisation, 

Bank Muscat’s performance has 

been consistently lauded by the international 

inancial and banking community 

for several years. 

By A Business Reporter 

MUSCAT — National Bank of Oman 

continues to be recognised for its 

commitment to providing innovative 

and unique products and services. 

The bank’s Al Amaal Child Savings 

Account has recently been awarded 

the ‘Best New Retail Product’ Award 

by CPI Financial - ‘Banker Middle East 

Product Awards 2013’. 

The Banker Middle East Product 

Awards 2013 recognizes excellence 

and innovation in inancial products 

throughout the region. The Banker 

Middle East Product Awards 2013 

are divided into four distinct categories 

of entry namely: Retail, SME, Corporate 

and Investment Banking products. 

CPI Financial invited all relevant 

inancial institutions to complete the 

submission process to ensure their 

banking products are involved in this 

annual event which sets the benchmark 

for the banking and inance 

sectors in the region. Winners were 

selected through a month of online 

voting. 

The award for the bank’s Al Amaal 

Child Savings Account was oficially 

announced by Andrew Broom, Chief 

Executive Oficer, CPI Financial. Abdul 

Qadir, Head of Branch Sales and Distribution, 

received the award on behalf 

of the Bank. National Bank of 

Oman re-launched its Al Amaal Child 

Savings Account last year, with reinvigorated 

and exciting features to 

Omani-Dutch roundtable 

on transport, logistics 

AN Omani — Dutch roundtable meeting on transport and logistics 

will be held at the Al Bustan Palace — A Ritz Carlton Hotel, at 3pm, 

tomorrow. 

The Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment of the Kingdom 

of the Netherlands, Melanie Schultz van Haegen will head a delegation 

of the Netherlands’ business community. Together with Dr Ahmed bin 

Mohammed al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communication of the 

Sultanate of Oman, she will co-chair the Roundtable Meeting. 

The aim of the Bilateral Roundtable is to create the opportunity for 

an open dialogue on a number of strategic issues facing the Sultanate 

of Oman and Netherlands’ companies doing business here, between 

a select group of executives and the Government of Oman, in order to 

promote and facilitate mutually advantageous economic relationships. 

The Round Table will be focussed on transport, logistics and industrial 

development enabling Oman to be a logistics hub for GCC and Indian 

Ocean trade, but also other topics such as promotion of small and 

medium enterprises, education and vocational training, corporate social 

responsibility, job creation for Omanis and the environment will be 

covered. 

event that will provide participating 

companies and delegates the opportunity 

to explore and identify key 

investment opportunities in Oman’s 

world-class ports, domestic and international 

airports and free zones. It 

also provides the best opportunity to 

network and build contacts with industry 

leaders in the supply and logistics 

sector,” said Salim al Hashmi, CEO 

of Al Nimr Expo. 

Other industry experts from various 

countries who will speak at the 

conference include Salim al Aui, CEO, 

Public Authority for Civil Aviation, 

Oman; Dr Mohammed al Barwani, 

Chairman, MB Holding; Dr John Gattorna, 

Global Supply Chain Thought 

Leader, Author & Executive Chairman, 

Gattorna Alignment, Australia; 

Peter Ford, CEO, Port of Salalah; Ravi 

Subrahmanyam, President — Executive 

Committee, Supply Chain & Logistics 

Group; Robert Gruendel, Partner, 

Global Chair Energy Sector, Co-chair 

US Shipping and Maritime Sector, 

DLA Piper, USA; Michael A Bedke, 

Co-Chair of the Rail Sector, Partner, 

DLA Piper, US; Willem Heeren, Chairman, 

DINALOG — Dutch Institute for 

encourage all parents to save more 

towards their children’s future. 

Al Amaal account is a unique Child 

Savings account that bears an interest 

rate of 1.5 per cent per annum thereby 

giving parents complete inancial 

security for their child’s future. It is 

also loaded with free life insurance 

and permanent disability cover for 

the parent or guardian for up to RO 

50,000 and provides free standing 

order payments from the parents account 

to the child's account. 

Ms Hanaa Al Hinai, Head of Product 

Development commented: “As the 

irst Child Savings Account in Oman 

offering the highest interest rate of 

Oman Establishment for Press, Publication 

and Advertising (OEPPA), 

represented by the Communications 

and Special Projects Department, is 

supporting the two-day conference 

as a Strategic Partner. 

Advance Logistics; Anders Lundberg, 

Senior Consultant Vectura, Stockholm 

& Former Director of Swedish 

Rail; Abdulrahman al Hatmi, Director, 

Oman Railway Project; Oliver Cornock, 

Regional Editor, Oxford Business 

Group; Dr Abdullah al Zakwani, 

Director, Industrial Innovation Center, 

Oman; Malak al Shaibani, Director, National 

Business Centre; Mohammed 

Ghareebi, ICV Manager, Petroleum Development 

Oman; Warith Al Kharusi, 

Chairman, Oman Logistics & Supply 

Chain Association, and Ian Michael 

Hogg, Manager — Trade Facilitation 

Centre of Excellence Domains & Technology, 

Crimson Logic, Singapore 

NBO retail division honoured 

1.5 per cent per annum, Al Amaal 

has established a strong connection 

between saving money and being rewarded 

for it. We are delighted that 

our innovation has set us apart and 

this award is a further endorsement 

of the Bank’s commitment to its customers”. 

The Al Amaal account requires a 

minimal deposit of RO 50 and is offered 

for children aged 18 years and 

under. Parents with children of age 

12 years and above will receive a free 

debit card and monthly interest payments 

will ensure that a customer’s 

saving for his child keeps increasing 

the longer they save.

FOOTBALL 

>> RUGBY P26 Rebels stumble, Crusaders upset >> CRICKET 

P27 MI outclass Warriors in IPL 

P26 

Messi, Iniesta out 

of Zaragoza clash 

MADRID — Barcelona have left 

World Player of the Year Lionel Messi 

and the Spanish international trio 

of Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets 

and Jordi Alba out of their squad for 

their trip to Zaragoza today. 

Messi played the inal half hour 

of Wednesday's Champions League 

quarterinal second-leg against PSG 

on Wednesday despite carrying a 

hamstring injury and, although his 

participation against the French 

side didn't aggravate the injury, he is 

expected to be rested until the irstleg 

of the semiinal clash against 

Bayern Munich on April 23. 

Busquets has also been ruled out 

to a pelvic injury, whilst Iniesta and 

Alba's absences are purely down to 

the decision of the management. 

CRICKET 

Pak umpires banned 

over corruption 

KARACHI — The Pakistan Cricket 

Board (PCB) has banned international 

umpire Nadeem Ghouri and 

Anis Siddiqui, who oficiates in domestic 

matches, for four and three 

years respectively after they were 

found guilty of being willing to compromise 

their integrity in discharge 

of their professional duties. 

Ghouri, a former Test spinner, 

was banned after the PCB integrity 

committee found him guilty of 

agreeing to extend undue favours 

for material gains during a sting operation 

carried out by 'India TV'. 

CRICKET 

Ervine puts club 

before Tests 

HARARE — Middle-order batsman 

Craig Ervine has opted to play club 

cricket in England rather than Tests 

for Zimbabwe and will miss this 

month's series against Bangladesh. 

Zimbabwe Cricket spokesman 

Lovemore Banda said yesterday Ervine, 

the team's leading run-scorer 

on their recent tour of West Indies, 

had turned down a short-term contract 

in order to play league ixtures. 

"It's disappointing not to be a 

part of this coming series," the batsman 

tweeted. "In life tough choices 

have to be made and this is one of 

them." 

It is likely the 27-year-old Ervine 

will earn more money playing club 

cricket in England. 

P27 

Sunday 



Rallying Arsenal leap to third 

Reading withstand Liverpool onslaught in goalless draw 

Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta scores against Norwich City during their English Premier League match at Emirates Stadium in London yesterday. — Reuters 

LONDON — Arsenal scored three 

times in the last ive minutes to beat 

Norwich City 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium 

and leap to third place in the 

Premier League table yesterday. 

Michael Turner's header looked to 

have consigned Arsene Wenger's men 

to defeat, but Mikel Arteta equalised 

with an 85th minute penalty before 

a Sebastien Bassong own goal and an 

injury-time strike from Lukas Podolski 

completed the comeback. 

Victory takes Arsenal above Chelsea 

and Tottenham Hotspur, neither 

of whom play in the league this weekend, 

and keeps them irmly on course 

to qualify for the Champions League. 

The hosts had the best of the irst 

half but the closest they came to scoring 

was an Olivier Giroud header in 

the 23rd minute that came back off 

the crossbar. 

Turner put Norwich ahead in the 

Mixed day for Oman at GCC tennis 

MUSCAT — Oman had a mixed day at 

the GCC Tennis Championships (under-14 

and under-18) in Abu Dhabi 

yesterday. 

According to information received 

here, two Omanis found success 

in the individual category while 

there was also success in the team 

event. 

In the individual event, Abdullah 

al Barwani defeated a Kuwaiti opponent 

6-4, 6-4 and Zakaria al Sulaim- 

56th minute, ghosting in to meet Robert 

Snodgrass' inswinging free-kick 

with a close-range header. 

Arsenal, who recalled Jack 

Wilshere and Theo Walcott after injury, 

saw Norwich goalkeeper Mark 

Bunn turn a Podolski shot onto the 

crossbar as they pushed for an equaliser. 

It looked destined to be a frustrating 

afternoon for the home side, but 

Kei Kamara's tug on Giroud allowed 

Arteta to equalise from the spot before 

Bassong turned the ball into his 

own goal from Podolski's cut-back. 

Podolski sealed victory in added 

time, beating Bunn with a low shot 

from Walcott's lay-off. 

Norwich, 1-0 victors over Arsenal 

at Carrow Road in October, have now 

won just once in 16 matches and remain 

only four points above the relegation 

places. 

ani defeated Bahrain’s Yusuf Ashraf 

6-3, 6-3. But Ahmed al Barwani and 

Abdullah al Awaidi were not so lucky. 

Ahmed lost 7-5, 6-0 to Bahrain’s 

Ilyas Abdulnabi while Abdullah was 

blanked 6-0, 6-0 by Qatar’s Rayyan 

Ghafri. 

In the team event, Younis al 

Rawahi and Abdullah al Barwani advanced 

after defeating Qatari pair of 

Yousuf Sulaiti and Ali Mahmood 6-1, 

P28 

News of Arsenal's late rally was a 

blow for Everton, who appeared to be 

closing on them after winning 2-0 at 

home to second-bottom Queens Park 

Rangers. 

Darron Gibson broke the deadlock 

in the 40th minute at Goodison Park 

with a delected shot from 25 yards, 

with Victor Anichebe licking in a Sylvain 

Distin knock-down 11 minutes 

into the second period. 

QPR remain seven points from 

safety but they have played two 

games more than third-bottom Wigan 

Athletic, and a game more than 

fourth-bottom Sunderland. 

Reading are still bottom of the table 

but they drew level on points with 

QPR after withstanding a Liverpool 

onslaught in a 0-0 draw at the Madejski 

Stadium. 

Chris Gunter headed an early Luiz 

Suarez effort off the Reading goal- 

Inside 

The Wave, Muscat remain upbeat 

Wategaonkar, Kaleem shine for Oman 

Blackhawks clinch Central Division title 

Ayman leads Oman charge in Kuwait 

MUSCAT — Ayman bin Hamad al 

Kulaibi won the Sultanate’s irst 

gold medal when he topped the 

200m backstroke competition at 

the GCC Swimming Championships 

in Kuwait yesterday. 

Ayman al Kulaibi clinched 

the gold in a new Omani record 

two minutes and 10.86 seconds 

(2:10.86). 

The Sultanate’s swimmers won 

two bronze medals yesterday 

through Nayef bin Muneer al Qasmi, 

who clocked 18.41.85 in the 

1,500m in the generals event. 

The second bronze was won by 

the Sultanate’s 4x100m relay team 

comprising Al Kulaibi, Abdullah 

al Khadhouri, Nawaf al Qasmi and 

Nayef al Qasmi. 

