40,000 JOBS EVERY YEAR

SUNDAY | MARCH 8, 2015 | JUMADA AL ULA 17, 1436 AH
P21 Wireless connectivity in vehicles
VOL. 34 NO. 114 | PAGES 32 | BAISAS 200
P30 How to shoot like a National Geographic photographer
P25 Pakistan eye last-eight with South Africa shock
Inside
Chief Executive Officer
DR IBRAHIM BIN AHMED AL KINDI
Editor-in-Chief
ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI
Oman Establishment for Press, Publication and Advertising
PO Box 974, Postal Code 100, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
www.omanobserver.om
FOLLOW US ON:
[email protected]
40,000 JOBS
EVERY YEAR
OMAN
HM greetings to
Iceland conveyed
REYKJAVIK: Iceland’s President Ólafur
Ragnar Grímsson received credentials
from Khalid bin Sulaiman Ba Omar,
Sultanate’s accredited ambassador to
Germany as a non-resident ambassador
to Iceland, at the presidential palace
here, yesterday. The ambassador
conveyed the greetings of His Majesty
Sultan Qaboos to the President and
the friendly people of Iceland. On his
part, the Iceland President sent his best
greetings to His Majesty wishing him
good health and long life and the Omani
people further progress. REPORT ON P2
AMBITIOUS: Ninth five-year plan to focus
on diversification of economy
REGION
Egypt to reopen
Rafah crossing
CAIRO: Egypt will reopen its Rafah
border crossing with Gaza for two days
from tomorrow, for the fourth time since
it was closed after a bombing, security
officials said. The terminal was shut
after the bombing in the Sinai Peninsula
in October killed 30 soldiers, and has
since been reopened three times. The
only access point to the Gaza Strip will
reopen tomorrow and day after to allow
Palestinians stranded on both sides to
cross.
REPORT ON P13
Entire Muscat under dust cover
STAFF REPORTER
MUSCAT
March 7: Flight operations at Muscat
International Airport that were
suspended in the morning were
restored by late afternoon, a top
airport official told the Observer.
The services that had to be
suspended for couple of hours due to
poor visibility were restored by late
afternoon.
An Omani national who had to
travel to Thailand in the evening said
that he was relieved that the airport
is functioning properly. “Otherwise
it would have affected my plans very
badly as I had an important medical
appointment with my doctor on
Sunday evening.”
Meanwhile, poor visibility on
the roads was reported by motorists
across Muscat yesterday as dust
engulfed entire capital for the first
time of that magnitude in years. At
one point, the visibility was low even
at 500 metres, according to the Public
Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA).
“I could not see even a building
just opposite to that of ours around 11
am,” a resident of Darsait said.
AMERICAS
White House shut
down after a noise
WASHINGTON: The US Secret Service
locked down the White House press
room yesterday after a loud noise was
heard as reporters gathered to await
President Barack Obama and wife
Michele’s departure for Selma, Alabama,
a pool report said. The Washington fire
department reported a fire at a food
cart near the White House and that its
units had extinguished it. It was unclear
if the fire was the source of the noise.
The Washington DC Fire Department,
meanwhile, reported a fire at a food cart
on 15th Street NW on the east side.
INSIDESTORIES
EXTINCT MYANMAR BIRD
FOUND AFTER 73 YEARS
P7
CLIMATE CHANGE A
WOMAN’S PROBLEM
P9
Malaysia hopeful of finding MH370 Bangladesh premier escapes blast South Sudan peace talks collapse Enrolment of girls in Omani
schools at 50.3 per cent
LAKSHMI KOTHANETH
MUSCAT
March 7: Today the world celebrates
International Women’s Day. This year
the highlight is the Beijing Declaration
and Platform for Action, a historic
road map signed by 189 governments
20 years ago which sets the agenda for
realising women’s rights.
According to the organisers, while
there have been many achievements
since then, many serious gaps remain.
In Oman, Y-Peer, the Youth Peer
Education Network, a youth-to-youth
initiative pioneered by UNFPA wants
to mark the day on March 15 with a
roundtable conference.
“The International Women’s Day
Roundtable Conference will be attended
by leading women in the Sultanate. It
aims to raise awareness on women’s
rights and gender equality among
young Omani women. We are expecting
an audience of maximum of 100 of
the brightest minds in the Sultanate
The International
Women’s Day
Roundtable
Conference will be
attended by leading women
in the Sultanate. It aims to
raise awareness on women’s
rights and gender equality
among young Omani
women.
MAZIN AL ARAIMI
Y-Peer Focal Point in Oman
coming from different universities and
colleges including College of Banking
and Finance. All delegates are students
with excellent skills, who are active
in the society with the drive to raise
awareness,” said Y-Peer Focal Point in
Oman, Mazin al Araimi.
According to National Centre for
Statistics and Information, women
employment has seen a leap over the
years.
In 2009 there were 36.8 per cent of
women employed in the government and
18.5 per cent in the private sector, where
as in 2013 the percentage increased to
44.3 per cent in government sector and
20.9 per cent women employed in the
private sector. TURN TO P3
MUSCAT: Financial allocations for
projects during the 8th Five-Year Plan
in the Sultanate stood at more than
RO 12 billion ($33.3 billion). The plan
targets a growth of 3 per cent at fixed
rates, and 6 per cent at current rates.
It also targets to keep inflation rate
at 4 per cent, and to increase the total
value of investments to RO 30 billion,
a growth by 113 per cent compared to
the 8th plan.
The Supreme Council for Planning
(SCP) follows up the efforts being
made to ensure sustainable growth
of the national economy through a
number of strategic plans which aim
at diversifying sources of national
economy, enhancing social policies,
achieving more social benefits and
welfare for citizens and activating the
contribution of the private sector to the
gross domestic product (GDP).
The strategic objectives and policies
of the strategic plan (Vision 20202040), which takes into consideration
the
economic
and
financial
developments in the Sultanate, will
focus on diversifying sources of
national economy, supporting the
private sector’s contribution, as well as
the utilisation of oil and gas traditional
resources to achieve
balanced
investments,
sustainable
growth
and affirming the social and human
resources development policies.
The council continues organising a
number of seminars and conducting
studies to finalise the 9th Five-Year
Plan (2016-2020). To this end, it has
reviewed the lessons learnt from
the (Vision 2020) and the effects of
the same on the preparation of the
plan and Vision 2040. It also assesses
the Sultanate’s performance based
on
international
competitiveness
indicators and opportunities for
economic diversification, as well as the
Sultanate’s competitive edge.
While developing strategic plans, the
council also takes into consideration a
study of economic changes including
the current slump in oil prices.
The plan attaches special care to
provide national manpower with
new jobs and it is expected to provide
between 200,000-275,000 new job
opportunities (about 40,000 new job
opportunities each year).
OIL COMPANIES
CAN’T CUT JOBS
TO TRIM COSTS
VINOD NAIR
MUSCAT
March 7: There can be no
termination of employees as
part of cost-cutting measures
in the oil and gas sector
necessitated by the current
trend of low prices, said Salim
bin Nasser al Aufi, UnderSecretary of the Ministry of Oil
and Gas.
The Observer has been
receiving reports of companies
in the affected sector issuing
termination letters to their
employees. One such company
cited the loss of a rig contract the
reason to issue the termination
orders.
Al Aufi was answering to
queries at a panel discussion
organised by SPE-Oman on
‘Weathering the low oil price
storm.’
When his attention was
brought to the fact that some
job losses have been reported in
the sector, he said: “All contracts
have their start and end dates.
Due to prevailing crisis in the
industry, some contractors
have not been able to find new
projects, which may lead the
employees involved with that
contract to face certain issues at
the end of their agreement.”
TURN TO P4
The council also focuses on
economic diversification and social
aspects related to welfare of citizens,
training, rehabilitation and providing
job opportunities for Omanis.
Within the framework of developing
Oman Vision 2040, the council has
delegated the World Bank with the task
of assessing the growth of the private
sector in the country.
TURN TO P3
Password stealing is a key element in online identity theft, the biggest source of fraud complaints
As hacking grows, biometric security gains momentum
P14
UNDERCOVER TOURIST,
TAX SPIES IN GREECE
WEATHER TODAY
MUSCAT
MAX: 250C
MIN: 190C
SALALAH
MAX: 270C
MIN: 210C
SUNRISE 06.23 AM
PRAYER TIMINGS
FAJR: 05:08
DHUHR: 12:23
ASR: 15:46
MAGHRIB: 18:18
ISHA: 19:28
NIZWA
MAX: 290C
MIN: 190C
WASHINGTON:
With
hackers
seemingly running rampant online and
millions of users compromised, efforts
for stronger online identity protection
— mainly using biometrics — are
gaining momentum.
Biometrics, which can include
fingerprints, iris scans, facial or voice
recognition and other methods, got a
major boost with Apple’s introduction of
its iPhones with Touch ID.
Samsung followed with its own
fingerprint scanner and Qualcomm
recently unveiled its 3D fingerprint
technology incorporated in the chips
used in many mobile devices.
From major tech firms such as
Google, Microsoft and Yahoo to US
cybersecurity officials, consensus is
growing that the simple password, often
the weak link in security breaches, needs
to be replaced.
“I would love to kill the password
dead as a primary security method
because it’s terrible,” White House
cybersecurity coordinator Michael
Daniel told a security forum last year.
Tens of millions of passwords have
been stolen in breaches of major retailers
and banks including Target, Home
Depot and JP Morgan Chase.
Password theft is a key element in
And a survey of large corporations revenue lost due to fraud.
identity theft, the biggest source of fraud using mobile commerce by RSA and
Biometrics are likely to be a major
complaints in the United States.
TeleSign found around three per cent of part of any new identity verification
effort, says Ramesh Kesanupalli, vicepresident of the standard-setting Fast
IDentity Online Alliance (FIDO) which
now has over 170 members including
makers of hardware, software and
financial firms.
Kesanupalli said that even solutions
that add verification on top of a password
are not as robust as biometrics.
“If you don’t eliminate dependency
on the password you’re not solving
the problem, you are only treating the
symptom,” Kesanupalli said. He says
fingerprint identification made major
strides with the iPhone, and that other
technologies such as facial recognition
are still being improved.
— AFP
2
ELECTRICITY, WATER PRODUCTION UP
S U N DAY l M A R C H 8 l 2 0 1 5
A STORY OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATION
The total production of electricity and
water sector in the Sultanate recorded a
significant increase at the end of 2014.
The total Omani production of electricity
increased to more than 28.7 thousand
gigawatts, logging a 9.6 per cent increase
compared to the production recorded in
2013. Meanwhile, the water production
increased to more than 323.1 million
cubic meters, an increase of 13.2 per cent.
OMAN
Envoy presents
credentials
to Iceland
president
REYKJAVIK:
Iceland’s
President Ólafur Ragnar
Grímsson
received
credentials from Khalid
bin Sulaiman Ba Omar,
the Sultanate’s Accredited
Ambassador to Germany,
as
a
non-resident
ambassador to Iceland, at
the presidential palace here
yesterday.
The
ambassador
conveyed the greetings of
His Majesty Sultan Qaboos
to the President and the
friendly people of Iceland.
On his part, the Icelandic
president sent his best
greetings to His Majesty the
Sultan wishing him good
health and long life and
the Omani people further
progress and prosperity.
He hailed the great regional
and international role being
played by the Sultanate of
Oman under the leadership
of His Majesty as well as
the Sultanate’s attention
accorded to environmental
conservation and economic
sustainability. The president
also spoke about the
potential of cooperation
between the two countries
several fields including
fisheries and energy.
The
meeting
was
attended by the chief of
protocol and a number of
officials at the presidential
office. — ONA
Khour Rori area ‘Sumharam’
in the Governorate of Dhofar
is one of the most important
archeological sites in the
Sultanate. The Government
accords the area a close
attention due to its historical
status and the interest of
scholars from various parts
of the world.
NEW PROJECTS: Three more ports to be ready by the end of this
year in Barka, Taqa and Al Halaniyat
Duqm to house Oman’s
largest fishing port
MUSCAT: Dr Hamad bin Said al Aufi,
Under-Secretary of the Ministry of
Agriculture and Fisheries, said that
construction of the Sultanate’s largest
fishing port in the Wilayat of Al Duqm
will commence in the second half of this
year.
The RO 30 million project is part
of the ministry’s strategy aimed at
developing the fishing sector and
upgrading its infrastructure.
The new port will receive local and
international catch and feed the fish
industries zone which is planned to be
constructed in Al Duqm.
The port will be 6 metres deep with
two wave breakers, 850-metre long jetty
for the loading and off-loading of fish,
5 floating anchorages for the fishing
boats, a crane for ship maintenance, a
1.6 million square metre basin and other
services and administrative facilities, Al
Aufi said.
Three more sea fishing ports will
be ready by the end of this year in
Barka, Taqa and Al Halaniyat to
complement the infrastructure of the
fishing sector.
Additionally, construction work at
the sea fishing ports in Al Musannah
and Liwa will begin in April this year
and tenders will be floated for another
four ports by the end of this year.
Currently there are 19 fishing ports in
all governorates of the Sultanate and
the ministry is planning to upgrade 8
old ports that were constructed in the
1980s, Al Aufi said.
— ONA
OMAN
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
omandailyobserver
3
40,000 jobs to be created every year Enrolment of girls in
FROM PAGE 1
The assessment, which will provide
valuable data and analysis, includes
identifying the avenues for economic
diversification in the non-oil sectors
and developing policies which help in
drafting the 9th plan.
The financial framework of the 9th
plan has been drafted in a way that
supports the stability and growth of the
national economy. The oil revenues were
estimated on the assumption that the
average daily production will increase to
900,000 barrels. The other government
annual revenues were estimated at
about RO 8 billion and the government
expenditure during the plan is estimated
at about RO 8.5 billion per year.
The plan seeks to expedite the speed
of economic diversification and focuses
on development of tourism, industry,
agriculture and fisheries sectors by
developing a package of sectoral aims,
policies and mechanisms.
The growth of non-oil sectors during
the plan is expected to be about 10 per
cent with current prices and about 6 per
cent in fixed prices.
In light of the international economic
developments, the national economy
will deal with the developments in oil
markets in a realistic way.
The oil market experts affirm that
prices will go up within months of 2015
and the next five years. The financial
revenues of the Sultanate’s oil exports
will thus meet the needs of the general
expenditure of the state in the next five
budgets (2016-2020).
The main achievements of the 8th
plan included pumping more than
RO 1.5 billion worth investments by
the private sector and more than RO
500 million worth investments by the
Public Authority for Electricity and
Water (PAEW) to enhance electricity
and water networks to meet the growing
demand for electricity and water.
During the 8th plan, the industry
sector has achieved a remarkable growth.
This, in turn, increased the number of
industrial projects and Omanis working
for the sector.
The average annual growth rate of
the manufacturing sector during the
plan stood at 18.4 per cent compared
to 23.2 per cent by refined oil products
sector, 20.2 per cent by basic chemical
materials sector; the highest growth
rates compared to other sectors in the
Sultanate.
The 8th five-year plan has focused
on human resources development. This
is very clear from the allocation for
expenditure on this aspect during the
plan period.
The gross expenditure of the
government during the five years of the
plan is expected to grow by 52 per cent
and 88 per cent respectively compared
to the expenditure during the 8th plan.
The Sultanate’s government realises
that achieving diversification cannot
be accomplished quickly by decisions
only, especially oil revenues constitute
83 per cent of the state revenues (other
sectors contribute only 17 per cent). The
investment expenditure of the 8th plan
focused on developing infrastructure,
as well as construction of ports, airports
— ONA
and different industries.
TRADITIONAL HORSE GAMES
The Oman Equestrian Federation in cooperation with the Adam equestrian committee organised the 7th Traditional Horse Games Festival in the Wilayat of Adam under the
auspices Dr Khalifa bin Hamad al Saadi, Governor of Al Dakhiliyah Governorate, on Thursday. — ONA
schools at 50.3 per cent
FROM PAGE 1
According to NCSI’s Education
Profile, the enrolment distribution by
gender for grades 11 and 12, the male
students are 49.7 per cent while female
students are 50.3 per cent during
2012/13. It also says there is, “No gender
barriers in general education.”
The enrolment rate in higher
education doubled compared to four
years ago — male students 44 per cent
and female students 56 per cent. About
22 out of 100 Omanis working in the
private sector and registered in PASI are
Omani women. NCSI’s study also found
that women are more likely to prefer a
job in the private sector.
By the end of 2012, Omani women
hold 10 per cent of all senior public
sector roles, the NCSI report stated. More
and more female students are preferring
private schools.
According to NCSI, the number of
women at the top management, middle
management and direct management
positions witnessed a healthy 50 per cent
growth since 2008.
The theme of the Roundtable
Conference is, ‘Women Empowerment.’
“How can we set examples for the
younger women? We want to ask the
accomplished women present at the
roundtable how their path to success
was. What were the right steps they took
to reach where they are? Y Peer members
are excited,” said Al Araimi.
The scenario for the working women
improved further with the Royal
Decree No 113/2011. Out of the many
amendments, there were provisions
for women such as special leave and
working hours for female employees
were taken into consideration. The
Labour law incorporated maternity leave
of 50 days fully paid to cover the preand post- maternity period. The law also
brought in the working hours for female
employees to work and prohibiting work
between 9 pm and 6 am depending on
their professions.
The Beijing Platform for Action
focuses on 12 critical areas of concern,
and envisions a world where each
woman and girl can exercise her choices,
such as participating in politics, getting
an education, having an income, and
living in societies free from violence and
discrimination.
To this end, the theme of this year’s
International Women’s Day is the
clarion call of UN Women’s Beijing+20
campaigns “Empowering Women,
Empowering Humanity: Picture it!”
Y-PEER has been established in 55
countries including Oman.
The network is still in progress
of expanding by launching in other
countries. Y-PEER is a network of more
than 500 non-profit organisations and
governmental institutions.
Its membership includes thousands of
young people who work in many areas.
It has been found that to put across the
information for the targeted audience;
the information should be presented in a
fun, interesting & interactive way.
Y-PEER in Oman has had an efficient
and effective means of promoting youth
participation in youth relevant issues,
such as reproductive health, HIV/Aids
awareness, and healthy lifestyles.
To this end, it builds partnerships
between young people and adults
by advocating for — National youth
development strategies, increased access
to information, knowledge and services,
sharing lessons learned across borders
and between cultures Standards of
practice and improved training.
This year the organisers of UN
International Women’s Day says this is the
time to uphold women’s achievements,
recognise challenges, and focus greater
attention on women’s rights and gender
equality to mobilise all people to do their
part.
4
omandailyobserver
OMAN
ESSENTIAL RESOURCE: Water output at 323.1m cubic metres
Oman’s electricity production
exceeds 28,755 GW per hour
MUSCAT: The total production of
electricity and water sector in the
Sultanate recorded a significant
increase at the end of 2014 compared
to the production recorded in 2013. The
total Omani production of electricity
increased to more than 28.7 thousand
gigawatts (GW), logging a 9.6 per cent
increase compared to the production
recorded in 2013. Meanwhile, the water
sector as the production increased to
more than 323.1 million cubic metres,
with an increase of 13.2 per cent
compared to the production in 2013.
The latest statistics issued by the
National Centre for Statistics and
Information (NCSI) indicated that the
Sultanate’s total production of electricity
till the end of December 2014 reached
28,755.8 GW per hour compared to the
production recorded in 2013; which
reached 26,240.4 GW per hour, with an
increase rate of 9.6 per cent.
The total electricity production in
the Governorates of North and South
Al Batinah, in addition to Al Dhahirah
Governorate reached 15,326.1 GW
per hour. It is the highest percentage
recorded at the governorates’ level,
logging an increase of 10.6 per cent
compared to 2013 during which the
three mentioned governorates produced
13,855.7 GW per hour.
The Governorates of North and
South Al Sharqiyah recorded the biggest
rate at the production level increase
compared to the levels recorded during
2013. The production level increase in
these two governorates reached 63.9
per cent. The total production of the
previous year reached 2,859.7 GW
per hour compared to the production
recorded in 2013 during which the
production of the two governorates
reached 1,744.6 GW per hour.
The total electricity production in the
Governorate of Muscat reached 5,930
GW per hour with a decrease rate of 4
per cent compared to the production
The highest percentage of
increase was recorded in the
Governorates of North and
South Al Sharqiyah
with 65.1 per cent.
recorded in 2013; which witnessed the
production of 6,174.3 GW per hour.
In the Governorate of Dhofar, the
total electricity production last year
reached 2,934.7 GW per hour with a
7.9 per cent increase compared to the
production recorded in 2013; which
reached 2,721.1 GW per hour.
The total electricity production
in the Governorate of Musandam
increased with 10 per cent. It recorded
332.1 GW per hour at the end of the
last year compared to the production
recorded in 2013; which reached 301.9
GW per hour.
The total electricity production in the
Governorate of Al Dakhiliyah reached
1,110.8 GW per hour compared to the
production recorded in 2013; which
reached 1,205.2 GW per hour, with a
decrease rate of 7.8 per cent.
In the Governorate of Al Wusta, the
total electricity production increased by
10.5 per cent at the end of the last year. It
recorded 262.5 GW per hour compared
to the production recorded in 2013;
which reached 237.6 GW per hour.
The Sultanate’s net electricity
production
according
to
the
governorates till the end of December
last year reached 2,7794.2 GW per hour;
compared to the figures recorded in
2013; which reached 2,5650.8 GW per
hour with an increase rate of 8.4 per
cent.
This production includes the
procurements of Oman Power and
Water Procurement Company (OPWP)
and the procurements of the Rural
Areas Electricity Company (RAEC).
The highest percentage of increase
was recorded in the Governorates of
North and South Al Sharqiyah with 65.1
per cent. The net electricity production
in the two governorates at the end of
the last year reached 2,832.7 GW per
hour compared with 2013 during which
the net electricity production reached
1,715.7 GW per hour.
— ONA
NCT holds open discussion for students
NIZWA: Business Centre of Nizwa
College of Technology (NCT) has
conducted an open discussion on
the challenges and opportunities of
students in the public and private
sector job market after their graduation
from the college. The discussion was
headed by Abdulla bin Saleh al Yafei,
the General Manager of HR and
Admin at Oman Airport Management
Company (OAMC). The programme
was also graced by the presence of Shaik
Mohammed bin Waleed al Hinai, the
Head of Staff Relations at OAMC.
The discussion was the part of a series
of programmes being held by Business
Centre of NCT throughout the academic
year, aiming at the empowerment of
students for their future life. In his
motivational presentation, Abdulla
shared his own long and rich experience
being the head of job recruitment and
HR management of OAMC with the
audience, mainly consisting of students.
He also stressed the qualities and skills
that a job aspirant should have in
making his/ her future life successful.
Abdulla also stressed the need of
entrepreneurship qualities among the
students for achieving the goals of their
life.
Al Yafei also impressed the audience,
which mainly comprised of students,
with his in-depth knowledge and
eloquence during his presentation.
The question session held at the end
was highly beneficial to the students
as they got opportunity to clear their
doubts regarding the challenges and
opportunities in the job market in
Oman.
The OAMC team also held discussion
with Dr Khalid Zayed al Muharrami,
Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs,
NCT and assured him of the cooperation
of the reputed organisation (OAMC) for
the welfare of NCT students. Suleiman
al Harthy, the coordinator of social
committee of NCT, proposed the vote of
thanks and Ismail Al Riyami, Director
of Business Centre, NCT and Sameer al
Mahrooqui took lead role in organizing
the open discussion meticulously.
Dr Saravanan Paramasivam (HoD,
Engineering), Saud al Fahdi (HoS,
Business Studies) and Premanand
Edacheri (Media Coordinator, NCT)
also extended their support in the
smooth conducting of the event.
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
Muscat book fair sees huge turnout
HASAN KAMOONPURI
MUSCAT
March 7: The 20th Muscat International
Book Fair, which concluded yesterday,
attracted the largest ever visitor turnout.
“The additional feature at this year’s
Book Fair was that Nizwa as Capital of
Islamic Culture was featured as a guest
of honour. A media centre in addition
to two halls for cultural and other events
were an added feature at the Fair,”
said Dr Abdulmunim bin Mansour al
Hasani, Minister of Information and
Head of the Organising Committee for
the festival.
More than 633 publishing houses
and 481 publishers from 24 countries
participated in the Muscat International
Book Fair that concluded yesterday.
It offered something for people
of all age groups and tastes. All stalls
were popular among visitors but some
of them such as those showcasing
children’s book, science and technology,
soft skills, leadership, healthy living,
food and history were among the key
corners and biggest attractions.
Now in its 20th year, the Muscat
book fair encompasses the broad
spectrum of the publishing industry
and is a remarkable market place and
leading business-to-business exhibition
for rights negotiation and the sales and
distribution of content across various
media, several publishers told the
Observer.
Those who wanted to explore
children’s books, for them there was no
better place than Al Maktaba Al Hadissa
publishers from Lebanon and others
stalls from India, Egypt and UK. These
stalls showcased a number of illustrated
titles for children. These stalls were
stacked with a host of good titles for kids
such as The Arabian Nights, Around the
World in 80 Days, King Solomon’s Mines,
The Adventures of Sherlock, The Prince
and the Pauper and Twenty thousand
Leagues under the Sea, to name a few.
The Ministry of Education’s workshop
on children’s literature, organised by the
Department of Development of the
Arabic Language Curricula, was much
appreciated by visitors.
Children love reading stories and
many books with illustrations and a
world of activities and exercises to test
their understanding of the book are
selling a lot at the fair.
Similarly, the Goodword, an
important Indian publishing house,
offered a number of titles for children
with illustrations on topics such as the
Life of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH),
Great Stories from the Glorious Quran,
and Importance of Hijab (modest
Islamic dress) for girls. With each
of this book, children not just get to
read about a good story, but also get a
chance to know new values, morals and
perspectives on the fact that materialism
pales into insignificance in front of
spiritual values.
“Muscat Book Fair is your gateway to
the latest encyclopedia and dictionaries”,
said a visitor from Sultan Qaboos
University.
Name any field of human endeavour
and you can find huge encyclopaedia
and dictionaries both for young
student and researchers. Some of the
popular titles included Infinity’s Science
Encyclopaedia, Encyclopedia Britannica,
21st Century Children’s Encyclopaedia,
The Muslim Prayer Encyclopaedia,
Beacon’s Junior Encyclopaedia, A
Dictionary of the Quranic Words, and
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.
Al Batra Bookshop, a major
distributor of leading titles in the Middle
East region, has been participating in
Muscat Book Fair since 1996. Al Batra
displayed 10,000 titles in their six stalls,
which was one of the largest in terms of
display and size, at the book fair.
This year’s book fair was very
different from all the previous editions
on two counts. First, there was an
unprecedented collection and variety of
books on a big range of topics. Second, it
offered a rich treat to visitors with titles
on all types of encyclopaedias of science,
arts, history, management, space science
and what not.
A total of 180,000 titles listed on
the site could be accessed through the
website of the book fair.
Oil firms can’t cut jobs to trim costs
FROM PAGE 1
He added that the ministry is doing
everything to prevent loss of jobs in case
the companies are forced to take some
extreme measures.
It was said that affected employees
should come to terms with the reality
with the pattern of the oil and gas sector
when a contract ends naturally.
Al Aufi said that the present crisis
should be seen as an opportunity to take
corrective measures wherever required.
It will also help to weed out inefficient
and expensive producers who entered
the market due to opportunities for a
good margin as a result of high prices.
These producers would be eventually
forced out of the market at some stage
due to falling prices.
He also said that it is an opportunity for
policy-makers to end their dependence
on one sector for development. “Oil
producing countries tend to pump all the
money they get from oil into the economy
and subsequently that cushion factor is
missing when the going becomes tough.”
“If the economy is diversified and
other sectors are also forced to contribute
to the economy, then it would not matter
if the oil price is $50 or $100. The extra
money that we may get due to high oil
prices could be moved to the reserve
fund. It was reported that a drop in
supply is expected in the summer and
the market wants oil prices to go up.
“The current level of oil prices is
not sustainable,” he added. Meanwhile,
experts at the panel discussion also
pointed that BP’s Khazzan project is
progressing as per schedule.
The world energy demand is to go up
by 2035 and India is expected to overtake
China in overall demand for energy.
Experts also said there should be no
compromise on safety standards during
crisis and it is a big opportunity to do
things differently. The falling prices are
forcing companies to focus on manpower
optimisation.
It was also said that rig counts are not
an indicator of oil prices and difficult to
fix the right price for oil. Around 550 US
rigs are now idle in the last ten weeks, it
was pointed out.
Since the beginning, Sumharam had been a global commercial port because of its geographical location
Sumharam tells story of great ancient civilisation
MUSCAT: Khour Rori area “Sumharam”
in the Governorate of Dhofar is
considered as one the most important
archaeological sites in the Sultanate.
The government accords the area a close
attention due to its historical status and
the interest of scholars from various parts
of the world.
Khour Rori area was one of the most
prominent human settlement areas in
the Before-Christ period. Frankincense
trade from the ports of Sumharam, Al
Baleed, Mirbat and Hasik played a major
role that led to a boom in the ancient
kingdoms across the caravan route
from Dhofar to Shabwa, Ma’rib, Petra
down to Mesopotamia, Egypt and the
Mediterranean Southern coasts, East to
the Indus Valley and China. However,
this region disappeared and no longer
exists except in the writings of historians
and scholars.
Sumharam was a seaport and it had,
during its long history, links with the
remote places around the world, such as
the Mediterranean Sea, Northern Oman
and the Indian Ocean. The fortified City
of Sumharam is located next to Khour
Rori, overlooking the Indian Ocean, and
it was protected by a beautiful natural
harbor, at the centre of the areas of the
finest frankincense.
Sumharam was once a small area city,
not more than one hectare, with dense
population. The city wall was very thick,
with openings and main gate complex.
The city was divided into different
neighbourhoods like the residential area
where there was a big building to protect
the well, the storage of commercial goods
and the temple. The residential area is
located near the entrance to the city. The
entrance at the gate complex was narrow
and winding.
Since its beginnings, Sumharam was a
global commercial port as its geographical
location was strategic for trade between
Indian and Roman civilisations. It was
located approximately midway between
India and Rome, an was very close to the
famous frankincense production areas.
The commercial goods that are
exported were present in Sumharam
since the early stages. They were of a
significant economic payoff to the extent
that they have become a topic of study
in archaeology and joint ventures by
scholars in these disciplines. There is
also evidence of the close relationship
between Sumharam and the Gulf States.
Today, Sumharam is among the
archaeological sites that received much
attention by the Office of His Majesty the
Sultan’s Adviser for Cultural Affairs.
Dozens of scientists and researchers
from around the world, who attended the
last week’s Archaeological Parks and Sites
Conference, organised by His Majesty
the Sultan’s Adviser Office in the city of
Salalah, hailed the great efforts being made
for the preservation of the archaeological
sites, the foremost of which is Khour Rori
‘Sumharam.’
— ONA
OMAN
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
MODERNISING: Pact aims at tuning DU to meet global trends
DU, Nebraska university focus
on boosting skill, research
KAUSHALENDRA SINGH
SALALAH
March 7: Dhofar University (DU) entered
into an agreement with University of
Nebraska Omaha, USA, with a view to
raising DU’s academic bar and giving its
students an international perspective.
Both the universities hoped to have
serious engagement with the students
and faculty members as also in the areas
of curricula modernisation, increasing
its relevance and impact, and further
tuning to meet the international trends in
education.
The agreement was signed at simple
ceremony at Dhofar University on
Thursday, while the signatories of the
agreement were Dr Hassan Kashoob,
Vice-Chancellor Dhofar University
and Thomas E Gouttierre, Dean
International Studies and Programmes
of University of Nebraska. Dr Kashoob
and Thomas Gouttierre expressed serious
commitment for the welfare of Dhofar
University, which has high potential
for growth in all aspects of education,
research and community needs.
Besides achieving overall educational
goals of Dhofar University, the agreement
lays special focus on the modernisation
of College of Arts and Applied Sciences
(CAAS) through changes in the curricula
Dr Hassan Kashoob and Thomas Gouttierre signing the agreement.
and increasing its relevance and impact.
The programme would be within
the framework of the regulations
applying in each university and subject
to the availability of resources the
two universities will seek well defined
objectives.