Meanwhile, Oman divers won 

three more bronze medals in 

the second day events of the third 

GCC Diving Championships through 

Nasser al Shibli (1m platform, 

254 points), Ahmed al Masroori 

(platform, 280.4 pts) and Salim al 

Masroori (3m spiring board, 220 

pts). 

line, while Philippe Coutinho saw a 

goal ruled out for offside and curled a 

shot against the post. 

Aston Villa spurned an opportunity 

to haul themselves out of the relegation 

picture in a 1-1 draw at home 

to Fulham. 

Charles N'Zogbia put Villa ahead 

10 minutes into the second half with a 

high inish from an Andreas Weimann 

cutback, only for Fabian Delph to inadvertently 

head Bryan Ruiz's corner 

into his own goal 11 minutes later. 

Meanwhile, Andy Carroll marked 

his return to the West Ham United 

starting XI with a second-half equaliser 

in a 1-1 draw at Southampton. 

Gaston Ramirez gave Southampton 

the lead shortly before the hour 

when he calmly beat Jussi Jaaskelainen, 

but Carroll levelled the scores 

seven minutes later with a delected 

free-kick. — AFP 

6-2. Ayman al Kulaibi: Oman’s pride 

Dortmund hit 

six, Bayern four 

in easy wins 

BERLIN — Germany's Champions 

League semiinalists went on scoring 

sprees in the Bundesliga yesterday 

with Borussia Dortmund blasting 

ive irst-half goals in a 6-1 win 

at Greuther Fuerth and champions 

Bayern Munich beating Nuremberg 

4-0. 

Ilkay Gundogen and Mario Goetze 

each netted twice for second-placed 

Dortmund against bottom club 

Fuerth, who remained winless at 

home in their irst Bundesliga season. 

Poles Jakub Blaszczykowski and 

Roberto Lewandowski completed 

the scoring for Borussia in front of 

Jose Mourinho, coach of Champions 

League semiinal opponents 

Real Madrid, who watched from the 

stands. 

Jerome Boateng, Mario Gomez, 

Rainha and Xherdan Shaqiri 

shared the goals as Bayern, who 

wrapped up the title last week with 

six games to spare, brought Nuremberg's 

nine-match unbeaten run to 

a halt. 

South Korea's Son Heung- 

Min scored twice to give Hamburg 

SV a 2-1 win at Mainz 05 in a 

match between two teams chasing 

places in European football next 

season. 

Twenty-year-old Son put Hamburg 

ahead after the Mainz defence 

got themselves in a tangle just after 

the hour and struck again 20 minutes 

later with a run from the halfway 

line. 

Shawn Parker replied for Mainz 

after Hamburg's defence also got 

tied in knots. 

Hamburg moved up to eighth 

with 41 points with Mainz one place 

below on 39. 

In the lower half of the table, a 

late goal by Naldo gave VfL Wolfsburg 

a 2-2 draw at home to relegation-threatened 

Hoffenheim. 

Hoffenheim stay in 16th, the 

relegation play-off place, with 24 

points. 

Fortuna Duesseldorf, six points 

ahead of Hoffenheim in 15th, drew 

against Werder Bremen. 

Bayern, who have won 25 of their 

29 games, have 78 points at the top, 

20 ahead of Dortmund, who are 

close to guaranteeing a Champions 

League group stage place next season. 

Bayer Leverkusen are third with 

49 and fourth-placed Schalke 04 

have 45.

26 

SPORT 

Wategaonkar and Kaleem 

shine for Oman 

AMIR KALEEM VAIBHAV WATEGAONKAR 

CRICKET 

By Rex Berhardt 

MUSCAT — Skipper Vaibhav Wategaonkar 

made an brilliant 100 retired 

(114b, 1x6 and 12x4) whilst 

Aamir Kaleem chipped in with a valuable 

90 (92b, 2x6 and 7x4), the duo 

putting together 108 runs for the 5th 

wicket. 

The partnership helped Oman 

defeat Danube Dubai by 55 runs in 

50 over practice match played at the 

Ministry Turf Ground at Al Amerat on 

Friday. Invited to bat the Oman team 

scored 278 runs for the loss of eight 

wickets at the end of their quota of 

50 overs. 

Wicketkeeper-batsman Sultan 

Ahmed chipped in with a useful 24 

(18b, 3x4). 

Vikrant Shetty, Sanjeeva Dias and 

Rohan Musthafa picked up 2 wickets 

each conceding 42, 50 and 64 runs 

respectively. 

Set a target of 279 for victory, 

Danube Dubai were bowled out for 

223 runs off 45.4 overs. Major contributions 

came from Rohan Musthafa 

59 (92b, 1x6 and 4x4), Shazad Khalid 

34 (39b, 3x4), opening batsman Asif 

Iqbal 30 (27b, 7x4) Samiullah Younis 

26 (32b, 1x6 and 2x4), Ajmal Muhammad 

24 (12b, 2x6 and 2x4) and 

Naveed Haider 20 (24b, 3x4). 

The bowlers to excel were Ajay Lalcheta 

2 for 30, Rajesh Ranpura 2 for 

31, Aamir Kaleem 2 for 54 and Munis 

Ansari 2 for 59. 

The Danube team will play their 

last match today against the national 

team at the Turf Grounds at Al 

Amerat commencing at 8.30 am. 

Brief scores: Oman 278 for the loss of 8 

wickets off 50 overs (Vaibhav Wategaonkar 

100 (retd), Aamir Kaleem 90 and Sultan Ahmed 

24; Vikrant Shetty 2/42, Sanjeeva Dias 2/50 

and Rohan Musthafa 2/64) bt Danube Dubai 

223 all out off 45.4 overs (Rohan Musthafa 

59, Shazad Khalid 34, Iqbal Asif 30, Samiullah 

Younis 26, Ajmal Muhammad 24 and Naveed 

Haider 20; Ajay Lalcheta 2/30, Rajesh Ranpura 

2/31, Aamir Kaleem 2/54 and Munis Ansari 

2/59). 


Rebels stumble, Crusaders upset, Blues win 

Jordy Reid of the Melbourne Rebels runs with the ball against the Southern Kings during their Super 15 match in Melbourne yesterday. — AFP 

MELBOURNE — Demetri Catrakilis 

slotted a drop goal after the siren to 

hand the Southern Kings a last-gasp 

30-27 win over the Melbourne Rebels 

in their Super Rugby match yesterday. 

The Rebels dominated possession 

and held a seven-point lead in 

the inal minutes but squandered 

their chance to close out victory 

with a series of bumbling errors at 

Melbourne's AAMI Park stadium. 

Rebels' substitute Jordy Reid was 

sent off for collapsing a maul ive minutes 

before the whistle and the Kings 

capitalised moments later with another 

ierce rolling maul that put lanker 

Wimpie van der Walt over the line. 

Catrakilis slotted the conversion 

to level the score at 27-27 with 

three minutes to play and Rebels fans 

groaned as winger Jason Woodward 

booted the ball into touch on the restart 

to hand the Kings the scrum at 

the halfway line. 

With the terraces at 'The Stockade' 

roaring, Catrakilis found space 

and coolly slotted the drop goal 

from short range to secure his side 

their second win of their debut season 

in the southern hemisphere 

competition. 

"Just character, I think the boys 

showed a lot of ight today," Kings captain 

Andries Strauss said in a pitchside 

interview. 

Catrakilis prolonged the Rebels' 

winless record against South Africa 

sides since joining the southern hemisphere 

competition in 2011 and all 

but put paid to their playoff hopes. 

The Rebels dominated territory 

and led 27-17 with less than half an 

hour to play when outside centre 

Mitch Inman scored their third try. 

The Kings, who stunned the competition-leading 

ACT Brumbies with a 

last-gasp try to snatch a draw in Canberra 

last week, shocked the Rebels 

with two tries in the opening 15 minutes 

to march out to 14-0 lead. 

Winger Ronnie Cooke crossed in 

the left corner after nine minutes 

and scrumhalf Shaun Venter had the 

Kings' second when he bamboozled 

a pair of Rebels defenders on a long 

sprint to the right corner six minutes 

later. 

The Rebels dragged themselves 

back in the match through tries to 

hooker Ged Robinson and replacement 

back Angus Roberts, with lyhalf 

James O'Connor slotting a tight conversion 

kick on the halftime siren to 

put his team level at 17-17. 

Inman crossed for the Rebels in the 

corner after a sustained bout of pressure, 

but O'Connor's conversion in the 

53rd minute was to be the hosts' inal 

score. Catrakilis missed a regulation 

penalty goal with 10 minutes left to 

put his side within a try of victory but 

brilliantly made amends by nervelessly 

slotting his last two kicks to get his 

team over the line. 

In Perth, The Western Force defended 

brilliantly in the face of a 

ierce comeback by the Canterbury 

Crusaders to secure an unlikely 16-14 

victory. 

The Perth-based strugglers carried 

a 16-8 lead into the break and kept 

the seven-times champions scoreless 

for the inal 23 minutes to capture 

only their third win in 18 matches. 

The Crusaders’s defeat, following a 

tough tour of South Africa, was their 

fourth this season and leaves them 

with work to do to put their campaign 

back on track as the halfway mark approaches. 

Flyhalf Tyler Bleyendaal, deputising 

for the injured Dan Carter, slotted 

two penalties after halftime to bring 

the Crusaders back within two points 

but that was as good as it got for the 

New Zealanders who struggled with 

handling errors on a muggy night at 

NIB stadium. “That’s a great feeling. 

We knew we could do it,” Force captain 

Matt Hodgson said in a pitchside 

interview after his team notched their 

second win of the season. 

“We’ve always had the belief. It’s 

not only good for us, it’s good for the 

whole of Perth.” 

Despite being dominated in terms 

of territory and possession, the Force 

made the most of their limited chances 

and stunned the Crusaders with a 

try in the third minute. 

Capitalising on a mistake deep in 

defence, lyhalf Sam Norton-Knight 

burst past a clutch of players behind 

the 22-metre line and planted the ball 

under the posts. 

Hooker Corey Flynn hit back for 

the visitors in the 20th minute with a 

barnstorming run down the left wing 

that set up lock Luke Romano who 

touched down in the corner. 

Romano also grabbed the ball out 

of a ruck and lunged over a few minutes 

before halftime but was cruelly 

denied a second try by a television 

replay that showed fullback Dagg had 

thrown a forward pass earlier in the 

move. The Crusaders ramped up the 

pressure after the break and trailed 

by only two points when Bleyendaal 

slotted his third penalty in the 58th 

minute. 

All signs pointed to the visitors 

marching to victory but the Force 

stood irm and rode their luck as the 

Crusaders repeatedly coughed up 

possession during a series of promising 

drives. 

With the crowd reaching ever 

pitch, a small number of spectators 

invaded the playing surface in the 

frenetic inal minutes and play was 

briely halted. 

The Force then made sure of victory 

by ripping the ball away from the 

opposition in a hotly-contested ruck 

to spark thunderous cheers from the 

home crowd. 

In Auckland, The Auckland Blues 

turned in a powerhouse performance 

to humble the Wellington Hurricanes 

28-6 at Eden Park. 

The Blues were well served by 

their forwards, with blindside lanker 

Steven Luatua in inspirational form, 

sealing a bonus point with their 

fourth try with 20 minutes to spare 

and keeping their opponents try-less. 

The Hurricanes, beaten at home 

34-20 in the teams’ irst encounter 

of the season, were dominated on all 

fronts and kept scoreless for the entire 

second half, denied repeatedly 

by desperate Blues defence on the 

last line. 

The Blues’ emphatic win kept them 

in touch with the New Zealand conference-leading 

Waikato Chiefs, who 

were upset by the Queensland Reds 

in Hamilton, as the season nears the 

halfway mark. 

Winger Frank Halai put the Blues 

on the board in the 13th minute, cantering 

under the posts after some 

sharp work upield from scrumhalf 

Piri Weepu, fullback Charles Piutau 

and lyhalf Chris Noakes. 

Noakes converted and the Blues 

kept the Hurricanes scoreless for 

nearly half an hour until Samoan international 

lyhalf Tusi Pisi marked 

his irst start for the Super Rugby side 

with a poised drop goal against the 

run of play. Beauden Barrett, shifted 

from lyhalf to fullback, brought the 

Hurricanes back within a point with a 

penalty but the Blues ramped up the 

pressure towards the end of the half. 

Flanker Luatua barged through four 

tackles and charged for the line but 

was held up by Hurricanes scrumhalf 

TJ Perenara. 

It was a brief reprieve, however, 

as fullback Charles Piutau swooped 

to plant the ball over the line on the 

stroke of halftime after receiving from 

the ive-metre scrum. 

Hooker James Parsons added to the 

Hurricanes’ pain by thundering over 

near the left corner a few minutes after 

the break after taking a perfectlyweighted 

inside pass from Noakes to 

pad the score to 19-6. 

The Wave, Muscat remains upbeat 

MUSCAT — Oman Sail’s The Wave, 

Muscat is inding it tough in the very 

light conditions in Singapore, but 

remains upbeat with an eye on the 

overall season results. 

The focus remained irmly ixed 

on the overall series title for the crew 

of The Wave, Muscat despite another 

testing day in light shifty breezes in 

Act 2 of the Extreme Sailing Series. 

After three days of racing in Marina 

Bay, Oman Sail’s Extreme 40 team 

is lying in third place overall but a 

place on the podium in any of the seven 

races completed eluded them for 

the irst time in two seasons. 

Once again it was Alinghi, helmed 

by Morgan Larsen who dominated 

the third day extending their lead to 

27 points. 

“We have a long term view,” said 

2012 season champion Leigh Mc- 

Millan, skipper of The Wave, Muscat, 

who has his eyes irmly on the overall 

series. “We hope to be in the top 

three by the close of racing. It is a long 

season and there are six more events to 

go. “It is fair to say that we have struggled 

with the conditions in Singapore, 

the Lake sailing experience of some of 

the guys in the leet is really paying off 

this week. Most of the Extreme Sailing 

venues are dificult but Singapore 

takes it to another level,” he said. 

The progress of the Omani team is 

being closely watched; both at home 

in Oman where the racing is broadcast 

live on Oman’s Sport Channel, 

and in Singapore where the team 

received support from Oman’s Consul 

General in Singapore Zakariya bin 

Hamed al Sadi. 

Zakariya was involved in the 

Jewel of Muscat, a remarkable joint 

An overall view of Act 2 of the Extreme Sailing Series in Singapore yesterday. 

project between Oman and Singapore 

that saw the recreation of a 

9th century hand stitched dhow. “I 

am delighted to see the Omani team 

The Wave, Muscat taking part in 

such a big international event at this 

fantastic venue in Singapore,” said 

Zakariya. 

“The team carries a message introducing 

Oman and its capital Muscat 

to the world at large. I met the crew 

back in 2011 and today I am proud to 

see more Omanis racing and am also 

proud of what the team has achieved 

in the series especially winning the title 

last year! 

“Having two Omanis as part of the 

team is evidence of the skills and expertise 

our sailors have had to devel- 

op to win selection in such a competitive 

event. It is also evidence of the 

success of our national project Oman 

Sail in its vision and objectives in developing 

the young Omanis in this 

sport.”Zakariya’s visit gave Hashim al 

Rashdi and Musab al Hadi a boost; they 

are on a steep learning curve and after another 

tough day hopes remain high as the 

The Wave, Muscat goes into the final day 

tomorrow. 

“We had a big issue with the start 

line so hopefully tomorrow we can get 

that right and we will need to stay out 

of trouble because we had too many 

penalties,” said Hashim. “We had very 

light winds today again which made 

it dificult for everyone. We are sailing 

well as a team but things are not 

going our way but we have one more 

Piutau squandered a gilt-edged 

chance for a second try in the 57th 

minute when he fumbled a dribbled 

ball when diving over the line but 

prop Tom McCartney made up for it 

with the Blues’ fourth a few minutes 

later, burrowing under the Wellington 

defence for a try under the posts. 

The Blues defended stoutly for the 

remaining 20 minutes, with Luatua 

capping a barnstorming game by 

holding up replacement back Reynold 

Lee-lo to keep the Hurricanes scoreless 

and improve his chances of All 

Blacks selection. 

In Hamilton, Quade Cooper made 

an emphatic statement to Wallabies 

selectors ahead of the Lions tour as 

he steered the Queensland Reds to 

an upset 31-23 win over the Waikato 

Chiefs. 

A day after Cooper was surprisingly 

omitted from Robbie Deans’ 30man 

preliminary squad, the playmaker 

was a central igure in the Reds’ 

bonus-point win over the defending 

champions and New Zealand conference 

leaders. 

Cooper’s absence from the squad 

for June’s British and Irish Lions tour 

so incensed former Wallaby fullback 

Greg Martin that he accused New 

Zealand-born coach Deans of trying 

to sabotage Australian rugby. 

While Cooper denied any rift with 

Deans, he showed his credentials with 

a game-breaking try just after halftime 

when the Reds held a slender 

14-13 lead and added to his points 

tally by converting all four tries and a 

penalty. 

In partnership with scrum-half 

Will Genia, the Waikato-born Cooper 

dictated the low of the match as the 

Reds forwards dominated the breakdown 

and ensured a steady supply of 

possession. 

“He’s been improving from week 

to week and Willy and him have got a 

really good combination together and 

they direct us around the park really 

well,” skipper James Horwill said. 

“So it was a big effort by both of 

them, and the boys up front really did 

a really good job to lay the platform 

for them.” 

The Chiefs, who have not beaten 

the Reds at home since 2008, could 

only manage two tries against the 

Australians’ well-structured defence 

and relied on fullback Gareth Anscombe 

for the remainder of their 

points. Anscombe became the irst 

Super 15 player to reach 100 points 

for the season with a match haul of 

13 to take his tally to 111, ahead of 

Brumbies’ Christian Lealiifano who 

has 99 after his side’s 30-19 win over 

the Otago Highlanders on Friday. 

The Reds struck irst when a wayward 

pass by Chiefs ly-half Aaron 

Cruden, in his 50th Super outing, was 

intercepted by Rod Davies for the irst 

of his two tries. — Reuters/AFP 

day, we are going to learn from some 

mistakes and try to avoid any in the 

inals.” 

Standings (after day 3): 1 Alinghi (SUI) 

Morgan Larson, Stuart Pollard, Pierre-Yves 

Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 178 pts, 2 Red 

Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans 

Peter Steinacher, Matthew Adams, Pierre Le 

Clainche, Graeme Spence 151 pts, 3 The Wave, 

Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Ed Smyth, Pete 

Greenhalgh, Musab Al Hadi, Hashim Al Rashdi 

145 pts, 4 SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes 

Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Kostner, Pete Cumming, 

Mikkel Røssberg, Nicolai Sehested 145 pts, 5 

Realteam (SUI) Jé rome Clerc, Bruno Barbarin, 

Arnaud Psarofaghis, Cé dric Schmidt, Bryan Mettraux 

141 pts, 6 Team Korea (KOR) Peter Burling, 

Blair Tuke, Mark Bulkeley, Sungwok Kim, 

Sung Ahn Jung 134 pts, 7 GAC Pindar (NZL) 

Will Tiller, Brad Farrand, Stewart Dodson, Harry 

Thurston, Matt Steven 129 pts, 8 Team Aberdeen 

Singapore (SIN) Scott Glen Sydney, Robert 

Greenhalgh, Andrew Walsh, Justin Wong, Rick 

Peacock 121 pts.


Hamilton takes first pole with Mercedes 

Raikkonen puts Lotus on front row, Webber send to back of grid 

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton drives during the qualifying session for the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix in Shanghai yesterday. — Reuters 

SHANGHAI — Lewis Hamilton swept 

to his irst pole position for Mercedes 

at the Chinese Formula One Grand 

Prix yesterday, with Kimi Raikkonen 

of Lotus lining up alongside and Red 

Bull well down the starting grid. 

In only his third race for the team 

he joined at the end of last season 

from McLaren, 2008 world champion 

Hamilton celebrated the 27th pole of 

his career at a circuit where he has 

won twice before. 

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso will 

start third, with Red Bull's Sebastian 

Vettel ninth and his team-mate Mark 

Webber starting from the back of the 

grid due to a fuel problem. 

"Today is such a blessing to be 

here up front because it (the move to 

Mercedes) was such a change for me," 

Hamilton, last on pole with McLaren 

at the 2012 Brazilian season-ender, 

told reporters. "It's just an incredible 

feeling. I'm so happy to have our irst 

pole for some time. I'm just ecstatic 

really. The lap was great." 

Mercedes, uncompetitive for most 

of last season, were last on pole a 

year ago at the same race with even- 

Ahmad adds Blancpain series to 2013 programme 

MUSCAT — Ahmad al Harthy, the 

2012 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Pro-Am 

1 champion, has expanded his 2013 

motor racing programme after oficially 

conirming he will contest the 

Blancpain Endurance Series alongside 

his existing commitments in the 

British GT Championship. 

With headline backing from longtime 

sponsor National Bank of Oman, 

in addition to key support from telecommunications 

provider Nawras, 

the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry 

of Sports Affairs, the 31-year-old from 

will race an ARC Bratislava-entered 

Porsche 997 GT3R. 

According to a press release issued 

by his team yesterday, round one of 

the 2013 Blancpain Endurance Series, 

a three-hour spectacular, takes 

place at the world-famous Autodromo 

Nazionale Monza in Italy today, 

where Ahmad will team-up with Miro 

Konô pka — owner of the Slovakian 

ARC squad. 

Following this weekend’s seasonopening 

event, the series will visit Silverstone 

in the UK and Paul Ricard in 

southern France for two more threehour 

contests. After that the category 

will prepare for its blue riband race 

meeting, the Total 24 Hours of Spa at 

the famous Belgian track, in late July 

and the season will conclude with a 

1,000km event at Germany’s Nurburgring 

in September. 

Like British GT, the Blancpain Endurance 

Series features thoroughbred 

racing versions of the world’s most 

exotic and desirable sportscars. In addition 

to Porsche, the likes of Ferrari, 

Lamborghini, BMW, McLaren, Mercedes 

and Aston Martin will all be in 

action at Monza — and an incredible 

capacity grid of 60 cars is expected to 

tual winner Nico Rosberg. The German 

— whose pole was the irst by a 

Mercedes works driver since 1955 — 

qualiied fourth this time. 

Ferrari's Alonso will start ahead 

of Felipe Massa for the irst time this 

season, denying the Brazilian the 

honour of being the irst team mate 

to out-qualify the Spaniard for ive 

consecutive races. 

"The biggest threat could come 

from Raikkonen as the Lotus has 

shown it manages its tyres well," said 

Alonso. 

Massa will start ifth with Romain 

Grosjean sixth for Lotus. 

Red Bull's championship leader 

Vettel will line up ninth on the grid 

after opting to start on the slower but 

longer-lasting medium tyres rather 

than the new soft compound used by 

Hamilton. 

Vettel did not set a time in the inal 

session after locking a wheel under 

braking. "I lost the brake pressure 

and had to abort the lap," he said. 

'DOUBLE-WHAMMY' 

Webber, barely speaking to the 

German after Vettel deied team or- 

Ahmad al Harthy: A new adventure 

line-up for the irst race of the 2013 

Blancpain season. 

“On behalf of everyone involved 

with the National Bank of Oman Racing 

Team, I want to say how excited 

we are to be able to race in Blancpain 

this year,” said Ahmad. 

“This is a major step forward in 

my career and there will be a huge 

amount to learn. 

“I’m very thankful to National Bank 

of Oman and Nawras, as well as the 

Omani government through the Ministry 

of Sports Affairs and Ministry of 

Tourism, for their incredible support 

and to enable me to add racing in 

Blancpain to my British GT commitments. 

None of the races clash, they 

complement each other perfectly and 

give me a fantastic opportunity to 

learn as much as I possibly can.” 

Marking a hugely important milestone 

in the Omani star’s career, his 

step-up into pan-European competition 

takes his motor racing onto an 

ders in Malaysia and passed him to 

win, was sidelined by a fuel problem 

during the second phase of qualifying. 

The Australian was 14th fastest 

but was sent to the back of the grid 

for having insuficient fuel in the car 

to drive it back to the pits and provide 

a mandatory one litre sample. 