The programme is aimed at “support
CAAS faculty and staff in all scientific
fields through enabling human resources
development, community engagement,
and capacity building programs involving
state-of-the-art educational pedagogy.
Special attention will be given to English
teaching
programmes,
Education
programmes, as well as entrepreneurship
and soft-skills programmes. Workshops
will be designed to promote active
learning, the use of instructional
technology and the scholarship of
teaching,” the signatories said.
The programme also aspires to “create
a student exchange programme for
outstanding CAAS students who meet
University of Nebraska requirements to
spend one or two semesters in University
of Nebraska. Courses will be identified
that best support CAAS’s educational
objectives. Also create a study abroad
course in Oman for University of
Nebraska students to study Arabic and
Arabic civilisation and any other courses
offered at DU that could be of interest to
University of Nebraska students.”
omandailyobserver
5
Insurance sector grows by 10 per cent
MUSCAT: Ahmed bin Ali al Ma’amari,
Director-General
Supervising
the
Insurance Sector at the Capital Market
Authority (CMA), said that the insurance
sector in the Sultanate has achieved
growth in the total value of premiums
in 2014 compared to 2013. However, the
rate of this growth varied according to
the different types of insurance branches.
In a statement to Oman News
Agency (ONA), Al Ma’amari added
that unaudited financial statements
for the sector indicate that the value of
insurance premiums in 2014 grew by 10
per cent to hit RO 36.37 million, from
RO 364 million in 2013 to RO 400.4
million in 2014.
He explained that despite the uneven
growth rates, however, all branches of
insurance have recorded good growth
through 2014, except insurance branch
of the property and other insurance, as
both fell by 3 per cent and 6 per cent
respectively. Health insurance branch
recorded the highest growth rate with
a 31 per cent increase, followed by
transport insurance with 21 per cent.
On the total net premiums for 2014,
Al Ma’amari further said that growth
rates achieved by the sector in net
written premiums for 2014 reflected
Health insurance recorded
the highest growth rate
with a 31 per cent increase,
followed by transport
insurance with 21 per cent.
positively on the total net premiums,
which are the premiums held by the
insurance company after deducting
what is re-insured by the reinsurers. He
pointed out that the total value of net
direct premiums rose by 13 per cent
in 2014, compared to the same period
in 2013 as health insurance and other
insurance achieved the highest growth
rates, compared to the other types of
insurance, which rose by 69 per cent
and 17 per cent respectively compared
to 2013.
About retention rates, Al Ma’amari
pointed out that the insurance industry
will continue to grow in the retention rates
as most insurance products witnessed
a rise in rates of retention, adding auto
insurance branch (comprehensive and
third-party) was the highest among the
various branches of insurance with 88 per
cent in comprehensive insurance and 83
per cent for third party insurance while
the property insurance, engineering
insurance and transport insurance
branch is the lowest compared to other
types of insurance with 9 per cent, 23
per cent and 21 per cent respectively as a
result of reinsurance of the bulk of these
risks with reinsurance companies.
He added that unaudited data also
showed a slight decrease in percentage of
retention in the individual life insurance
branch of 73 per cent in 2014.
As for the total operation results
for insurance companies in 2014, Al
Ma’amari noted that the value of the
premiums in 2014 rose by 11 per cent
compared to 2013 as the total value of
premiums amounted to RO 213 million
in 2014 compared to RO 191 million. He
added that the total net compensation
increased to RO 137.1 million in 2014
compared to RO 105.1 million in 2013.
The
total
net
commissions,
commissions taken by insurance
companies from global reinsurers for the
reinsurance of part of the local insurance
policies, increased from RO 16.3 million
in 2013 to RO 22.5 million in 2014.
There is a noticeable change in the cost
of production data in 2014 compared to
2013, rising from RO 23.4 million to RO
44 million.
— ONA
OCCI DELEGATION IN TURKEY
Omani products exhibition in Sohar
SOHAR: As part of a series of exhibitions of the Omani
Products Campaign “Omani 2015,” the Public Establishment
for Industrial Estates (PEIE), in cooperation with Silver Star
Corporation, will organise the Omani Products Exhibition
at Oman International Exhibition Centre, Sohar Branch on
Tuesday.
The exhibition aims at offering a perfect gateway to reach
highly potential markets in the GCC region. The event also
aims at showcasing quality machinery, products, services and
technology of international standard at competitive prices.
The exhibition will be opened by Shaikh Muhanna bin Saif
al Lamki, Governor of North Al Batinah.
The “Omani” campaign encourages consumers, whether
individuals or institutions, to purchase local products and
services, and eventually support the national economy and
generate loyalty to locally manufactured products and services.
The campaign of promoting locally manufactured products
is a national initiative designed to encourage consumers and
organisations to buy Oman made goods and services wherever
possible, promote national pride in the manufacturing
industry and highlight the economic importance of buying
Omani made products.
— ONA
Seminar on re-defining SMEs
MUSCAT: The Public Authority for the Development of
Small and Medium Enterprises (PADSME) will organise
a seminar on re-defining small and medium enterprises
(SMEs) on Sunday at Grand Hormuz Muscat hotel.
Organising the seminar comes as per outcomes of the
symposium on evaluating the implementation of decisions
made at Saih Al Shamikhat.
Three working papers will be presented at the seminar
touching on reasons that require reviewing the current
definition, basis and criteria.
— ONA
The Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s11-member delegation concluded a visit to the Turkish city of Mersin where
they took part in a food and agricultural products exhibition. — ONA
6
INDONESIA PRESIDENT FIRM ON EXECUTIONS
S U N DAY l M A R C H 8 l 2 0 1 5
CHINA AIMS TO FINISH FREE-TRADE TALKS
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has
defended his decision to reject clemency
for foreigners on death row for drug
smuggling, but said he does not rule out
abolishing capital punishment in the
future. Indonesian authorities this week
moved the two Australian ringleaders of
the so-called “Bali Nine” drug trafficking
gang from Bali to the prison island of
Nusakambangan.
ASIA
China hopes to finish talks on creating an
Asian free-trade bloc estimated to cover
28 per cent of the world economy by
the end of this year, the country’s trade
minister said on Saturday. Gao Hucheng
said on the sidelines of China’s annual
session of parliament that China would
work hard to wrap up talks for the RCEP,
or Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership, before the end of this year.
China pollution film disappears from local video sites
BEIJING: A popular documentary on
China’s struggles with pollution was
inaccessible on the country’s video
sharing websites on Saturday, sparking
concern from Chinese Internet users
that it had been censored within a week
of its launch.
Under the Dome, a film by journalist
Chai Jing that explains air pollution
in straightforward terms, spurred a
national debate after its release last
weekend and quickly garnered hundreds
of millions of views on streaming video
sites.
Its removal will likely be seen as
underscoring the government’s prime
focus on maintaining social stability.
The ruling Communist Party has
previously described tackling pollution
as a top priority and promised greater
transparency on the subject.
Just on Thursday, at the opening
of the annual session of parliament,
Premier Li Keqiang called pollution a
blight on people’s lives and vowed to step
up efforts to combat it.
In a sign of the sensitivity around the
issue, no reporters from major foreign
news outlets were called on to ask a
question at a news conference held by
the environment minister on Saturday.
The issue of Chai’s film being pulled
from the Internet did not come up in the
questions that were asked.
Under the Dome by
journalist Chai Jing spurred
a national debate after its
release last weekend and
quickly garnered hundreds
of millions of views on
streaming video sites
The
film
started
becoming
inaccessible on the country’s biggest
online video sharing websites late on
Friday.
By Saturday morning, it was
inaccessible on all the major video sites,
as well as a number of smaller video
HORSE POWER
sites, with users getting error messages
when they tried to play it.
Neither Internet regulator the
Cyberspace Administration of China,
nor the State Administration of Press,
Publication, Radio, Film and Television
responded to requests for comment.
Youku Tudou Inc, Tencent Holdings
Ltd, Sohu.com Inc and iQiyi, the online
video service of Baidu Inc, which operate
video streaming services, also did not
respond to requests for comment.
Nor did Chai, the film-maker.
The website of Communist Party
mouthpiece the People’s Daily, which had
originally posted the video on its site,
did not answer repeated calls requesting
comment.
China operates one of the world’s
most sophisticated online censorship
mechanisms, known as the Great
Firewall.
Censors keep a grip on what can be
published online, particularly content
seen as potentially undermining the
Communist Party.
Chai was a well-known journalist
on state-run television before making
the film, which was released just as
China’s leaders prepared to hold the
annual meeting of the National People’s
Congress (NPC) this week.
The disappearance of the video was
met with anger from many Internet
users.
“Some people have the power to
completely smother Chai Jing’s Under
the Dome on the Internet, but don’t
have the power to smother haze in this
country,” one Internet user said on the
Twitter-like site, Weibo.
—AFP
ONE YEAR ON: Kin of 239 passengers, crew critical of search plan
Malaysia hopeful of
finding flight MH370
Residents watch horse fighting in Rongshui county, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on Friday.
— Reuters
WWII Japan shipwreck salvage unlikely: Filipino official
MANILA: The presumed wreck of
one of Japan’s most famous World
War II battleships whose discovery in
the Philippines was announced by
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen this
week is unlikely to be salvaged, an
official suggested on Saturday.
The American billionaire said on
Wednesday his exploration team had
found the Musashi on the bed of the
Sibuyan Sea in the central Philippines
some 70 years after it was sunk by US
forces in World War II.
Excited historians have likened the
PAINFUL PAST
Japan, N Korea
to resume talks
on abduction
TOKYO: Japan and North Korea
could resume talks as early as this
month over an investigation North
Korea is conducting into the fate of
Japanese citizens it kidnapped decades
ago, the Nikkei newspaper reported on
Saturday.
There was informal contact between
Japanese and North Korean diplomats
in China in late February, and the two
sides agreed to hold a meeting about
the investigation in China sometime
late March or early April, the Nikkei
said without citing sources. If the
talks do take place they would be the
first official contact since Japan sent a
diplomatic mission to Pyongyang in
October only to be disappointed to
learn that North Korea had no new
information about abductees. —AFP
discovery, if verified, to finding the
wreck of the Titanic, the famed British
passenger liner that sank in the North
Atlantic Ocean after colliding with an
iceberg in 1912.
President Benigno Aquino’s
spokeswoman Abigail Valte said
officials of the Philippines’ National
Museum are contacting Allen and his
team to “coordinate” on what to do
with the wreck, which Allen says lies a
kilometre (0.6 miles) under water.
However, the Musashi will likely
remain where it was found, she told
government radio. “There have been
groups in the past that have also been
looking for the Musashi and, in fact, a
dozen sunken Japanese warships have
already been found in various places in
the Philippines,” she said.
“As to queries on whether it will be
salvaged, the answer is no, these are
not normally refloated.” A 2009 act for
the protection and conservation of
national cultural heritage will apply
to the wreck, she said, describing the
wreck as an “underwater archaeological
site”. — AFP
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s transport
minister said on Saturday the hunt for
MH370 would be sent “back to the
drawing board” if the search now under
way comes up empty, but insisted his
government remained committed to
finding the plane.
Liow Tiong Lai’s comments,
made on the eve of the tragedy’s
anniversary, echoed recent remarks
by Australian officials who have
suggested the expensive search
effort in a 60,000-square-kilometre
(23,000-square-mile) area of the
southern Indian Ocean could be
abandoned.
“If the search does not yield anything
by May or after we have completed the
60,000-square-kilometre search, then
we have to go back to the drawing
board,” Liow said.
He said that would mean reexamining all available data that was
used to determine the suspected crash
zone for the Malaysia Airlines Boeing
777, but would not specify what could
happen next. “I would like to say to the
next of kin that we will continue to be
committed to the search.”
Sunday’s anniversary looms as a
painful milestone for relatives of the 239
passengers and crew aboard the plane
— which inexplicably diverted from
its Kuala Lumpur-Beijing route shortly
after takeoff last March 8 — many of
whom are deeply unhappy with the
lack of progress. Four ships involved
in the Australian-led search are now
using sophisticated sonar systems to
scour a huge and previously unmapped
Items from prehistoric Ban Chiang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
A message left on a board of remembrance by Kelly (last name not given), 29, the
wife of a passenger aboard missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, at a vigil ahead
of the one-year anniversary of its disappearance in Kuala Lumpur. — AFP
undersea region. More than 40 per cent
of the “priority search zone” has been
scanned, with nothing detected on
the seafloor aside from a few sunken
shipping containers.
Australian Prime Minister Tony
Abbott said on Thursday that, while
committed to the current operation, he
“can’t promise that the search will go on
at this intensity forever”.
Many next of kin have been deeply
critical of Malaysia’s initial response to
the crisis, saying that opportunities to
intercept or track the plane were lost.
Liow
said
an
international
investigative team formed in the weeks
after the plane vanished was expected to
hand over its findings on the sequence of
events leading up to the disappearance
any day now. He said the government
needed to review the report before
releasing it and he did not know exactly
when it would be publicly available.
However, some next of kin said
Malaysia Airlines had informed them
the report would be released at 0700
GMT on Sunday.
Liow, who was named transport
minister three months after the
disappearance, said the government
“will take appropriate actions if
necessary”, based on the report’s
findings, but declined to speculate on its
contents.
—AFP
IN THE NAME OF FATHER
US museum to return artifacts
seized in probe to Thailand
BANGKOK: A San Diego museum will
be told to return to Thailand ancient
artifacts found in a high-profile 2008
federal investigation into allegations the
museum had received looted cultural
treasures, authorities said on Friday.
Dozens of pieces of pottery and other
items from the prehistoric settlement
of Ban Chiang, a UNESCO World
Heritage Site, were tagged as evidence
at the Mingei International Museum
during a series of raids that targeted four
California museums.
The Mingei artifacts were left in the
museum’s vaults for the last seven years.
“After a careful review of the matter,
we are planning on lifting the ‘seizure
in place’ order and directing the
Last year, hundreds of pieces
of Ban Chiang tools, beads,
pottery and bronze items
at the Bowers Museum in
California, were returned
to Thailand under a nonprosecution agreement
museum to repatriate the artifacts that
we believe were illegally obtained,” said
Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the US
Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.
“In short, the museum will soon
be informed that it should not have
possession of the items and it should
take immediate steps to do whatever it
can to return the items to their country
of origin,” he said.
No charges have been filed against
the museum or any staff members.
After a five-year investigation that
featured an undercover operative,
federal prosecutors alleged that looted
artifacts were sold to clients who then
donated them to museums at overstated
appraisals to secure higher tax breaks.
Last year, hundreds of pieces of
Ban Chiang tools, beads, pottery
and bronze items at the Bowers
Museum in Santa Ana, California,
were returned to Thailand under a nonprosecution agreement between the
museum and the US attorney, according
to Mrozek.
— Reuters
Nurul Izzah, daughter of jailed Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, speaks
to the crowd during a rally to protest against his imprisonment in Kuala Lumpur on
Saturday. Malaysia’s highest court found opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim guilty on
charges of abuse last month in a case that his supporters claim was politically
motivated.
— Reuters
SUBCONTINENT
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
RESOLVE: ’We will safeguard the achievements of the past 13 years under Karzai’
Ghani says won’t compromise
social freedoms in peace bid
KABUL: The Afghan President Ashraf
Ghani said on Saturday he would not
compromise on the social freedoms
introduced since the Taliban’s 2001
ouster as his government works
towards opening peace talks with the
insurgents to end Afghanistan’s long
war.
“We will not let the price of peace
be greater than the price of war,” Ghani
said in a speech before Parliament after
the body’s winter recess.
“We will firmly safeguard the
achievements of the past 13 years under
former President Karzai,” he said.
Ghani did not refer to specific
achievements, but these might include
more rights for women and greater
freedom of speech.
His assurances came two weeks after
officials in Pakistan and Afghanistan
said the Afghan Taliban had signalled
they were willing to open peace talks
with Kabul, a push that appeared to be
driven by Afghanistan, Pakistan and
China, which recently offered to help
broker the talks.
The possibility of the Afghan
government opening negotiations
with the Taliban raised hopes for
peace efforts, which failed to get off the
ground under Afghanistan’s previous
government.
But the reports have also been met
with some ambivalence, due in part to
concerns that not all elements of the
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani inspects a guard of honour during the inauguration ceremony of the new session of
parliament at Parliament House in Kabul on Saturday. — AFP
Taliban, now a fractured group, may be
on board.
Taliban
representatives
have
publicly cast doubt on the possibility
of talks. Ghani has not commented
directly on the reports the Taliban are
finally ready to open negotiations.
But he said in Saturday’s speech that
he has started “consultation meetings”
within Afghanistan on the peace
process, in which he called for religious
leaders, politicians, women and youth
to be involved.
“Peace is a national issue, not only
government’s responsibility,” Ghani
said.
With the departure of most US and
other foreign troops at the end of last
year, Afghan security forces have been
struggling to defeat the insurgency,
while the Taliban have been unable to
hold much territory.
The number of Afghan security
forces fell sharply last year, due in part
to desertions and casualties, according
to US military data released on Tuesday.
— Reuters
Bangladesh PM Hasina narrowly escapes blast
DHAKA: Bangladesh Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina on Saturday narrowly
escaped a bomb blast which occurred
in a Dhaka neighbourhood minutes
after her convoy passed the area,
according to media reports.
Several crude bombs exploded in
Dhaka’s Karwan Bazar area only 10
minutes after the prime minister’s
convoy
passed,
bdnews24.com
reported citing a police official.
The official added that one police
personnel received minor injuries in
the blasts, though he was “fine and is
still on duty”.
Hasina crossed the area on her way
to the capital’s Suhrawardy Udyan to
attend a rally organised by the ruling
Awami League, which she leads.
The blasts occurred amid a
transport blockade and shutdown
across Bangladesh, enforced by
the Khaleda Zia-led opposition
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)
and its allies.
Former prime minister Khaleda
Zia’s 20-party opposition alliance,
which boycotted the general election
held January 5 last year, has enforced
a non-stop nationwide blockade
since January 5 and shutdowns since
February this year, demanding fresh
parliamentary polls under a non-party
caretaker government system.
More than 100 people have been
killed so far in the ensuing political
violence and most of them have been
killed in fire bomb attacks on public
vehicles. Frequent bomb blasts, arson
attacks and numerous strikes have
crippled normal life in Bangladesh.
—IANS
The Jerdon’s Babbler was last spotted in the country in 1941
‘Extinct’ Myanmar bird
rediscovered after 73 years
YANGON: A bird that was long
thought to have gone extinct has been
rediscovered in Myanmar after a team
of scientists used a recording of the
species’ distinctive call to track it down.
The Jerdon’s Babbler (chrysomma
altirostre altirostre) — a small brown
bird similar in size to a house sparrow
— was last spotted in Myanmar in
1941 and was thought to have died out
altogether.
But a team of scientists in May 2014
managed to uncover multiple birds
nesting in a small area of grassland
in Myanmar’s central Bago region,
according to their report published in
the latest edition of Birding Asia.
The scientists targeted some of the
few remaining patches of wild grassland
left along Myanmar’s mighty Irrawaddy
river, now one of the most heavily
cultivated and densely populated
regions of the impoverished but
emerging southeast Asian nation.
At one small patch of grassland near
an abandoned agricultural station, the
team heard what they thought could be
the babbler’s call.
They then used a recording of
a Jerdon’s Babbler from the Indian
subcontinent to see if the bird would
show itself.
Frank Rheindt, from the National
University of Singapore, said he was the
first person to spot the bird during the
survey, which was also carried out with
members of the Wildlife Conservation
Society and Myanmar’s Nature and
Wildlife Conservation Division.
“It was unbelievable,” he recalled.
“We played the sound recordings
and one of the birds came up from the
reed beds.
Like many song birds in reed beds
you hardly ever see them, they only
come out to defend their territory when
they hear a territorial call.”
Further searches over the next two
days uncovered more birds allowing
researchers to obtain blood samples and
photographs.
But researchers warned that the bird’s
survival is still far from guaranteed given
pressure on Myanmar’s few remaining
grasslands.
“This discovery not only proves that
the species still exists in Myanmar but
that the habitat can still be found as
well,” Colin Poole, director of Wildlife
Conservation Society’s regional hub in
Singapore, said in a statement.
“Future work is needed to identify
remaining pockets of natural grassland
and develop systems for local
communities to conserve and benefit
from them,” he added.
Rheindt said the area of grassland
where the bird was found was very
small, “around 50-80 hectares” and that
new chicken and fish farms were being
built nearby.
He added that its plumage and song
were significantly different to how it had
been described by ornithologists in the
early twentieth century — leading the
team to suspect that it may differ from
threatened populations found in Nepal,
India and Pakistan.
— AFP
REFORMS
Punjab
toughens
underage
marriage laws
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s
most populous province
of Punjab increased the
minimum marriage age
for girls and strengthened
punishments for those
arranging
underage
marriages, officials said on
Saturday.
The eastern province
enacted the laws on Friday
ahead of international
women’s day on Sunday,
said
provincial
law
minister Mujtaba Shujaur
Rehman.
The minimum age for
girls has been increased
from 16 to 18 years, making
it the same as the lawful
marriageable age for males.
The
punishment
for
those
arranging
or encouraging child
marriages
has
been
increased from one month
to six months in prison,
with fines increased from
1,000 rupees ($10) to
50,000 rupees.
The law in its objectives
states that “it has been
enacted to curb the
menace of child marriages
prevalent in the country
and to save the women
from exploitation.” — dpa
omandailyobserver
7
Pakistan reforms panel
unveils proposal for
developing tribal region
ISLAMABAD: A six-member panel has
recommended ‘a middle road’ for improving
the status of Pakistan’s northwestern tribal
regions through greater participation of
public representatives in the utilisation of
developmental and non-developmental
funds, a highly placed source said.
The panel known formally as Fata
Reforms Commission (FRC) and headed
by former provincial chief secretary
Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi also pressed for
“the building of consensus among all
stakeholders” so that the Fata people’s
administrative, political and economic
grievances can be addressed.
It said that Fata legislators, key political
parties of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and other
stakeholders should evolve a consensus
before reviewing the current legal and
institutional systems.
Constituted by K-P Governor Sardar
Mehtab Khan in May 2014, the FRC is
exclusively responsible for framing and
steering reform initiatives.
According to its terms of reference, the
panel is supposed to recommend ways
and means for a pro-investment policy
in different sectors, including oil and gas,
power, dams and minerals, to improve the
quality of life of people of Fata.
It was also assigned to prepare integrated
development and economic development
strategies for the tribal areas.
The ‘middle road’ provides the
reconstitution of Fata appellate tribunals,
holding of local council elections in
consultation with tribal elders and steps
for immediate and proper rehabilitation
of displaced tribesmen with appropriate
financial compensation.
One-third of Fata’s population, according
to the FRC, has been uprooted by terrorism
and counter-terrorism operations over
the last decade. A large number of houses,
business centres, educational institutions,
hospitals, roads and government buildings
have been destroyed.
One of the panel’s recommendations is
that the Fata appellate tribunals should be
headed by high court level judges and it
should be mandatory for such tribunals to
decide the appeals within six months. It has
also recommended that local council polls
be held within two years.
“All those proposals that were agreed
upon by the previous committees have also
been incorporated in the recommendations
of the FRC,” said an official who is familiar
The panel known formally
as Fata Reforms Commission
(FRC) and headed by former
provincial chief secretary Ejaz
Ahmed Qureshi pressed for
“the building of consensus
among all stakeholders”
so that the Fata people’s
administrative, political and
economic grievances
can be addressed.
with the latest report.
A tussle appears to be building between
Awami National Party (ANP) and Qaumi
Watan Party (QWP) and Pashtoonkhwa
Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) over the future
set-up of Fata.
Both ANP and QWP have been
demanding a merger of Fata into K-P,
while the PkMAP has historically been
supporting a separate legislature, executive
and judiciary for the tribal belt.
A majority of tribesmen and their
legislators have pleaded for a separate
province comprising all the seven agencies
(districts) of the tribal areas. Religious
scholars and tribal elders (Maliks) of Fata,
however, are opposed to any change in the
existing set-up.
Parliamentarians representing Fata in
the National Assembly and Senate have
been demanding a rational share from
the foreign funds received by the federal
government for the development of Fata.
Last year, several parliamentarians had
claimed that of all the financial aid that was
received during the last 15 years for Fata,
not even five per cent was actually given to
the tribal people.
Immediate completion of all mega
projects is also among their demands. It
has been demanded that the people of Fata
should be given preference in employment
opportunities in their areas.
The parliamentarians have also been
pleading for the federal government to
honour its commitment of scholarship
for Fata students immediately. The alleged
bypassing of Fata in the $43 billion
investment agreement with China has also
been a source of annoyance of the tribal
people.
— Internews
8
ANALYSIS
omandailyobserver
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
ARE YOU A FRIEND
OF BOOKS OR NOT?
ABDULAZIZ AL JAHDHAMI
[email protected]
A
love for reading is a gift that is not given to many people; especially reading books.
However, today it’s common that reading from different sources of knowledge is
becoming a habit for many people of different ages.
Reading books, newspapers, magazines, novels or even reading e-books on
mobiles or computers is becoming must-to-do daily task for lot of people.
Despite the addiction to modern technology and social media, there are people
who never quit their habit of starting the day with reading. Newspapers, books and
novels are most popular and widely read by people in offices, coffee shops or at
home; as some love reading before going to bed.
Are you among the reading enthusiasts who regard reading as daily routine?!
Imagine they never skip a day without reading a few pages of a book.
Their life is meaningless without the blessing of a book being kept in their cars,
bedrooms, offices. Always book lovers never go to bed alone!
It’s just books that make their day.
Perhaps they believe in the saying: “Let
books be your dining table, and you shall be full
The Muscat Book
of delights. Let them be your mattress, and you
Fair is one of the
shall sleep restful nights”.
Do you believe that even toilets are outfitted most significant
with a small shelf of books and magazines? Are
cultural phenomenon
they that much crazy about reading, or they just
enjoying their time in toilets with some reading! happening in the
I’ve seen this in a house of a friend when I Sultanate. However,
visited him in his country three years back.
it comes every year
I was shocked to see a shelf jam-packed with
magazines and novels in the one-metre toilet. with almost the same
You hardly get enough space in that toilet; how
agenda, only books
would they enjoy reading in such a nasty and
and workshops.
tiny place!!
Being a close friend, I had the courage to ask
him surprisingly; are you reading in your toilet?!
He cheerfully answered me that he reads novels and his wife reads magazines.
No more comments I uttered; but I felt it’s weird to realise this.
Anyway, we can’t blame people for their habits and life secrets.
On top of all this, let’s think aloud and evaluate ourselves; Are we real readers?
While I was roaming around at the Muscat Book Fair a few days ago, I had a starling
question in mind; are we reading enough? In other words, how much we care about
reading as parents, students or professionals? You see people of different ages in the
fair grabbing books, stories, references and other educational material, but do they
read all of these? I don’t think so!
For some, visiting the book fair is a kind of entertainment to enjoy their time
or out of curiosity. Even though, it is very thrilling to see individuals, parents and
groups of school students visiting the fair.
Purchasing books is always good; definitely they will be of real value and good
use someday sooner or later. It’s a good time to teach students and children the
values and significance of reading.
Getting children in the fair is an efficient dose of encouragement for them; allow
them to choose the books and stories they like.
Through this experience, teachers and parents should urge children to love
reading and make it a habit. Generally, the biggest pleasure comes from what we
read, not from on what we read. The real difference lies in our attitude towards
reading. It’s said that there is a great difference between an eager man who wants to
read a book and the tired man who wants a book to read.
The book fair is one of the most significant cultural phenomenon happening
in the Sultanate. However, it comes every year with almost the same agenda; only
books and workshops.
With full recognition of the significance of written works, new activities shall be
added in the fair’s agenda to make it more attractive.
A man poses with a sign in front of police officers during a demonstration in Chibok, Abuja. — AP
A life under the Boko Haram
W
HRW and other experts say the incidents of females
hen Boko Haram attacks made life at home unbearable,
Rebecca Samuel was confronted with a stark choice that and other “vulnerable groups” being targeted has risen
dramatically since Boko Haram began facing increased
any mother would struggle to make.
Her family had decided to leave the remote town of military pressure in 2013.
Overall, the plight facing women in the rebels’
Chibok, northeast Nigeria, in March 2014 because of the
persistent threats from the militants. But Samuel decided stronghold is “a picture of violence and intimidation”, Jacob
that her 17-year-old daughter Sarah should stay back for Zenn and Elizabeth Pearson wrote in the US Journal of
Terrorism Research.
an extra month to take her final secondary school exams.
Hauwa Mohammed was one of 158 hostages released by
On April 14, Boko Haram gunmen stormed Sarah’s
Boko Haram on January 23, two weeks after their abduction
school, kidnapping her and 275 of her classmates.
Fifty-seven girls escaped, but the rest, including Sarah, from the village of Katarko, in northeast Yobe state.
“I was full of rage and hatred against (the groups),” said
have not been heard from since.
“Every day I am crying,” said Samuel, 36, who had Mohammed, recounting her time in captivity.
She said her mind was fixated on what the captors might
been living with her family as refugees in neighbouring
do to her three daughters, who were also
Cameroon before relocating to Nigeria’s
kidnapped, as all the hostages faced
capital, Abuja.
Boko Haram has
pressure to swear allegiance to Boko
But while the Chibok abductions
increasingly used
Haram.
remain the most prominent attack of the
“How could I ever subscribe to this
six-year insurgency, they represent only
females, including
ideology that supports killing, wanton
a fraction of the atrocities inflicted on
young girls, as human destruction, kidnap and rape?” Hauwa
women and girls in the bitter conflict.
bombs in attacks
said in an interview after her release.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) last year
She could not explain why the
estimated that the rebels had kidnapped
across the north,
extremists chose to release the group but
more than 500 women and girls since
writes COUMBA SYLLA noted that countless others have been far
2009, including those seized from Chibok
less fortunate.
but the figure could be much higher.
“I
pray
for
all
the
Female hostages have been forced into
they
are
holding
captive
to
marriage, raped and been made to work as domestic slaves women
for extremist fighters. Some recounted being deployed to be freed from the life of horror they are going through,”
she said.
carry ammunition on the front line.
The insurgency in northern Nigeria, which has killed
Other women forced to run from attacks have trekked
for days through the northeast’s harsh bushlands, more than 13,000 people since 2009, has also thrown the
spotlight on the deeper societal crisis in the impoverished
sometimes with infants strapped to their backs.
And, in a new tactic widely reviled even by other fighters, region, including grave gender disparities.
Roughly half of Nigeria’s 173 million people live in
Boko Haram has over the last 10 months increasingly used
females, including young girls, as human bombs in attacks the north of the country. Only three per cent of females
from the north complete secondary school, the British
across the north.
A 33-year-old woman was beaten to death last Sunday Council said in a 2012 report, which was researched before
the insurgency crippled the region and forced school
at a market in northern Bauchi state following suspicion
closures in parts of the northeast.
that she had explosives strapped to her body.
African tourism struggles to shake off Ebola stigma
T
he impact of the deadly Ebola virus
fell mainly on three African countries
but tourism has taken a hit across the
continent of more than 50 nations as
fear has kept many visitors away, tourism
chiefs say.
Some 56 million tourists visited Africa
in 2014, a two per cent rise from the
previous year, according to UNWTO
figures, but growth in Africa lagged behind
that in Europe, Asia or the Americas.
Africa had seen a robust 4.8 per cent
increase in tourists a year earlier.
“Africa did well (last year) in spite of
suffering from the Ebola symptoms which
were associated unfairly” with Africa as a
whole, Taleb Rifai, head of the UN World
Tourism Organization (UNWTO), said at
the Berlin tourism fair (ITB).
He said Africa needed support,
especially after the Ebola crisis, adding:
“It was very unfair the generalisation that
happened.”
Marie France Adieme-N’Dja, of Ivory
Coast’s tourism office, said that Ebola had
created panic.
“We have operators who have had
cancelled bookings because of the fear of
Ebola. However in Ivory Coast there has
not been a single case,” she said.
Showing off its nine national parks
and 550 km of sunny beaches, the Ivorian
tourist office is one of many African stands
at the ITB trying to woo back visitors as
the epidemic appears to have been brought
under control.
Almost 24,000 people have been
infected with the Ebola virus since
December 2013, almost all in Liberia,
Guinea and Sierra Leone, and 9,807 of
them have died, according to the WHO.
The countries at the centre of the Ebola
epidemic are forecast to lose 12 per cent
of their combined gross domestic product
this year, according to World Bank
estimates.
Africa’s association with Ebola however
has spread much further than the western
part of the continent actually affected.
“There was an impact (from Ebola),
we got a few cancellations,” a tourism
professional from a Kenyan tour operator,
who declined to be identified, said at the
ITB, which runs until today. He bemoaned
that some customers made up their minds
not to go to Africa without inquiring more
Showing off its nine national
parks and 550 km of sunny
beaches, the Ivorian tourist
office is one of many African
stands at the ITB trying to
woo back visitors to Africa,
notes MARIE JULIEN
deeply about Ebola.
“The distance between South Africa
and west Africa, or Kenya and west
Africa, is further away than the distance
between west Africa and North America
even,” Rifai, UNWTO’s Secretary-General,
pointed out.
Industry experts from Namibia — a
popular safari destination for Germans in
particular — at the fair were keen to press
home a similar message.
Digu Naobeb, chief executive of the
Namibia Tourism Board, said he had
resorted to using a map since the Ebola
outbreak to point out to tour operators
exactly where his country is located.
“In fact, Europeans are closer to the
epicentre of Ebola than Namibia,” he said.
As a result of acting quickly to try to
allay people’s fears about Ebola, he said
tourism to Namibia had seen “a bit of a
decline but not very significant”.
One initiative set up by several tourism
organisations to combat “geographical
ignorance” is the website unite4westafrica.
org to promote a positive image of west
Africa. It also sets out to whet visitors’
appetites for countries in the region that
have not been touched by Ebola, such as
Senegal, Benin or Burkina Faso.
In Sierra Leone, tourism had just
started to take hold after the decade-long
civil war in the 1990s.
A woman speaks on a cell phone at a booth presenting several African countries
at the international travel trade fair ITB in Berlin last Thursday. — AFP
ANALYSIS
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
omandailyobserver
9
Shyness does not make one any less of a person
I
RAY PETERSEN
[email protected]
’m enjoying my work at the moment, and a large
part of the reason for that must be the way in which
my students, all in Level Three of a Foundation
programme, at the University of Nizwa, are
maturing, academically, before my eyes. I will not
mention any of them by name, for reasons you will
appreciate, but their journey from schoolgirls to
students, appears to have taken on a new vitality as
they implement the academic processes required
for their further development.
I have put some requirements in place such as
particular resources are to be brought to class on
particular days, that each student must take full
responsibility for their own homework file, and
that there are set days for having that file checked,
in order to ensure that the work is being completed
on, or ahead of, schedule.
What has impressed me most is their personal
development, and the ability of shy students to
recognise that their ‘shyness’ does not make them
any less of a person, or a student. This follows a
recent discussion, where we talked about the fact
that some people are introverts and others are
extroverts. It doesn’t follow that one is necessarily
more of a ‘person’ than the other!
The great philosopher, Carl C Jung postulated
that there is actually a state of ambience, which is
not a ‘label’ but a state, implying, I believe, that we For an introvert, to be alone with their thoughts is
probably akin to a ‘nice cuppa tea,’ or sitting safe,
all have introverted/extroverted tendencies and
warm and dry, when there is a storm outside!
activity. If we look a step further, current thinking
appears to be that ONLY difference is that extroverts
At the end of the day, I think it’s all about offering
draw energy from others, while introverts get the introvert an opportunity to develop holistically
theirs from being alone. This is confirmed by Dr by respecting their time and space, by allowing
Hans Eysenck, who, in the
them to observe the comfort
60’s, proposed that our brains
of others at work or play, and
required different levels at
giving them just a wee bit more
I think it’s all about
which our bodies and minds
time to frame their responses.
respond to stimuli.
They are not alone however,
offering the introvert
His view therefore was that
as despite appearances to the
an opportunity to
while extroverts may appear to
contrary, the extrovert too needs
develop holistically by room to move. We must accept
be the ‘life of the party’, they
are in many cases creating an
their enthusiasm, and make the
respecting their time
environment of heightened
of it. We should respect
and space, by allowing most
activity that then stimulates
their independence, in spite
them to observe the
them! For them, when the
of the fact that we know they
verbal ‘poke’ at someone, or
feed off others, and we should
comfort of others.
the joke played on someone,
encourage them to be, not what
or even the declaration of
we want, but what they are!
attraction for another is
We are, most of us,
reciprocated, they are ‘activated!’
somewhere in the middle, and I recall being
Conversely, the introvert seek quiet places, told, in this debate years ago, “Just because you
and quiet times. It’s not that they are anti-social, are right-handed, doesn’t mean your left hand is
but it is believed that stimulation takes much useless!” And that has stuck with me since. I think
longer to reach the active section of their brain. that what’s important in this discussion is that we
don’t offer too much respect, and enforce too much
control, based on a layman’s opinion but offer all,
not only those at the behavioural extremes, the
opportunity to be the best they can possibly be!
I’m no psychologist, or psychiatrist. I just
know that we have some amazing students, with
excellent minds, and I’m not certain that their
ability to function effectively, academically, has
always been serviced appropriately as they have
been pigeon-holed rather too early!. They have
much more ability than skills. If that sounds like
a contradiction in terms it’s not. What it is though,
is a realistic appraisal of the capacity of the Omani
student for learning, and should they also have an
enthusiasm for learning.
I put my views to the test this week, and offered
one of the less ebullient students an opportunity to
‘micro-teach’, or ‘peer-present,’ a valuable writing
process. If it had not been important, the student,
myself, and the class, may have all recognised it as
a facile exercise. It had to have some importance, or
it would be meaningless. I was delighted to observe
the quiet, reticent, and often anonymous student,
prove to be assured, articulate and to present the
subject in a very competent manner. I had to
do very little reinforcement in review. I was so
delighted, but for the student rather than myself!
FILLING THE GAPS
BIRGIT REICHERT
B
oniface Packiam is a busy man in the service of the Lord, saying Mass
five times a week in the Roman Catholic parish centred on Trier in the
far west of Germany.
The 42-year-old priest from southern India came out seven years ago
to help fill the gaps in the pastoral care provided by the church. Apart from
saying Mass, Packiam officiates at baptisms and funerals and ministers to
the faithful. “Trier has now become my second home,” he says.
He is one of around 1,800 foreign clerics currently making a major
contribution to the Catholic Church in Germany.
Given the decline in home-grown priests, many Masses would no
longer be said without this missionary effort. Priests from India, Poland
and Africa have long been assisting in Catholic parishes in Germany.
The diocese of Trier, where there are already around two dozen foreign
priests, is taking on more. A new cooperation project with the Institute
for Pastoral Management in Bangalore in southern India is to provide five
Indian priests a year for the diocese.
To prepare them for their mission in Germany, the priests undergo a
10-month course in India, including three language courses, according
to Markus Nicolay, an advisor to priests in Trier. They also learn about
German ecclesiastical history, liturgy and pastoral care.
The first priests to pass the course are expected in Trier at the end
of April. Before they go out into the parishes, the priests undergo a sixmonth language course in Germany, and another round of lectures at
the Trier seminary helps them find their way through the new cultural
environment.
Around 50 Indian priests are expected over the years ahead. “I believe
that if we do our best, this project will be a success,” Nicolay says.
“Then parishioners will accept the work of these priests from abroad
and hopefully see them as enriching.”
The Indian priests will have the services of a language assistant to help
with their sermons. The intention is that they will stay in Germany for a
maximum of 10 years, so that they will be able to reintegrate into life at
home, Nicolay says. “Knowing German is the alpha and the omega,” says
Packiam, who is generally known as Father Boni. “How else would you
be able to approach people?”
Packiam learnt his German at Trier University. Alongside his parish
duties and pastoral work in a hospital, he has also written a doctoral thesis
on theology. In the diocese of Muenster there are already some 150 priests
from around the world in action, many of them from India, according to
diocese spokesman Stephan Kronenburg.
Students attend a ceremony promoting education and human rights at their Antenor Oregon school in Lima, Peru, on December 12, 2014. — AP
Man-made climate change a woman’s problem
M
en and women may not always be on the
same footing but you would think both
sexes would be equal in the face of gigantic
floods, typhoons or droughts. Think again.
Countless studies show that natural
disasters on average kill more women
than men — 90 per cent female fatalities
in some cases, prevent girls from going to
school, increase the threat of assault. And
the list goes on.
This issue has come to the fore in global
negotiations on climate change, which
scientists warn will be responsible for
increasingly violent and frequent natural
catastrophes around the world.
“It boils down to the fact that women and
men have different types of vulnerabilities
already in the world,” said Tara Shine, special
adviser to the Mary Robinson FoundationClimate Justice think tank, headed by the
former Irish president-turned UN special
envoy for climate change.
“And then climate change comes along
and accentuates all of those,” she added on
the sidelines of the ongoing UN Human
Rights Council in Geneva, where the issue
of climate change and rights was debated.
According to the World Bank, 90 per cent
of some 140,000 victims of the 1991 cyclone
that battered Bangladesh were women, as
were nearly two thirds of those killed by
Myanmar’s 2008 Cyclone Nargis.
“There are many reasons but one of them
is that they cannot swim, they cannot climb
trees, it’s cultural,” said Elena Manaenkova,
Assistant Secretary-General of the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO).
“In many countries — and it’s also cultural
— they are not supposed to run, they are
supposed to wait until their husband will
call them to action.”
One of the WMO’s objectives is to
reach out to people in disaster-prone areas
with forecasts that could save their lives or
livelihoods, for which mobile phones are an
important tool.
But according to Manaenkova, 300
million fewer women have mobile phones
than men, which means warnings often do
not reach them. Beyond this, women and
girls are also impacted by climate change
in their everyday lives — education being a
prime example.
In many parts of the developing world,
for instance, they are the ones who fetch
water for their families, and as global
warming impacts the availability of fresh
water sources, they have to trek farther afield
to find them — meaning less time for school.
According to the United Nations
Development Programme, a survey
conducted in Tanzania found girls’
attendance to be 12 per cent higher for those
in homes located near a water source than in
homes one hour or more away.
Attendance rates for boys appeared to be
far less affected.
Plan International conducted extensive
research on the subject in 2010 in
drought-ridden Ethiopia and flood-prone
Bangladesh, and found the long walks were
also dangerous.
“I know two girls who were raped going
to fetch water. When you go far and there
are not many people around, it happens,”
Studies show natural disasters
on average kill more women
than men — 90 per cent female
fatalities in some cases, prevent
girls from going to school and
increase the threat of assault,
reports MARIANNE BARRIAUX
Endager, a 16-year-old girl from Lasta
district in Ethiopia, was quoted as saying in
the NGO’s report. Poverty-inducing natural
disasters can also increase the propensity for
child marriage.
“After cyclones, families think their
condition is worse and send their daughters
to get married,” a young girl from Barguna
in Bangladesh was quoted as saying.
“Almost 50 per cent of girls drop out of
education because of early marriage. In very
remote villages, it is probably more 70 to 75
per cent.”
So what can be done? Simple, experts
say — empower women, get them involved
at all levels, and remember that they exist.
According to Shine, the issue is expected
to feature prominently in a crucial
new agreement aimed at averting
catastrophic global warming to be signed in
Paris later this year.
Some countries — such as Mozambique
— are already factoring gender into their
response to climate change, she says.
“When it (Mozambique) is increasing the
resilience of smallholder farmers’ livelihoods
to the impact of climate change, it doesn’t
forget the majority of its smallholder farmers
are women,” she said.
“It therefore has to tailor the supports,
advice and technologies that it makes
available to them to be appropriate to their
needs and to ask them what they want.”
Other concrete measures include making
sure typhoon shelters have separate female
and male toilets, so women will feel safe and
go there during a storm.
“It’s often such obvious stuff but if the
people responsible for it aren’t a little bit
aware that there are gender differences...
with all the good intention in the world,
they can end up doing something that has a
negative effect,” said Shine.
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10
omandailyobserver
INDIA
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
BILATERAL ISSUE: ‘Law has provision to ‘shoot’ anyone trying to intrude into the country’s waters’
Lankan PM justifies shooting of fishermen
COLOMBO: Amid diplomatic moves to
forge closer ties, the festering fishermen’s
issue between India and Sri Lanka on
Saturday threatened to snowball into
a major row with Sri Lankan Prime
Minister
Ranil
Wickremesinghe
justifying his country’s navy shooting
intruding Indian fishermen.
Wickremesinghe told a television
channel that his country’s law has a
provision to “shoot” anyone trying to
“break into my house” — referring
to Indian fishermen intruding into
his country’s waters, as he met Indian
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj
here.
Sushma is here to prepare the ground
for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
bilateral visit next week, the first by an
Indian prime minister since 1987.
Indian external affairs ministry
spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said that
India will take up the fishermen issue
with Colombo during talks between
Sushma Swaraj and the Sri Lankan side.
“This is an ongoing dialogue between
India and Sri Lanka; the external affairs
minister will certainly take up this matter
both with her Sri Lankan counterpart
and with the Sri Lankan prime minister.
We want to ensure both India and Sri
Lanka are able to work together,” the
INTRUSION
Pakistan arrests
45 fishermen
KARACHI: Pakistani marine forces
have arrested 45 Indian fishermen
for violating territorial waters in the
Arabian Sea, police said on Saturday.
Pakistan’s
Maritime
Security
Agency (MSA) detained the fishermen
on Friday after they strayed into
Pakistani waters, and they were
handed over to local police in the port
city of Karachi, a senior police official
said.
“The MSA has handed over 45
arrested Indian fishermen to police
who will be presented before a
magistrate and later sent to jail,” senior
police official Fida Hussain said.
Such arrests are frequently carried
out by both countries, as the maritime
border in the Arabian Sea is poorly
defined and many fishing boats lack
the technology needed to be certain of
their precise location.
The fishermen often languish in
jail even after serving their term, as
poor diplomatic ties between the two
arch-rivals mean fulfilling official
requirements can take a long time.
Relations between the nucleararmed neighbours have taken a turn
for the worse in recent months, with
shelling on the disputed border in
Kashmir.
Last month Pakistan released
172 Indian fishermen as “a goodwill
gesture” and it had still 349 Indian
inmates in custody by then.
In January, marine forces arrested
38 Indian fishermen after they strayed
into Pakistani waters.
— AFP
with India with respect to fishing rights.
To a question if shooting at intruding
Indian fishermen can be justified,
Wickremesinghe said: “If someone tries
to break into my house, I can shoot. If
he gets killed law allows me to do that.
On the fishermen issue, as far as I’m
concerned, I have very very strong lines.
These are our waters. Fishermen of Jaffna
should be allowed to fish. We stopped
them from fishing. That’s why the Indian
fishermen came in. They are willing to
have a deal. Let’s have a reasonable deal.
But not at the expense of the income of
the northern fishermen.”
Wickremesinghe continued: “Why
are you coming into our waters? Why
are you fishing in our waters? Stay on
the Indian side. There will be no issue.
No one will shoot anyone else. You stay
on the Indian side, let our fishermen
stay on the Sri Lankan side. Otherwise
don’t make accusations of human rights
violation by the navy. You came in there.”
He also took a pot shot at India for
filing murder charges against two Italian
Marines over the killing of two Indian
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrives with Mangala Samaraweera (R), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, for their
fishermen in 2012. “Why do you all
meeting in Colombo. — Reuters
pick up the Italian sailors? You say you
spokesperson said.
Samaraweera during which all bilateral a Chennai-based news channel, are friendly with Italy, show that same
Sushma Swaraj also held delegation issues were discussed.
Wickremesinghe said his government magnanimity to Italy that you want us to
— IANS
level talks with her counterpart Mangala
In an interview to Thanthi TV, was willing to make a “reasonable deal” show.”
Kerala speaker G Karthikeyan dead
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
A
seven-day mourning was declared in
Kerala following the demise of state
assembly speaker G Karthikeyan at
a private hospital in Bengaluru on
Saturday.
A special cabinet meeting in the
evening discussed how the prominent
Congress leader be given his last
farewell, befitting Karthikeyan’s stature.
The 66-year-old Congress leader
Three suspended after suspect abuser lynched
NEW DELHI: Authorities in Nagaland
have suspended three senior officials
after a mob stormed a jail and lynched
a rape suspect, local media reported on
Saturday.
A mob in Dimapur city lynched the
abuse suspect alleging he was an illegal
immigrant from Bangladesh. The
government suspended the city’s police
chief, the jail warden and a top district
official late on Friday, broadcaster
NDTV reported.
One person died after police
opened fire at the mob. Twenty people
were arrested. Dimapur has been
placed under curfew. The 35-year-old
man was in prison pending trial for
allegedly raping a 20-year woman from
the Naga ethnic group on February
23. Mobs dragged him out of jail, beat
him to death and hung his body from a
clock tower.
Riot police patrolled the city,
enforcing round-the-clock curfew
Tribal groups have for
years accused the growing
population of Bengalispeaking people from
nearby Assam state and
Bangladesh of illegally
settling on their land
for a second day as the killing was
condemned as “barbaric and inhuman”.
Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang
said “the situation remained tense but
under control”.
“The act is barbaric, heinous and
inhuman,” Tarun Gogoi, the chief
minister of Khan’s home state of
Assam, said of the lynching.
The mob as well as Nagaland’s
Cooperate with CBI probe: Mukul Roy
KOLKATA: Amid speculations that
Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Paul
might be called for quizzing by the CBI
for his alleged links with a ponzi firm,
sidelined party leader Mukul Roy on
Saturday insisted that all law abiding
citizens have an obligation to cooperate
in such a probe.
Roy, who was earlier quizzed by
the Central Bureau of Investigation
in connection with the multi-crorerupee Saradha scam, also called for
indemnifying the investors who were
ruined by the scandal that came to light
in April 2013.
“While there should be efforts to
indemnify the investors, I feel if any law
abiding citizen is called for the sake of
inquiry, in the interest of the probe he
should cooperate,” said Roy when asked
to comment about Paul whose Kolkata
residence was raided by the CBI on
Wednesday. Paul’s house was one of the
43 locations of the Rose Valley Group that
mast,” he said.
The Kerala government also
announced a half-day holiday on
Saturday in all government and
educational institutions in the state.
“Tomorrow morning the body would
be kept for a while at the Legislature
Complex members lounge. From there,
it would be taken to the Congress
headquarters and from there to the
Secretariat Durbar Hall.
— IANS
served as a minister in the Kerala cabinet
on two occasions. He was elected to the
assembly six times.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy
later told reporters that Karthikeyan’s
body would be brought from the airport
to his official residence here and would
be kept there till Sunday morning.
“The state government has declared
a seven-day mourning. Today and
tomorrow, the Tricolour will fly at half
Roy, who was earlier quizzed
by the CBI in connection
with the multi-crore-rupee
Saradha scam, also called for
indemnifying the investors
who were ruined by the
scandal that came to light
in April 2013
was searched by the CBI as a part of its
probe into a chit fund scam.
Accused of raising money from the
public through unapproved investment
scheme, the Rose Valley has been under
the scanner of various central agencies
including market regulator Sebi, the
Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO)
and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
A former director of the group’s films
division, Paul has virtually aped Roy in
professing cooperation with the central
agency if he was summoned.
Incidentally, Roy — once considered
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee’s right hand man — was
gradually sidelined from the party and
even stripped of the position of national
general secretary, when he went against
the party stand to promise cooperation
with the CBI.
The Trinamool, with several of
its leaders including state Transport
Minister Madan Mitra under arrest and
interrogation, has been going hammer
and tongs against the CBI dubbing it a
“political tool” in the hands of the BJP
which is in power at the centre.
The state’s ruling party even had
moved the Supreme Court against the
CBI probe, but its petition was rejected.
Roy — often hailed as the architect
of the Trinamool’s electoral successes —
said it was up to the party to decide about
his role in the upcoming municipal
polls.
—IANS
government had earlier called him a
Bangladeshi migrant.
“The manner in which the youth
was dragged out of police custody and
killed brutally by a mob on the streets
is highly condemnable,” Gogoi said in
a statement.
Khan’s brother Jamaluddin said the
killing was “politically motivated” and
accused police of “falsely implicating
his brother on behest of Naga groups,
who want to root out non-tribals from
the state”.
Nagaland’s indigenous tribal groups,
especially the largest Naga tribe,
have for years accused the growing
population
of
Bengali-speaking
Muslims from nearby Assam state and
Bangladesh of illegally settling on their
land and usurping resources.
Nagas have previously campaigned
to evict Bengali-speaking immigrants
from their territory, who they claim
entice local girls into marriage for
getting tribal status.
Jamaluddin, an Indian army
sergeant,
accused
Nagaland’s
government of “deliberately dubbing
him as a Bangladeshi immigrant to
justify the killing”.
“The girl’s medical report didn’t
confirm rape but still my brother was
jailed and then handed over to the mob
who lynched him just because he was a
Bengali-speaking person,” he said from
his home in Assam.
He said his brother had been
living in Dimapur for 10 years, where
he married a local girl and had a
daughter.
Rights group Amnesty International
also condemned the killing as a “serious
lapse in the criminal justice system”.
“The Nagaland government must
ensure that every person who was
part of the mob is brought to justice,”
said Shemeer Babu, Amnesty India’s
programmes director.
— dpa
SIKH FESTIVITIES
IN BRIEF
Mulayam
down with
swine flu
GURGAON/LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh
Yadav is suffering from swine flu
and has been admitted to a private
hospital in Gurgaon, a doctor said
on Saturday. His party, however, said
there is no need to worry. Mulayam
Singh was admitted at Medanta
Medicity hospital in Sector 38.
AK
Dubey,
medical
superintendent of the hospital, said:
“Mulayam Singh is responding to
the treatment. His parameters are
stable but we can’t say when he will
be discharged.”
A team of doctors headed by
Sushila Kataria is monitoring his
condition. Sources said Mulayam
Singh was brought to the hospital at
1.30 am yesterday.
He is also undergoing tests under
the supervision of cardiologist
Naresh Trehan, a party spokesman
said.
“Mulayam Singh was undergoing
some tests at Medanta under the
supervision of Naresh Trehan,”
Rajendra
Chowdhary,
party
spokesman and cabinet minister,
said in Lucknow.
“Doctors have advised him rest
for three days and there is no reason
to worry over his health,” he added.
Family sources said he reported
unease, high fever and breathlessness
for most of the week and the step
was taken after his condition showed
no improvement.
Manjhi’s HAM
to contest
125 seats
PATNA: A week after launching a
new political front, the Hindustani
Awam Morcha (HAM), former
chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi
announced on Saturday that his
party would contest 125 of the 243
seats in the assembly polls later this
year. “We would contest 125 seats
in the next assembly polls,” Manjhi,
who is the convenor of HAM, said at
a function here.
Manjhi also hinted that HAM
may join hands with the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) to defeat the
ruling JD-U of chief minister
Nitish Kumar. “HAM may have seat
adjustments with BJP in the state,”
he said.
Last week Manjhi, who was
forced to quit as Bihar’s chief
minister, launched the new political
front to “expose the real face” of
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Manjhi’s supporters mostly
belong to Mahadalit communities.
Nine Maoists
surrender
in Odisha
Devotees spray perfume on the Palki Sahib, which carries the Sikh holy books, to
mark the Hola Mohalla festival at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
— AFP
BHUBANESWAR: Nine armed
Maoists surrendered in Odisha’s
Koraput district on Saturday, police
said. The rebels were members of the
Koraput Division of Andhra-Odisha
Border Special Zonal Committee
(AOBSZC) of the outlawed
Communist Party of India-Maoist.
They surrendered before police
in the district headquarter town of
Koraput, about 500 km from state
capital Bhubaneswar.
Before joining the CPI-Maoist,
they were active members of the
local Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh
(CMAS) an association of peasants,
bonded labourers and tribals,
Inspector General of Police (south
western range) Yashwant Jethwa
said.
— IANS
INDIA
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
SALMAN CASE
Statements of
dead bodyguard,
medico allowed
MUMBAI: A Mumbai sessions court
on Saturday permitted the prosecution
in the Salman Khan hit-and-run case to
rely on the statements of his deceased
bodyguard Ravindra Patil, who was
a witness to the 2002 accident, and a
medico who performed the autopsy
on the accident victim.
Patil, a police bodyguard, died in
October 2007 due to natural causes
when the trial was underway before
the magistrate court, while Sanap, the
doctor who performed the autopsy,
lives in the US.
The late Patil had earlier recorded
his statement before a magistrate,
which the prosecution demanded
should be taken on record in the
ongoing fresh trial in the sessions
court after the additional charge of
culpable homicide not amounting to
murder was slapped against Salman
Khan. In his statement, Patil said he
was sitting next to Salman Khan and
warned him against rash-driving but
the actor did not heed the advice.
Later, he lodged the police
complaint after the accident in which
a pavement dweller was killed and four
others were injured in Bandra in the
early morning of September 28, 2002.
Judge DW Deshpande allowed
the prosecution and defence to file
their replies on Patil’s statement
and said Salman Khan would be
granted an opportunity to have
his say in the matter and crossexamine the investigation officer.
Salman’s lawyer Shrikant Shivade had
opposed prosecutor Pradeep Gharat’s
application, contending it would be
prejudicial to his client.
— IANS
PARTY LEADERS BLAMED: ‘A small group of party decision
makers has removed me from the informal BBM group’
11
WOMEN POWER
I am being targeted by
AAP: Mayank Gandhi
MUMBAI: Senior AAP leader
Mayank Gandhi (pictured) said here
on Saturday that he has been targeted
by some party leaders for his March 5
statement challenging a gag order and
revealing the proceedings of the AAP
national executive meeting.
Gandhi claimed a ‘concerted attempt’
is being made in the social media to
label him “anti-party and anti-AK
(Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal)”
and reiterated his statement that a price
might have to be paid by him.
“A small group of party decision
makers in Delhi has already removed me
from the informal BBM group. Attacks
have begun against me from AAP
leader Ashish Khetan and others. Some
dissatisfied members from Maharashtra
have started giving interviews against
me, some old cases are being re-opened,”
Gandhi said in a blog.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) may
decide not to fight the BMC polls
(Mumbai) or delay the decision for the
same, the leadership of Maharashtra will
be challenged and discredited by some
individuals and information would be
leaked to media, he said.
“More will come and I will be finally
humiliated so much that I will quit. That
was what was planned for AAP leaders
Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan,
but they overturned the plan by staying
in the party. Let me see if I can withstand
the muck that will be thrown,” Gandhi
said, expressing apprehensions about
the future.
On March 4, the AAP announced
that it ousted top leaders Bhushan
and Yadav, from its decision-making
Political Affairs Committee (PAC).
The announcement was made after a
nearly six-hour meeting of the national
executive that followed a virtual war
between the two leaders and loyalists of
Kejriwal.
Bhushan, a leading Supreme Court
lawyer and an AAP founder member,
and Yadav, a known political expert,
were ousted from the nine-member
PAC, the supreme body in the party.
The party was formed in 2012 and
stormed to power in Delhi last month
by sweeping 67 of the 70 seats in the
assembly.
Referring to his previous blog,
Gandhi asserted that he had “personally
challenged” a gag order on the
proceedings of the national executive
and it was not intended to be any form
of defiance against the party leadership.
Additional Rs 12,600 crore from
Day Three of coal auctions
NEW DELHI: The government stands
to gain an additional Rs 12,600 crore on
Day Three of the coal auction, potentially
swelling its kitty by nearly Rs 145,000
crore from the 19 rounds in the first
tranche and the three rounds thus far in
the second leg, as per the latest data.
The Tara coal block in Chhattisgarh
went to Jindal Power and the Dumri
block in Jharkhand to Hindalco in the
latest round. The third block on offer,
Nerad-Malegaon in Maharashtra, went
to Indrajit Power.
“Hindalco is highest bidder at Rs
2,127 (per tonne) for Dumri and Jindal
Power at Rs 126 (per tonne) for Tara
coal block,” Coal Secretary Anil Swarup
tweeted, as bidding ended.
This final bid cost works out to Rs
9,800 crore for the Tara block and Rs
2,100 crore for Dumri.
Indrajit Power bid the highest for
Nared Malegaon at Rs 660 per tonne —
or a little over Rs 660 crore.
omandailyobserver
The Tara coal block in
Chhattisgarh went to Jindal
Power and the Dumri block
in Jharkhand to Hindalco
in the latest round. The
third block on offer, NeradMalegaon in Maharashtra,
went to Indrajit Pow
Under
the
bidding
process,
participants are required to submit
an initial financial bid along with the
technical details.
On the actual date of the e-auction,
the qualified bidder is permitted to
anonymously submit as many final price
offers as desired.
While the highest bid can be viewed,
the name of the bidder will not be
divulged.
Each subsequent bid has to be made
with an increment of Rs 2, within the
notified start and the closing time.
The successful bidder will then be
immediately notified thereafter.
The auction has a clause that
extractable reserves of the allotted coal
mine cannot exceed 150 per cent of the
annual coal requirement of the specified
end-use plant over a period of 30 years.
As regards the payment, an upfront
amount has been notified for each block.
An amount of 50 per cent of that is
payable immediately, 25 per cent upon
the execution of the mining lease and
the remaining upon the grant of mine
opening permission.
The licencee shall also make monthly
payments on the basis of the final price
and it will have to be made within
20 days of the expiry of each month.
There will also be an escalation in the
price annually, based on a reference
mechanism that will be published in the
first week of April.
— IANS
COLOURS GALORE
“I am generally non-confrontational.
But now is the time to take a stand.
This is not to weaken the party nor
our leadership, but to strengthen the
AAP and the principles that we have
espoused,” Gandhi said.
Since the national executive meeting,
thousands of worried volunteers from
across the world have been asking about
the difference between the AAP and
other political parties, he said.
“I want to tell the country that there
is a huge difference and in the next few
weeks, we volunteers shall demonstrate
the same,” Gandhi declared.
Seeking mass participation in the
AAP decision making processes, he
cited the example of Iceland which
crowd-sourced its constitution in 2013.
“AAP volunteers need to propose
to the national executive about
processes and systems on inner party
democracy, volunteer management and
communication, constitution of the PAC
and national executive, code of conduct
for volunteers and leaders, gender
justice, conflict resolution mechanisms,
and policy stands,” Gandhi said.
He said it is time to participate in the
party functioning in the best traditions
of
‘Swaraj’,
non-confrontational,
graceful and constructive, respectful to
the leadership. “We are all learning,” he
said.
Gandhi repeated that he truly
believed Kejriwal is the hope for the
country and his statements were not
rebellious, not anti-leadership nor
seeking personal attention.
— IANS
Family waits
for MH370
passenger
CHENNAI: It has been a year since
the fateful day of March 8 when the
Narendrans lost their loved one,
Chandrika Sharma, an unfortunate
passenger in the Malaysian Airlines
flight MH370 that disappeared
mysteriously.
The 51-year-old Chandrika Sharma
headed the International Collective
in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF), an
NGO here as its executive secretary.
Her husband KS Narendran is a
management consultant and daughter
Meghna a college student.
She had gone to attend a conference
organised by the Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) in Mongolia when
the Malaysian Airlines flight vanished
into thin air. “Narendran does not want
to be disturbed. He wants to spend
a quiet time,” Chandrika Sharma’s
colleague and a family friend said not
wanting to be named.
— IANS
A woman holds a placard during a silent protest on the eve of International
Women’s Day in Bangalore. — AFP
Parliament set
to discuss rail,
general budgets
NEW DELHI: Financial business,
including a discussion on the railway
and general budgets for 2015-16, and
consideration and passing of the bills to
replace the ordinances will be the main
issues before both houses of parliament
next week.
Government business in the Lok
Sabha for the next week includes
consideration and passing of the Right
to Fair Compensation and Transparency
in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation
and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill,
2015, an official statement said here on
Saturday.
It said general discussion and
voting on the railway budget for
2015-16, demands for Grants on
Account (Railways) for 2015-16 and
supplementary demands for grants
for railways for 2014-15 are part of
the business to be taken up by the Lok
Sabha next week.