The governing FIA said in a statement 

that there was only 150ml left 

in the tank. "The amount of fuel that 

was required to be put into the car 

from the fuel rig was not fully delivered. 

This was due to an error with 

the fuel bowser that meant it under 

delivered 3kg of fuel," said team principal 

Christian Horner. 

Webber, who had feared a 'doublewhammy', 

put a brave face on his 

situation and agreed it was 'not the 

optimum starting position'. 

McLaren's Jenson Button, whose 

car was off the pace in the irst two 

races, found himself in the unexpected 

position of starting ahead of both 

Red Bulls in eighth place and on the 

harder tyre. 

"This was the best we could do 

with what we have," he said. "We 

even greater level — and also opens 

up signiicant new marketing opportunities 

for his prestigious portfolio 

of sponsors. 

Anwar Salim al Habsi, Nawras senior 

supervisor-sponsorship, said: “We 

are delighted to extend our support 

of Ahmad into the Blancpain championship, 

his success last year racing in 

the UK was of huge beneit to Nawras 

and this move into Europe is a natural 

progression. Nawras is constantly 

improving its customer experience, is 

fast growing and its latest claim ‘Life 

Got Even Faster’ is a perfect it for Ahmad’s 

racing career as he takes it onto 

the next level in Europe.” 

In addition to corporate support 

from National Bank of Oman and 

Nawras, Ahmad importantly has the 

steadfast backing of both the Ministry 

of Tourism and Ministry of Sports 

Affairs — signifying the importance 

which his racing career has on promoting 

Oman as a key destination. 

don't really have the pace of the frontrunning 

cars yet." 

There were few thrills in the session 

as a whole, with the quick-wearing 

soft tyres creating a situation 

where drivers opted to preserve their 

sets for today's race. 

The crowd saw no cars at all on the 

track for the irst eight and a half minutes 

while teams kept the number of 

laps to the bare minimum. 

"These tyres are very tricky this 

weekend," said Hamilton. 

"Making the option tyre last is 

almost impossible, so it's probably 

going to be a short stint at the start 

apart from for this guy (Raikkonen), 

who seems to be able to look after 

tyres better than most people. 

"But we have good race pace. I expect 

a tough race but I hope we can 

maintain position." 

Raikkonen, winner of the season-opener 

in Australia, echoed his 

thoughts: "I think the gap is quite big 

still and we don't have that speed 

right now. So, second is not bad, I 

think it's the best that I've been with 

the team ever," he said. — Reuters 

“We have supported Ahmad’s international 

motorsport career for a 

long time and we are delighted to be 

giving him the backing he needs for 

this new adventure”, said Khalid al 

Zadjali, Director of Tourism Events at 

the Ministry of Tourism. “Expanding 

our involvement with him into Europe 

is a major development for our 

country as we promote Oman as a 

major tourism and business destination 

to the widest possible audience.” 

Marketing Manager Ahmed al Jahdhami 

from the Ministry of Sports 

Affairs added: “Ahmad is a major 

sports star in Oman, everyone follows 

his racing career closely and he 

is an important ambassador for us. In 

the last few years racing in the UK, he 

has helped to put Oman irmly on the 

map in the world of motor racing so 

we are delighted to be giving him our 

full backing for his progression into 

European racing.” 

Driving a Porsche 997 GT3R in 

Blancpain, which is almost identical 

to the one he pilots in British GT, the 

additional track mileage will pay dividends 

for Ahmad’s experience in endurance 

racing. 

“Winning the Pro-Am 1 title in 

Porsche Carrera Cup GB last year really 

has enabled us to make this step 

up, it made it possible to put together 

a programme in two GT championships 

which was always what we 

wanted to do to get as much seat time 

as possible,” added Ahmad. 

“I’m very proud to ly the lag for 

Oman, not only in the UK in British 

GT but also across Europe in the 

Blancpain series. We’ll be visiting 

some key European destinations and 

that is very important to help us promote 

everything Oman has to offer.” 

SPORT 

Mumbai Indians 

outclass Warriors 

MUMBAI — Mumbai Indians moved 

to the top of the Indian Premier 

League (IPL) table with a convincing 

41-run victory over the Pune Warriors 

at the Wankhede Stadium here 

yesterday. 

Electing to bat, Mumbai posted a 

daunting score of 183 for three with 

Rohit Sharma (62 not out), Dinesh 

Karthik (41) and Sachin Tendulkar 

(44) all chipping in with crucial runs. 

In reply, Pune could only manage 

142 for eight in their allotted overs 

with Mitchell Johnson picking up 

three wickets for the hosts. 

Mumbai have six points from four 

matches, having won three and lost 

one, the same as Royal Challengers 

Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad 

but top the table due to a better run 

rate. 

Pune have lost three of their four 

matches and are in eight position 

with just two points. 

Earlier, Sachin Tendulkar and 

Ricky Ponting (14) got Mumbai off 

to their best start this year with a 54run 

partnership. Ponting played the 

sheet anchor role while Tendulkar 

was the aggressor. 

The Indian batting great’s innings 

was a throwback to the yesteryears, 

where he would demolish bowling 

attacks single-handedly. Tendulkar 

plundered Ashok Dinda for 17 runs 

in the second over setting the tone 

for the rest of the innings. 

Tendulkar was in a aggressive 

mood and took on the Pune bowlers 

dominating them with some lusty 

blows juxtaposed with his signature 

back foot and front foot cover drives. 

Ponting fell to an innocuous delivery 

from Yuvraj Singh. Tendulkar 

didn’t last too long either caught by 

Mitchell Marsh on the long on boundary 

off the bowling of Aaron Finch. 

Mumbai’s two top scorers, Karthik 

and Rohit Sharma, then got together 

and strung a 55-run partnership for 

the third wicket. 

Karthik was the aggressor of the 

two but Rohit Sharma took the initiative 

after the former fell in the 16th 

over. 

Joined by the big West Indian Kieron 

Pollard, Sharma took the attack 

to Pune as Mumbai scored 68 runs in 

the last ive overs to post a big score. 

Ashok Dinda created a record by 

becoming the most expensive bowler 

in IPL history. The Indian pacer conceded 

63 runs in his four overs without 

taking a single wicket. 

Pune’s chase got off to the worst 

possible start as they lost Finch (0) 

in the very irst ball, clean bowled 

by Australian compatriot Mitchell 

Johnson. It was all downhill for the 

visitors from then on as Ross Taylor 

(4) as sent packing courtesy a mix-up 

with Robin Uthappa (7). 

27 

Improving Sunrisers add 

to Daredevils’ woes 

NEW DELHI — Sunrisers Hyderabad 

added to Delhi Daredevils’ woes, in- 

licting on them their fourth consecutive 

loss with a three-wicket win in 

the Indian Premier League (IPL) at 

the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Friday. 

After restricting the Daredevils to 

a meagre score of 114 for eight, Sunrisers 

chased down the total in 19.2 

overs, scoring 115 for seven. 

A lot was expected from Virender 

Sehwag’s return but it all went sour 

for the Daredevils from the irst over 

of the match itself. 

Electing to bat, Delhi lost their 

Australian import and their top scorer 

this year, David Warner (0) to Dale 

Steyn’s fourth ball of the match. 

That set the trend for the rest of 

the innings as the Daredevils lost 

wickets at regular intervals. 

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene (12) 

looked in sublime touch, irst hoicking 

Ishant Sharma for a six over the 

square leg boundary and then caressing 

compatriot Thisara Perara 

through extra cover. 

But his innings was shortlived 

as he skied an Ishant Sharma ball 

straight to the waiting hands of the 

mid-on ielder. 

Sehwag (12), who had struck two 

boundaries in his innings, departed 

two balls later, edging Ishant to the 

wide-slip catcher, Cameron White. 

Johan Botha (9) and Manpreet 

Juneja (15) failed to impress as Delhi 

found themselves in heaps of trouble 

with the score on 65 for ive. 

Irfan Pathan (15) and Kedhar 

Jadhav (30 not out) brought about 

the innings best partnership with 30 

ROHIT SHARMA: Top scorer 

Uthappa himself didn’t hang 

around for too long, castled by another 

in-swinging Johnson delivery. 

Tirumalasetti Suman (23) came in 

hit ive boundaries to get some momentum 

going for his team but tried 

a shot too many, caught at long on by 

Pollard off the bowling of Harbhajan 

Singh. 

Yuvraj (24) after hitting a boundary 

and two sixes too perished trying 

to score the big runs. 

Pune kept losing wickets at regular 

intervals and were never able to 

get any momentum going. 

Mitchell Marsh (38) played a cameo 

towards the fag end of the innings 

but managed to only delay the inevitable. 

SCOREBOARD 

Mumbai Indians 

R Ponting c Kumar b Yuvraj .................................... 14 

S Tendulkar c Marsh b Finch ................................. 44 

D Karthik lbw Marsh .................................................. 41 

Rohit Sharma (not out) ............................................ 61 

Kieron Pollard (not out) ........................................... 19 

Extras: (w-2, nb-1) ........................................................3 

Total: (3 wkts, 20 overs) ...................................... 158 

Fall of wickets: 1-54, 2-60, 3-115. 

Bowling: A Finch 2-0-11-1; B Kumar 2-0- 

16-0; A Dinda 4-0-63-0; R Sharma 4-0-27-0; A 

Mathews 4-0-29-0; Yuvraj Singh 2-0-13-1; M 

Marsh 2-0-24-1. 

Pune Warriors 

A Finch b Johnson ...........................................................0 

R Uthappa b Johnson ....................................................7 

R Taylor run .......................................................................4 

Yuvraj c Dhawan b Pollard ...................................... 24 

T Suman c Pollard b Harbhajan ............................ 23 

A Mathews c Sharma b Ojha .................................. 19 

M Marsh c Dhawan b Johnson .............................. 38 

A Nayar c Pollard b Malinga ......................................6 

B Kumar (not out) ..........................................................6 

Rahul Sharma (not out) ............................................ 10 

Extras: (lb-1, w-4) .........................................................5 

Total: (8 wkts, 20 overs) ...................................... 142 

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-5, 3-13, 4-38, 5-71, 6-89, 

7-120, 8-127. 

Bowling: M Johnson 4-0-33-3; P Ojha 2-0- 

20-1; Harbhajan 3-0-20-1; L Malinga 4-0-22-1; 

R Dhawan 4-0-27-0; K Pollard 3-0-19-1. 

runs but the former was dismissed in 

his zeal to score quick runs. 

Jadhav’s cameo was the saving 

grace for the Daredevils as he plundered 

Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara 

Perera for 13 runs in the last over, 

taking Delhi to a respectable total. 

In reply, the Sunrisers too got off 

to the worst possible start, losing 

Akshath Reddy (1) in the second 

over. 

Parthiv Patel (19) and Kumar Sangakkara 

(28) added 44 runs for the 

second wicket as it seemed the visitors 

would easily canter to victory. 

Patel though was too eager to 

score quick runs on a slow wicket 

and that proved to be his downfall as 

he lobbed an easy catch to spinner 

Shahbaz Nadeem. 

But it was Sangakkara’s wicket 

that re-ignited Delhi’s hope with the 

former Sri Lankan captain edging a 

Botha delivery to Sehwag at irst slip. 

Jadhav stumped White (4) off Nadeem’s 

bowling while Hanuma Vihari 

(17) fell to Morne Morkel as Delhi 

were well and truly in the game. 

Amit Mishra, though, had the last 

say in the game as his unbeaten 16 

took the Sunrisers over the line. 

Brief scores: Delhi Daredevils 

114 for 8 in 20 overs (K Jadhav 

30 n.o., I Pathan 23; D Steyn 2/11, I 

Sharma 2/35, T Perera 2/31) lost 

to Sunrisers Hyderabad 115 for 7 

in 19.2 overs (K Sangakkara 28, P 

Patel 19; M Morkel 2/27, S Nadeem 

2/17). 

Today’s ixtures: Kolkata Knight 

Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad; 

Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab.

28 

SPORT 


Day leads at Masters, China’s Guan makes the cut 

Jason Day of Australia hits his tee shot during the second round of the Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, on Friday. PICTURE RIGHT: Tianlang Guan of China hits a shot. — Reuters/AFP 

AUGUSTA, Georgia — Jason Day put 

himself in prime position once again 

to end Australia's Masters jinx when 

he ired a four-under-par 68 to seize 

the lead at the halfway mark of the 

year's irst Major championship on 

Friday. 

Day curled in a 13-foot birdie putt 

at the par-three 16th hole to break a 

three-way tie and inish at six-underpar 

138 on a dificult day of swirling 

winds and tricky pin placements at 

Augusta National. 

The 25-year-old Day, a runner-up 

in the Masters and US Open in 2011, 

wielded a hot putter to notch 10 oneputts 

in his quest to become the irst 

Australian to claim a green jacket. 

Day's right-to-left putt at 16 

Monaco to meet 

Isner in Houston 

semiinals 

HOUSTON, Texas — Defending 

champ Juan Monaco crushed Robby 

Ginepri 6-1, 6-0 in the quarterinals 

of the US Clay Court Championships 

on Friday, setting up a re-match of 

last year's inal with John Isner. 

Only this time Monaco and runner-up 

Isner will meet in the Houston 

semiinals after Isner booked 

his spot with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win 

over Ricardas Berankis earlier in the 

day. 

The third-seeded Monaco, of Argentina, 

needed just 56 minutes to 

dispatch American qualiier Ginepri 

in their irst contest in ive years. 

Monaco did not face a break point 

and broke Ginepri ive times on the 

clay court at the River Oaks Country 

Club. 

"From the beginning, I had a good 

feeling," Monaco said. Monaco said 

he hopes to carry the momentum to 

the semis. "John is a great player. I'll 

have to play like today or even better 

tomorrow if I want to beat him. 

I have to be focussed. When I get the 

opportunity, I can't miss it." 

The other semi will see top seed 

Nicolas Almagro battle 144thranked 

Rhyne Williams. 

Almagro capitalised on all three 

break point chances as he beat seventh 

seed Paolo Lorenzi in straight 

sets. Almagro, who has won all 12 

of his ATP Tour titles on clay, rolled 

over the Italian 6-4, 6-4 in their centre 

court match. 

The 27-year-old Spaniard Almagro 

blasted nine aces, had one 

double fault and won 75 per cent of 

his irst-serve points. Lorenzi hammered 

ive aces and had three double 

faults in the 81-minute centre 

court match. 

Almagro next faces American 

wild card Williams, who reached his 

irst-ever ATP semiinal by outlasting 

Spain's Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 

7-6 (7/1), 1-6, 6-4. 

Results: Quarterinals: Nicolas Almagro 

(ESP x1) bt Paolo Lorenzi (ITA x7) 6-4, 6-4; 

Rhyne Williams (USA) bt Ruben Ramirez 

Hidalgo (ESP) 7-6 (7/1), 1-6, 6-4; John Isner 

(USA x5) bt Ricardas Berankis (LTU) 6-3, 3-6, 

6-3; Juan Monaco (ARG x3) bt Robby Ginepri 

(USA) 6-1, 6-0. — AFP 

snapped a three-way tie at ive-under 

with compatriot Marc Leishman and 

1992 champion Fred Couples atop an 

impressive leaderboard. 

The smooth-swinging Couples, 53, 

birdied the last for 71, while Leishman, 

the overnight co-leader after an 

opening 66, shot 73 to join him on 

139. 

Tiger Woods was part of a fourway 

logjam at ive-under when he 

suffered a cruel bit of luck as his third 

shot into the par-ive 15th struck the 

stick on the ly and rebounded back 

into the pond fronting the green. 

Woods, who up until that point was 

the only player of 93 in the ield without 

a bogey in his round, hit his ifth 

shot within three feet to save bogey. 

A three-putt at the 18th gave world 

number one Woods another bogey for 

a 71 that dropped him to three-under 

141, three shots off the pace. 

The 14-times major winner, looking 

for his irst major triumph in ive 

years and irst Masters win since 

2005, was not dismayed. 

"My ball striking was so good today," 

a conident Woods said. "Even 

my misses were on top of lags." 

Angel Cabrera of Argentina, the 

2009 Masters champion, made a sizzling 

inish to join a three-way tie on 

four under par with Jim Furyk (71) 

and Brandt Snedeker (70). Cabrera 

birdied four in a row and ive of the 

last six holes for his 69. 

Joining Woods on 141 were Aus- 

tralian Adam Scott (72), Britons Lee 

Westwood (71), Justin Rose (71) and 

David Lynn (73), American Jason Dufner 

(69) and K.J. Choi of South Korea 

(71). Day nearly extended his lead by 

a stroke to seven under par when he 

gave himself a birdie chance at the 

17th hole, but the Australian slid his 

putt just by the edge of the cup. 

Long-hitting Dustin Johnson actually 

did reach seven-under after birdies 

at the fourth, ninth, 10th and 13th 

holes. A bogey for Johnson at 14 was 

followed by double-bogey at the par- 

ive 15th, bogey at 17 and another 

double-bogey at the last that sent him 

crashing to one-under-par 143. 

A damp and dreary start to Friday's 

play gave way to sunshine and 

Heat trio make triumphant return 

Miami Heat’s Chris Andersen defends with team-mate Rashard Lewis (centre) as Boston Celtics’ Jordan 

Crawford (right) shoots in their NBA game in Miami, Florida, Friday. — Reuters 

MIAMI — LeBron James led with 20 

points and nine assists in a 109-101 

NBA win over Boston Celtics as the 

Miami Heat beneited from having 

their big three reunited for the irst 

time in two weeks. 

James also had six rebounds, Chris 

Bosh inished with 17 points and 

seven rebounds and Dwyane Wade 

chipped in with 11 points on Friday 

for the Heat, who have a franchise 

record 63 wins on the season. 

Because of injuries, Miami's magic 

trio has been in and out of the lineup 

in recent weeks weeks. 

"It was good to have most of our 

guys back tonight," Heat head coach 

Erik Spoelstra said. "We have to keep 

moving forward." 

The Heat, who have already 

clinched home-court advantage 

through the playoffs, also wanted to 

give them a rest as the regular season 

winds down. 

Heading into Friday's contest, 

James had missed four of the team's 

last six games to rest an ailing hamstring. 

Wade missed six games because of 

an ankle and knee injuries and Bosh 

had missed the previous three games 

with a knee problem. 

Wade bumped his sore knee against 

the Celtics and will receive more treatment. 

Miami host Chicago today in the 

third-to-last game of the season. 

Results: Toronto Raptors bt Chicago Bulls 

97-88, Philadelphia 76ers bt Washington Wizards 

97-86, Brooklyn Nets bt Indians Pacers 

117-109, Atlanata Hawks bt Milwaukee 109- 

104, Miami Heat bt Boston Celtics 109-101, 

Detroit Pistons bt Charlotte Bobcats 113-93, 

NY Knicks bt Cleveland Cavaliers 101-91, LA 

Clippers bt New Orleans Hornets 96-93, Memphis 

Grizzlies bt Houston Rockets 82-78, Dallas 

Mavericks bt Denver Nuggets 108-105, San 

Antonio Spurs bt Sacramento Kings 108-101, 

Utah Jazz bt Minnesota Timberwolves 107- 

100, Oklahoma City Thunder bt Portland 

Trailblazers 106-90. — AFP 

roars with eagles and birdies lying, 

before swirling winds thoroughly 

tested the golfers. Day was stymied by 

the wind at the par-three 12th where 

a sudden change in direction contributed 

to his hitting the ball on the bank 

short of the green, where it trickled 

down into Rae's Creek on his way to a 

bogey-four. 

The Australian recovered with a 

birdie at the par-ive 13th. 

Sergio Garcia of Spain teed off with 

a share of the lead after his 66, but 

soared to a 76 to inish on two-under 

142. Day's missed birdie chance at 17 

saved the day for China's 14-year-old 

Guan Tianlang, who posted a 75 that 

included a penalty stroke for slow 

play that put him at four-over 148. 

Guan squeezed into weekend play 

by being within 10 shots of the lead. 

The youngest competitor ever at 

the Masters, Asia-Paciic Amateur 

champion Guan became the youngest 

player to make the cut at a major 

championship and clinched the silver 

cup awarded to the low amateur at 

the Masters. Also advancing to the last 

two rounds was 2012 winner Bubba 

Watson who shot 73 for his 148 total. 

Sixty-one players made the cut. 

Among those missing were former 

US Open winner Graeme McDowell 

(149) and his fellow Ryder Cup team 

mate Ian Poulter (151), former British 

Open winner Louis Oosthuizen 

(150) and US Open champion Webb 

Simpson (149). —Reuters 

Blackhawks clinch title 

CHICAGO — Rookie Brandon Saad 

scored the decisive goal in the ifth 

round of the shootout as host Chicago 

Blackhawks clinched the 

Central Division NHL title by defeating 

Detroit Red Wings for the 

seventh consecutive time. 

Captain Jonathan Toews and 

Viktor Stalberg tallied in regulation 

and defenseman Duncan Keith 

notched an assist while playing in his 

600th career game. 

Corey Crawford inished with 

27 saves for the Blackhawks, who 

have won four in a row and recorded 

their irst season sweep 

of the Red Wings since 1976-77. 

Chicago increased its lead over Pittsburgh 

to four points in the race for 

the Presidents' Trophy. 

Craig Anderson turned aside all 

33 shots he faced and Jean-Gabriel 

Pageau scored his irst career goal 

as visiting Ottawa won its second 

straight following a season-high ivegame 

losing skid. 

Milan Michalek also tallied for the 

Senators, who completed a threegame 

season sweep of reeling New 

Jersey and moved within one point 

of provincial-rival Toronto for ifth 

place in the Eastern Conference. 

Martin Brodeur inished with nine 

saves for the Devils, who saw their 

winless stretch extend to nine games 

(0-5-4) and remained four points 

behind the eighth-place New York 

Rangers. 

New Jersey's winless streak is one 

shy of a franchise high, which was 

set in 1983. Rookie Alex Chiasson recorded 

his second two-goal performance 

in three contests as visiting Dallas 

Stars extended its winning streak 

to four games. 

Results: Ottawa Senators bt New Jersey 

Devils 2-0, Columbus Blue Jackets bt St Louis 

Blues 4-1, Dallas Stars bt Nashville Predators 

5-2, Chicago Blackhawks bt Detroit Red Wings 

3-2. — Reuters 

Cubs edge past Giants 

NEW YORK — Starlin Castro delivered 

a walk-off double as Chicago 

Cubs edged visiting San Francisco 

Giants 4-3 in the Major League baseball 

game on Friday. 

After the Giants had taken the 

lead in the top half of the ninth, Sergio 

Romo (0-1) entered in search 

of his league-leading seventh save. 

Pinch hitter Dioner Navarro led off 

with a home run to right to knot 

it back up and David DeJesus reached 

on a two-out single in front of 

Castro, who ripped a 2-1 fastball 

Chicago Blackhawks’ Jonathan 

Toews celebrates his goal against 

the Detroit Red Wing during 

their NHL game in Chicago, on 

Friday. — Reuters 

into right to plate the game-winning 

run. CC Sabathia pitched eight strong 

innings as New York handed visiting 

Baltimore a tough loss. 

Results: Chicago Cubs bt San Francisco Giants 

4-3, Cleveland Indians bt Chicago White 

Sox 1-0, NY Yankees bt Baltimore Orioles 5-2, 

Atlanta Braves bt Washington Nationals 6- 

4, Pittsburgh Pirates bt Cincinnati Reds 6-5, 

Philadelphia Phillies bt MIAMI Marlins 3-1, 

Toronto Blue Jays bt Kansas City Royals 8-4, NY 

Mets bt Minnesota twins 16-5, St Louis Cardinals 

bt Milwaukee Brewers 2-0, Arizona Diamondbacks 

bt LA Dodgers 3-0, Houston Astros 

bt LA Angles 5-0, Oakland Athletics bt Detroit 

Tigers 4-3, Seattle Mariners bt Texas Rangers 

3-1. — Reuters

Sushmita Sen 


All-night shoot leaves us with 

no personal life: Annie Gill 

TV serial Anamika has completed 

100 episodes and lead actress 

Annie Gill, who plays Rano in 

it, says that since the show is mostly 

shot at night, the actors hardly have a 

personal life. 