Consideration and Passing of related
appropriate bills and general discussion
and voting on general budget for 201516 are some of the things that will be
taken up, it added.
In the Rajya Sabha, two bills to
replace ordinances — The Mines
and Minerals (Development and
Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015
and Motor Vehicles (Amendment)
Bill, 2015, passed by the Lok Sabha
have been listed for consideration and
passing on Monday.
Statutory
resolutions
seeking
disapproval of the two related
ordinances will also be taken up along
with the bills.
Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill,
2014 is one of the three bills already
pending in the Rajya Sabha, for the
withdrawal of which the government
has earlier moved motions and the same
were deferred following some issues
raised by the opposition.
The other two pending bills relate to
raising FDI limit in the insurance sector
and allocation of coal blocks through
open bidding.
Discussion and voting on the railway
budget for 2015-16 and supplementary
demands for grants for 2014-15 and
passing of related appropriation Bills is
the financial business to be taken up in
the Rajya Sabha during the next week, it
said.
— IANS
Credit for successful elections vests with Election Commission
Sayeed’s comments tantamount
to treason, says Shiv Sena
A woman gets drenched with coloured water during the ‘Dadjee ka Huranga’ festivities in Baldeo, Uttar Pradesh. — AFP
MUMBAI: The recent comments by
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister
Mufti Mohammed Sayeed on Pakistan
and hanged parliament attack convict
Afzal Guru tantamount to “treason” and
“contempt of Supreme Court”, the Shiv
Sena said on Saturday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
earlier this month allied with the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) to form the
government in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Right after the swearing-in
ceremony at which Prime Minister
Narendra Modi was present, Sayeed
credited Pakistan and Pakistanisupported terrorists for allowing the
peaceful elections in Jammu and
Kashmir,” the Shiv Sena said.
A day later, Sayeed and his PDP
demanded handing over of the remains
of hanged terrorist Afzal Guru — who
was guilty of the attack on Indian
parliament — to the state.
The Shiv Sena pointed out that the
credit for successful elections vests with
the Election Commission, the people
who queued up braving terror threats,
and the Indian armed forces which
fights terrorists 24x7.
“However, by crediting Pakistan and
terrorists, Sayeed has insulted all of them
(EC, people and armed forces), and by
demanding remnants of Afzal Guru,
he has crossed all limits of treason,” the
Shiv Sena said in a stinging edit in party
mouthpiece Saamana.
“After all, Afzal Guru was a criminal,
and sympathising with him tantamounts
to a contempt of Supreme Court and
a bonfire of Indian laws. If Sayeed
continues in this vein, the country will
have to pay a heavy price,” it warned,
adding that even the BJP would have to
suffer for allying with PDP in governing
the border state.
Lashing out at the PDP patron, the
Shiv Sena said those who know the
Sayeed family and their PDP would
never have allied with it, nor was Sayeed
ever regarded as a patriotic Indian.
“The BJP’s courage and stubbornness
(to form the government in Jammu and
Kashmir) is astounding,” it said.
He said that tough decisions have to
be taken at times in national interest and
this could be one such occasion.
— IANS
AMERICAS
12
SHALALA TO HEAD CLINTON FOUNDATION
S U N DAY l M A R C H 8 l 2 0 1 5
Donna Shalala, a former US secretary of
health and human services, will lead the
nonprofit Clinton Foundation after its
previous chief executive resigned in January,
former President Bill Clinton announced
on Friday. Shalala, who has a decades-long
friendship with the Clintons and served
in Bill Clinton’s cabinet, will become the
foundation’s president and chief executive
officer in the coming months.
WORLD
People wait in line to attend an anniversary event at the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Saturday in Selma, Alabama. - AFP
SELMA: Tracing the footsteps of civil
rights leaders who made his journey to
the White House possible, President
Barack Obama was to visit Selma,
Alabama late on Saturday to enlist a new
generation in their fight.
America’s first black president will
mark the 50th anniversary of the fateful
march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge,
where brutal state suppression only
catalysed support for black voting rights.
Accompanied by wife Michelle and
daughters Sasha and Malia, Obama
will argue that events in this tiny city
half a century ago are not confined to
place or time. “Selma is not just about
commemorating the past,” Obama said
on the eve of the visit.
“It’s about honouring the legends who
helped change this country through your
actions today, in the here and now.”
On March 7, 1965, some 600 peaceful
activists were attacked by police with
clubs and tear gas at the bridge, a seminal
moment in America’s democracy.
A few months later, the Voting Rights
Act was passed.
Before the act, it was easier for states
like Alabama to restrict voter registration
through violent intimidation and
bureaucratic racism.
“Selma is about the courage of
ordinary people doing extraordinary
things because they believe they can
change the country,” Obama said.
“Selma is about each of us asking
ourselves what we can do to make
America better. And historically, it has
been young people like you who helped
lead that march.”
The history of what happened at
Selma on “Bloody Sunday” has recently
returned to prominence thanks to an
Oscar-nominated film starring actor
David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King.
— AFP
Senator Menendez facing graft charges
WASHINGTON:
Senator
Robert
Menendez denied any wrongdoing
on Friday and said he was “not going
anywhere” after CNN reported the
US Justice Department is preparing
criminal corruption charges against the
New Jersey Democrat.
Citing unidentified sources briefed
on the case, CNN said the charges centre
on allegations Menendez used his office
to promote the business interests of a
Democratic Party donor and friend in
“I have always conducted myself
exchange for gifts.
appropriately and in accordance with
Top Brazilian politicians being
investigated in Petrobras scam
Senate President Renan Calheiros (L) from the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party
and President Dilma Rousseff during a ceremony at Planalto Palace in Brasilia. — AFP
BRASILIA: Brazil’s Supreme Court will
investigate the speakers of both houses of
Congress and 32 other sitting politicians
in connection with a multibillion-dollar
kickback scheme at state-controlled oil
company Petrobras .
The scandal has shaken the political
establishment and undermined support
for President Dilma Rousseff, who
was narrowly re-elected last year and
is struggling to stave off an economic
recession and a downgrade by credit
rating agencies.
A court official said on Friday that 12
senators and 22 congressmen from five
parties are under investigation, all but
one from Rousseff ’s governing coalition.
The most prominent are the president
of the Senate, Renan Calheiros, and the
Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies,
Eduardo Cunha, both of the PMDB,
Brazil’s largest party and Rousseff ’s
main coalition ally.
The Progressive Party has 21
members under investigation, the
PMDB six and the Workers’ Party five,
including Senator Gleisi Hoffmann,
Rousseff ’s chief of staff during her first
term. The party’s treasurer João Vaccari
will be investigated.
Only one opposition politician,
Senator Antonio Anastasia, of the PSDB
party, was on the list, which includes
The US space probe
Dawn began orbiting
the dwarf planet
Ceres on Friday on a
voyage of discovery
into the solar system’s
main asteroid belt,
where it will collect
a trove of data and
photos, Nasa said.
Obama to mark Selma
march anniversary
Wisconsin
police shoot
black teen dead,
ignite protest
WISCONSIN: Wisconsin police
fatally shot an apparently unarmed
African-American teenager on Friday,
prompting dozens of people to protest
at the site of the killing, according to
police and videos published on social
media.
Madison Police Chief Mike
Koval told reporters that an officer
responded to a disturbance at around
6:30 pm local time and later forced
his way into an apartment that the
19-year-old, who was also suspected
of a recent battery, had gone into.
Koval said that a struggle between
the suspect and the officer ensued and
the teen was fatally shot, according to
a recording of the news conference
published by broadcaster WKOW.
“The initial finding at the scene did
not reflect a gun or anything of that
nature that would have been used by
the subject,” Koval said.
The shooting comes at a time of
heightened scrutiny of police violence
against minorities across the country.
Protests have been held in Los
Angeles and Washington state in
recent days over police killings of
unarmed men from minority groups.
Videos published on social media
showed around 100 protesters at the
scene of the shooting chanting slogans
like, “Who can you trust? Not the
police,” in front of a row of officers.
Many of the demonstrators
then moved the protest to inside
the Madison City County building,
according to videos published on
Twitter.
— Reuters
‘DAWN’ ENTERS ORBIT OF DWARF PLANET
A court official said
that 12 senators and
22 congressmen from
five parties are under
investigation, all but one
from Rousseff’s governing
coalition.
Senator Fernando Collor de Mello, a
former president who resigned in 1992
to avoid impeachment for corruption.
Under Brazilian law, elected
politicians can only be tried by the
highest court, which must now decide
with the help of prosecutors whether
there is enough proof to put them on
trial.
The investigation could take years.
Brazil’s largest political corruption case
until now, involving monthly payments
to lawmakers in return for support in
Congress for Rousseff ’s Workers’ Party,
took seven years to get to trial in 2012.
The immediate casualty of the
political crisis could be Finance Minister
Joaquim Levy’s belt-tightening plan to
bridge Brazil’s gaping fiscal deficit and
avert a rating downgrade.
In a surprise setback on Tuesday,
Senate President Calheiros threw out
an austerity measure decreed by the
president for what he called procedural
reasons, though it appeared to be
retaliation for not clearing his name
from the corruption probe.
“The political situation is going to get
even worse for the president,” a senator
in the ruling Workers’ Party said on the
condition that he not be named.
“There is a widespread feeling
among the political class, especially
in the PMDB, that the government
manipulated the list of the lawmakers
involved in the investigation to lessen
the damage for the Workers’ Party,”
the senator said. He said lawmakers
were planning to block other austerity
measures.
Rousseff faces more trouble in
Congress from a parliamentary inquiry
commission set up to look into the
corruption scandal. Its first witness
called to testify will be former Petrobras
manager, Pedro Barusco, who has said
in a plea bargain statement made public
that the Workers’ Party received up
to $200 million from bribes paid on
Petrobras contracts.
The scandal threatens Brazil’s already
weak economy by prompting Petrobras
to halt or cancel key investment
projects. Companies in the energy
and construction sectors are finding it
harder to obtain credit.
The corruption probe has so far
led to 40 indictments on racketeering,
bribery and money laundering charges,
including two former Petrobras senior
managers and 23 executives from six
of Brazil’s leading construction and
engineering firms.
Rousseff was chairwoman of
Petrobras’ board of directors from 2003
to 2010, when much of the alleged
corruption took place. She has denied
knowing about the scheme during those
years and has vowed to respect the
judiciary’s independence. — Reuters
the law,” Menendez said in a statement
he read to reporters in Newark, New
Jersey.
“I am not going anywhere,” the
senator said.
He did not take any questions.
CNN said Attorney General Eric
Holder has given the green light for
prosecutors to proceed with charges
and an announcement could arrive in
coming weeks.
Holder, who was travelling in South
Carolina with President Barack Obama,
said he could not comment.
Justice Department officials declined
to comment.
Federal authorities have probed
Menendez’s relationship with Florida
ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen,
a Democratic donor who has been
accused of over-billing the Medicare
programme.
The senator said his friendship with
Melgen had spanned decades and they
“have given each other birthday, holiday
and wedding presents — just as friends
do.” Two law enforcement officials said
the Federal Bureau of Investigation had
been conducting a major corruption
investigation of Menendez for some
time, and one said it was nearing
completion.
Menendez is the former chairman of
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
where he is now the top Democrat.
He has been a critic of the Obama
administration’s policy on Cuba and
Iran, but he is a staunch supporter of the
White House on other issues. — Reuters
IN BRIEF
Ohio man says would have shot Obama
6-way kidney swap
at San Francisco
hospital complete
SAN FRANCISCO: Doctors at a
San Francisco hospital on Friday
completed kidney transplant
surgeries in a rare organ-transplant
chain from living donors that resulted
in healthy kidneys going to six sick
people.
The group of 12 donors and
recipients, ranging in age from 24
to 70-years-old, were recovering
after their operations at California
Pacific Medical Centre, said hospital
spokesman Dean Fryer.
“All the surgeries went smoothly.
Everybody is now in their recovery
rooms and getting some welldeserved rest,” Fryer said, adding that
donors typically can be released in
two to three days and recipients in
three to five days.
The first round of operations
began on Thursday and all the
surgeries were completed by late
Friday afternoon, Fryer said.
Five surgeons and dozens of
hospital staff were on hand for the
two days of procedures, he said.
Among those recovering from
Thursday’s surgery was Zully
Broussard, 55, of Sacramento,
California, a so-called altruistic donor
who had triggered the domino effect.
Broussard, whose son and
husband both died of cancer, offered
to donate a kidney to a friend, but the
friend ultimately had to use another
donor, according to hospital officials.
Broussard was still willing to
donate, so she was matched with a
man she did not know from Benicia,
California. — Reuters
WASHINGTON: An Ohio man claiming sympathy with IS militants and charged with
plotting to attack the US Capitol said in a television interview that he would have shot
President Barack Obama in the head.
Christopher Cornell, 20, told Cincinnati’s FOX 19 WXIX TV that if he had not been
arrested by FBI agents in January, he would have carried out an alleged plot to plant
pipe bombs on the Capitol and at the Israeli Embassy.
“What would I have done? I would have took (sic) my gun, I would have put it to
Obama’s head and I would have pulled the trigger,” Cornell, of Cincinnati, said in a
telephone interview from the Boone County, Kentucky, jail aired on Friday.
“Then I would have released more bullets on the Senate and the House of
Representative members, and I would have attacked the Israeli Embassy and various
other buildings.... That’s what would happen,” he said.
Cornell was arrested after he researched how to make pipe bombs, purchased a
rifle and ammunition and made plans to travel to Washington to carry out the plot,
according to court testimony from an FBI informant. He is being held without bail. The
charges include attempted murder of government officials, possession of a firearm to
commit a crime and solicitation to commit a violent crime. — Reuters
Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan (L) administers the oath of office to
Defence Secretary Ash Carter (R) during a ceremonial swearing-in ceremony
at the Pentagon in Washington on Friday. — Reuters
Mummified bodies found on Mexico’s peak
PUEBLA, Mexico: Two mummified bodies found on Mexico’s highest peak appear to be
embracing each other and their discovery could put an end to the mystery of climbers
who vanished after an avalanche in 1959, officials said.
A mission to recover the bodies from the Pico de Orizaba was suspended until next
Monday in order to build a special container to carry the remains intact, one of the
rescue workers said on Friday.
The expedition in the central state of Puebla was launched on Thursday after
climbers found a frozen head sticking out of the glacier near the summit earlier in
the week. As two members of the expedition began to dig around the body, they
discovered a second body, said Francisco Rodriguez, one of the mountaineers.
“Their position surprised us because they are apparently in an embrace. The arm
of one of them is on the body of the other,” Rodriguez told Radio Formula, adding that
reddish pieces of clothing were on the bodies.
In pictures and video distributed by a local town council, the upper torso of one of
the mummified bodies can be seen along with pieces of fabric jutting out of the snow
in the very steep upper reaches of the mountain. — AFP
REGION
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
Hadi says Aden is
Yemen ‘capital’
ADEN: Beleaguered Yemeni President
Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled
to Aden after escaping from militia
controlling Sanaa, considers the
southern port city the country’s capital,
an aide said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, tensions were high in
the city, as special forces suspected of
links to the militia, known as Huthis,
readied defences against an anticipated
assault by Hadi loyalists.
“Aden became the capital of Yemen
as soon as the Huthis occupied Sanaa,”
the aide quoted Hadi as saying in
reference to their takeover of the city
several months ago.
Hadi’s claim is purely symbolic, as
moving the capital would require a
change to the constitution, but it reflects
the president’s determination to hold
out against Huthi efforts to extend their
sway.
Several Gulf states, led by Saudi
Arabia, have already moved their
embassies to Aden after an exodus
of foreign diplomats from Sanaa in
February over security concerns.
But the United States, the first to
close its mission in Sanaa, has said it
will not do so. The southern city, the
country’s second largest, was capital of
a once independent south Yemen.
The Huthis named a “presidential
council” after Hadi and Prime
Minister Khalid Bahah tendered their
resignations in January in protest at
what critics branded an attempted
coup.
Hadi fled house arrest in Sanaa and
resurfaced in Aden, where he retracted
his resignation. Bahah remains trapped
in the capital.
Meanwhile,
special
forces
commander Abdel Hafez al Saqqaf
has defied a decree by Hadi sacking
him and said he will only follow orders
coming from the presidential council in
Sanaa. — AFP
omandailyobserver
AIMING HIGH
IN BRIEF
Syrian air
strike kills an
IS commander
A fighter from the Iraqi Imam Ali Brigade, takes part in a training exercise in Iraq’s central city of Najaf ahead of joining the
military operation in the city of Tikrit. Some 30,000 Iraqi security forces members and allied fighters launched an operation to
retake Tikrit at the beginning of March, the largest of its kind since IS group forces overran swathes of territory last June. — AFP
IS fighters raze Iraq’s ancient Hatra city
PART OF HISTORY: Hatra presently under the control of radicals was named a world heritage site in 1987
BAGHDAD/ERBIL: IS fighters have
destroyed ancient remains of the
2,000-year-old city of Hatra in northern
Iraq, the tourism and antiquities
ministry said on Saturday.
An official told Reuters that the
ministry had received reports from its
employees in the northern city of Mosul,
which is under the control of the radical
group, that the site at Hatra had been
demolished on Saturday.
The official said it was difficult to
confirm the reports and the ministry
had not received any pictures showing
the extent of the damage at Hatra, which
was named a world heritage site in 1987.
But a resident in the area said he
heard a powerful explosion early on
Saturday and said that other people
nearby had reported that IS fighters had
destroyed some of the larger buildings in
Hatra and were bulldozing other parts.
Hatra lies about 110 km south of
Mosul, the largest city under IS control.
A week ago the fighters released a
video showing them smashing statues
and carvings in the city’s museum, home
to priceless Assyrian and Hellenistic
artefacts dating back 3,000 years.
On Thursday they attacked the
remains of the Assyrian city of Nimrud,
south of Mosul, with bulldozers.
The United Nations cultural agency
Unesco condemned the actions as
“cultural cleansing” and said they
amounted to war crimes.
Unesco has condemned
the actions as ‘cultural
cleansing’ and said they
amounted to war crimes
Hatra dates back 2,000 years to the
Seleucid empire which controlled a large
part of the ancient world conquered by
Alexander the Great. It is famous for its
striking pillared temple at the centre of a
sprawling archaeological site.
Saeed Mamuzini, spokesman for
the Mosul branch of the Kurdish
Democratic Party, said the fighters had
used explosives to blow up buildings at
Hatra and were also bulldozing it.
The antiquities ministry said the
lack of tough international response to
earlier IS attacks on Iraq’s historic sites
had encouraged the group to continue
its campaign.
“The delay in international support
for Iraq has encouraged terrorists to
commit another crime of stealing and
demolishing the remains of the city of
Hatra,” it said in a statement.
Archaeologists have compared the
assault on Iraq’s cultural history to the
Taliban’s destruction of the Bamyan
Buddhas in 2001.
But the damage wreaked by IS, not
just on ancient monuments but also on
rival places of worship, has been swift,
relentless and more wide-ranging.
Last week’s video showed them
toppling statues and carvings from
plinths in the Mosul museum and
smashing them with sledge hammers
and drills. It also showed damage to a
huge statue of a bull at the Nergal Gate
into the city of Nineveh. IS, which
rules a self-declared caliphate in parts
of Iraq and Syria, promotes a fiercely
purist interpretation of which draws its
inspiration from early Islamic history.
Last July it destroyed the tomb of
the prophet Jonah in Mosul. It has also
attacked places of worship and last year
gave Mosul’s Christians an ultimatum
to convert to Islam, pay a religious levy
or face death by the sword. It has also
targeted the Yazidi minority in the Sinjar
mountains west of Mosul. — Reuters
S Sudan peace talks collapse
A Palestinian woman protests in front of Israeli security forces during a rally to mark
the International Women’s Day and against Israel’s controversial separation barrier
at the Qalandia checkpoint, between the cities of Jerusalem and Ramallah. — AFP
Palestinian fisherman
killed in firing
GAZA CITY: The Israeli navy on
Saturday killed a Palestinian fisherman
off the Gaza Strip, medics in the coastal
enclave said.
A health ministry spokesman said
32-year-old fisherman Tawfiq Abu
Ryala died of his wounds at Shifa
hospital in Gaza City.
The Israeli army confirmed it shot at
boats, saying warning rounds had been
fired first.
A military spokeswoman said the
army is treating every breach of the
naval security zone around Gaza as a
potential threat, citing recent smuggling
attempts. Soldiers also arrested two
fishermen and confiscated their boats.
On Thursday, two Palestinian
fisherman were injured and four
detained by the Israeli navy, local
media reported.
Nizar Ayyash, chairman of a union
of Gaza fishermen, said Israel has
stepped up measures against fishermen
in the past two weeks.
In January, Israel said it captured
a vessel heading from Egypt to Gaza,
which contained material that could
have been used to help produce rockets.
Israel and Hamas-led fighters fought
a 50-day war last year, which left some
2,300 people dead and ended with an
Egyptian-brokered ceasefire.
Palestinians charge that recent
attacks against the fisherman are a
violation of the ceasefire.
Israel has restricted the fishing
zone around the enclave, which is
run by the Hamas movement, to six
nautical miles. — dpa
13
ADDIS ABABA: South Sudan’s warring
leaders failed to reach a deal to end
more than a year of civil war, mediators
said on Friday, with the latest collapse in
peace talks paving the way for possible
sanctions.
Ethiopia’s prime minister said South
Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and rebel
leader Riek Machar missed a deadline
to reach a peace agreement by midnight
Thursday, and that further talks on
Friday “did not produce the necessary
breakthrough.”
“This is unacceptable, both morally
and politically,” Hailemariam Desalegn
said in the statement issued by the east
African regional bloc IGAD, which has
been trying to mediate a peace deal.
Hailemariam also gave IGAD’s
harshest criticism yet of Kiir and his
former deputy Machar, whose personal
feud has exploded into ethnic massacres,
gang rapes and the forced displacement
of civilians, pushing the country to the
brink of famine.
“Continuing a war flagrantly
disregards the interests of you, the
people,” he said, addressing the people
of South Sudan, whose country only
gained independence from Khartoum
in 2011 after a long, bitter war.
“It is an abdication of the most
This is unacceptable,
both morally and
politically’
HAILEMARIAM DESALEGN
Prime Minister of Ethiopia
sacred duty leaders have to you, their
people: to deliver peace, prosperity and
stability,” the Ethiopian premier said of
Kiir and Machar, both of who have been
implicated in atrocities.
“I asked them to be courageous in
offering compromises and alternatives,
rather than only reiterating old
positions... unfortunately, as the missed
deadline shows, our pleas have not been
heeded.”
UN Secretary-General Ban KiMoon said he was “profoundly
disappointed” with the failure to reach
a peace deal.
Ban said the leaders failed
“to display statesmanship” but
he nevertheless called “for the
continuation of the negotiations.”
South Sudan’s civil war started in
December 2013 when Kiir accused
Machar, who had been sacked as vice
president, of attempting a coup.
More than two dozen armed groups
— including government soldiers
and allied militia backed by Ugandan
soldiers on one side, and a range of
rebel factions on the other — have been
battling it out since.
Tens of thousands of people have
died in the conflict, two million have
been uprooted and 2.5 million are in
desperate need of food aid.
In a bid to force a deal, the United
Nations this week passed a resolution
threatening
sanctions
against
individuals deemed to be undermining
peace efforts.
Possible targets include leaders
or officials who obstruct peace talks,
impede humanitarian aid deliveries,
recruit child soldiers or attack UN
peacekeepers. — AFP
Egypt to reopen Rafah crossing with Gaza
CAIRO: Egypt will reopen its Rafah
border crossing with Gaza for two days
from Monday, for the fourth time since
it was closed after a suicide bombing,
security officials said.
The terminal was shut after the
bombing in the Sinai Peninsula in
October killed 30 soldiers, and has since
been reopened three times.
The only access point to the Gaza
Strip not controlled by Israel will reopen
on Monday and Tuesday to allow
Palestinians stranded on both sides to
cross.
Palestinians who travel through
Rafah are mostly students heading
to universities in Egypt or beyond,
and those seeking medical treatment.
October’s attack also led to a state of
emergency and curfew being imposed
in some parts of North Sinai where
security forces are battling an opposition
insurgency.
The army has also created a wide
buffer zone along the border with Gaza
aimed at preventing infiltration by
militants.
Despite these measures, on January
29 another 30 people were killed when
rockets and a car bomb targeted a
military base and other security posts in
North Sinai.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, a fighter
movement affiliated to the IS group that
has seized territory in Syria and Iraq,
has claimed most of the attacks in North
Sinai, including those in October and
January.
It says its attacks are retaliation
for a brutal government crackdown
on supporters of president Mohamed
Morsi, who was ousted by the army in
July 2013.
The military has also said that in
February 172 militants were killed in
joint police and army operations in the
peninsula. — AFP
BEIRUT: The Syrian army has
killed an IS commander in an air
strike in central Syria that killed
more than two dozen members
of the group, a monitoring group
said on Saturday.
The IS commander was
identified as one of the group’s
self-declared provincial governors
by Syrian state media and the
Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights, which tracks the war using
sources on the ground.
IS supporters circulated a
statement on Twitter announcing
the
“martyrdom”
of
the
commander, Deeb Hedijan al
Otaibi, together with photos
showing him dead and alive.
Otaibi was also identified as
Abi Ammar al Jazrawi, likely to be
his nom de guerre.
The Observatory also said a
total of 26 IS fighters were killed
in the air strike near the town
of Hamadi Omar, some 50 km
southwest of the city of Hama.
Syrian state media said a
convoy of dozens of military
vehicles had also been destroyed
in the air strike.
Rami Abdulrahman, who runs
the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights, said it was not clear if the
air strike had been launched on
Friday or Saturday.
A US-led alliance that is
bombing IS in both Syria and Iraq
has rejected the idea of partnering
with President Bashar al Assad
in the fight against the group,
describing him as part of the
problem. — Reuters
Egypt carries
out first
hanging
CAIRO: Egypt carried out on
Saturday the first death sentence
handed down over the violence that
erupted after the army overthrew
president Mohamed Mursi in 2013,
the interior ministry said.
Hundreds of Mursi supporters
have been sentenced to death
after speedy mass trials, which the
United Nations has described as
“unprecedented in recent history”.
Mahmoud Ramadan, who was
hanged at 7 am, was the “first to be
executed of those involved in violent
clashes,” ministry spokesman Hani
Abdel Latif said.
A court in Egypt’s second city
Alexandria sentenced Ramadan to
death in 2014 after convicting him
of throwing youths off an apartment
block, killing one of them.
He was among dozens of people
tried over deadly violence in the
city’s Sidi Gaber neighbourhood on
July 5, 2013, two days after Mursi’s
ouster by then army chief and now
President Abdel Fattah al Sisi.
The unrest came as Mursi
supporters and opponents held rival
demonstrations across the city.
Amateur video footage of the
protests had gone viral on the
Internet, with prosecutors using it
as evidence in the case involving
Ramadan.
In one scene, a bearded Ramadan
in a white vest and black trousers is
walking on the roof of a building.
Four youths are seen cowering
on top of a structure there that
appears to be a water tank as the
man identified as Ramadan and
others throw stones at them.
Minutes later two youngsters fall
off the structure onto the roof.
In separate footage, aired by
a private television channel after
his alleged confession, Ramadan
says: “When I appear before
the prosecution, I will demand
to be executed.” A government
crackdown on Mursi’s supporters
killed hundreds, with thousands
more arrested and tried.
The ousted president is himself
facing multiple trials on charges that
carry the death penalty. — AFP
14
omandailyobserver
EUROPE
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
EU wary of new
Russia sanctions
BALLOT BATTLE
FRAGILE CEASEFIRE: Divisions over
whether to act quickly on renewing sanctions
Britain’s Prime Minister and Conservative political party leader David Cameron (C) delivers a speech to supporters in north London on Saturday.
CAUCASIAN DUO
2 suspects held
over murder of
Kremlin critic
Boris Nemtsov
MOSCOW: Two suspects have been
detained over the killing of Boris
Nemtsov, Russian officials said, a
week after he was shot dead near the
Kremlin in the most high-profile
killing of an opposition figure in years.
The Investigative Committee, the
state body leading the investigation,
named the two men as Anzor
Gubashev and Zaur Dadayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin
had been informed of the detentions,
officials said.
“The individuals detained are,
according to our investigation,
involved in the organisation and
execution of the killing of Boris
Nemtsov,” the committee said in a
statement. Russian state-controlled
media reported the two were from the
Caucasus, a violent and impoverished
region on Russia’s southern flank.
They were expected to be formally
arrested at a court hearing in Moscow
on Sunday, the reports said. Since
Nemtsov was shot dead on the night of
February 27 as he walked home near
Red Square, his friends have said they
suspect the Kremlin of involvement.
Russian officials deny it. —AFP
— Reuters
Greece to hire undercover army
of tourist and student tax spies
Athens: The Greek government plans to
hire an army of amateur tax sleuths —
including tourists — in a bid to fill the
gaping hole in the country’s finances,
according to an embarrassing leak
published on Friday.
The document, which purports to
list the seven major reforms Athens
will present at a crunch meeting of the
Eurogroup in Brussels on Monday,
claimed these “casual onlookers” could
be equipped with hidden cameras and
recording devices to catch businesses
dodging tax. “The culture of tax
avoidance runs deep within Greek
society,” the leak published by the
Financial Times said. “Tax authorities are
not only understaffed but immersed in
the logic of book-checking when the real A man sells balloons at Monastiraki Square in Athens on Saturday.
— AFP
problem lies off the books,” it went on.
unable to tread, making a “serious dent”
Athens’ new fraud-busters would be
The culture of tax
in VAT fraud “that typifies nightclubs
hired “on a strictly short-term casual
avoidance runs
and medical services”. The document
basis — no longer than two months
also includes a series of innovative
and without any prospect of being
deep within Greek
to streamline and digitise
rehired,” it added. The leak, a copy of a
society...Tax authorities are measures
Greek bureaucracy, making it more
letter apparently sent by Greek Finance
user-friendly and forcing public officials
Minister Yanis Varoufakis to Eurogroup not only understaffed but
to be more pro-active, as well as raising
president Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said immersed in the logic of
revenue from online gaming.
those “students, housekeepers even
But it was the idea for part-time tax
tourists” recruited would be given book-checking when the real
inspectors that set Greek social media
minimal training as their presence on problem lies off the books
buzzing. “What we need of in Greece
the streets would be deterrent enough.
YANIS VAROUFAKIS is law, competence and efficiency, not
It also claimed that Varoufakis
in a leaked letter spying ‘onlookers’,” complained @
argued that this undercover army could
go where traditional tax inspectors were
damanthj.
— AFP
RIGA: EU foreign ministers showed
little appetite on Saturday for stepping
up pressure on Russia over Ukraine,
preferring to give a fragile ceasefire
a chance before deciding whether to
apply more sanctions or even to extend
existing ones.
Most ministers at an EU meeting
in the Latvian capital pinned their
hopes on the latest Minsk agreement
succeeding and said the EU should
only consider tightening sanctions if
the ceasefire was seriously violated,
such as by a separatist offensive on the
Ukrainian port of Mariupol.
Both Kiev and pro-Russia separatists
have accused each other of violence
since last month’s peace accord called
for heavy weapons to be withdrawn
from the frontline in east Ukraine.
Italian Foreign Minister Paolo
Gentiloni saw “encouraging signals” on
the ground in eastern Ukraine.
“At the moment we don’t need either
new sanctions or automatic renewals
(of sanctions),” he told reporters.
Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian
Kurz agreed.
“There is a glimpse of hope since
Minsk...We should do everything now
to improve the situation and decide
later whether that improvement really
happened and we can reduce the
sanctions, or if we have to extend them,”
he said.
The comments reflect divisions
within the 28-nation EU over sanctions
on Russia, the bloc’s biggest energy
supplier.
While Britain, Poland and the Baltic
states take a tough line, many other EU
members, including Italy, Austria and
Cyprus, are sceptical about sanctions.
Alexis Tsipras’s election victory in
Greece has strengthened the dovish
camp. A key decision that the EU
must face soon is whether to extend
economic sanctions against Russia
which it adopted for one year last July.
Unanimity is required to extend
them.
French Foreign Minister Laurent
Fabius said on Friday that a debate was
A woman carries eggs as she visits a
food market, which operates once a
week on Saturday, in Stavropol. Inflation
in Russia has been rising steeply as a
result of a slide in the rouble, which has
pushed up import prices, and
restrictions on many Western food
imports in retaliation for sanctions
imposed on Russia over the Ukraine
crisis.
— Reuters
going on in the EU, with some countries
saying the bloc should state now that it
would extend the economic sanctions
until the end of the year.
“Others say it would be a bit
contradictory to say, on the one hand,
Minsk is being applied and on the
other hand we are going to go (extend
sanctions) until the end of year,” Fabius
told reporters in Riga.
He said a decision on whether to
extend existing economic sanctions on
Russia could wait until around July.
“If Minsk develops positively, then it
is likely that nothing new will be done
on sanctions,” he said.
If, on the other hand, there were
serious violations to Minsk, sanctions
remained available, he said.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas
Linkevicius, an EU hawk on Russia,
said on Friday that extending sanctions
to the end of the year was “the least we
can do”.
Belgian Foreign Minister Didier
Reynders said on Saturday existing
sanctions would probably be extended
until year-end. “What matters is that...
we maintain unity within the EU, and
above all that we continue to put on
pressure so that things change on the
ground,” he said.
— Reuters
NO TO NUCLEAR
Report says nod given for Archbishop to be interviewed by a parliamentary probe panel
Pope helps shed light on Italy’s former PM murder
ROME: Pope Francis is breaking
decades of Vatican silence to help Italy
shed light on one of its most notorious
crimes, the 1970’s murder of former
premier Aldo Moro, the Corriere della
Sera daily said on Saturday.
Francis has given permission for
Archbishop Antonio Mennini to
be interviewed by a parliamentary
commission, 37 years after Moro
was kidnapped and killed by the Red
Brigades, a leftist Italian militant group.
Mennini is reported to have heard
Moro’s final confession and served as a
go-between between the militants and
Pope Paul VI, who is believed to have
attempted to buy the former prime
minister’s release.
Francesco Cossiga, president of Italy
from 1985 to 1992, confessed before he
died that “Mennini managed to reach
Aldo Moro in the Red Brigades’ den and
we did not find out about it,” the Italian
daily said.
The Holy See’s ambassador to Britain,
Mennini has been shielded from
prior investigations due to diplomatic
A pilgrim throws a blue hat in direction of Pope Francis (C) as he waves to the crowd
in St Peter’s square on Saturday at the Vatican.
— AFP
immunity, but on Monday will go before
the new commission investigating the
murder, it said.
The Vatican would neither confirm
nor deny the report.
The pope, who has promised greater
transparency from an institution famed
for secrecy, may be hoping not only to
throw light on an event that scarred
the national psyche but highlight
the Vatican’s bid to save Moro. The
Red Brigades abducted the Christian
Democrat on March 16, 1978, killing
his five bodyguards. Paul VI made a
personal appeal to the kidnappers on
April 23, saying “I pray to you on my
knees, liberate Aldo Moro,” but the latter
was found dead in the boot of a car in
a Rome backstreet after two months in
captivity. Fabio Fabbri, ex deputy-head
of Italy’s prison chaplains, in 2012 told
a trial investigating alleged dealings
between the state and the mafia that he
had seen the pope with “a mountain of
money... ready to ransom Aldo Moro.”
Giuseppe Fioroni, head of the
parliamentary commission into Moro’s
death, holds high hopes of Mennini’s
testimony, describing him as “the man
closest spiritually to Aldo Moro,” the
Corriere said.“There are so many points
he will be able to address: his role, his
contacts, the enormous effort made by
Paul VI to launch negotiations to restore
an alive Moro to his country and family,
and why this effort was unsuccessful,” he
said.
— AFP
A man during a demonstration to protest against the government’s nuclear
politics, in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Saturday. French and German protesters
gathered, asking for the end of Fessenheim’s nuclear plant.
— AFP
Portuguese PM under fire for
failing to pay taxes on time
LISBON: Prime Minister Pedro Passos
Coelho, who imposed the largest tax
hikes in Portugal’s modern history
and is vying for reelection this year,
has come under fire for failing to pay
his own taxes on time.
Antonio Costa, the leader of the
main opposition Socialists, said on
Friday Passos Coelho had “abused his
political immunity... at a time of fiscal
martyrdom for Portuguese who have
to fulfil their obligations to which the
government and this prime minister
have been absolutely insensitive”.
Several Socialists called for Passos
Coelho to resign, but Costa said he
would wait for the prime minister
to explain himself in parliament.
Costa spoke after Passos Coelho
acknowledged to Sol newspaper that
“there were years when I declared
and paid taxes past the deadline, but
with fines and interest — sometimes
through lapse of memory, others
because I didn’t have the money.”
Confronted with reports that tax
authorities had to threaten to seize
assets for back taxes worth some
6,000 euros in 2003-2007, Passos said
he ultimately always paid what he
owed. “I have no debts with the tax
service... I was treated as any other
citizen, without any privileges. I humbly
recognise that I have had delays, I’m not
proud of it, but I always paid everything
and declared everything,” he told
reporters. “I also paid everything to the
Social Security,” he said. — Reuters
INTERNATIONAL
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
Kerry: No nuclear deal yet on Iran
NOT AS EXPECTED: Negotiations between US and Iran are to pick up again on March 15
French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius (R) listens as US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a joint press
conference at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Paris. — AFP
PARIS: US Secretary of State John
Kerry said on Saturday there were
still “deficiencies and divergences”
over reaching a “solid agreement”
with Iran on its controversial nuclear
programme.
Kerry was speaking in Paris where he
met European counterparts to discuss
progress in the latest negotiations with
Iran.
The United States is leading the talks
that world powers have been holding
with Tehran over the programme,
which many suspect is geared towards
the production of nuclear weapons —
something Iran denies.
Kerry’s visit to Paris was to confer
with the French, German and British
foreign ministers — Laurent Fabius,
Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Philip
Hammond — as well as the European
Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica
Mogherini. The international talks with
Iran also include Russia and China.
Militants kill 5 in attack on
restaurant in Mali capital
BAMAKO: Fighters killed five people in a
gun attack on a restaurant in Mali’s capital
in the early hours of Saturday, including a
French citizen and a Belgian security officer
with the EU delegation in the country,
authorities said.
Mali’s desert north, where French forces
wrested control of territory from separatist
rebels and Al Qaeda-linked fighters, is
plagued by frequent attacks.
But this is the first such attack for years
in Bamako in the south and raises fears that
the capital will become targeted more by
militants.
Three Malians were killed in and around
La Terrasse restaurant, the government said.
The attack began at around 1 am and left
nine people wounded, said a senior security
official, adding that two people had been
arrested.
“There were two individuals who were
armed and hooded. One burst into the
La Terrasse restaurant and opened fire on
people.
Then he got into a vehicle in which
the other was waiting,” said senior police
officer Falaye Kanté. “As they fled down a
neighbouring street, they shot a Belgian man
who was in front of his house.
He’s dead. Not far away they came across
a police vehicle and threw a grenade, killing
the driver,” he said.
Those killed included a girl who died in
hospital, Kanté said.
Witnesses said police had secured the
street where the restaurant shooting took
place because of unexploded grenades.
Two international experts with the United
Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) were
among the wounded, according to initial
Mali’s desert north, where
French forces wrested control of
territory from separatist rebels
and Al Qaeda-linked fighters, is
plagued by frequent attacks
reports, said Mongi Hamdi, UN special
envoy for the peacekeeping mission to Mali.
Two Swiss army personnel were wounded
and brought to hospital where they are in a
stable but critical condition, said a statement
from the Swiss Armed Forces International
Command.
One worked for UNMAS and the other is
part of a fact-finding mission, it said.
The restaurant popular with expatriates is
situated on one of the busiest streets for night
life and entertainment in Bamako.
La Terrasse is a semi-open air place
upstairs in a building that also houses the
Cotton Club nightclub.
Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta
toured the site on Saturday in the aftermath
of the attack.
“The Malian government has opened an
enquiry and is determined to keep going
until those guilty are found and punished as
they deserve,” a government statement said.
In Paris, French President Francois
Hollande’s office said he had spoken with
Keita and that they had agreed on new
“common measures” to reinforce security in
Mali. The statement gave no details on the
measures.
French forces took control of northern
Mali two years ago but insurgents continue
to mount attacks. — Reuters
Policemen stand near the La Terrasse restaurant in Bamako after five people, including a
French and a Belgian national, were shot dead in a suspected terror attack. — AFP
Of the international talks, Mogherini
said: “Negotiations are still ongoing.
There will not be a deal if it is not a
good deal.
Everybody in the world has to be sure
that the deal we are working at is a deal
that guarantees that there is no military
possibility... to the nuclear programme
of Iran.”
Nuclear negotiations between the US
and Iran are to pick up again on March
15 after three days of recent talks in
Switzerland. Iranian Foreign Minister
Mohammad Javad Zarif said he was
confident about the upcoming talks.
“The prospects for success are
better than the prospects of failure,” the
Iranian news agency IRNA quoted him
as saying on Saturday.
But, he added: “Failure would not be
the end of the world.”
The international powers are ready to
offer Iran sanctions relief in return for
Iran limiting its nuclear programmes.
Israel in particular has expressed
strong opposition to the talks with
Iran, with Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu
warning
during
a
controversial speech to the US Congress
on Tuesday that he believed the deal
being worked on would be a “bad” one.
On Thursday, speaking in the
Saudi capital Riyadh, Kerry sought
to reassure Arab Gulf states worried
about Iran’s nuclear ambitions by
saying a safer region “begins by
preventing (Iran) from having a
nuclear weapon.”
— dpa
omandailyobserver
15
Miliband insists on TV debate,
says Cameron ‘chickening out’
LONDON: British opposition Labour
leader Ed Miliband (pictured) on
Saturday accused Prime Minister David
Cameron of trying to “chicken out” of
head-to-head televised debates with
him ahead of a national election on
May 7 and said he would take part with
or without Cameron.
Broadcasters had proposed three
debates, two of them between the leaders
of seven parties and one between just
Miliband and Cameron, the two people
most likely to become prime minister
after May 7, but Cameron has rejected
their proposal.
Instead, the Conservative leader
has said he would take part in just one
debate, with six other party leaders, a
stance widely seen as a tactic to protect
his own high personal ratings and
deprive his main rival of publicity.
In a speech at the annual conference
of Labour’s Scottish branch, Miliband
said his party had written to the
broadcasters to confirm he would take
part in the proposed debates whatever
Cameron did.
Pressure from Miliband and from
the broadcasters poses a dilemma for
Cameron, who must decide what would
be worse for him: letting the debates go
ahead without him, or backing down
and agreeing to take part after all.
“He says this election is all about
leadership, all about the choice between
him and me, and when it comes to
a debate between him and me, he’s
running scared,” Miliband said.
“I say to David Cameron... You can
try to chicken out of the debates, but
don’t ever again claim that you provide
strong leadership... when all people
will see is an empty chair, his claims of
leadership will be exposed as empty.”
Cameron is isolated over the debates
issue, with the other main party leaders
saying they are keen to take part.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg,
leader of the Liberal Democrats who
have been the junior coalition partners
since 2010, on Saturday accused the
Conservatives of “arrogance” for trying
to dictate the terms of the debates.
“If David Cameron is too important
or too busy to turn up, if he doesn’t want
to defend the record of this coalition
government, then I will,” Clegg told the
BBC. Labour and the Conservatives
are neck-and-neck in the polls, the Lib
Dems’ ratings have collapsed since the
last election and three other parties are
enjoying a surge in popularity.
If neither of the two main parties
wins an outright majority of seats in
parliament’s House of Commons, as
seems likely, one or more of the smaller
parties will hold the balance of power
and complex coalition talks will ensue.
— Reuters
16
omandailyobserver
PANORAMA
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
A man takes pictures of a replica of the Sphinx, which
is part of an unfinished movie and animation tourism
theme park, in Chuzhou, Anhui province. — Reuters
A woman embraces her
Komondor dog at Crufts
dog show in Birmingham,
central England on Friday.
Crufts is one of the
largest dog events in the
the world, with thousands
of dogs competing for
the coveted title of ‘Best
in Show’. Founded in
1891 by the late Charles
Cruft, the four-day show
attracts entrants from
around the world. — AFP
A participant in the Chicago Polar Plunge
dressed as the character “Elmo” emerges
from the partially frozen waters of Lake
Michigan in Chicago, Illinois. — Reuters
A student pose in front
of a 3D painting at the
Art In Island Museum
in Quezon City, near
Manila. The Art In
Island is considered
one of the biggest
interactive 3D museum
in Asia. — Reuters
A trainer picks up Chinese Yuan banknotes from a crocodile’s mouth at a zoo in Wenling, Zhejiang.
— Reuters
Monks practice martial arts in subzero temperatures after
snow at Wanshou Temple in Changchun, Jilin province.
— Reuters
A woman looks at a snow woman she built during a contest
held at the Dizin ski resort, some 125 kms away from Tehran,
on Friday. — AFP
SUNDAY | MARCH 8, 2015 | JUMADA AL ULA 17, 1436 AH
P18
P20
P21
Inside
Lenovo unveils pocket projector Ireland looks forward to dairy boom BankDhofar conducts ‘Basel III’ workshop FOLLOW US ON:
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SPOTLIGHT: Capacity of giant power project to be shared between Ibri which is tipped to host a major industrial park and Sohar sites
OPWP to float for Oman’s largest power scheme
CONRAD PRABHU
MUSCAT
Mar. 7: A Request for Proposals (RfP)
will shortly go out to a number of
international consortiums that have been
prequalified by Oman Power and Water
Procurement Company (OPWP) — the
state-run procurer of all new power and
water capacity under the Sector Law
— to compete for a licence to build the
Sultanate’s largest Independent Power
Project (IPP).
Sized at an impressive 2,600
megawatts (MW) — with a potential
to be scaled up to a mammoth 3,200
MW –— the new IPP will rank among
the biggest green-field power schemes
currently in operation in the Middle
East. Besides, the scale of the venture
attests to the rapid pace at which the
Omani economy is anticipated to grow,
fuelled by investments in infrastructure,
industry, commerce, tourism and real
estate, say experts.
OPWP is set to issue RfPs to
international developers who met the
procurer’s prequalification criteria to
participate in a competitive tender for
a licence to develop, finance, design,
engineer, construct, own, operate and
maintain two gas fired power plants and
associated facilities to be located at Ibri
in Dhahirah Governorate and Sohar in
Batinah North Governorate.
According to OPWP, the two power
plants will boast a combined net capacity
between 2,500–2,650 MW (potentially
scaled up to 3,200 MW) at reference
site conditions. Natural gas will be the
primary fuel for electricity generation at
either plant, with fuel oil used as a backup option. The full capacity is expected
to be commissioned and made available
by April 1, 2018, although there is a
requirement for the successful bidder to location for investments in logistics,
make available early power capacity of value add manufacturing, and rail-related
700 MW at the Ibri site by April 1, 2017. maintenance, say experts.
In choosing to locate part of the
TO PAGE 19
capacity in Ibri — the first power project
planned for implementation in Dhahirah
Governorate — OPWP is catering for
what is anticipated to be a major rampup in infrastructure and economic
investment in this region of the Sultanate.
Ibri is tipped to host a major industrial
park as well as a mega logistics hub
integrated with the Oman National
Rail Project. Its proximity to the UAE
border at the point where the national
rail system connects with the GCC Rail
Network makes Ibri an advantageous
Inauguration of Weatherford Technology Center in Oman
WEATHERFORD Oman has accomplished one of its important goals
in building a state of art technology center in Muscat, Oman. A grand
opening of the facility was done on
5th of March 2015 under the Auspices of His Excellency Eng. Salim
„‹ ƒ••‡” Ž —ϐ‹ǡ —†‡”•‡…”‡–ƒ”›
in the Ministry of Oil and Gas. The
ceremony was attended by top management of major operating companies in Oman. The center, named as
“Formation Evaluation Technology
Center”, is 3000 sq. m facility built
in two portions. It offers advanced
services for Oil and Gas Sector with
Laboratories for Core Analysis as a
major division of the center. Other
services include Drilling Services,
Surface Logging, Wire Line and Petroleum Consultancy Services. The
facility is a unique center offering a
multidimensional approach to an integrated solution.
The center is one of the most important contributions from Weatherford towards its In-Country Value
commitment that will provide numerous opportunities in Oman including developing local engineers
and technicians, and bring in latest
technologies to Oman. Omani graduates would have opportunities to
have support for post graduate studies and PhD Thesis Mentoring. Local Engineers and graduates would
have exposure to latest technologies
with training opportunities.
The center, offers latest capabilities including digital 3D modelling of
core, Fracture Mapping, Virtual plug
imaging, Core orientation, Capillary
Pressure measurements at reservoir
conditions, Relative Permeability
measurements at high pressure and
high temperature, Micro Darcy Permeability measurements for tight
rocks, etc. The center has acquired
latest technologies that could provide quick turnaround for Mineralogical and Elemental Analysis. The
lab is also capable of performing
organic analysis of rock cuttings providing TOC, Maturity, S1 S2 Peaks
etc., which can be a useful tool in targeting unconventional reserves.
Weatherford Lab Back ground:
Over the last quarter century,
around the globe, a group of seven
entrepreneurial companies have
emerged as undisputed experts in
laboratory services for the oil and
gas industry.
‘‰•– –Š‡•‡ ϐ‹”• ƒ”‡ –Š‡
industry leaders in regional core,
ϐŽ—‹†• ƒ† ‰ƒ• ƒƒŽ›•‹•Ǣ ‰‡‘…Š‡‹•–”› ƒ† †ƒ–ƒ ƒƒ‰‡‡–Ǣ –Š‡
characterization of coals, Shale and
‘–Š‡” —…‘˜‡–‹‘ƒŽ ‰ƒ• ”‡•‡”˜‘‹”Ǣ
formation damage and reservoir
optimization, as well as two of the
world’s largest core analysis companies.
Based in Canada, the United
States, Australia, Europe and the
Middle East – with a worldwide network of satellite laboratories – these
ϐ‹”•”‡’”‡•‡––Š‡„‡•–Ǧ‘ˆǦ–Š‡Ǧ„‡•–ǡ
a premier team of geologists, geochemists, analysts, engineers, technicians and software developers
committed to cultivating and delivering Higher Standards.
Joined together as Weatherford
Laboratories, these companies create a synergy previously unknown
in laboratory services. The result is
a single source for comprehensive
laboratory services, a whole greater
than the sum of its parts. Through
this dynamic synergy comes an elevated level of excellence providing
unmatched intellectual capital, unparalleled expertise, superior technological knowledge, and a higher
standard of excellence and innovation on a global scale.
This is the synergy of Weatherford Laboratories.
Weatherford Laboratories – Muscat, Oman
The lab was established in October 2008 and is located in the industrial area of Muscat. A number of
laboratories and workshops cover
routine core handling, sample preparation, cleaning, conventional core
analysis and Special core analysis. An
area in the adjacent warehouse is set
aside and prepared for core storage.
In conjunction with our plans for
geographical expansion in the region, Weatherford Laboratories has
built a new facility in Muscat, Oman
which could take care of growing
demand not only in Oman, but the
entire Middle-East region. It is an
International Standard Laboratory
covering most of the basic and advanced required analysis requirement. The facility is built with a vision to cater for future expansion to
include advanced services. The plan
with current and future capabilities
covers Conventional Core Analysis
(CCA), Special Core Analysis (SCAL),
Digital Studies using CT scanner,
Geological Services, Fluid Analysis
(PVT) Development, Geochemistry
and Unconventional Resource Evaluation.
The center is the most comprehensive and technologically ad˜ƒ…‡† ‘‹Žϐ‹‡Ž† •‡”˜‹…‡ ’”‘˜‹†‡” ˆ‘”
Formation Evaluation studies in the
MENA Region with 60+ workforce
(Scientists, Engineers & Technicians) and 85%+ Omanisation.
18
omandailyobserver
BUSINESS ALERT
OAB, Administrative Court sign pact
MUSCAT: An agreement of Electronic Collection System was signed between
OAB and the Administrative Court at Hormuz Grand Hotel recently. Shaikh
Majid bin Abdullah bin Mubarak al Alawi, Head of the Administrative Court, and
Rashad bin Mohammed al Zubair, Chairman of the bank signed the agreement.
The agreement aims at providing electronic payment service at all the
Administrative Court branches with OAB which is considered a new electronic
service that helps customers pay the fees. This step comes in line with the
application of the Administrative Court Electronic System which is consistent
with e-governance.
The provision of these systems leads to processing financial operations
accurately, and expedite transactions allowing direct benefits for the customer.
This agreement for providing the e-payment services comes in line with the Court’s
vision to provide e-services, and it comes within the scope of the government
to enhance such services within the public/government and the private sector.
In fact it participates in pushing the economic and social development wheel
forward sustainably and massively, together with bringing in state-of-the-art
technology and maintaining the staff ’s skills for better production development.
Amin al Husseini, CEO of OAB, stated that: ‘‘We have the pleasure to sign this
agreement with the Administrative Court; we are confident that it will facilitate
the Court’s customers’ transactions in an easy, accurate and fast way. This system
will help the customers use their OAB smart cards in an absolute safe manner,
in addition to using other bank’s cards. Moreover, the Bank will provide POS,
operating programmes, periodical and urgent maintenance, in addition to
upgrading the system software and training the Court staff in using the collection
process after installing the machines at all the Court branches.”
Lexus LS wins best resale value award
LEXUS’ flagship luxury sedan — LS is renowned to be one of the finest luxury
sedans in the world. Engineered to be truly rewarding in all aspects like luxury,
power, driving dynamics and more, the LS has rapidly made its mark not only in
the hearts of its enthusiasts but in hearts of judges at major automotive shows too.
The latest award won by the Lexus LS was in the Best High-End Luxury Car
Segment of kbb.com’s ‘2015
Best Resale Value’ Award.
The 2015 Best Resale Value
Awards are based not on a
feeling or a guess or a simple
calculation, but instead on
what we consider to be the best
research and analysis process in
the industry. kbb.com’s resale
value projections take into
account current vehicle data,
sales data, market conditions
OMAN
for each vehicle, competition within vehicle segments, expectations of the future
economy and the combined experience of Kelley Blue Book’s team of market and
pricing analysts.
LS is complemented with many exceptional improvements including three
world firsts, no less than 15 Lexus first, and a host of technical innovations and
features. The LS flagship model accentuates the passion and relentless push to
exceed the boundaries of design, technology and craftsmanship in creating the
ultimate car for customers across the world. The LS line-up includes the LS460,
LS460L and the world’s most powerful hybrid V8 — the LS600hL. The LS Hybrid
is available with a full-time AWD system. All the models also come with 8-speed
automatic transmission.
The entire LS line-up is refined with dynamic, fresh styling that reflects the
new face of Lexus. The aggressive spindle grille gives the new LS a greater road
presence and stronger brand identity while heralding a significant improvement
in driving dynamics, responsiveness and handling. The new LS thus carries
forward the legacy of Lexus in terms of fusing the most advanced technology
with refined Japanese aesthetics.
Making its first-ever appearance in the F Sport performance-based category,
the All-New LS460 F SPORT combines a more aggressive exterior with a unique
sport interior featuring F SPORT seats with larger bolsters, a leather steering
wheel with paddle shifters and genuine aluminium trim. With a sport tuned air
suspension that has been lowered 0.4 inches, a Torsen® limited slip rear differential
(RWD model), Brembo six-piston calliper brakes, and 19” forged wheels with
summer or all-season tires, the LS F SPORT promises to be the most engaging
LS ever.
Pathfinder’s enhanced driving performance
THE Nissan Pathfinder 3.5L
from the house of Suhail
Bahwan Automobiles is set to
define what the next generation
SUV should offer: perfect offroad capability (i-Auto 4WD
system), dynamic design, classleading comfort, thoughtful
technology, and a rewarding
driving experience.
With the introduction of the
all-new fourth generation, not
only does Pathfinder provide capability with spacious seating for seven, and an
intuitive 4 Wheel Drive System, but it also resets the standard for the segment
with an unprecedented level of premium style, comfort, fuel economy and
thoughtful technology.
The Pathfinder now enters the Nissan range at a time when demand for SUVs
in Oman continues to show considerable growth. With the feature-packed all-new
Pathfinder, Nissan is confident of capitalising on this growth and strengthening
its position in the off-road segment.
Along with reduced weight, Pathfinder’s new unibody platform provided
the designers an opportunity to create the more aerodynamic exterior without
compromising headroom or cargo capacity. Moving upscale in appearance,
the new exterior styling presents a smart fusion of signature Nissan styling
cues and dynamic strength. The look is adventure-ready with wheel-oriented
muscular fenders and a strong, stable stance. The upper body features an open
cabin with large windows which can be complemented with an available Dual
Panoramic Moonroof, to enhance the new Pathfinder’s open, airy interior
environment.
The new Pathfinder offers the comfort of a larger SUV with its flat floor
enhancing interior packaging flexibility. The Pathfinder’s unique versatility is
exemplified in the design of the EZ Flex™ Seating System, giving 5.5 inches of
sliding second row seating travel while additionally providing exceptional third
row access even with a child safety seat remaining securely in place (on the
passenger curb side).
Dental surgeon
joins Badr
Al Samaa
DR Remitha Ramakrishnan, dental surgeon and
oral implantologist, has
joined Badr Al Samaa’s
Al Khuwair branch. She
completed her Bachelor
of Dental Surgery and
Post Graduation in Oral
Implantology (BDS and
PGCOI) from Dr MGR
University, Chennai, India.
Dental
implant
treatment
is
the
replacement of missing
tooth roots with supportive
posts. It is usually made of
titanium and can be used
to replace single tooth,
several teeth or for the
complete reconstruction of
a collapsed mouth.
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
Omantel launches trial testing
of Wi-Fi roaming
OMANTEL has successfully participated —
as the first Omani operator at the trial testing
of Wi-Fi next generation hotspot (NGH) and
PasspointTM/ Hotspot 2.0 technology at the
GSMA Mobile World Congress 2015 (MWC)
in Barcelona, Spain, from March 2-5. The new
technology will allow Omantel customers using
IOS and selected Android devices to roam onto
Wi-Fi networks using secure credentials and
benefit from a secure Wi-Fi connection in the
future.
Commenting on this participation,
Mohammed Yahya al Salmi, Senior Manager
Corporate Communications at Omantel said,
‘Omantel is keen on participating annually at MWC which focuses on IT&C
issues especially it provides an ideal opportunity to meet with the major mobile
operators and technology supplier to discuss with them the best and most
advanced solutions that develop the experience of our customers”.
He added: “Omantel joined hands with more than 30 International operators,
the GSAM and the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) to offer our customers
a secure and safe roaming utilising the next generation of Wi-Fi with Passpoint
TM/Hotspot 2.0 technology.”
‘Omantel is the first operator in the Sultanate and one of few in the region to
take part in this trial. This confirms Omatel’s commitment to lead innovatively,
ensures our customer’s privacy while seamlessly keeping them connected on the
run,” he added.
Omantel’s delegation is taking part at the MWC 2015 and accompanied by a
media delegation that includes Abdullah al Bahrani and Dr Ali al Shidhani, the
founding partner for Oman Technical Voice Initiative. The team contributed to
transmitting the launch of the new Galaxy S6 mobile device from Samsung and
the HTC M9 mobile device.
Bentley staff attend training in UK
BENTLEY Oman has always had
a reputation for offering a first
class workplace environment
with high quality training and
development opportunities to
its employees. In keeping with
this, Bentley Oman had recently
flown Faisal Nawaz, Marketing
Manager, and Fahad al Wahaibi,
Brand Manager from Wattayah
Motors, the official dealership
for Bentley in Oman for a
specialised two-day training
course on ‘Brand Immersion’.
The training was held at the Bentley academy in Crewe, UK by acclaimed brand
specialist and was attended by Bentley dealers from around the world.
Fahad al Wahaibi said, “Whilst serving as the perfect platform to exchange
thoughts and ideas with Bentley dealers from different parts of the world,
the course provided comprehensive training on ‘brand immersion’, enabling
attendees to become Brand Advocates for the future and represent the Brand
on a higher level;. The highly interactive course sessions included topics such as
Bentley Marque Pillars, Brand Values, Lineage, Product insights, etc to name a
few. We were also given a guided tour of the Crewe facility and witnessed firsthand the world-class craftsmanship and engineering perfection required to create
a Bentley motor car.
OMAN/INTERNATIONAL
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
omandailyobserver
19
SPOTLIGHT: The second annual gathering designed to build awareness and capacity of Omani companies in securing projects
DCRP forum to help SMEs compete for power deals
BUSINESS REPORTER
MUSCAT
Mar. 7: The second annual gathering of
companies (contractors and suppliers)
operating in the electricity sector will
be held at InterContinental Muscat
tomorrow, March 9.
Organised by the Distribution Code
Review Panel (DCRP) on the theme,
‘Sustainability of Performance —
Quality and Standards’, the day-long
event will take place under the auspices
of Omar bin Khalfan al Wahaibi, CEO
of The Electricity Holding Company
Group (Nama) with the attendance
of CEOs of electricity distribution
companies and a number of engineers
and officials working in the sector.
the sector in order to exchange views
as well as understand the problems and
challenges faced by companies in the
implementation of the projects.
He explained that DCRP was seeking
through this meeting to support small
and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
in building their capacity to secure
and implement electricity contracts,
familiarising them with the registration
formalities regulations and standards
applicable to firms looking to operate in
HAMAD BIN SALIM AL MAGHDARI the electricity sector, and introducing
CEO OF RAECO
suppliers to the types of equipment and
devices approved for use by electricity
Hamad bin Salim al Maghdari, CEO line with DCRP’s broader objective distribution companies. The goal,
of the Rural Areas Electricity Company to meet on an annual basis with he explained, was to help the SMEs
(RAECO), said the forum was in contractors and suppliers operating in delivery projects according to the
Forum is in line
with DCRP’s broader
objective to meet
on an annual basis with
contractors and suppliers
operating in the sector in
order to exchange views.
BankDhofar conducts ‘Basel III’ workshop
MUSCAT: In line with its commitment
to adopt best international practices
and to follow global banking standards,
BankDhofar recently held a Basel III
workshop for key members of staff from
various departments and units at the
bank.
Basel III is a comprehensive set of
reform measures, developed by the Basel
Committee on Banking Supervision, to
strengthen the regulation, supervision
and risk management of the banking
sector. These measures aim to
improve the banking sector’s ability to
absorb shocks arising from financial
and economic stress, improve risk
management and governance, and
strengthen banks’ transparency and
disclosures.
The
4-day
programme
was
conducted in collaboration with
EURO MONEY’s international trainer
John Hurlock at BankDhofar training
centre from March 1-4, 2015, and was
attended by 19 participants from Risk
Management, Compliance, Finance,
Treasury, Wholesale Banking, Audit,
Policies and Procedure department. It
aimed to give participants an insight
on Basel III regulations and to further
facilitate the implementation of the
scheme guidelines.
Over the years, BankDhofar has
been committed to apply global
standards, reaffirming its credibility as
the best bank in the local and regional
market. The bank believes that its
strength as an organisation comes from
the commitment to follow highest
international standards in the banking
sector.
BankDhofar strives to lead the
banking scene across the region in
creativity and innovation, and it takes
pride in what it has been achieved in the
past few years. Today the bank works to
boost its position and moves forward
by following the best international
standards.
Learning and development is one
of the key pillars for BankDhofar
operational strategy. The combination
of the long-term vision of the
bank’s executive management, the
comprehensive operational strategy
that revolves around best international
banking practices and best customer
experience, as well as commitment
to community development and
contribution to the growth of the
national economy, placed BankDhofar
on the top list of best banks in the
region. The bank was awarded a number
of local and international recognitions
during 2014, including: ‘Best Managed
Advisory Service’ and ‘Best Mobile
Banking App’ by Banker Middle East
Awards 2014, ‘Best Islamic Community
Support Bank 2014’ and ‘Best Evolved
Brand Award, 2014’ by Global Financial
Market Review, ‘Best Bank in the
Sultanate 2014’ by CPI Financial, ‘2nd
Prize Best Banks in Oman 2014’ by
Business Today, ‘The Sultan Qaboos
Award for Excellence in e-Government
2014’ for ‘Best Mobile Service 2014’, ‘The
Customer Delight Award 2014’ MENA,
Oman, by The British Institute of Sales &
Marketing Management.