"It has been nice and it has been 

Bollywood beauties 

make splash at IIJW 

Sonam Kapoor 

displays jewellery 

during a fashion 

show at the Gem 

and Jewellery 

Fair in New Delhi 

an experience. I had never thought 

that I'll work so much. There have 

been constant night shifts continuously 

for months. You don't have 

much personal life left," Annie said 

while celebrating the feat for the 

show. 

"It's a joint venture of our creative 

team, production team, the technicals 

and producers," she added. 

Mudit Nayar, who plays Jeet, credits 

everyone for the show's success. 

"We shoot at night and it may 

look like just a few minutes, but 

(sometimes), it takes whole night to 

shoot. So all our departments like the 

light, electric, technicians, spot boys, 

scriptwriters are collectively responsible 

for the success (of the show)," 

he said. 

Anamika is the story of a witch, 

played by Simran Kaur, who wants 

to get Jeet at all costs and how she 

devises means to achieve that. The 

show went on air on November 26 

last year. It is telecast on Sony TV. 

BOLLYWOOD beauties Lara Dutta, Chitrangada Singh and 

Yami Gautam added their spark and glamour at the India 

International Jewellery Week (IIJW). They walked the ramp here as 

showstoppers for different brands. 

The actresses appeared at the event on Friday evening. 

Lara launted diamonds by Birdhichand Ghanshyamdas Jewellers, 

while Chitrangada walked wearing designs by Hazoorilal Jewellers, 

and Yami sported bespoke pieces by Nazraana. 

Nazraana created a special set for its show, with two jewellery 

boxes hanging from the roof. The show for Nazraana started with a 

ballet performance, followed by models sashaying down the ramp, 

posing in glittering diamond jewellery. — IANS 

Wasim calls off 

marriage rumours 

By Shahid Hashmi 

PAKISTAN cricket icon Wasim Akram (pictured) 

demanded privacy and respect 

from fans and media alike on Friday, calling 

for an end "once and for all" to rumours he 

is marrying Bollywood heroine Sushmita Sen. 

The famed paceman has been linked constantly 

in the media to the 1994 Miss Universe since 

they were judges in 2008 Indian dance show 

Aik Khilari, Aik Haseena (A player, a beauty). 

Wasim, a widower since his wife Huma died 

in October 2009, said he is fed up. 

"I am tired of denying such rumours and 

now I want this to end once and for all," Wasim 

said after Indian media claimed on Thursday 

that the couple were about to tie the knot in 

Mumbai. 

Pakistani television channels also splashed 

the story, hotly anticipating another high-pro- 

ile cross-border union after the 2010 nuptials 

of Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik and Indian 

tennis ace Sania Mirza. 

Wasim said he and Sen are good friends only. 

"She is one of the most graceful and decent ladies 

I have come across," said Wasim of the 37year-old 

Bollywood star. "It was huge fun working 

as judge with Sushmita as she is a thorough 

professional and presents herself gracefully." 

The dance show also featured Indian cricket 

stars Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan 

Pathan, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Nikhil 

Chopra and Vinod Kambli and was also telecast 

on a leading Pakistani channel. 

Wasim described the show as a good experience. 

"The show was well received and was admired 

across the borders and that was it. If I get 

another chance to work with her I will do but I 

Southern audiences like 

chubby heroines: Erica 

SEVERAL actresses in Bollywood are working 

hard to shed weight to get to size 

zero, but debutant Erica Fernandez, who 

is awaiting the release of her debut Tamil ilm 

Aindu Aindhu Aindhu, feels she needs to put on 

weight to look presentable for the southern 

ilm industry. 

"From what I have perceived, audiences in 

south like to see chubby heroines. I don't think 

size zero is popular in south as much as it is in 

Bollywood. I have started working to put on 

some weight for my upcoming ilms," Erica 

said. 

However, she is being careful. 

"I don't want to put on too much of weight 

because I have a couple of Bollywood ilms that 

I am likely to sign soon. I will know from the release 

of my Tamil ilm whether audiences have 

accepted me the way I look," she added. 

She says it is very important to look right 

and look good in showbiz. 

"Lot of time and effort needs to be invested 

for actors to look good. Despite my busy schedule, 

I take out time to work out. After all, it's 

showbiz and, therefore, we need to look good," 

she said. 

In her debut ilm Tamil thriller, Erica is 

paired opposite Bharat. 

"It was fun working with Bharat. He is a 

known star in the industry and, therefore, I believe 

sharing screen space with him will add 

value to my career," said Erica who has been 

modelling since the age of 16. 

Besides modelling for print and TV ads, Erica 

was one of the inalists of Miss India 2012. 

However, she says modelling is not important 

want the media of both the countries to respect 

us," said Wasim. 

Wasim said he is devoted to bringing up his 

two sons, Taimur and Akbar. 

"I want to bring them up and make them 

good and successful human beings, so my life is 

devoted to my sons," said Wasim. 

Sen has two adopted daughters and has 

yet to marry. Wasim said their personal lives 

should be respected. 

"I have my own personal life and she has her 

own, so the media and fans should not disrespect 

that," said Wasim, who has taken a year's 

leave as a bowling coach in the Indian Premier 

League to spend time with sons. "I have always 

felt at home in India and the kind of respect I 

get in India is very pleasing so I will continue 

to work as and when I get time, but as my sons 

also needed time I have taken leave from the 

IPL this year," said Wasim. — AFP 

to be an actor. 

"I don't think modelling is necessary to be 

an actress. Both professions may be about facing 

the camera, but they are poles apart. As a 

model, one barely needs to pose, but as an actor 

one needs to perform, memorise dialogues 

and do so many other things," she added. 

She is also awaiting the release of her Hindi 

ilm, tentatively titled Love Is Not Mathematics, 

along with Tamil ilms Vizhithiru, Virattu and 

Telugu ilm Dega. 

True music lovers listen to records in 

digital age: Goutam Ghose 

Despite digitisation in music and ilms, renowned 

ilm-maker Goutam Ghose feels true 

music lovers still love listening to gramophone 

records. "True music lovers still love records. I 

regularly hear music on records and I love doing 

it, because you care about what you possess 

— as in putting the pin correctly, seeing to 

it that scratches are kept away, you dust it and 

then you listen to it," Ghose said. 

"European countries are now, again going 

back to listening to the records because of the 

love for music quality or depth of the sound, 

that is analog stereo," he added. 

Director of ilms like Paar, Dekha and Abar 

Aranye, Ghose said in the era of technological 

advances in photography and videography, he 

still depends on negatives for his ilms. 

"Even ilms have become outdated; Fuji and 

Kodak have almost stopped producing photoilm 

because of digitisation opening new 

boundaries in photography and videogaraphy 

and claiming of producing better results. 

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Mysteries to unfold in 

Amrit Manthan: Ankita 

INTERESTING twists and turns in TV show 

Amrit Manthan have kept viewers glued to it, 

but actress Ankita Sharma, who plays Nimrit in 

it, says there are still many mysteries to unfold. 

"There will be more twists and turns in the 

show. Moreover, the story progresses fast in 

Amrit Manthan. Still there are many mysteries 

that needs to unfold," Ankita said here on 

the set of the show. “Many ups and downs are 

there, which you (audience) will enjoy watching,” 

she added. 

Zoya Akhtar to make 

small budget film? 

FILMMAKER Zoya Akhtar, who has made 

movies like Luck By Chance and Zindagi Na 

Milegi Dobara, says she wont mind making a 

small budget movie. 

"If I get the opportunity (to make a small 

budget ilm), I would love to. I think your budget 

depends on your choice. Yes, deinitely, I will 

be making one tiny ilm soon for sure," Zoya 

said. 

The ilm-maker is the daughter of talented 

writers Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani, and is 

the sister of the multi-talented Farhan. 

Doesn't she feel pressure to prove herself? 

Gaga to fund fan’s 

hip surgery 

POP star Lady Gaga, who recently underwent 

a hip surgery, is helping a fan who needs to 

have a similar operation. 

The 27-year-old, who underwent emergency 

surgery for a labral tear in her right hip last 

month, is funding a fan’s trip to meet the same 

team of surgeons, doctors and specialists who 

helped her in New York, reports contactmusic. 

com. 

One of her Twitter followers, Emma C, 19, 

suffers from scoliosis and hip dysplasia. Emma 

revealed the news online. 

“Gaga reached out to me and is hooking me 

up with her team that did her surgery in NYC as 

I have been needing a hip replacement for quite 

some time,” she wrote. 

Printers and Publishers 

Oman Establishment for Press, 

Publication and Advertising 

29

30 

PEOPLE’S 

PLATFORM 

DONATING blood is something 

that everyone should 

do, of course, those who are 

it to do it. People should be made 

aware of this noble act because 

they can save many lives by donating 

blood. This is something simple 

that people can do in order to help 

others in need. Reading more than 

80 people gave blood made me feel 

proud of my people and country. 

This campaign started in Sohar but 

this doesn’t mean that people elsewhere 

around the country are not 

doing anything, they too donate 

blood when they feel that it is time 

for them to. 

— Ahmed 

Editor: Donating blood is something 

everyone should do, we 

shouldn’t keep the thought of “oh 

someone else can donate”. If we think 

in that way, then we are not considering 

the lives we can indirectly 

save. ‘Leave not what you can do today 

for tomorrow,’ because you will 

never know what joy you could have 

brought to a family. 

Safe driving 

USING mobile phones while 

driving is very dangerous. 

Drivers who use mobile phones lose 

concentration on the road, slow or 

speed up at no speciic pace, easily 

lose control of their vehicles, fail to 

leave enough driving distance with 

the vehicles going ahead of them, 

>> CULTURE 

LETTERS 

Blood donation is a noble act of charity 

keep shifting unknowingly between 

tracks and fail to react properly in 

risky situations. Almost every day 

when I go out I see an accident on 

the road, luckily most of the time it is 

something minor and no one is hurt, 

but nevertheless, and accident is an 

accident. People don’t realise that 

Do you have a word of appreciation for any services you received? Or suggestions for improvement? Observer is giving 

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Tel: 24649451, Fax: 24649469; e-mail: observerfeatures@gmail.com 

facebook.com/oman observer twitter.com/omanobserver 

ISWK conducts pilot programme to inspire students 

INDIAN School Al Wadi Al Kabir (ISWK) 

recently conducted a presentation on 

Pilot Programme called ‘Tod, Fod, Jod’ 

which aims to inspire children to discover, 

experiment and innovate. 

The programme was held with the initiative 

taken by the School Management 

Committee under the patronage of Alkesh 

Joshi. 

The programme developed by the 

speaker along with Sam Pitroda, Prime 

Minister’s Ofice (PMO), Government of 

ISWK student tops 

English Olympiad 

RAKA Ghosh Dastidar, a Grade XI 

student from Indian School Al 

Wadi Al Kabir (ISWK), has secured 

the irst in the state in the 3rd 

International English Olympiad 

(IEO). The examination conducted 

by the Science Olympiad Foundation 

of New Delhi in association with 

the British Council which sets the 

curricula. 

Raka was ranked irst in the 

state level wherein all international 

schools from across the world outside 

India which is considered as a 

single state. A merit certiicate, a gold 

medal and Indian Rs 5,000 would be 

awarded to her. Raka has an impressive 

record both academic and extra 

curriculars right from 2006 till 2012. 

She had represented India at the Ambassadors’ 

Programme Leadership 

Summit for the Young Women at the 

University of California, Los Angeles. 

India, was conducted under the guidance 

of Prakash Patankar, a well-known management 

specialist and Six Sigma expert 

based in Baroda. 

He has been the President of JCT Electronics 

for many years and has a wealth 

of experience in the ield of practical science. 

The programme entails dismantling 

objects to know how things actually work. 

This in fact gives the students a better understanding 

than learning about them 

AMLA or Indian gooseberry is a 

super food due to its antioxidant 

property. It has beneicial effects 

on almost all the systems and organs of 

body. Amla is a proven antioxidant, antifungal, 

anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-mutagenic, 

yeast inhibiting, anti-hepatoxic, 

anti-inlammatory, anti-histaminic, hypolipidemic, 

and hypotensive relieving 

properties. It is a wonder herb and one 

of the precious gifts of nature to man. 

Here's how amla can beneit you. 