Aspiring to be the best bank in the
Sultanate and the wider Gulf area,
BankDhofar is committed to provide
customers with the best banking
experience through a diverse range
of unique products and services.
Today BankDhofar is one of the
fastest growing banks in the Sultanate,
with a strong presence in corporate and
retail banking, investment and project
finance. The bank has an extensive
network of branches across the
Sultanate, in addition to ATM and CDM
facilities that are located in all parts of
Oman.
Smart appliance may alleviate water, energy woes
MUSCAT: The Gulf region leads the
world in water consumption, with 500 to
700 litres of water consumed every day.
And with the global average standing at
250 litres, management consulting firm
McKinsey predicts that demand for
potable water will potentially outstrip
supply around the world by 2030. At the
same time, energy supply is not keeping
up with demand across Gulf countries.
As pressures mount, consumers
are seeking sustainable and innovative
solutions to their woes, and smart,
high-efficiency Washing Machines
are emerging as one answer in the
marketplace.
Thanks to cutting-edge sensor
technology, high-efficiency washing
machines are helping consumers to
conserve more water to the drop.
The Samsung WW9000, for instance,
uses four sensing technologies that
determine the degree of dirt and level
of grime on clothes, and then decides
how much water and detergent to use.
This feature, which Samsung calls ‘Auto
Optimal Wash,’ uses the information
that the sensors collect to dispense
detergent from a reserve large enough
for 19 loads of laundry, and only doles
out the minimum amount of water
necessary, unlike a conventional washer.
The WW9000’s sensors also calculate
the amount of heat required to remove
the dirt, which is where conventional
washers really rack up energy costs.
According to the American Association
of Textile Chemists and Colourists,
nearly 80 per cent of energy that a
washing machine generates is used
to heat the water. Samsung’s latest
washing machine also feature drumtype bodies that facilitate ‘no water’
drying technology, or produces spins so
effective that clothes spend less time in
the dryer, which conserves even more
energy per household.
The ‘Speed Spray’ function makes
the WW9000 shortens the rinse cycle,
as well, with powerful and focused jets.
To engage these energy-saving and
water-conserving functions, consumers
just need to tap into the intuitive
interface of the machine.
The WW9000 is equipped with
an intuitive 5-inch colour Full
Touch Screen that provides effortless
usability and control. If a user has
identified his favourite energy-saving
or water-efficient setting, he can tap
into the ‘Most Used’ features, which
remembers frequently used cycles and
configurations, while ‘Favourites’ allows
users to personalise wash cycles with
options such as temperature and spin.
With so many options to help
consumers relieve pressures on energy
and water supply, the WW9000 is one
unconventional solution to a global
problem.
standards of efficiency and quality set
by the sector.
A similar meeting held last year
resulted in a number of proposals
and recommendations that were
subsequently adopted by DCRP and
subsequently implemented across
the sector. The exercise helped
raise the performance and quality
standards of contractors and suppliers
registered with DCRP. In all 203
companies have been approved by
DCRP as of February 2015, including
70 during 2014 and 16 during the first
two months of this year.
Al Maghdari, who is also the
Chairman of DCRP, said the updated
registration criteria were designed to
help SMEs compete in the local market.
The Distribution Code Review
Panel is an entity operating under the
Law Regulating the Electricity sector
and Related Water Sector issued by
Royal Decree 78/2004, Article (90).
DCRP lists electricity distribution
companies
including
Muscat
Electricity Distribution Company,
Rural Areas Electricity Company,
Mazoon Electricity Company, Majan
Electricity Company and Dhofar
power Company. It also includes
representatives from the Authority for
Electricity Regulation — Oman, Oman
Electricity Transmission Company and
Oman Power and Water Procurement
Company.
Tender for largest power scheme
FROM PAGE 17
A green-field inland site at Ibri
has been identified by OPWP for the
development of part of the capacity of
the giant power scheme. Site selection
was based on proximity to gas supply
infrastructure and the availability of
sufficient water supply for cooling water
purposes. As for the Sohar component
of the power scheme, the procurer has
decided to locate it at Sohar Industrial
Port, already home to a string of power
plants.
Importantly, the split of power
capacities between the two sites and the
choice of technologies to be used for
delivering the required capacities will
be determined by the bidders subject
to the conditions set out in the RfP, says
OPWP.
Gas supply infrastructure will be
constructed by or on behalf of the
Ministry of Oil and Gas and will be
located in the vicinity of the sites and
operated by Oman Gas Company.
Significantly,
the
successful
bidder for the two projects is
expected to establish separate special
purpose project companies as Omani
companies.
Moreover, each of the Project
Companies will be separately and
independently financed. Although
subject
to
separate
licensing
arrangements, they will be owned
directly by the successful bidder or, in
the case of a bidder that is a consortium,
by the same Managing Member of that
consortium (although each Project
Company may be owned by the same
consortium members in different
proportions or by different consortium
members) subject to certain ownership
constraints on Qualifying Consortium
Members).
A contract award is expected to be
announced in the fourth quarter of this
year.
A worker walks past containers at San Pedro’s Port. Ivory Coast’s second
largest port of San Pedro will hold a roadshow in France and Britain next
month as it seeks to raise 180 billion CFA francs ($300 million) to fund
upgrades, the port’s director said.
— Reuters
BP unveils $12 bn investment in Egypt
LONDON: British energy giant BP said it would invest $12 billion (11 billion euros)
in gas fields in Egypt together with Russian-owned partner DEA, calling it a “vote of
confidence” in the country.
“The WND (West Nile Delta) project investment is the largest foreign direct
investment in Egypt,” BP’s Chief Executive Bob Dudley said in a statement after final
agreements were signed.
“WND production is key to Egypt’s energy security,” he said, with BP announcing
that all the gas would be fed into the national grid and would eventually double BP’s
supply to the domestic market.
Hesham Mekawi, BP North Africa’s regional president, said the agreements marked
“a critical milestone in the Egyptian oil and gas history”.
BP said that during the construction phase the project would employ thousands
of people. The aim is to develop five trillion cubic feet of gas resources and 55 million
barrels of condensates, with production expected to begin in 2017. “The project
underlines BP’s commitment to the Egyptian market and is a vote of confidence in
Egypt’s investment climate and economic potential,” the statement said.
— AFP
Avago’s ambitions may spark more semiconductor dealmaking
SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK:
Avago
Technologies Ltd may be one of the pacesetters
among companies looking to make a purchase
in the semiconductor industry after its
advanced talks last month to acquire Freescale
Semiconductor Ltd fell through.
Demand for cheaper chips and new products
to power Internet-connected gadgets is
expected to drive chip industry consolidation
beyond NXP’s $12 billion purchase of Freescale
announced this week, analysts said.
“The pace of M&A in semis has been elevated,”
said Jefferies analyst Mark Lipacis. ‘‘We expect
more of the same.”
Avago’s main business is its wireless segment,
which last quarter accounted for about 40 per
cent of revenue, and it sells radio frequency chips
for products such as Apple Inc’s iPhone.
The company, which has a market cap of $32
billion, could now look at expanding in areas
ranging from analog semiconductors to radio
frequency technology, and could roll up several
smaller analog companies or pursue a larger
acquisition, Reuters reported.
It couldn’t be learned what companies Avago
was pursuing.
Deals that could occur over the next few years
are in the range of $600 million to $2 billion to
$3 billion.
Analysts see companies that make chips for
Relatively small chipmakers with annual
connected devices as top contenders for deal sales below $1 billion in markets from the auto
activity.
industry to consumer gadgets are in the cross
hairs of larger players awash in growing amounts
of cash and rising stock prices not seen in more
than a decade.
With steady demand from automakers,
makers of consumer electronics and data centre
operators, chip companies have cut costs in
recent years and returned growing amounts of
cash to shareholders who, in turn, have rewarded
those companies’ stocks.
Chipmakers that roughly fit the target
model for potential deals, in terms of size and
products, include smaller companies such as
Micrel, Intersil, Atmel, M/A-COM and Silicon
Laboratories, analysts said.
These companies make a variety of chips that
manage power, allow wireless communication
and control devices, among other things.
Features such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth that once
required chips sold by separate companies can
now be squeezed onto single pieces of silicon
made by industry leaders’ technology.
The firms could pursue mergers with smaller
peers or could also become targets for larger
chipmakers such as Intel, Qualcomm, Texas
Instruments and Skyworks Solutions, according
to analysts. Micrel in January said its board had
hired a bank to review strategic alternatives and
to maximise shareholder value.
Nearly all the deals announced so far have
driven up shares of the acquirers, which gives
other companies confidence to pursue M&A
since investors reward them for it.
— Reuters
20
omandailyobserver
PERSPECTIVE
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
ECONOMY
Need for more reforms in Oman comes to the fore
Samuel Kutty
T
he urgency of more fiscal
reforms in Oman has
once again come to the
fore even though the
government has been
focusing on widening its
revenue base to commensurate the loss
from oil income.
The International Monetary Fund
Mission (IMF) during its visit to Oman,
last week, opined that the Sultanate cut
the burgeoning subsidies and also the
mounting public wage bill to keep its
financial reserves steady.
Ananthakrishnan Prasad, who headed
the IMF mission to Muscat said, “The
Sultanate has to adopt new reforms at the
earliest as possible to avoid more draining
from its coffers. Otherwise the country will
have to depend on more debts. Oil decline
has made undertaking of reforms more
urgent for Oman.”
Generalised price subsidies are a
common feature in many developing and
emerging markets economy. In the Middle
East subsidies are used by governments
to achieve several objectives including
support to real incomes and protect the
poor by maintaining low prices on widely
used products such as energy, water and
food.
But while taking away this social
protection, the governments may come in
for criticism and face public ire.
Ananthakrishnan says, “Reforms
should be phased to avoid destabilising the
economy or causing social discontent”.
Still, “the government needs to limit
growth to public sector wages and reform
the system of subsidies for fuels, electricity
and water. The government also needs to
further diversify the economy and increase
non-oil revenue through direct and
indirect taxation”.
According to Lo’ai B
Bataineh,
General Manager & Head of Investment
Management Group, Oman Arab Bank,
the fuel subsidy has been, and is still one
of the main burdens shouldered by many
governments over the last decades.
“No doubt that the design and
architecture of subsidy programmes for
services and energy resources in many ME
countries lead to unfair and irrational use
of these resources which in turn results in
exhaustion of the public revenues”, he says.
One of the effective tools to improve
the competitive status of any country
and enhance confidence in the national
economy is to strive to control state
budget deficit and contain both the trade
imbalance and foreign debts.
“The recommendations by most of
the international agencies and institutions
always evolve around lifting subsidy on
some basic services and goods in order
to reduce the burden on the state budget
and treasury. While trying to address
the growing deficits, the governments
especially in developing countries, face
many challenges such as tax evasion,
financial and administrative corruption,
tax incentives, custom exemptions
organisations and diseconomy of the
public funds”, Lo’ai says.
IMF favours cut on subsidies and public wage bills
“We should, therefore, bear in mind
that addressing subsidy issues entails lots
of efforts and will be full of difficulties
and challenges. We should thus encourage
people to change their misperceptions and
bad lifestyles”, he adds.
Ahmed al Esry, Managing Partner,
Ernst and Young, says, “Despite fall in oil
revenues, the Sultanate is making all-out
efforts to diversify the economy and boost
its revenues”.
He was referring to taxation in the
current macroeconomic environment at a
session at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Muscat
the other day.
Ananthakrishnan is of the opinion that
“oil price decline has made undertaking of
reforms more urgent for Oman. Without
any reforms at this stage the country will
either have to use its buffers or increase
debt, and there could be spill-overs from
the fiscal sector to the rest of the economy.”
Al Esry says, ‘‘With oil at a much
lower price level than it was over the past
few years, economic diversification and
reduction on oil dependence will have
to be pursued actively. The government
has ensured that ongoing projects in the
country would not be affected, announcing
its biggest ever budget-spending for 2015.”
Accordingly, the 2015 budget tax
revenue was increased by 25 per cent from
BREAD & BUTTER
RO 400 million to RO 500 million, despite
no further increase in tax rates. This is an
indication of the government’s confidence
that the economy will continue to grow in
2015.
But Lo’ai says, “As we know the
deficit is expected to hit the maximum
in Oman history due to the accelerating
of the expenses last 4 years and now the
government revenue is under severe
pressure as a result of the sharp drop of
the main source of revenue — oil and gas
— which were used to represent almost
more than 85 per cent of the government
revenues”.
“I believe we should think and study
these severe economic factors which affect
Omani economy now in a clear and wise
way to find solutions to address the growing
budget deficit. We need to introduce many
sacrifices and radical solutions at least for
the coming few years”, says Lo’ai .
The government should improve the
methods used in collecting taxes and fees
as well as providing comprehensive set of
procedures to reduce public expenditure on
the short and medium-term and improve
revenues.
Also the government is required to take
effective and tangible steps that improve
the collection of taxes and limit tax evasion,
one of the fatal ills suffered by most of
the countries in the region. Most of the
countries tried to reduce budget deficit
at the state budgets through internal and
external finance or postponing or refusing
the foreign finance because it is usually
linked to economic and political pressures
and requirements.
Financially, there are many effective
ways to address and limit the state
budgets. These ways include improving
the collection of taxes, promoting tax
awareness and encouraging expansion
of investment projects as this will in turn
result in growth of the collected taxes and
fees.
After years of surpluses, the country
recorded a budget deficit of RO 600 million
last year, according to the Ministry of
Finance. It estimated that the deficit will
widen to 8 per cent of gross domestic
product this year, assuming an oil price of
$75 a barrel.
Oman crude oil trading on the
Dubai Mercantile Exchange last month
rebounded strongly from the multiyear
lows recorded in January, pushing towards
the $60 per barrel range and recording its
largest gain since the summer of 2009.
TOURISM REVIVAL
Ireland looks forward to dairy boom Travel agencies
return to growth
once European Union quotas go
I
F
our weeks from the lifting
of European Union milk
quotas, Ireland is looking
forward to a radical
shake-up of its farming
sector that would boost
dairy output by 50 per cent over the next
five years.
Exporters are aiming to expand sales
of Irish milk and cheese in a boom that
would make Ireland the fastest-growing
dairy producer in the world.
“Good riddance is what I’ll say about
the quotas,” said Mike Magan, a dairy
farmer in County Longford in central
Ireland.
“They’ve held back the natural ability
of farmers to grow for three decades, so
I’m glad they’re going.”
The quotas, which end on March
31, were introduced in 1984 to prevent
over-production, and Irish agriculture
minister Simon Coveney said their
abolition was “the most fundamental
change to Irish agriculture in a
generation”. “For the first time, Ireland
will be able to fulfil its potential in terms
of producing milk at a volume that
makes sense for us,” he said.
According to research by Teagasc,
a state-backed research body, 60 per
cent of dairy farmers plan to expand
production in the next two years.
Over 80 per cent of Irish dairy
product is currently exported, and the
additional output is likely to be targeted
at developing markets outside the EU.
Ireland currently produces 5.4 billion
litres of milk, so even if it hits its targets
for 2020 it will remain a relatively small
global player compared with India,
China or the United States.
In Europe, France and Germany also
have annual production in the tens of
billions of litres.
“In a global sense, we’re a small
player by volume, but we can be a very
significant player in terms of supplying
premium high-end markets,” Coveney
said. “We will be the fastest-growing
dairy producer in the world probably in
the next decade in terms of a percentage
increase in volume year-on-year,” he
added.
Processors in Ireland, which buy
the vast majority of milk from farmers,
are also gearing up for the post-quota
environment.
Glanbia Ingredients Ireland (GIL),
which processes some 30 per cent of all
Irish milk, has invested over 235 million
euros ($267 million).
A new plant, largely for dry milk
powder, will be opened this week with
the company expecting it to support
1,600 jobs, a welcome boost in a
country where unemployment remains
over 10 per cent. The company exports
to 50 countries largely in the form of
butter, cheese, whey protein and infant
formula.
Jim Bergin, Chief Executive of GIL,
said quotas have hindered the potential
for natural organic growth.
“This brings a huge opportunity
from a growth perspective. Asia will
be a growing market for us but also the
Middle East,” he said.
Ireland’s
current
coalition
According to research by
Teagasc, a state-backed
research body, 60 per cent of
dairy farmers plan to expand
production in the next
two years.
government, which came to power at
the height of the financial crisis in 2011,
has placed a strong emphasis on the
possibilities of the agriculture sector in
reviving the economy.
Prime Minister Enda Kenny in
February announced that Ireland would
become the first EU country to resume
beef exports to China, restricted since
the BSE mad cow disease scandal of the
late 1990s.
The announcement came weeks after
a similar move from the United States to
lift its ban on Irish beef.
But state food agency, Bord Bia, is
most excited about the end of the quotas
in dairy which brought in more than 3.0
billion euros last year in exports.
“Of our total food and drinks
exports, dairy will dominate and
account for close to 50 per cent by the
end of this decade,” David Owens, dairy
sector manager with Bord Bia said.
While the whole sector is largely
positive about the changes, there are
concerns about the impact of milk price
volatility at the farm level.
“Milk price volatility is going to be
the biggest challenge and farmers are
worried about being able to ride out the
difficult years,” Sean O’Leary, chairman
of the Irish Farmers’ Association Dairy
Committee.
“Farmers have to look at their own
situation. Bigger doesn’t always mean
better, especially with predicted milk
prices being lower this year.”
Many dairy farmers are also facing
EU fines for producing more milk than
their quotas allow as they crank-up
production ahead of March 31.
O’Leary, a dairy farmer in County
Cork, said he aimed to increase his herd
by eight per cent to 130 cows in the next
12 months.
“There’ll be a bit of pain to be taken
in year one but hopefully it’ll all be
worth it,” he said.
— AFP
t almost seems like a foregone conclusion in the business world:
travel agencies will go the way of bookshops, with more closures
set to leave a tiny core of a few big chains left standing, enjoying
a mere shadow of the dominance they had before the market
became saturated by online portals.
Against this background, it seems brave for Friedrich Joussen,
the head of Europe’s largest tour operator, Tui, to say at the company’s
most recent annual general meeting that “the travel agency has not yet
had its day.”
The data does seem to back up his claim. But, in order to take advantage
of the upswing, travel agencies will have to take much more advantage of
their own online presence to drive business. At first look, the numbers do
seem good. For the first time in 10 years, the number of travel agencies
rose last year by 100, to reach 9,829 branches across Germany.
Agencies with two or more licences are doing better than smaller ones,
which tend to specialise in niche markets, such as exotic holidays.
The agencies themselves have improved their image, with fewer
featuring counters and offices, instead opting for more cozy corners to sit
and chat and cafe-style facilities. Tui’s own Hapag-Lloyd and First travel
agencies now have sofas and coffee bars in order to stimulate a little bit of
the holiday feeling well in advance of the trip.
But not everyone is on board with Joussen’s forecast. For example, the
head of German’s Association of Internet Travel Business, Michael Buller,
is not happy about any talk of the revival of travel agencies. “The message
is wrong. Digitalisation is progressing,” he said this week at the world’s
largest travel trade fair, ITB,
in Berlin.
Germany’s
Internet
travel business is still
relatively new, Buller says.
“Until now it has only been
finger exercises,” he says,
adding, however, that the
Internet is the biggest driver
of the travel business in
Germany. While the travel market grew by 6 per cent in Germany in 2014,
online bookings, which accounted for 39 per cent of overall business, grew
by 13 per cent.
Travel agencies have to expand their online presence in parallel with
their physical stores in order to appeal to as many consumer groups as
possible. The latest nationwide study shows that the groups that are
continuing to grow are older travellers and the well-off, who much prefer
to go to a travel agency than younger people, who are more likely to book
a holiday on their mobile phone.
A survey of holidaymakers under 27 years of age showed that it was
very important for them to get authentic impressions of the destinations
they were considering travelling to, requiring more detailed and
extensive presentations on the websites of operators, portals and travel
agencies.
— dpa
TECHNOLOGY
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
omandailyobserver
HEAD GEAR
21
WI-FI
Sony virtual reality head gear
set for release in 2016
Visitors try out a virtual reality system at the Oculus
booth during the Game Developers Conference in
San Francisco, California. — AFP
SONY was at a major game developers’ gathering
last week showing off a prototype of ‘Morpheus’
virtual reality head gear set for release next year.
The Japanese consumer electronics titan did
not disclose how much it planned to charge for the
virtual reality (VR) system synced to work with its
popular PlayStation 4 video game consoles.
‘With the technical specs achieved on the new
prototype, we are one step closer to realising our
vision for making amazing VR experiences on PS4,
and ultimately to deliver a real sense of presence
to players,’ said Sony Computer Entertainment
Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida.
‘We believe that the near-final technology of
Morpheus, combined with the power of PS4, will
provide a standard for game developers to target
as they build on their creative ideas and turn them
into VR games and experiences.’
Sony is among several companies developing
VR head gear and pitching their technology at a
Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
Facebook-owned Oculus VR and Sony were
each headlining last Wednesday sessions likely to
be packed with game makers. Sony billed VR as
the future of gaming while introducing the latest
prototype from Project Morpheus, which was
unveiled in March of last year.
Sony said that, since then, it has been listening
to feedback and making enhancements ‘that will
further the capability of Morpheus to deliver a
sense of presence and push the boundaries of play.’
Prototype improvements included a screen with
a larger field of view to remove blur and flicker,
along with faster frame rates for smoother visuals,
according to Sony.
As GDC got under way, Valve and Taiwanbased smartphone maker HTC announced they are
working together on Vive virtual reality head gear
on track for release by the end of this year. — AFP
Wireless connectivity
to entire Audi 2016
model vehicle line-up
AT the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, car maker Audi of
America and wireless carrier AT&T announced a joint plan to bring
LTE, 4G and 3G wireless connectivity to all of Audi’s 2016 model-year
vehicles.
Audi released a vehicle with a 4G LTE connection last year in its
A3 model. It was the first car to ever contain a Wi-Fi hot spot using
a 3G service tethered to Audi‘s T-Mobile-supported Connect system.
The 2016 AT&T-connected models include the A3, S3, Q3, A4, S4,
Allroad, A5, S5, Q5, SQ5, A6, S6, A7, S7, RS7, TT, TTS, A8 and S8.
Drivers who opt for Audi 2016 models will receive an AT&T
SIM card that provides the connection to AT&T‘s wireless Connect
network which will grant customers ‘enhanced traffic information
and navigation, over the air map updates, social media and mobile
app integration with access
to more than 7,000 Web
radio stations as well as
Internet radio in vehicles
with 4G/LTE hardware.’
‘The convenience and
added benefit of having
Audi Connect services in
our vehicles, along with
Wi-Fi access for up to
eight devices, serves as a
competitive advantage for our brand,’ Filip Brabec, Audi’s director
of product management, said in a press release. ‘We have been and
intend to remain innovators in this field.’
Many of the 182,000 cars Audi sold last year were ordered with the
Connect system included. As a part of the new agreement, AT&T now
has the means to subscribe drivers to new or expanded data contracts
as they become used to using faster Internet download speeds.
Other car manufacturers will likely follow Audi and AT&T in the
connected car trend. For instance, General Motors has already offered
4G LTE in several of its models in 2013. However, while 4G LTE is
faster and more reliable than 3G networks, it can get become an
expensive proposition. In-car network plans vary, but $50 per month
payment plans (add extra fees for greedier downloaders) have been
typical. Given the prices of Audi’s autos, which go from the $30,000
A3 to the $115,000 S8, frugal drivers may want to saddle kids and
companions with the smartphones and tablets they’ll likely carry into
the car anyway.
PROJECTOR
Lenovo launches affordable Pocket Projector
CHINESE manufacturer Lenovo has unveiled its
new Pocket Projector last week at the Mobile World
Congress 2015 in Barcelona. The projector can be
paired with Android devices (v4.3 and above) and
relays videos and images up to 110-inch from one
corner to the other.
At 4x4-inches, the new Lenovo Pocket Projector is
small enough to carry around in a jacket pocket, with
the curved edges making it smooth to slip in and out
of the pocket. The part with the projector lens tilts up
to 90-degrees.
However, the projector relays content at 854x480p
resolution, so the content and videos won‘t be too
sharp, especially at larger sizes.
Users can watch videos in both popular aspect
ratios, ie 4:3 and 16:9. The Lenovo Pocket Projector is
equipped with 50-lumens. high contrast display along.
Lenovo allows users to connect the Pocket
Projector with Android devices via microUSB, DLNA
and Miracast. They can also use a microSD card (up to
32GB) to view the content using this projector.
The battery life of the new Pocket Projector is rather
low at 2.5 hours, which means that users will not be
able to watch a couple of movies without recharging
the device at least once.
Priced at $250, Lenovo Pocket Projector will hit the
market in June. The company officials at the Lenovo
booth could not give a timeline for the Asia launch.
AUTOSHOW
85th GIMS: Fascinating
vehicles, exciting techs
The interior of a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse ‘La Finale’ is seen during the
85th International Motor Show in Geneva. The Geneva International Motor Show
opened to the public from March 5 – 15, 2015. Some 130 new models and
concept cars are presented to more than 700,000 visitors and will occupy every
square metre of space in the exhibition halls of Palexpo. This year some 900
vehicles are on exhibit, nearly a hundred of which already conform to the strict
European Union emission norms that will come into effect in 2021. — Reuters
SMARTPHONE
HTC introduces One (M9) with octa-core processor
HTC has launched its new flagship phone,
One (M9), at its Utopia in Progress event on
the sidelines of Mobile World Congress 2015
in Barcelona.
HTC has taken cues from luxury
watchmakers by using a two-tone metal
design, every handset has its edging picked out
in a complimentary colour. One (M9) features
the same design as its predecessors except that
the display panel has thinner bezels and the
metal body is now two-tone with the edges
featuring a different colour tone.
HTC One (M9) sports a 5-inch Super
LCD3 full-HD display (1920x1080p).
Powered by a 2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon
810 MSM8994 64-bit octa-core processor
and 3GB RAM, the phone offers 32GB
storage and a microSD card slot that
supports cards of up to 128GB storage.
The phone sports a 20MP rear camera
(BSI, sapphire glass lens) and a 4MP
Ultrapbixel front camera with super-wide
angle lens. HTC One (M9) runs Android
5.0 Lollipop with Sense UI 7 running on top.
In line with previous rumours, The Sense 7
UI skin is not very different from its current
avatar but now offers the ability to customise
the UI theme with a source image and has
a location-aware menu that changes app
shortcuts depending on the user’s location.
It also lets users select theme packs for app
icons and the BlinkFeed home screen also
offers meal time suggestions. There’s also a
new photo editor.
In terms of connectivity options, the
One (M9) supports Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/
ac, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, GLONASS, GPS,
micro-USB, 3G, and 4G LTE.
It has a 2840mAh battery and HTC’s
BoomSound audio will now be powered by
Dolby Audio Surround. The One (M9) will
be available starting mid-March in Asia and
India in silver, gunmetal grey pink and gold
colours.
22
LEISURE
omandailyobserver
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
Online Editor’s Choice
CARTOONS
1
ADAM @ HOME
by Brian Basset
7
8
10
CALVIN AND HOBBES
11
14
16
17
19
21
22
23
26
28
29
30
31
by Bill Watterson
32
33
GARFIELD
DOWN
1 They’re amusing in many low
ways (6)
2 Led astray with no love by a
simpleton (6)
3 Still swallowed by boozers in
Sevenoaks (4)
4 Sack of loot (7)
5 Once more returning from
Niagara (5)
6 To tidy up the ranks may be just
a habit (5)
8 So, for half an hour, is bitter (4)
9 Many an extraterrestrial is
encountered (3)
12 Side-show boy? (3)
13 Getting three wrong may put
you out (5)
15 Christmas card decorator (5)
18 A grower going on and on,
touring India (5)
19 He-man’s bit of skirt? (3)
20 Resinous substance found in
glaciers (3)
by Jim Davis
STONE SOUP
CRYPTIC PUZZLE
ACROSS
Such a bowler can make a
difference (6)
Rustic Reg returning to his
house (8)
Not all are out of agreement with
the totalitarians (4)
Now possibly including a poem
that’s spiritless (6)
Not showy attire (6)
Last month in business (3)
Damages a Frenchman’s teeth (5)
Angry with Rose? (4)
Eighteen, of course? (5)
Ban an untidy beard (5)
Paper strips, perhaps (5)
One informally informative? (4)
Tree or horse out West (5)
Deity all for cookery? (3)
Outer coat with a name in (6)
One girl or a couple (6)
Friend going completely without
a drink (4)
Full treatment in a factory (3,5)
A back seat (6)
9
12
13
15
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
30
CR O SSW O R D
THURSDAY’S CRYPTIC
SOLUTIONS
ACROSS: 1, Gross 6, M-aths 9,
Weekday 10, Tacit 11, Med-Al 12,
Terms 13, Laggard 15, Del 17,
Onus 18, All-U-re 19, (hell’s) Bells
20, Angels 22, Sa-V-e 24, L-i.e. 25,
Pest-Les 26, Twain 27, Beg-UN 28,
Aide-d 29, Turn-off 30, Syrup 31,
Terry.
21 Finished mending the roof end
(4,3)
22 Machine part moving
backwards? (3)
23 Caught working in lead
improperly (6)
24 It’s convenient for him to follow
a hothead (4)
25 Word possibly linked with
starting a fire (6)
26 Hires for part of the current
season (5)
27 Hesitate to be the flag bearer? (5)
28 Friendly card from the palace (3)
30 A great deal of service (4)
1
7
8
10
11
EASY PUZZLE
ACROSS
Crops up (6)
Unconscious (8)
Pudding ingredient (4)
Swiss villa (6)
Halve (6)
14
16
17
19
21
22
23
26
28
29
30
31
32
33
Allow (3)
Skeleton parts (5)
Performs (4)
Petty officer (5)
Number (5)
Started (5)
Large shrub (4)
Material (5)
Age (3)
Sensual (6)
Pictures (6)
Ancient symbol (4)
Brolly (8)
Searches (6)
1
2
3
4
5
6
8
DOWN
Bush (6)
Weighing device (6)
Northern Briton (4)
Fish (7)
Witches’ group (5)
Defeats (5)
Seasoning (4)
DOWN: 2, Re-A-gan 3, Swings 4,
Set 5, Skied 6, Mammals 7, A-yes
8, Heater 12, Tries 13, Local 14,
Gu-NG-e 15, Ducal 16, L-ewes 18,
A-lien 19, Blown up 21, Nicely 22,
Str-if-e 23, Veneer 25, Piano 26, TuTu 28, A-ft.
THURSDAY’S EASY SOLUTIONS
ACROSS: 1, Dance 6, Sense 9,
Located 10, Asian 11, Virgo 12,
Asset 13, Respect 15, Led 17, Ores
18, Parade 19, Trial 20, Samson 22,
Peri 24, Try 25, Cabinet 26, Spoon
27, Devil 28, Eager 29, Descent 30,
Steed 31, Deter.
DOWN: 2, Answer 3, Clamps 4,
Eon 5, Waist 6, Several 7, Edit 8,
Sagged 12, Acorn 13, Roast 14,
Seamy 15, Laden 16, Debit 18, Pagan
19, Toppled 21, Arrest 22, Pirate 23,
Recede 25, Conch 26, Side 28, End.
Hospitals
by Jan Eliot
Hospital. . . . . Board . . . . . . . Emergency
Royal . . . . . . . 24599000 . . . 24590491
Health Services Department
‘YO UR STARS ‘
Muttrah . . . . . . . 24797602
Quriyat . . . . . . . 24845001 . . . . 24845003
SQH, Salalah. . . 23211555 . . . . 23211151
Police. . . . . . . . . 24603988 . . . . 24603980
Al Nahda . . . . . . 24831255 . . . . 24837800
Ibn Sina. . . . . . . 24876322 . . . . 24877361
Nizwa. . . . . . . . . 25439361 . . . . 25425033
Al Rustaq. . . . . . 26875055 . . . . 26877186
Sumayil. . . . . . . 25350055 . . . . 25350022
Izki . . . . . . . . . . . 25340033 . . . . 25340033
IF IT’S YOUR
BIRTHDAY:
You will no
doubt have
profited from
the experiences
of the last few
months and are
convinced that
there is nothing
to be gained
by continuing
an association,
which has
gone wrong.