Amla has antidiabetic quality: It controls 

blood sugar in diabetes. It is also 

rich in chromium, which makes it very 

beneicial for diabetics. It is known to 

stimulate the isolated group of cells that 

secrete the hormone insulin. This decreases 

the bloodsugar. 

Heart disorders: Indian gooseberry 

is considered an effective remedy for 

heart disease. It tones up the functions 

of all the organs of the body and builds 

up health by destroying the harmful 

and disease causing elements. 

Ageing: Indian gooseberry has revitalising 

effects, as it contains an element 

which is very valuable in preventing ageing 

and in maintaining strength in old 

age. It improves body resistance and 

protects the body against infection. 

Eye disorders: The juice of Indian 

gooseberry is useful in preserving in eye 

sight. It is beneicial in the treatment of 

through books and videos. 

Students of classes IX and XI participated 

with great enthusiasm where they 

were required to dismantle and reassemble 

gadgets and in the process came to 

terms with values, such as teamwork, try 

till you succeed, there’s always an answer 

to every question. 

The programme mainly focused on 

dismantling an electric fan, identify one 

part of it and its function, separating 

parts which rotates and which do not ro- 

Benefits of Indian gooseberry 

By Mini Padikkal 

conjunctivitis and glaucoma. It reduces 

intraocular tension in remarkable manner. 

Amla also helps boost protein metabolism, 

so if you exercise and work out 

regularly you will beneit greatly from 

regular amla intake. People who have a 

tendency to gain weight easily tend to 

have poor metabolism. The better your 

metabolism, the better the body's ability 

to burn fat and keep you slim. As amla 

enhances metabolism, it helps you lose 

weight faster. 

Amla can improve blood circulation 

and it ensures proper functioning 

of liver. It is a strong immunomodulator 

and protects from the onset of many diseases 

if taken regularly. Amla is a good 

tate and their applications, reassembling 

of the fan which was followed by a movie 

presentation on “Robotics.” 

The students also shared what other 

inventions could be made based on the 

scientiic concepts learnt and came up 

with some very interesting innovative 

gadgets. Nageshwar Rao Dosapati, Principal, 

ISWK, Jayaprakash Pillai, Vice-Principal, 

along with the Science teachers from 

High School also participated actively in 

the programme. 

hematinic as it raises hemoglobin level. 

Amla contains high ibre content and will 

ease your problem. They are also rich in 

antioxidants, which protect against the 

formation of free radicals in the body. 

Amlas, when eaten frequently, help to 

prevent cancer. 

To seek relief from painful mouth 

ulcers, simply gargle with a mixture of 

water and amla juice. They contain antiinlammatory 

properties which will help 

in reducing the swelling in the joints 

caused by arthritis. Amlas are a great 

option to relieve stress and therefore, 

useful in treating sleep disorders like insomnia. 

These are just some of the reasons 

to include an amla in your daily diet. So 

the next time you think of reaching for a 

supplement, think again and reach for an 

amla berry instead. 

(The writer is a dietitian at Atlas Medical 

Centre, Al Khuwair, Muscat) 


talking on the phone or messaging 

while driving is a very serious 

hazard! This new campaign by the 

ROP is something that everyone, no 

matter what age, nationality or title, 

should follow. 

— Simon 

Editor: The ROP is doing a great 

job. Let’s hope that people realise 

what they have been doing and ready 

to change their dangerous habit of 

using mobile phones while driving. 

It is understandable that people will 

get important phone calls while on 

the road that they need to answer, 

so we advise them to pullover on the 

side of the road, as carefully as possible, 

and answer the phone. 

Akon in Muscat 

By Maurice Gent 

maurice.gent@ omanobserver.om 

AKON came to Muscat! The 

concert was amazing and it is a 

great thing that we have such great 

international celebrities coming to 

this side of the world and meet their 

fans. The thing that I really like is 

that he was not scared to come into 

the crowd and mingle with us. This 

is the best thing any entertainer can 

do, and Akon did it here in Muscat! 

We showed people that we are kind, 

nice and hospitable people who just 

want to go out and have fun. 

— Nader 

Editor: This is what Oman is and 

what makes people in Oman feel safe 

no matter if they are here on holiday 

or business, they can count Oman as 

their home away from home. 

Turning 

Points 

For a healthy and 

vibrant dialogue 

FIRST visited the Sultanate of Oman in 1969 when 

I was BBC Cairo Correspondent also having overall 

responsibility for Sudan and the whole Gulf region. 

Oman was then in the reporting sense a small part 

of the regional story. But the more I looked at the 

history, the current development of the country and 

its plans from 1970 onwards to become a totally 

different society it became a fascinating subject to 

study and remains so to this day. 

The reason for continued fascination are many because 

the nation has sought a signiicant presence in 

so many areas, education, commerce, a health service 

offering high standards, a strong defence force, 

which protects the nation from all sorts of dangers. 

Oh yes. There are strong and well-informed pressure 

groups calling for an environment policy, which 

meets world-class standards. 

Life however is very far from boring as we now 

live in a more just society, where basic needs are 

met. There are still wrongs to be righted, new ideas 

and policies to be tried out to discover whether they 

would be an added beneit to the nation. 

The overall direction will, I am sure, be positive. 

This column is however willing to sift ideas large and 

small, which will add to the national debate on how 

Oman can become an even more powerful, and progressive 

nation, working for the common good, cooperating 

with both neighbouring nations, and those 

further aield. 

This will, it is hoped, be a column, where readers 

readily present their own ideas. The aim is to start a 

more general debate, which will supplement the discussions 

of oficially appointed bodies, and help to 

create a nation, where everybody will join the debate. 

A more informed society promotes better decision 

making at all levels. 

So whether you have well deined views on anything 

from education, roads, social services, to how 

Oman should develop its inluence and policies on 

the world stage, this column hopes to look at the past, 

present and future, to encourage intelligent debate. 

This will not change society overnight, but will 

help to create a more healthy and vibrant dialogue, increasing, 

we hope, the number of voices contributing 

to the Oman of the future. A well-informed nation is a 

stronger nation, where decisions at all levels can more 

effectively made for the common good. 

So views on world policy to the state of our universities, 

and whether those both in the public and 

private sector are working effectively so long as they 

are instructive will be welcomed. So will discussion 

of how the public and private sectors co-operate. And 

are senior expatriates fulilling their jobs in a positive 

and constructive way? An intelligent and lively debate 

on the major issues facing Oman will beneit all, 

whether they be in the public or private sector.


Stress on tackling hypertension through legislation 

By Kaushalendra Singh 

THE World Health Organisation 

(WHO) felt the need of some 

kind of legislation to tackle rising 

cases of hypertension, which has 

assumed alarming proportion worldwide. 

Oman is not an exception with 

40 per cent hypertension cases prevalent 

among people above 40 years of 

age. 

Besides personal alertness on food 

and physical exercises to keep hypertension 

at bay, the WHO sought active 

involvement of governments to reduce 

the prevalence of high blood pressure 

at national level. 

The WHO highlighted the issue by 

distributing folders containing wide 

range of information about hyperten- 

Thoughts about 

mortality can 

improve health 

AN awareness of mortality is a 

good thing — it can improve 

physical health and help us reprioritise 

our goals and values, 

according to a new analysis of 

scientiic studies. Even a passing nod 

with mortality, such as walking by 

a cemetery, could prompt positive 

changes, unlike past research 

which suggests such thoughts are 

destructive and dangerous, fuelling 

prejudice, greed or violence. 

Recent studies have shown that 

when reminded of death, people 

may opt for better health choices, 

such as using more sunscreen, 

smoking less, or increasing levels of 

exercise, the journal Personality and 

Social Psychology Review reported. 

A 2011 study by D P Cooper 

and co-authors found that death 

reminders increased intentions to 

perform breast self-exams, when 

women were exposed to information 

that linked the behaviour to 

self-empowerment. Such studies 

bearing on terror management 

theory (TMT), which posits that we 

uphold certain cultural beliefs to 

manage our feelings of mortality, 

have rarely explored the potential 

beneits of death awareness. 

"There has been very little integrative 

understanding of how subtle, 

day-to-day, death awareness 

might be capable of motivating attitudes 

and behaviours that can 

minimise harm to oneself and others, 

and can promote well-being," 

said Kenneth Vail of the University 

of Missouri, who led the study. 

Vail and colleagues performed an 

extensive review of recent studies on 

the topic. They found numerous examples 

of experiments both in the lab 

and ield that suggest a positive side 

to natural reminders about mortality, 

according to a university statement. 

sion, at a recently concluded exhibition 

marking World Health Day in 

Salalah. Every year the WHO observes 

April 7 as World Health Day and takes 

up one major health issue to raise 

awareness. This year’s theme for the 

day was ‘Hypertension’. 

The WHO sought the government’s 

participation in promoting a balanced 

diet; reducing intake of saturated fat 

and trans fatty acids; reducing salt 

intake; discouraging tobacco use, discouraging 

harmful use of alcohol; and 

promoting physical activity. 

To achieve desired goal in reducing 

the number of hypertensive patients, 

a WHO paper sought active participation 

of the Ministry of Education; the 

Ministry of Health; and bodies dealing 

with youth affairs and bureaus 

standards and speciications. It also 

highlighted the roles of the Ministry 

of Commerce and Industry, consumer 

protection agencies, private sector, the 

Ministry of Agriculture, academia and 

research centres in tackling the issue. 

To promote a balanced diet, the 

WHO sought measures to be included 

in legislation to ensure mandatory 

food labelling with nutrition information, 

including food served in restaurants. 

It laid stress on regulation of 

the marketing of infant formula and 

complementary food and food supplements. 

It laid stress on adoption of WHO’s 

‘Healthy schools’ measures including 

regulations on food served in canteens 

or sold in vending outlets and 

regulation of food advertisement and 

promotion. 

Mandatory food labelling stating 

the saturated fat and trans fat content 

and regulation of trans fatty acid content 

in foods was suggested to reduce 

intake of saturated fat and trans fatty 

acids. 

The paper laid stress on labelling 

and stated that iodisation of all salt 

used in food processing and sought 

mandatory food labelling stating the 

salt content in the food. 

The WHO sought total ban on advertising 

direct and indirect use of 

tobacco and its use in public places. 

It sought implementation of pictorial 

health warnings at least on 50 to 70 

per cent of all tobacco packs. It also 

sought increase of taxation on tobacco 

products at least to be 70 per cent 

of retail prices. 

The paper sought the involvement 

of Ministry of Transport and Ministry 

of Education to create safe walking 

spaces in cities and towns and integration 

of periods of regular physical 

activity into different phases of education 

to promote physical activity 

and get rid of hypertension. 

The WHO sought to identify a national 

lead agency to initiate the process, 

“since the measures to address 

high blood pressure cut across many 

sectors, it is unlikely that all necessary 

legislative action can be incorporated 

into one law. It is therefore, crucial to 

have a lead agency according to the 

development of various laws to ensure 

all necessary technical measures 

are incorporated.” 

Low-fat dairy foods can lower stroke risk 

PEOPLE who drink low-fat milk 

and eat low-fat curd and cheese 

have a lowered stroke risk compared 

to those who consume full-fat 

dairy foods, says a new study. Researchers 

who surveyed 74,961 adults 

aged 45 to 83 found that those who ate 

low-fat dairy foods had a 12 per cent 

lower risk of stroke and a 13 per cent 

lower risk of ischemic stroke (when 

an artery to the brain is blocked) than 

those who ate high-fat dairy foods. 

Participants were free of heart disease, 

stroke and cancer at the start 

'Late-life crisis' affecting people over 60 

ONETHIRD of people in their 

sixties go through a "late-life 

crisis" due to bereavement, personal 

illness or injury, psychologists have 

said. 

Around 300 people aged over 60 

in Britain completed an online survey 

for the research. Of the 33 per 

cent who went through a crisis, bereavement 

was the most common 

trigger, BBC reported. 

The researchers from the universities 

of Greenwich and Sussex also 

interviewed 20 people who took 

part in the poll. 

The study showed that those 

who reported a "crisis" had all experienced 

two or more stressful 

events that had usually affected 

their health or someone else's, 

making them more aware of frailty 

and mortality. 