There will be
an opportunity
to put the
relationship
on a more
stable footing
quite son, and
happier times
are ahead.
Obtain (3)
Boy (3)
Stop (5)
Tycoon (5)
Conifer (5)
Large (3)
Transgression (3)
Inhabitant (7)
Section (3)
Hypnotic state (6)
Anger (4)
Follows (6)
Antidote (5)
Burial chambers (5)
Flightless bird (3)
M East country (4)
Haima . . . . . . . . 23436013 . . . . 23436055
Sohar . . . . . . . . . 26840022 . . . . 26840099
Al Buraimi. . . . . 25650855 . . . . 25652319
Sur . . . . . . . . . . . 25440244 . . . . 25461373
Tanam . . . . . . . . 25499011 . . . . 25499033
Masirah . . . . . . . 25404018 . . . . 25404018
Ibra. . . . . . . . . . . 25470533 . . . . 25470535
Adam. . . . . . . . . 25434167 . . . . 25434055
Bidiya . . . . . . . . 25483535 . . . . 25483535
Ibri . . . . . . . . . . . 25491011 . . . . 25491990
Saham . . . . . . . . 26854427 . . . . 26855148
Khasab . . . . . . . 26830187 . . . . 26830187
Dibba. . . . . . . . . 26836443 . . . . 26836443
Burkha. . . . . . . . 26828397 . . . . 26828397
Sinaw. . . . . . . . . 25474338
PISCES
ARIES
TAURUS
GEMINI
CANCER
LEO
February 20March 20
March 21April 20
April 21May 20
May 21June 21
June 22July 21
July 22August 21
A rare chance to meet at long last
a very important person must not
be missed. Be ready to drop everything you are doing when the
opportunity comes along.
Make more of an attempt to put into
practice the good counsel you are so
ready to give to others. Think your
own problems through before deciding on a course of action.
Be very careful what you say in an
email to a distant friend when writing about people you both know and
beware especially of strong criticism of a third person. It will soon
be copied to the relevant people.
An older person who has shown
good common sense in the past will
influence you in making an important decision which is facing you and
you will be grateful for his advice
You have a very selective mind
and are in the lucky position of being able to accept only those ideas
which seem reasonable and profitable and to discard the rest.
A long awaited letter may not be
the reply you had hoped for, and it
may disappoint you. But future correspondence may clarify matters and
make the sender change his mind.
VIRGO
LIBRA
SCORPIO
SAGITTARIUS
CAPRICORN
AQUARIUS
August 22September 22
September 23October 22
October 23November 21
November 22December 21
December 22January 20
January 21February 19
After several fruitless attempts
you will be gratified to learn that
you can expect the full co-operation of some friends in planning a
social event.
A reserved person is more likely to
come out of his shell if you keep a
conversation on an impersonal level. Television is a good subject for
light-hearted chat.
A matter, which is liable to affect
the whole family, should be discussed at a gathering of all members in order to get the opinions of
everybody.
The best help you can give to
an over-worked partner is
to provide an atmosphere
of love and relaxation at
home.
One of the least prepossessing acquaintances you know may surprise you one day and make an
excellent match to the envy of all
his friends.
Try to explain the reason for
your unusual actions to the people who are involved, so that
they are in a position to understand your motives.
CLASSIFIEDS
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2 0 1 5
omandailyobserver
23
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Ȉ ƒ”•ˆ‘”•ƒŽ‡
Ȉ ‘””‡–
Ȉ ‘„ƒ’’Ž‹…ƒ–‹‘
Ȉ Šƒ”‹‰”‡•‹†‡…‡
Ȉ ”ƒ•’‘”–…ƒ”•
Ȉ ‡ƒŽ•–ƒ–‡ȋ•ƒŽ‡Ǧ
”‡–Ǧ‹˜‡•–‡–•
WANTED: 1. A/C
Mechanic; 2.
Electrician plumber;
3. Computer headwear
Tec. Contact No.
99447257/
97014234 mansur75@
hotmail.co.uk.
·····
WE need HSE personal,
Salesman and
Electrical Supervisor
with Omani Driving
licence. Apply to:
grandmuscat@yahoo.
com Contact No:
00968 95714746.
·····
MAITENANCE: 1.
A/C Maintenance &
‡”˜‹…‹‰ǢʹǤ”‹†‰‡ǡ
Washing Machine &
Dish washer repairing;
3. Painting & cleaning
services; 4. Electrical
& Plumbing Carpentry
work. Contact:
ͻͻͶͶ͹ʹͷ͹ǡ
ͻ͹ͲͳͶʹ͵ͶǡʹͶͷͲͶʹͺͳǤ
·····
Ȉ ƒŒŒƒ†”ƒ
Ȉ •‡†ˆ—”‹–—”‡ˆ‘”•ƒŽ‡
Ȉ ƒ—…Š…‡”‡‘‹‡•‘ˆȋ”‡•–ƒ—”ƒ–•Ǧ
•Š‘’•Ǧ…Ž‹‹…•Ȍ
Ȉ ‘„ƒ†•
Ȉ ‡ƒ…Š‹‰†”‹˜‹‰
Ȉ ‘—•‡•…Ž‡ƒ‹‰Ǧ•‡”˜‹…‡•ƒ†’‡•–
…‘–”‘Ž
For information, please call:
99841230-95919344
92721879 - 99639264
Tel: 24649597, Fax: 24649590
BankMuscat account: 0397003776610011
Bank Dhofar account: 01040141195001
E-mail: [email protected]
ƒŽ‡ǡ”‘ˆǡ
2 years exp as system
ƒ†‹‹•–”ƒ–‘”‹ƒǡ
3+ yrs exp in India
ȋƒ”†™ƒ”‡ǡ‡–™‘”‹‰ǡ
‹†‘™•‡”˜‡”ǡ
š…Šƒ‰‡‡”˜‡”Ȍǡ
ͳ›‡ƒ”‡š’‹ǡǡ
ǡƒ˜ƒ…”‹’–ǡƒšǡ
Mysql. NOC available.
Contact: 97496998
·····
ƒŽ‡ǡʹͷ›‡ƒ”•ǡ
‰”ƒ†—ƒ–‡ǡ…—””‡–Ž›
™‘”‹‰ƒ••—’‡”˜‹•‘”ǡ
having valid Omani
†”‹˜‹‰Ž‹…‡…‡ǤŽ—‡–
‹‰Ž‹•Šƒ†‹†‹ǡ
‘™•ƒŽŽ›Ͳͻǡ
‘”†ǡš…‡Žǡ•‡‡•
suitable placement in
Sales and Marketing
ϐ‹‡Ž†Ǥ‘–ƒ…–ǣ
98730659. E-mail:
[email protected]
·····
CHARTERED Accountant
9 years experience in
‹ƒ…‡Ȅ…‘•‘Ž‹†ƒ–‹‘ƒ•’‡”ǡ”‡ƒ•—”›ǡ—†‰‡–ǡ˜‡•–‡–•ǡ–ƒšƒ–‹‘ǡȀ
AR. Currently working
‹”‹ƒ…‡’‘•‹–‹‘
‹ƒǤ‘‹‹‰‹mediate. NOC available.
Contact:
ͻͷͶͺͻʹ͸ͻǡ
[email protected]
·····
ǡŽ‘‘‹‰
ˆ‘””‹˜‹‰Œ‘„‹‘ˆϐ‹…‡Ǥ
Please call:
92757135.
·····
For Sale
Announcement
INDUSTRIAL area
Žƒ†‹—•ƒ›‹ŽǡͷǡͲͲͲ
Sq.mt and building
with 8 shops. Contact
ͻͷͶͻͲͺͶʹǡ
92702891.
·····
Groves Cordoba
Trading &
Contracting LLC
ȋ”‡…‘‡†ƒ–‹‘Ȍǡ
register No. 1060079
announces that
it is intending to
convert its name
to Al Maktomi
Company Services
and Supply LLC
(recommendation).
Beneficiaries should
be informed of the
changes.
·····
3 BEDROOM house at
Betras Zanzibar RO
ͻͲǡͲͲͲǤ‘–ƒ…–™‡”ǣ
99348943.
·····
ˆ‘”•ƒŽ‡ǡ‡ƒ—–›
ƒŽ‘ƒ”ƒǡ‡ƒ”——
Hypermarket Center.
Contact: 97655500.
·····
A 400 sq m residential
commercial building situated at the first line of
the public road in Rawdat Samad Al Shaan.
The building is within
300 m far from the
Imam Noor Al Din Al
Salmi. It houses a 100
sq m 3 outlets. The
remaining 300 sq m
plot is workers resi†‡…‡ǡƒ•–‘”‡ƒ†ƒ–‘‹let. The premise is at RO
ͷͷǡͲͲͲ’Ž—•͵’‡”…‡–
commission.
99600909.
·····
REQUIRED Salesman
cum Hardware
Engineer for Computer
Shop at Ruwi with
minimum 2 years
experience. E-mail:
strns1@gmail.
com 98825805/
98825806.
·····
Services
Situation Wanted
ARABIC/English
ϐŽ—‡–‡…Šƒ‹…ƒŽ
·····
‰‹‡‡”ǡǡǡ
”‘ˆ‡••‹‘ƒŽǡʹͷǡ”‹ ͺ›‡ƒ”•‡š’‡”‹‡…‡ǡ
ƒƒǡ‡…ŠǦ‹ƒŽǡ ͷ›”•‹’”‘Œ‡…–ϐ‹‡Ž†
INDIAN male 26
(management and
›‡ƒ”•ǡǦ‹ƒ…‡ ǡǡǡ
LINUX having 4 years •—’‡”˜‹•‹‘Ȍǡˆƒ‹Ž‹ƒ”
Ƭƒ”‡–‹‰ǡ‘
with Primavera P6.
experience including
™‹–ŠƒŽŽ›ǡʹ›‡ƒ”•
Contact:
‡š’‡”‹‡…‡ǡ…—””‡–Ž› ǡŽ‘‘‹‰ˆ‘”
ͻͶ͸ͺ͹ͲͳͲǡ
suitable position.
working in Oman.
e-mail:
Contact: 94282980. (Visit visa). Contact:
ͻ͵͵ͷͶͷʹ͸ǡ‡Ǧƒ‹Žǣ abdelgader1982@gmail.
e-mail: [email protected] com
[email protected]
·····
Situation Vacant
Lost
MUAMMAD Naseer has
lost Pakistani passport
‘ͻͺʹ͹ͲͲͳǤ‹†‡”
please handover to
ROP.
·····
CLASSIFIED
SECTION
RUWI :
24785668
1. HOOPOE SMART
CARD SERVICES
2. AL FAHAD
TRANSLATION
SERVICES
STOP!!!
Good News to all our
dear customers: Our
PRO will visit your
‘ˆϐ‹…‡ȀŠ‘—•‡–‘…‘ŽŽ‡…–
documents for typing or
clearing and will deliver
the same on completion.
Our services include
typing all forms
related to Ministry of
ƒ’‘™‡”ǡ‹‰”ƒ–‹‘ǡ
‡Ǥ‰Ǥǡ˜‹•ƒ•ǡ”‡‡™ƒŽ
‘ˆ˜‹•ƒ•ǡƒŽŽ•‡”˜‹…‡•
related to Ministry of
‘‡”…‡Ƭ†—•–”›ǡ
‡Ǥ‰Ǥǡ”‡•‡”˜ƒ–‹‘‘ˆ
…‘‡”…‹ƒŽƒ‡•ǡ
amendment of activities
of the company and
all services related to
Royal Oman Police;
Cancellation of Visas at
the Muscat International
Airport for repatriation
of employees;
Directorate General
‘ˆ”ƒˆϐ‹…Ǣƒ†ƒ
Chamber of Commerce
& Industry.
Translation of legal
documents. Medical
”‡’‘”–•ǡ…‘‡”…‹ƒŽ
ƒ‰‡…›ƒ‰”‡‡‡–•ǡ
Ž‹–‡”ƒ–—”‡ǡ…ƒ–ƒŽ‘‰—‡•
ȋƒ‰—ƒ‰‡•ǣ”ƒ„‹…ǡ
‰Ž‹•Šǡ”‡…Šǡ’ƒ‹•Š
& Italian)
—”††”‡••ǣ—™‹ǡ
Adjacent to Gulf
Transport Co. (GTC).
Telephones: 24793331
/24794286
GSM: 99231500
/96777170/ 95959838
Managed by: Salim
Khalfan al Hadi (33
years of experience in
management)
·····
1. AC maintenance
and servicing.
2. ”‹†‰‡ǡ™ƒ•Š‹‰
machine and dish
washer repairing.
3. Painting and
cleaning services.
4.Ž‡…–”‹…ƒŽǡ
plumbing and
carpentry work
ͻ͹ͲͳͶʹ͵Ͷǡ
ͻͻͶͶ͹ʹͷ͹ǡ
24504281.
·····
Ȉ
Ȉ
Ȉ
Ȉ
Ȉ
Ȉ
ƒ”•ˆ‘”•ƒŽ‡
‘””‡–
‘„ƒ’’Ž‹…ƒ–‹‘
Šƒ”‹‰”‡•‹†‡…‡
”ƒ•’‘”–…ƒ”•
‡ƒŽ•–ƒ–‡ȋ•ƒŽ‡Ǧ
”‡–Ǧ‹˜‡•–‡–•
Ȉ ƒŒŒƒ†”ƒ
Ȉ •‡†ˆ—”‹–—”‡ˆ‘”•ƒŽ‡
Ȉ ƒ—…Š…‡”‡‘‹‡•‘ˆȋ”‡•–ƒ—”ƒ–•Ǧ
•Š‘’•Ǧ…Ž‹‹…•Ȍ
Ȉ ‘„ƒ†•
Ȉ ‡ƒ…Š‹‰†”‹˜‹‰
Ȉ ‘—•‡•…Ž‡ƒ‹‰Ǧ•‡”˜‹…‡•ƒ†’‡•–
…‘–”‘Ž
For information, please call:
99841230-95919344
92721879 - 99639264
Tel: 24649597, Fax: 24649590
BankMuscat account: 0397003776610011
Bank Dhofar account: 01040141195001
E-mail: [email protected]
SUNDAY l MARCH 8, 2015 l JUMADA AL ULA 17, 1436 AH
[email protected]
www.omanobserver.om
RENT A CAR
z Low Rates
z Wide Range of Cars
z Excellent Service
Contact:
Muscat 24489248,
24489648.
Salalah: 23296246.
E-mail: [email protected]
SPECIAL Rates on
New Cars & 4 WDs
RENTING & LEASING
Tours and Airport Transfer
Tel: 24582663
GSM: 95859497,
Fax: 24582664,
[email protected]
Umrah/Haj
AL Hikmani for
HAJ and UMRAH
— With a host of
services including
the following:
Hiring luxurious
coaches,
arranging weekly
trips, preparing
visas for expats
at cost-effective
price, including
transport,
housing, meals
and visits to
shrine locations.
Land and air
trips weekly.
(99311310,
24566016,
99361982,
99707248,
99322124.
·····
Car for Sale
PORSCHE Cayenne
S-2004, white colour,
158,000 km, RO 4,500/96417989.
·····
MERCEDES CT 55,
2001, black colour,
122,000 km, RO 2,900/96417989.
·····
MERCEDES S 55, 2001,
dark blue, 250,000
km, RO 1,900/96417989.
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: [email protected]
P. O. Box: 565, Wadi Kabir,
Postal Code: 117,
SULTANATE OF OMAN
FREE INFORMATION
ABOUT ISLAM
Good News
DO you or your
family members
require skilled daily?
Dedicated to chronic
care & physical
rehabilitation from
injury or illness;
Rochester Wellness
offers specialised
medical recovery
services. For more
information contact
our coordinators at
+968 22094265.
·····
AYURVEDIC
Treatment, Yoga
Massage &
slimming. Web
address: www.
siddhayur.com
92504980/
24475280.
·····
Sale and Buy
·····
LINCOLN Navigator
4WD, 1998, grey,
335,000 km, RO 1,600/96417989.
·····
OFFICE & Household
furniture and
electronics items.
99834373,
97102699.
·····
AUTO REPAIR
CENTRE
Available on UNBEATABLE prices
Tours
Announcement
DOLPHIN
WATCHING
TOUR. Every Day
8 am and 10 am.
For booking
94110088/
91162534. E-mail:
coraloceantours@
gmail.com Web:
www.
coraloceantours.
com.
Abu Ayyub
al-Hashemi
land transport
(recommendation),
register No. 1205902
announces that
it is intending to
convert its name
to Abu Ayyub alHashemi trade
(recommendation).
Beneficiaries should
be informed of the
changes.
·····
·····
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
al-haditha
centre
GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!!
For Rent
FLATS and
shops for rent
93009999.
·····
SHOP for rent, 200
sq m in Maabela
Industrial. Call:
97314122,
99349878.
·····
A 735 Sq M2 store
in Bausher, Al
Misfah Industrial
is offered for rent.
The premise is
built in accordance
to high standards.
A 3-5 year lease
contract is required
99332902,
99047584.
·····
VILLA in Bausher (Al
Awabi) consists of
majlis, 5 bedrooms,
5 toilets, 2 living
rooms and external
kitchen 99364586.
·····
GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!!
al-haditha LLC
PEST CONTROL
OMAN CO. LLC.
1510 Printer
RO 11.000 only
HP
All Cartridges also available
on UNBEATABLE prices
AII HP, Epson, Canon,
Lexmark, Samsung
Cartridges also available
Ruwi: 24792-792
[email protected]
GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!!
INDUSTRIAL land
in Misfah for rent.
93009999.
·····
BRAND new villa in
Qurum, near Crowne
Plaza. Walking distance
from beach. 6 bedrooms,
3 halls with elevator!
92230282.
·····
BRAND new twin villa
in Al Khuwair, near
technical College.
Modern style with high
quality finishing. 6
bedrooms, RO 950 only
92230282.
·····
FURNISHED offices for
rent in prime location in
Ruwi (Mumtaz) with
free electricity, water
and Internet. For lease
long & short term
95950012,
99331181.
·····
FURNISHED house in
Mabella - 2 rooms,
kitchen, hall and 3
toilets for rent. Call:
99357404.
·····
FLAT in Mabella 3
rooms, sitting room,
hall, kitchen
(spacious) with 4
toilets. Call:
99357404.
·····
2 STOREY villa at
Mabella with 2 sitting
rooms with toilets, 2
halls, 3 bedrooms
with attach toilets (Municipality water
available). Call:
99357404.
For Rent
FULLY licenced
restaurant in Qurum
Beach Hotel.
24704994.
·····
OFFICE space available
‡ƒ…ŠϐŽ‘‘”͸ͲͲ•“
†‹˜‹†‡†‘ˆϐ‹…‡‹ͷ•–‘”‡›
building at Al Khuwair
͵͵Ǥ‡–ƒ‹Ž•ǣˆϐ‹…‡ǣ
24790449
or E-mail: infoajest@
gmail.com
·····
SHOWROOM Front 120/
M2, Back 130/M2. First
floor commercial flat
1BHK, 2 BHK, Al
Athaiba North,
behind Al Fair.
99565364,
95497323.
·····
ǧhouse
behind GUtech, Halban,
is for rent. The building
consists of 4 bedrooms,
majlis, kitchen and 3
toilets. 91239119.
DELUXE 3 bedrooms
apartment for rent in
Mumtaz area. For more
information contact:
99336263.
FLAT located in Al Muhaj
Sq/Al Amerat on the
main road. 98895553.
·····
A COMMERCIAL shop &
room with accessories in
Al Ghubra. 95054077,
99219333.
·····
·····
1 B/R available in Rex
Road, Ruwi, suitable for
bachelors.
99889590.
ONE B/R flats in Madinat
Al Alam for executives/
small family.
99238012/ 24704994.
3 BEDROOMS, 3 baths
apartment for rent in
Sidab, opposite Petrol
Station. 97779755.
·····
·····
·····
·····
ROOM for rent (with AC
and some furniture),
opposite Zakher Mall.
96339371.
CLASSIFIED SECTION:
(ROP approved Grade A Workshop)
COMPUTER SUPPLIES
For Rent
2 BEDROOMS, 2 baths
and hall apartment for
rent in Al Wattayah,
behind Honda
Showroom.
99428161 (Owner).
·····
Quality Repairs & Maintenance of all
types of Cars and Heavy vehicles
GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!!
Rent-A-Car
·····
G FLOOR, 2 bedroom
flat, near Indian
School, Wadi Kabir,
1st April, RO 300
monthly.
93801805.
·····
SHOP for rent: Shops
for rent in Ruwi
at prime location.
Contact: 98825805/
98825806.
·····
THREE bedrooms,
sitting lounge,
Mawaleh North.
Contact:
99420312.
Telephone: 24595951/1414, Fax: 24597979.
Manpower
FRIENDS
MANPOWER: Filipino
housemaids and all
kinds of workers.
24489268 Tel:/Fax:
24478153, 92462496.
·····
KHALIFA AlSinani Manpower
— labourers &
housemaid from
Indonesia, Kenya,
Uganda and other
countries. Al Suwaiq.
To communicate
26713500,
26713600.
·····
Rent a Car
AHAD 2000 for rent car.
93203481, 93204595.
·····
For Sale/Rent
ȍ͵
VILLAS for sale/
rents WADI
KABIR/AL
KHUWAIR),
ȋŠ‘’•Ȁ‘ˆϐ‹…‡•ˆ‘”
rent/ Al Khuwair)
(Flats for rent/
Wadi Kabir).
ͻ͸ͷͻ͸͵ͶͺǤ
·····
·····
FOR RENT: villa, 4
bedroom, with
toilets, sitting room,
family hall, fully aircondition split units,
curtains, all the
windows & covered
car park at Bausher
33. Call Owner
92515989.
·····
Investment
LOOKING for an
investor for a fullequipped existing
medical complex as
soon as possible in
Wilayat of Haima,
Governorate of Al
Wusta. 92212557,
99242249.
·····
·····
RUWI
: 24785668
Behind Royal
Oman Police, Adjacent
to Dhofar Building
Guest House
QURUM BEACH
HOTEL24564070.
·····
Ali al Maashari: 99639264 [email protected]
e-mail: [email protected]
Mohammed al Rashdi: 99841230 [email protected]
DIRECT: 24649595 — FAX : 24649590
SUNDAY | MARCH 8, 2015 | JUMADA AL ULA 17, 1436 AH
BEST
QUOTE
It was almost like a car
that’s stuck in second or
third gear and that’s not
going to win you cricket
games, especially not
under pressure and in big
tournaments like this.
AB DE VILLIERS,
SOUTH AFRICAN CAPTAIN, AFTER
THE LOSS TO PAKISTAN IN THEIR
POOL B MATCH.
BEST BATTING
77
AB De Villiers for
South Africa against
Pakistan.
BEST BOWLING
Pakistan eye last-eight
with South Africa shock
SYDNEY: Pakistan clinched a thrilling
29-run win over South Africa at
the World Cup on Saturday to put
themselves on course for the quarterfinals, while Ireland were also in sight
of a last-eight place.
Chasing just 232 to win under the
Duckworth-Lewis method at Eden
Park in Auckland, South Africa, who
would have been assured of a quarterfinal slot had they won, were bowled
out for 202 despite captain AB de
Villiers’ valiant 77.
Rahat Ali grabbed a career-best three
for 40, with fellow left-arm seamers
Mohammad Irfan (three for 52) and
Wahab Riaz (three for 45) as South
Africa were dismissed in 33.3 overs
in a game which ended in a torrential
downpour.
The result left South Africa and
Pakistan both on six points and wellplaced for the quarter-finals.
Non-Test playing Ireland were set
also to move to six points after they
piled up 331 for eight against Zimbabwe
in Hobart, a result which would leave
the West Indies’ hopes of making the
next round on a knife-edge.
Pakistan had suffered a trademark
batting collapse following two rainbreaks in Auckland and were dismissed
for just 222, having been 92 for one and
156 for three.
The match was twice held up for
rain and the second stoppage did little
for Pakistan’s fragile confidence as they
lost five wickets for the addition of just
25 runs.
Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq top scored
with 56 off 86 balls — his fourth halfcentury in five matches at this World
Cup and the 42nd of his career — as
the 40-year-old went past 5,000 oneday international runs, although he still
awaits a first century.
Shahid Afridi added a brisk 22,
passing 8,000 ODI runs but Pakistan
were left kicking themselves after
squandering an impressive start which
had seen Sarfraz Ahmed mark his
first game of the tournament with 49
before he was run out and veteran
Younis Khan hit 37.
Sarfraz later claimed a recordequalling six catches behind the
stumps and was named man-of-thematch.
“I am very thankful to the world
and Pakistan for this opportunity,”
said Sarfraz who replaced
Nasir Jamshed at the
top of the order.
Pakistan’s Rahat Ali celebrates
dismissing South Africa’s
Francois du Plessis during their
World Cup match in Auckland
on Saturday. — Reuters
South Africa revive old doubts in defeat
3-40
Rahat Ali for
Pakistan against
South Africa.
AUCKLAND: South Africa failed to chase down an opposition total for the
second time in the cricket World Cup on Saturday to resurrect old doubts
about their ability under pressure. Captain AB de Villiers did his best to win
the Pool B game against Pakistan on his own as wickets fell at the other
end but his dismissal for 77 signalled the end of South Africa’s challenge.
Pakistan eventually won the match by 29 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis
method after South Africa collapsed to 202 all out from 33.3 overs. They
lost an earlier group game to India by 130 runs.
It was also the second match in a row at Eden Park to be dominated by
the bowlers after last weekend’s epic one wicket win by New Zealand over
co-hosts Australia.
— Reuters
Waqar sees spirit of 1992 in reborn Pakistan
AUCKLAND: Pakistan coach Waqar
Younis senses his team are developing
the same belief which propelled Imran
Khan’s “cornered tigers” to the World
Cup in 1992 after their thrilling victory
over South Africa.
Pakistan pulled off a sensational
29-run win on the Duckworth-Lewis
method after the match was reduced to
a 47-over-a-side contest due to rain at
Eden Park in Auckland.
Pakistan, whose innings were twice
interrupted by rain, were bowled out for
222 in 46.4 overs with skipper Misbahul-Haq hitting 56 and recalled wicketkeeper/batsman Sarfraz Ahmed scoring
a run-a-ball 49.
Pakistan’s left-arm pace trio of Rahat
Ali (3-40), Wahab Riaz (3-45) and
Mohammad Irfan (3-52) then bowled
with venom to bundle South Africa out
Pakistan’s coach Waqar Yuonis attends a
team training session ahead of their
Group B match against South Africa at
Eden Park in Auckland. — AFP
“This is my World Cup debut, but
Mushtaq Ahmed (one of the team’s
coaching staff) encouraged me and told
me to go out and enjoy myself.”
Fast bowler Dale Steyn led a
disciplined South Africa bowling
performance with three for 30 and also
held a brilliant,
flying catch
to get
rid of
for 202 in 33.3 overs.
AB de Villiers smashed an impressive
58-ball 77 with five sixes and seven
boundaries but his dismissal ninth man
down sealed a third win in a row for
Pakistan.
The victory gave Pakistan six points
from five matches and revived their
chances of a quarter-final place from
Pool B while South Africa are also on
six points from five games.
Waqar said the team is gaining the
same spirit of 1992 after defeats in their
first two matches.
“I hope it turns out to be the same,”
said Waqar of the 1992 triumph which
was also sealed in Australia and New
Zealand.
“The World Cup means pressure
games and in 1992 the team handled the
pressure very well.
— AFP
Ahmed Shehzad.
Fellow seamer Kyle Abbott took
two for 45 despite being expected to be
dropped to accommodate a returning
Vernon Philander.
When they batted, South Africa lost
out-of-form opener Quinton de Kock
for a second ball duck which followed
scores of 7, 7, 12 and 1.
But Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis
comfortably put on 67 for the second
wicket before Pakistan sensationally
lived up to South Africa coach Russell
Domingo’s pre-match assessment
of the 1992 champions’ “predictable
unpredictability”.
South Africa conclude their pool
programme against the UAE in
Wellington on Thursday, while Pakistan
face Ireland in Adelaide next Sunday,
the same day that the West Indies play
the UAE in Napier.
India’s four-wicket win against the
West Indies in Perth on Friday kept
the defending champions top of Pool B
with eight points from four victories in
four matches and assured them of one
of the quarter-final places.
Also in Pool B, Ireland were on
course for victory over
Zimbabwe in Hobart.
Ireland veteran
Ed Joyce made
Zimbabwe
pay
for dropping him
early in his innings
with a hundred while
Andrew Balbirnie struck
a quickfire 97 as the non-Test
side piled up 331 for eight at the
Bellerive Oval.
Left-hander Joyce’s 112, his third
SCOREBOARD
PAKISTAN
S Ahmed (run out) ................................... 49
A Shehzad c Steyn b Abbott ..................... 18
Y Khan c Rossouw b De Villiers ................ 37
Misbah c Morkel b Steyn ......................... 56
S Maqsood c Rossouw b Abbott................. 8
U Akmal c de Villiers b Morkel ................. 13
S Afridi c Duminy b Steyn ........................ 22
W Riaz lbw Tahir......................................... 0
S Khan c Duminy b Morkel ........................ 3
R Ali c Tahir b Steyn .................................... 1
M Irfan (not out) ........................................ 1
Extras: (LB-7, NB-1, W-6) ........................ 14
Total (all out, 46.4 overs) .............. 222
Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-92, 3-132, 4-156,
5-175, 6-212, 7-212, 8-218, 9-221.
Bowling: Steyn 10-3-30-3, Abbott 9-0-45-2,
Morkel 9.4-0-25-2, Tahir 9-1-38-1, De Villiers
6-0-43-1, Duminy 3-0-34-0.
SOUTH AFRICA
(Revised target 232 in 47 overs)
De Kock c Ahmed b Irfan............................ 0
H Amla c Ahmed b Riaz............................ 38
Du Plessis c Ahmed b Ali ......................... 27
R Rossouw c Khan b Riaz ........................... 6
De Villiers c Ahmed b Khan ..................... 77
D Miller lbw Ali .......................................... 0
Duminy c Riaz b Irfan............................... 12
D Steyn c Ahmed b Irfan .......................... 16
K Abbott c Younis b Ali ............................. 12
M Morkel (not out) .................................... 6
I Tahir c Ahmed b Riaz................................ 0
Extras (LB-1, W-7)8
Total (all out, 33.3 overs) .............. 202
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-67, 3-67, 4-74, 5-77,
6-102, 7-138, 8-172, 9-200.
Bowling: Irfan 8-0-52-3, Khan 5-0-36-1, Ali
8-1-40-3, Afridi 5-0-28-0, Riaz 7.3-0-45-3.
one-day international hundred in
49 matches, was the cornerstone of
Ireland’s total and he put on 138 for the
third wicket with Balbirnie.
The only sadness for Ireland came
when Balbirnie, deprived of the strike
late in his innings, was run out three
runs shy of what would have been a
maiden ODI hundred in the final over.
— AFP
We were stuck in second
gear, says de Villiers
‘I’m not blaming anyone.
I’m not saying anyone
didn’t have the energy. I just
didn’t feel any electric vibe
at the warm-up’
AUCKLAND: South Africa captain
AB de Villiers took responsibility for
the shock 29-run World Cup loss to
Pakistan on Saturday, blasting his
team for being stuck in “second or third
gear”.
Pakistan pulled off a hard-fought
triumph under the Duckworth-Lewis
method in a match shortened to
47-overs-a-side at Auckland’s Eden
Park.
Pakistan’s 222 in 46.4 overs,
interrupted by two delays for rain, was
boosted by 56 from skipper Misbahul-Haq while recalled opener Sarfraz
Ahmed chipped in with a brisk 49.
De Villiers fought a lone hand in
South Africa’s 202 in 33.3 overs with a
brilliant 58-ball 77 including five sixes
and seven boundaries.
But chasing a revised target of 232,
the Proteas were undone by Pakistan’s
South Africa’s AB de Villiers lines up a sweep shot watched by wicket-keeper
Sarfaraz Ahmed (left) of Pakistan during their Pool B match.