But a person's response to 

their experiences appeared to be 

determined by how they had 

viewed life. 

One in ive said their views on 

life were unchanged — but one in 

three appeared to be heading in a 

"downward spiral" avoiding making 

of the study. All completed a 96-item 

food and beverage questionnaire to 

determine dietary habits. Food and 

drink consumption frequency was 

divided into eight categories, ranging 

from never to four servings per day, 

the journal Stroke reports. 

"This is the largest study to date 

to examine the association between 

consumption of total, low-fat, full-fat 

and speciic dairy foods and the risk 

of stroke in adult men and women," 

said Susanna Larsson, associate professor 

of epidemiology. 

plans to avoid being disappointed. 

A respondent identiied only 

as TJ said: "I have another 20-odd 

years yet and I fully intend to live it, 

not just exist." 

But another identiied as EM 

said: "How much more can you 

take? How much more do you need 

to take? It's coming to terms, I 

think, with the reality of what life is 

now. And it's hard." 

Those who felt negative often 

reported becoming withdrawn and 

increasingly isolated, BBC said. 

Oliver Robinson, who is based at 

the University of Greenwich, said: 

"The indings suggest that the 60- 

69 decade is a key time for developmental 

crisis." 

"For the vast majority, it's a good 

decade. But for a considerable minority 

— up to a third — it is not. 

People realise that they can't carry 

on as before," he told BBC. 

He said that the reasons behind 

these "later-life crises" differed 

from the more recognised midlife 

crisis, where people are more concerned 

with where they have got 

to in life and, often, about their inances. 

"It seems that when loss-inducing 

events occur together or in 

close proximity in time, a person's 

capacity to cope in their sixties is 

overwhelmed and a later-life crisis 

is precipitated," he said. 

SPOTLIGHT 

Majid Al Suleimany 

www.majidall.com 

31 

All the works combined! 

THERE is nothing permanent in life except God and death! But 

then we human beings become ungrateful and disconcerting 

when good things have happened to us. We become proud, 

contemptuous, conceited, patronising and condescending — 

and our heads are held high in the clouds — and look down 

on all the others — and as if nothing untoward will ever or can 

happen to us! We become so sure and conident on this — that 

we just do not care or bother about others — and even those 

that look up at us — and those in need and support — and those 

less fortunate than ourselves! 

Like so many times before — people have said the very same 

things about writing — that writing is the only profession that 

people do not consider you ridiculous if you do not make any 

money! I would know with boxes and boxes of unsold books at 

home returned from the bookshops because they need to make 

more space for other books where at least they get no complaints 

if the books are returned — and where more credit facilities 

and times are given than yours truly! 

Time and again I have said the very same things — I stumbled 

into writing — more as a hobby and passion than considering 

it as a career or business opportunity. Let alone the returns 

being long and tedious — it is also unreliable and undependable. 

In my job as a Human Resources Consultant, I was shocked 

beyond belief to ind that even professionally qualiied writers 

in jobs make lesser money than even well placed PROs for that 

matter! People look down on writers as something just average 

and mediocre at best — even if odd hours are put in — and the 

job is at the higher risk of job scales in personal dangers, harm 

— and even your own life too. If you read about what they write 

in places like Journalists Without Borders and ind the number 

of people that have their freedom — and even lives — lost because 

of their writings — and what they believe in! There is no 

tool that can easily enrage and infuriate people than what is being 

written — and what people can read. 

Sometimes the scheming and curtailing can be like in dramas 

and plays — and has to be done to show it being 'decent, 

clean and neat' — so other angles are looked at to pin you in. 

Even artiicial and trumped up charges are being made — or 

even closed cases are being revived — just to pin you down and 

silence you! 

That is why there are many emotions and traumas with writers 

— and especially if the family are not supportive and backing 

the writer. Why do you waste your time in writing more books 

— when the old ones are all over the house and not sold! I guess 

that is one way of looking at things in short focus on money and 

proits being the trump priority cards! 

Or when a foreign person calls you a local writer to 'come and 

collect your books — because they are just occupying space — 

and we need to stock other books instead. That is why I wrote 

my article last week of 'Biting The Hand That Feeds You! 

It soon leads to troubles in relationships and in dealings — 

and even more worse when those that are in the same pot holes 

like you in writing feel they are better off by getting regular salaries 

in twisting and distorting what you have originally written 

and intended! I think we have seen those plays and dramas that 

even before it starts we know what the end will be — because 

we have seen it all before and just happening as expected to 

happen. 

Having said all that I am yet still pleased to announce my two 

other new books — after The Road Safety — Being The Safe Driver! 

— www.bethesafedriver.com. The books are a combination 

of all my articles in all my columns after the last Sequel Book 5 

years ago — titled The Short Takes Two and The Sequel Three in 

the Between Us Only! Series — www.myown-ebooks.com 

I am very conident, sure and certain that a time will indeed 

come — even if far away that future generations may ask 

where are the full works of MAS — and I want my great great 

grandchildren to be able to show — here they are — perhaps a 

Charles Dickens or George Orwell of the future! That time will 

come for sure — and I will be smiling in my grave — not turning! 

And those that are now famous and rich lying private jets 

and big houses and cars will have nothing to show — or be remembered 

by — but just their left bones in their graves! Take 

Care! 

Arnel Nelson D’souza 

Oman Daily Observer would like to take the lead in sharing the joy with its readers. Send us a 

colour photograph of your baby (below 10 years) along with name, date of birth, address, 

telephone number and parents’ names. Send in your baby’s picture and other details to: 

observerfeatures@gmail.com or Kids Corner, Oman Daily Observer, P O Box 974, PC 

100, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

P30 

>> Entertainment 

Beat the summer — 

sleep well, eat well 

for glowing skin 

THE summer is here inally and so 

are skin problems such as acne, 

rashes, sunburn and tanning. But all 

it takes to deal with them is a little 

hygiene, good sleep, lots of water 

and a healthy diet plan, say experts. 

Healthy skin relects overall 

health and so it is important to take 

care of it rather than relying on 

expensive cosmetics, says a clinical 

nutritionist. 

A clear and glowing skin relects 

overall health. This requires a wellbalanced 

ibre- rich diet, plenty of 

luids, regular exercise, no smoking 

and avoiding excessive exposure to 

sun. 

A regular, sound sleep pattern is 

a must. 

Including natural foods in diet, 

such as fruits, veggies and a lot of 

water in one's daily diet, along with 

uninterrupted sleep automatically 

brings a glow on the face. 

Saturated fatty, oily food along 

with caffeine and processed, junk 

food and cold drinks should be 

avoided and eight glasses of water a 

day mantra is indispensable one. 

Water not only helps you 

feel fresh but it also prevents 

dehydration and will help wash out a 

lot of toxins. 

World's oldest 

harbour, hieroglyphic 

papyri found 

TEAM of archaeologists in 

A Egypt has unearthed what 

are believed to be the world's 

most ancient harbour and a set of 

hieroglyphic papyri dating to the 

third millennium B.C. 

"The port of Wadi el-Jarf located 

on the Red Sea, 180 km south of 

Suez, dates to around 2,600 B.C. and 

the reign of King Khufu," Minister 

for Antiquities Mohammed Ibrahim 

said. 

It is considered one of the most 

important ancient Egyptian ports 

because it was used to transport 

copper and other minerals from the 

Sinai peninsula, Ibrahim said. 

"The papyri, which provide 

detailed accounts of daily life and 

traditions at the time of the Old 

Kindgom, are considered the oldest 

ever found," he said. 

The papyri are currently being 

studied by experts at the Suez 

Museum. 

The team of French and Egyptian 

archaeologists also discovered 

stone anchors at Wadi el-Jarf that 

were marked with ropes used to tie 

the ships inside the port. 

A collection of stone tools used 

for cutting ropes, some wooden remains 

and ropes as well as remains 

of ancient houses for port workers 

and 30 caves whose entrances were 

closed with stone blocks bearing 

inscriptions of King Khufu were also 

discovered at the site. 

The pharoah King Khufu is 

credited with building the Great 

Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven 

Wonders of the ancient world. 

— IANS 

P29 Wasim calls off Bollywood marriage rumours P29 Southern audiences like chubby heroines: Erica 

P29 P31 

Sunday 



Inside 

Benefits of Indian gooseberry 

Low-fat dairy foods can lower stroke risk 

‘Late-life crisis’ affecting people over 60 

A Meditator of Impressionist Landscapes 

By Santhosh Muthalath 

LUCY Ahmed is a self-taught 

painter, born in Sandakan in 

the North Borneo region (Sabah 

state) in East Malaysia. She has been 

living in Muscat for the past one and 

a half decades. Lucy has produced 

several hundreds of artworks including 

three-dimensional art forms until 

now during her stay in the Middle 

East, Western Australia and Sabah. 

In 2001, she was entrusted by the 

Oman Refreshment Co to make more 

than 50 frames of artworks using 

soft drink aluminium cans. In 2003, 

Lucy Ahmed participated in a major 

art contest organised by the Oman’s 

Ministry of Environment and Climate 

Affairs, and won second prize in this 

Artist Lucy Ahmed 

nation-wide competition. 

In 2005 Lucy participated in an art 

exhibition organised by the Stirling 

City Council, Perth of Western Australia. 

The same year, several of her 

paintings were exhibited at the Museum 

Art Gallery in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. 

In 2006, a number of her art 

collection portraying Oman themes 

were exhibited at Sultan Qaboos University. 

Throughout the years Lucy has 

taught courses on three dimensional 

art forms and painting to many students 

in the Sultanate of Oman and 

Australia. At present, she is concentrating 

on landscape paintings depicting 

North Borneo, her birthplace, 

the Sultanate of Oman and other 

places she has visited around the 

world. 

Lucy’s artworks have been sold 

through various art galleries and 

are now in the personal collection 

of many art lovers across the world. 

SQU had purchased a series of ive 

paintings portraying Oman’s landscapes 

for display at the SQU Cultural 

Center premises. 

As a painter, Lucy Ahmed follows 

the style of the impressionists 

of the 19th century. “In Impressionism, 

there are no deined lines of the 

objects as details are not important 

but the overall visual effect is the 

main focus. The brushstrokes can be 

seen very clearly along with its thick 

unmixed colours. It is a painting of 

a given moment depending on the 

lights and the atmosphere of the moment. 

Vincent van Gogh, the Dutch 

post-Impressionist painter had the 

greatest inluence in most of my 

As a painter, it is my task to make people 

aware of the different feelings through my 

works. I attempt to stir people’s emotion 

through my brushstrokes. I strongly believe 

that regardless of how simple or how 

complicated the work is, ultimately it is 

the painter’s depiction of her/his soul on a 

canvas that makes the final work of art. 

works”, she said. 

In her view, art itself is rather 

vague. It involves creativity and expression. 

“As a painter, it is my task 

to make people aware of the different 

feelings through my art works. 

I attempt to stir people's emotion 

through my brushstrokes. I strongly 

believe that regardless of how simple 

or how complicated the work is, ultimately 

it is the painter’s depiction of 

her/his soul on a canvas that makes 

the inal work of art. Sometimes the 

picture may not be beautiful to look 

at but expressive. The emotion is 

there to be felt and understood or 

simply to be savoured and indulged 

in privately.” 

Lucy takes painting as a profession 

because she sells her artworks. 

She did not receive any formal training 

in painting, except informal 

learning together with other painters 

in Australia. “Basically I am a 

self-taught painter. I read many art 

books and practice a lot on my own. 

My favourite subject is landscapes 

because I love nature. When I paint 

landscapes, I do not paint based on 

imagination but pick a place and try 

my best to depict the true nature of 

the place and create ‘emotion’ to the 

atmosphere,” she revealed. 

To the question “why does she 

paint” Lucy replies: “I paint because 

I have a strong urge to paint, and I 

think I could do a great job in putting 

colours on canvas. I paint landscapes 

because I travelled a lot all around 

the world, seeing many varied landscapes 

from each country thus I wish 

to preserve the beauty on canvas”. 

Lucy is married to Dr Mushtaque 

Ahmed, an Associate Professor in the 

College of Agricultural & Marine Sciences 

at SQU. Their only daughter 

Roxanne Ahmed is a chemical engineer 

in Perth, Australia.

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