— Reuters
trio of left-arm seamers Rahat Ali (350), Wahab Riaz (3-45) and Mohammad
Irfan (3-45) who thwarted de Villiers’s
hopes of wrapping up a quarter-final
place before the last round of pool
games next week.
Both Pakistan and South Africa
now have six points from five matches,
behind Pool B leaders India who have a
perfect eight from four.
“I’m not blaming anyone. I’m not
saying anyone didn’t have the energy.
I just didn’t feel any electric vibe at the
warm-up,” said de Villiers.
— AFP
S U N DAY M A R C H 8 l 2 0 1 5
26
iN BRIEFS
AUSTRALIA &
NEW ZEALAND
FEBRUARY 14 TO MARCH 29
Ireland hold nerve to edge past Zimbabwe
GRITTY IRISH: The see-saw match turned back the non-Test nation’s way when Williams was given out wrongly
Clarke puts his
spin on SCG pitch
for Sri Lanka
Sydney: Michael Clarke expects spin
to play a role in Australia’s World Cup
showdown with Sri Lanka on a dry
Sydney Cricket Ground pitch on Sunday.
The 1996 champions, Sri Lanka lead
the four-time champion Aussies by one
point in the Pool A standings and a
win would likely leave them second in
the group behind current leaders New
Zealand.
But a defeat for either nation would
increase the possibility of finishing
third in the group and thereby the
chances of encountering South Africa
in the quarterfinals. The SCG is Australia
captain Clarke’s home ground and
he believes Sunday’s pitch will play
differently to the one on which South
Africa smashed 408 for five against the
West Indies on February 27.
— AFP
Pocket dynamo
Mushfiqur key to
Bangladesh
Sydney: Mushfiqur Rahim may not
be in the same league as the leading
stumper-batsmen at the World Cup
such as Brendon McCullum and
Kumar Sangakkara but the diminutive
Bangladesh glovesman has proved he is
no less crucial to his team’s progress.
New Zealand’s success depends
to some extent on the kind of start
McCullum provides while Sangakkara’s
role for Sri Lanka is more nuanced, a
combination of protector and punisher
who must rescue as well as rampage
according to match situations.
The 167 runs Mushfiqur scored from
three innings with a 121-plus strike rate
to establish himself as Bangladesh’s
top scorer in the tournament suggests
the 26-year-old is equally central to his
team’s fortunes.
— AFP
Pietersen receives
county offers to
boost England
hopes
LONDON: Former England captain
Kevin Pietersen has received “a few”
offers from English county sides as
he bids to return to the test team, the
34-year-old said.
Incoming ECB chairman Colin
Graves refused last week to rule out
a return to the England set-up for the
controversial Pietersen but said the
South African-born batsman would
need to score runs at county level to
help his cause.
Pietersen said he was excited by
the development but would need to
weigh up his options.
Leicestershire have tabled a bid for
Pietersen to play Twenty20 matches
for them this year and other counties
have expressed their interest,
according to the player. — Reuters
Hobart, Australia: Ireland just did
enough to see off Zimbabwe by five runs
in a thrilling World Cup clash in Hobart
on Saturday that kept them on course for
the quarterfinals.
Zimbabwe chasing a huge 332 to win,
were all but beaten at 74 for four after a
top-order collapse. But stand-in captain
Brendan Taylor’s superb 121 and a fifthwicket stand of 149 with Sean Williams
(96) gave Zimbabwe hope.
However, a see-saw match turned
back the non-Test nation’s way when
Williams was given out caught right on
the boundary by John Mooney.
There was a suggestion that
Mooney may have touched the rope in
completing the catch, which would have
been a six to Zimbabwe.
But while the umpires’ review was in
progress, Williams — whose runs came
SCOREBOARD
Ireland
W Porterfield c Masakadza b Williams .........29
P Stirling c Williams b Panyangara ...............10
E Joyce c Ervine b Chatara ..........................112
A Balbirnie (run out) .....................................97
K O’Brien c Chakabva b Chatara ...................24
G Wilson c Chakabva b Williams ..................25
J Mooney b Williams ....................................10
N O’Brien c Panyangara b Chatara ..................2
G Dockrell (not out) ........................................5
A Cusack (not out) ...........................................2
Extras (LB-4, W-8, NB-3)...............................15
Total (for 8 wkts, 50 overs) ................ 331
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-79, 3-217, 4-276,
5-308, 6-319, 7-322, 8-326.
Bowling: Panyangara 9-0-69-1, Chatara 100-61-3, Mupariwa 10-0-56-0, Raza 9-0-51-0,
Williams 9-0-72-3, Masakadza 3-0-18-0.
Zimbabwe
C Chibhabha c Porterfield b Cusack..............18
S Raza c Stirling b Mooney ...........................12
S Mire c Cusack b Dockrell ............................11
H Masakadza c Wilson b K O’Brien .................5
B Taylor c K O’Brien b Cusack ......................121
S Williams c Mooney b K O’Brien .................96
C Ervine c N O’Brien b McBrine ....................11
R Chakabva b Cusack ....................................17
T Panyangara c Porterfield b Mooney .............5
T Mupawira c Porterfield b Cusack ................18
T Chatara (not out)1
Extras (LB-8, W-2, NB-1) ................................11
Total (all out, 49.3 overs) .................. 326
Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-32, 3-41, 4-74, 5-223,
6-259, 7-300, 8-305, 9-325.
Bowling: Cusack 9.3-2-32-4, Mooney 10-058-2, K O’Brien 10-0-90-2, Dockrell 10-0-56-1,
McBrine 8-0-56-1, Stirling 2-0-26-0.
Ireland cricketers celebrate after winning at the Bellerive Oval ground during the Pool B match against Zimbabwe in Hobart.
from 83 balls with seven fours and two
sixes — walked off the field, effectively
making the decision for the officials and
Zimbabwe were 300 for seven.
Big-hitting from tailender Tawanda
Mupawira got the target down to seven
off the last six balls with two wickets
standing.
However, seamer Alex Cusack had
Regis Chakabva playing on with the first
ball of the 50th over and, two deliveries
later, Mupawira holed out to Ireland
captain William Porterfield in the deep
as the Irish won with three balls to spare.
Cusack finished with fine figures of
four for 32 in 9.3 overs as Zimbabwe,
who tied a World Cup match with
Ireland in 2007, saw their bid for a last
eight place come to a dramatic end.
Victory left Ireland as one of three
teams in Pool B on six points behind
already qualified leaders India, the
defending champions.
Earlier, Ireland veteran Ed Joyce’s 112
was the centrepiece of an imposing total
of 331 for eight.
Joyce made Zimbabwe pay for
dropping him early in his innings by
going on to 112 while Andrew Balbirnie
struck a quickfire 97 after Ireland lost
the toss. The pair put on 138 for the third
wicket at Bellerive.
Taylor, leading the side in place of
the injured Elton Chigumbura, opted
to bowl first in overcast conditions after
winning the toss.
Zimbabwe had an early success
when Paul Stirling (10) guided Tinashe
Panyangara to Williams at backward
point.
Weary Afghans look to bounce
back against New Zealand
Napier, New Zealand: Afghanistan put
a brave spin on their arduous World
Cup travel schedule on Saturday as
they prepared to “come back strongly”
against unbeaten New Zealand in
Napier.
As if playing the tournament top dogs
was not tough enough, Afghanistan face
New Zealand after their second transTasman crossing in a week.
“It’s true to say that we’re a bit weary.
We’re trying to put a positive spin on it,”
said coach Andy Moles whose side are
estimated to have travelled 15,000 km
on their World Cup odyssey over the
last three weeks.
After playing Scotland in the
southern New Zealand city of Dunedin
late last week, the tournament minnows
flew to Perth on the west coast of
Australia to play the Australians before
returning to Napier in the North Island
of New Zealand for Sunday’s game.
Afghanistan have already provided
one of the highlights of the World Cup
by celebrating their inaugural entry
into cricket’s most prestigious ODI
tournament with a one-wicket victory
over Scotland.
Moles said to secure a win and to
face top-tier World Cup regulars such
as Australia and New Zealand can only
benefit Afghanistan and far outweighs
the difficulties with their travel itinerary
“It’s not ideal, but we’re not going
to use it in any way as an excuse,”
Moles said. “One thing about these
Afghans, they’re very passionate and
proud people and they’re fighters. Their
history back at home shows that they’re
full of fight.
“They want to make sure in every
fixture we play, we want to compete. It
didn’t happen in Australia. We know
Joyce should have been out when,
on 34, he saw Mupariwa drop a skyed
caught and bowled chance.
The left-hander came out of his shell
and went on to a 96-ball hundred with
eight fours and two sixes.
He was dropped again, on 105, by
Craig Ervine before the same fielder
held an easy chance at short midwicket
to dismiss him.
Meanwhile Balbirnie, who gave a
tough caught and bowled chance to
Williams early on, scored his second
successive fifty following his gutsy 58 in
the 201-run thrashing by South Africa.
He faced just 79 balls, with seven
fours and four sixes, before falling
agonisingly short of what would have
been a maiden ODI century when run
out in the final over of Ireland’s innings.
— AFP
Zimbabwe were left needing to set
a new record score by a team batting
second to win a World Cup match,
surpassing Ireland’s 329 for seven against
England in Bangalore four years ago.
However, their top-order failed
to make an impact before Taylor and
Williams repaired the early damage.
Taylor was especially impressive
with a 79-ball hundred — the fastest by
a Zimbabwe batsman — including 10
fours and two sixes.
It was Zimbabwe’s first century of this
World Cup and the 29-year-old Taylor’s
seventh in 166 ODIs.
Taylor struck two sixes in one over
from left-arm spinner George Dockrell
before he was deceived by Cusack’s
slower ball and skyed a catch to Kevin
O’Brien.
— AFP
WORLD CUP STANDINGS
STANDINGS (PLAYED, WON, LOST, TIED, N/R, POINTS, RUN RATE)
POOL A
POOL B
New Zealand 4 4 0 0 0 8 +3.589 India
(qualified)
(qualified)
Sri Lanka
4 3 1 0 0 6 +0.128 South Africa
Australia
4 2 1 0 1 5 +1.804 Pakistan
Bangladesh 4 2 1 0 1 5 +1.182 Ireland
England
4 1 3 0 0 2 -1.201
West Indies
Afghanistan 4 1 3 0 0 2 -1.953
Zimbabwe
Scotland
4 0 4 0 0 0 -1.423
UAE
NOTE: Top four in each group qualify for quarterfinals
4
4 0 0
0
8 +2.246
5
5
4
5
5
4
3
3
3
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
6
6
4
2
0
2
2
1
3
4
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
+1.462
-0.194
-0.820
-0.511
-0.595
-1.691
Sri Lanka peaking at the
right time, says Mathews
The Afghanistan team take a drinks break during the Pool A match against Australia
in Perth.
— AFP
‘One thing about these
Afghans, they’re very passionate and proud people
and they’re fighters. Their
history back at home shows
that they’re full of fight’ .
we’re in for a very tough examination
again (against New Zealand).
“But as a group of both coaching staff
and individuals, we’re looking forward
to showing what qualities we do have in
the team.”
Their maiden World Cup outing
was a loss to Bangladesh by 105 runs
followed by a four-wicket defeat by Sri
Lanka, the win over Scotland and then a
thrashing by Australia who made 417-6
and bowled Afghanistan out for 142.
Afghanistan wicketkeeper Afsar
Zazai referred to the Australia loss as
“a bad day” but said they would “come
back strongly against New Zealand.”
Moles described the hiding in Perth
as “an experience that was a bit brutal”,
and said it highlighted the need for
emerging nations to be provided games
against top teams outside World Cups
“It becomes a common theme here
from all the Associates. When you
come across these type of players once
every four years, it’s difficult. “The guys
have got to face 150 km/h-plus bowlers
on probably the quickest bouncers’
wicket in the world. It’s totally alien to
them.”
Moles said to have a win in their first
World Cup was “a huge positive” and he
was impressed with how Hamid Hassan
and Samiullah Shenwari had measured
up.
Hassan took one for 32 off 10 against
Scotland and three for 45 against Sri
Lanka while Shenwari has scores of 42,
96, 38 and 17 from his four innings so
far.
— Reuters
SYDNEY: Sri Lanka are slowly coming
to the boil at the World Cup after a poor
warm-up tour of New Zealand and
are aiming to peak for the knockout
stages, skipper Angelo Mathews said on
Saturday.
Three victories in their first four
matches, including a nine-wicket
thumping of England last time out,
mean the Sri Lankans will approach
Sunday’s crunch Pool A match against
co-hosts Australia full of confidence.
That was not the case at the start of
the campaign when, having lost a sevenmatch series against New Zealand 4-2,
they were beaten by 98 runs by the cohosts in the tournament opener.
“Coming into the World Cup, no
one really gave us a chance, we had a
pretty poor series against New Zealand
and we weren’t playing good cricket,”
Mathews told a news conference at the
Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
“We are picking ourselves up and I
think we are peaking at the right time.
It’s going to be an even contest, from
the quarterfinals onwards, whoever
plays the best cricket will go on to win
the World Cup.” Sunday’s match is
considered a crunch encounter because
it is likely to determine which of the two
teams finishes second in Pool A behind
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews
catches the ball as the team trains
ahead of their Group A match against
Australia, in Sydney. — AFP
New Zealand and avoids India or South
Africa in the quarterfinals. Although Sri
Lanka have not beaten Australia in five
attempts at a World Cup since the 1996
final, they have won four of their last six
matches against them at the SCG.
“Recently when we’ve played against
Australia, we beat them in England
and we beat them here, so we have the
capacity, we have the skill, it’s just they
are a very hard team to beat,” he said.
“But we’ve just got to flush out the
past and go out an enjoy ourselves
tomorrow.” With leg-spin bowling
always traditionally a factor at the
SCG, Mathews said Seekkuge Prasanna
could be drafted straight into the team
a day after being approved as an injury
replacement.
— Reuters
SPORT
S U N DAY
MARCH 8l 2015
omandailyobserver
27
BIG GUNS FIRE: World number one Djokovic dispatched Mate Delic and Troicki beat Cornic to give Serbia 2-0 lead against Croatia
Djokovic, Murray on the mark in Davis Cup ties
Paris: Serbia’s world number one
Novak Djokovic and Great Britain’s
Andy Murray breezed to comfortable
wins as Davis Cup World Group first
round action began in dramatic style on
Friday.
Djokovic dispatched Mate Delic
in three sets and Viktor Troicki came
through in five against Borna Coric
to put 2010 champions Serbia 2-0
up against a Croatia team struggling
without US Open champion Marin
Cilic.
“Mate is a talented player with a
lot of potential to reach the top in the
tennis world, but I’m happy with my
performance and that I managed to
win,” Djokovic said.
Murray, like Djokovic, opened for
the British against the United States
in Glasgow, the world number five
dominating Donald Young 6-1, 6-1, 4-6,
6-2.
WARD IN THRILLER
The packed house in Murray’s
hometown were treated to some
gripping Davis Cup theatre as James
Ward pulled off a thrilling 6-7 (4/7), 5-7,
6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 15-13 win over John Isner
to make it 2-0 to the hosts.
Ward, ranked 111 in the world,
looked destined for defeat as he lost
the first two sets against the big-serving
Isner.
Isner, the man who triumphed in
the longest tennis match in history at
Wimbledon in 2010, saved five match
points in an epic final set, but Ward
eventually prevailed after the world
number 20 hit a backhand into the net.
After four hours and 57 minutes of
action, Ward said: “That was by far the
best atmosphere I’ve experienced in the
Davis Cup.
“I’d prefer not to play these five-set
matches but the crowd were incredible
and really helped me through.”
Over in Liege, Switzerland, missing
big guns Roger Federer and Stan
Wawrinka, were all square 1-1 with
Belgium.
Unheralded Henri Laaksonen gave
the defending champions the perfect
start with a surprise 1-6, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4,
6-0, 6-2 defeat of Ruben Bemelmans.
Steve Darcis then got the Belgians up
and running with a one-sided win over
Michael Lammer.
The winner of that tie will face either
Canada or Japan, who were all square at
1-1 after wins for Milos Raonic and Kei
Nishikori in Vancouver.
Canadian number one Raonic,
ranked sixth in the world, got the hosts
off to a smooth start with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-2
victory over 85th-ranked Tatsuma Ito.
Raonic fired 17 aces and never faced
a break point.
Nishikori, the 2014 US Open runnerup, ranked fourth in the world, found
the going a bit tougher against Vasek
Pospisil, but leveled the tie with a 6-4,
7-6 (7/5), 6-3 win in two hours and 19
minutes.
The split sets the stage for a key
showdown between Raonic and
Nishikori in Sunday’s reverse singles.
Beaten 2014 finalists France were
fully in control of their clash with
Germany after wins for Gilles Simon and
Gael Monfils over Jan-Lennard Struff
and Philipp Kohlschreiber respectively.
KOKKINAKIS SHOCKS ROSOL
Australia were in a similarly
Serbia’s tennis players Novak Djokovic (left) and Nenad Zimonjic compete against Croatia’s Marin Draganja and Franko Skugor during their Davis Cup World Group first
round match in Kraljev. — AFP
comfortable position in Ostrava against
the Czech Republic.
Teenager
Thanasi
Kokkinakis
stunned the Czech’s top player Lukas
Rosol 4-6, 2-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-3, with but I felt good. I’m so happy with that added.
In Almaty, Kazakhstan and Italy were
Bernard Tomic then seeing off Jiri Vesely win,” said Kokkinakis.
6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5). “I hung in there, kept
“When my back’s against the wall I level at 1-1, as were Argentina and Brazil
digging. I was a break down in the fifth usually can find a way to get it done,” he in Buenos Aires.
— AFP
Rodgers wants silver finish to Liverpool surge
LONDON: Liverpool manager Brendan
Rodgers has challenged his players to
turn their scintillating current form
into silverware ahead of Sunday’s FA
Cup quarterfinal at home to second-tier
Blackburn Rovers.
After a poor start to the campaign,
Liverpool have rediscovered their
swagger in 2015, winning seven of
their last eight Premier League games
to revitalise their push for Champions
League qualification.
Only Wolfsburg, who have taken
16 points from a possible 18, can rival
Liverpool’s return of 23 points from a
possible 27 since the turn of the year
in Europe’s top five leagues and with a
Wembley semi-final within touching
distance, Rodgers wants his side to
make their form count. “The first year
here was about integration,” he told
his pre-match press conference. “The
second-year objective was to get in the
Champions League. This season I felt we
had the depth to challenge for trophies.
“If we can arrive in the top four and
win a trophy, that will be success for us
this season.”
Rodgers has yet to lift a trophy in
his two and a half years at Anfield and
it is three years since Liverpool last won
something. They visited Wembley twice
in the space of three months in 2012,
beating Cardiff City on penalties in the
League Cup final and then losing 2-1 to
Chelsea in the FA Cup final.
Rodgers succeeded Kenny Dalglish
less than a month after that loss to
Chelsea and having steered Liverpool
to the brink of last season’s league title,
his shrewd mid-season adjustments —
notably the introduction of a 3-4-2-1
formation — have got the club back on
‘The second year objective
was to get in the Champions
League. This season I felt we
had the depth to challenge
for trophies. If we can arrive
in the top four and win a
trophy, that will be success
for us this season’
FA CUP
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers and Daniel Sturridge as he is substituted.
— Reuters
the trophy trail.
With Chelsea, Manchester City and
Tottenham Hotspur among the teams to
have fallen by the wayside already and
with only one of Manchester United and
Arsenal guaranteed to make the semifinals, Liverpool’s fans could be forgiven
for thinking the stars are aligning for
their team. Underpinning the club’s
quest for an eighth FA Cup is the desire
to give Steven Gerrard a glorious sendoff in the final, which falls on his 35th
birthday, before his departure for the
Los Angeles Galaxy.
‘DAVID VERSUS GOLIATH’
The Liverpool captain has missed
Liverpool’s last six games with a
hamstring problem, but returned to
training this week and could be in
contention to feature against Gary
Bowyer’s Blackburn.
Liverpool are unbeaten at Anfield
since November 8 and Blackburn have
not won there in 11 visits, but it is a
ground that holds fond memories for
the Lancashire club, who are currently
10th in the Championship.
It was there, in May 1995, that a team
bankrolled by late former owner Jack
Walker pipped Manchester United to
the Premier League title despite a nervejangling 2-1 loss to Liverpool on the
season’s final day.
Five years later, on their last visit to
Anfield in the FA Cup, Blackburn pulled
off a shock 1-0 win courtesy of a coolly
taken late goal by Welsh striker Nathan
Blake.
Blackburn have already seen off two
Premier League sides in this season’s
competition — Swansea City and
Stoke City — and Bowyer is relishing
the prospect of pitting himself against
Liverpool.
“It’s David versus Goliath,” said the
Blackburn manager. “Nobody’s giving us
a chance outside of our dressing room.
“I think they’re the most impressive
team in the Premier League at the
moment and the football that they’re
playing is fantastic. Obviously full credit
to the manager for the way he changed
his formation.
“We’ve studied the videos, we’ve
come up with a game plan, and we’ve
worked with the players on it. We’ll go
and take the challenge to Liverpool.”
Blackburn’s hopes of an upset have
been beset by injuries, however. Josh
King, who scored a hat-trick against
Stoke, is sidelined along with Shane
Duffy, Jason Lowe, Alex Baptiste and
Grant Hanley.
— AFP
SPANISH
LEAGUE
La Liga demands
pooling of TV rights
MADRID: Spanish football authorities
on Friday demanded the government
enforce centralised bidding for
broadcast rights for first and second
division matches to defend smaller
clubs against their richer top-league
rivals.
To stop the top two Spanish clubs,
Real Madrid and Barcelona, sucking
in all the money from broadcasting
contracts, they want broadcasters to
be obliged to bid collectively rather
than striking deals with each club
individually.
A joint commission of Spain’s
Professional Football League and
the Royal Football Federation called
in a statement for “a model for the
centralised sale and fair distribution of
broadcast rights of the Liga and second
division, and solidarity with amateur
football”.
It called on Prime Minister Mariano
Rajoy’s
conservative
government
to approve legislation to that effect
“urgently”.
European leagues were alarmed last
month when a bidding war for rights to
English Premier League matches drove
up the price by 70 per cent, with two
broadcasters paying the equivalent of
7.0 billion euros ($7.7 billion) between
them.
Leagues in other European countries
fear that a disproportionate flow of cash
to the Premier will lead to the best
players from their clubs abandoning
‘We trust that Spanish
government leaders will
be able to realise that
this is very important
so that Spanish football
can continue being
competitive’
them for England.
“We trust that Spanish government
leaders will be able to realise that this is
very important so that Spanish football
can continue being competitive,” said
the president of Spain’s Professional
Football League, Javier Tebas, on
Thursday.
Spanish clubs currently negotiate
the rights to their matches individually
with broadcasters, giving an advantage
to Real Madrid and Barcelona, the two
most successful Spanish sides and the
best-known worldwide.
Barcelona for example last month
sold the broadcast rights to its matches
next season to Spanish company
Telefonica for 140 million euros,
according to media reports.
The commission wants clubs to be
obliged to cede the rights to the League
for it to negotiate with broadcasters on
their behalf.
— AFP
Wembley should be saved for FA Cup final: Rodgers
LONDON: Liverpool are just one game
away from playing at Wembley Stadium
in the FA Cup — but their manager
Brendan Rodgers rather wishes they
were not.
If Liverpool beat Blackburn Rovers in
their quarter-final on Sunday, they will
travel to London to play the semi-final at
English football’s most famous stadium
but Rodgers believes only the final
should be at the home of the national
game.
“In many ways I wish semi-finals
weren’t at Wembley as I think it takes
something away from it. Wembley
should be just for the final,” said Rodgers
at a news conference on Friday.
It is a sentiment which will gain much
sympathy from English football fans
who believe that the decision to hold the
Cup semis at Wembley every year since
2008 after the new stadium was opened
has only served to remove some of the
gloss from the old showpiece feel of the
final.
Still, even if he would prefer the
semi-final to be held elsewhere, Rodgers
is confident that his thriving side are
playing well enough not just to turn over
second tier side Blackburn at Anfield but
to go on to earn him his first trophy as
Liverpool boss.
“The first year here was about
‘If we can arrive in the
top four and win a trophy
that will be success for us
this season’
integration, the second year objective
was to get in the Champions League,
and this season I felt we had depth to
challenge for trophies,” said Rodgers,
who has overseen a dramatic Liverpool
surge since the New Year.
“If we can arrive in the top four and
win a trophy that will be success for us
this season.”
Rodgers said the fitness of captain
Steven Gerrard, who has been sidelined
with a hamstring problem, would be
assessed before Sunday’s tie.
If he does not play, the in-form
Jordan Henderson will continue with
the captain’s armband, but Rodgers was
keen to put a halt to any comparisons
between the pair.
“There is no comparison,” said
Rodgers. “People should stop trying
to put pressure on a young player like
Jordan.
“Just because Jordan takes corners
doesn’t mean he’s the next Steven
Gerrard. Just because he shoots from
outside box, doesn’t mean he’s the next
Steven Gerrard.”
— Reuters
28
SPORT
omandailyobserver
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
HSBC CHAMPIONS: Park produced a third bogey-free round of the week as she fired a four-under-par 68 for a 13-under-203 total
Perfect Park in pole position but Ko and Lewis lurk
SINGAPORE: The top three players
in women’s golf will square off for the
HSBC Champions title on Sunday with
South Korean Park In-Bee holding a
two-shot advantage over world number
one Lydia Ko and American Stacy Lewis.
Five-times major winner Park put
herself in prime position to claim one of
the few titles missing from her glittering
resume by producing a third bogey-free
round of the week as she fired a fourunder-par 68 on Saturday for a 13-under
203 total. New Zealand teen Ko and
world number three Lewis were tied at
11-under after both made the most of
slightly cooler temperatures in steamy
Singapore to fire 67s. Spaniard Carlota
Ciganda, who shared the overnight
lead with Park, slipped down into a tie
for eighth after a two-over 74 left her
at seven-under for the $1.4 million
championship.
Her compatriot Azahara Munoz (70)
and Scandinavians Suzann Pettersen
(68) and Anna Nordqvist (68) were tied
fourth at nine-under but they appear
to be too far back to mount a challenge
against the smooth-swinging Park.
The tricky Serapong Course on
Sentosa Island has tripped up many but
the South Korean has negotiated her
way around 54 bogey free holes in an
exemplary display.
“I hit a lot of shots really close and
probably could have made a couple two,
three more. Hopefully my putter works
tomorrow,” the Korean said.
She opened Saturday’s third round
with five straight pars before picking up
two consecutive birdies at the par-four
sixth and the generous par-five seventh
to move ahead of the big-hitting Ciganda.
But while Park continued to churn out
the solid pars, the Spaniard wilted with
four bogey fives in seven holes from the
10th to fall away.
The 17-year-old Ko, who became
golf ’s youngest world number one when
she surpassed Park in the rankings
in January, matched the Korean’s
consistency with two birdies on the
front nine before two more at the start
of her back nine. Ko, looking for her
third consecutive tournament win after
successes in Australia and at home in
New Zealand, closed out her round with
another at 18 to boost her chances.
“That would be a dream three weeks,
but I’m just going to try my best,” she
said.
Lewis, who topped the world rankings
last year, also birdied the par five 18th —
one of six birdies in her round with three
coming in the last four holes.
The 2014 LPGA Player of the Year
was buzzing at the prospect of being in
the final three-ball on Sunday.
“It will be great fun,” she told
reporters. “It’s great for the fans and for
our Tour. This leaderboard all week has
been unbelievable.
“Just a ton of really good players up in
the mix, and you know, this golf course,
we have got to be careful.”
— Reuters
Lydia Ko
Barwani claims under-18 tennis spoils
MUSCAT: InterContinental Muscat
has successfully completed in hosting
its 30th Open Tennis Tournament
for the year 2015. Organised by Peter
Burwash International the largest
tennis management organisation in
the world which coincided with its
40th anniversary since the inception
in the year 1975. The event attracted
more than 50 top juniors from different
nationalities fighting for top honours.
The tournament is one of the
important stops for the Junior Circuit in
the country. The category include Boys/
Girls U-10 which was won by Vatsal
from India beating Isa al Suleimani from
Oman in a well fought 9 game Pro set.
The scoreline would read 9-5 in favour
of Vatsal. The other category in the Boys
section is U-12. Muneer al Rawahi the
talented young boy from Oman once
again defended his title by beating
upcoming and gritty Sanskar Dubey of
India with a scoreline 6-1, 6-4. Muneer
has played many finals and have had
success and once again his experience in
key moments of the second set saw him
nudging ahead to win yet another title.
In the Girls U-12, Nao Nishino
of Japan who was awarded the most
promising player in the last year edition,
went ahead in winning comfortably her
title by beating Lula al Riyami of Oman
with 9 game Pro set format with the
score 9-1. In the Girls U-14, Aisha al
Suleimani of Oman who was not only
awarded this year’s most promising
player put away the challenge of Nao
Nishino of Japan with the comfortable
win 6-2, 6-3.
Coming back to the Boys U-14
LOCAL TENNIS
Prize winners of the 30th Open tennis tournament.
category once again the two top juniors
of the country fought in an exciting first
set. Tim Ratherford of UK fully used
his built to overcome the challenge of
Muneer al Rawahi of Oman in straight
sets with the scoreline of 7-5, 6-0. In
the first set Muneer was up a break
and was leading 5-3 but his mental
block and Tim’s experience in handling
key moments saw him break back and
leveling at 5-5 before he stepped on to
his next level in exhibiting his skills to
win the first set 7-5. Muneer then “threw
in his towel” and did not offer much
fight and to the better opponent on the
day in the second set.
The match of the tournament in no
uncertain terms was the Boys U-18
finals between Abdullah al Barwani the
top seed and the defending champion
up and against gain killer in Tim
Ratherford of UK, who upset Younis al
Rawahi of Oman (the second seed) in
the semi-finals.
The match started on expected note
of abudullah notching ahead with one
break of serve in the first set by winning
6-3. However, in the second set, Tim
took advantage of Abdullah’s lack in
concentration and few unforced errors
took an early service break to win the
second set 6-3. Just when the crowd
started to feel the grip of the match with
quality stroke play and long baseline
rallies the third set begun. Going with
serves until 6-6 games all. Tremendous
court craft exhibited by both the players
until this stage. In the tiebreaker too
hardly any point differentiated until 5
-5, when Tim had a dizzy feeling and
took an injury time out. The match was
already in Abdullah’s hand and went
to defend his title by winning 6-3, 3-6,
7-6 (tie break score of 7-5). Much to the
appreciation of the crowd the players did
get a rousing applause and a standing
ovation.
The most promising player in the
“Boys” category went to Vivek Kollaru
of India.
This year the event is sponsored by
Towell Engineering and their founder,
CEO and MD, Balaji Srinivasan, Raja
Raman Kannan GM commercial and
legal of TE, Krishnan Balaji GM Towell
Drilling and P S Sudheer Financial
Controller TE and Said al Muskery
Sports and Recreation Manager Hotel
Intercontinental Muscat gave away the
prizes. Towell Engineering has been the
main sponsor for the last 7 years. The
support sponsor was National Bank of
Oman (NBO)
Karthikeyan Rajamani PBI Tennis
Director read the thank you note to
deeply appreciate the role of sponsors
who have helped make this year’s
event a great event. He also extended
his gratitude to the management of
Intercontinental for their support and
all the players, parents and back ground
staff without them this event would not
be possible.
Easier to beat Blatter with one: Praag
AMSTERDAM:
Dutch
Football
Association President Michael van
Praag believes he and former Portugal
international Luis Figo have no chance
of unseating Sepp Blatter in the Fifa
leadership elections if they both stand
against the Swiss.
“That’s what I think and (UEFA
president) Michel Platini too,” Van
Praag was quoted as saying by Dutch
newspaper De Telegraaf on Saturday.
“What Figo thinks about that I don’t
know but it would be much better for
Europe if we presented one candidate.”
Predictably, Van Praag said he was
the better option.
“Figo is more photogenic. All the
South American member association
presidents wanted to take their photo
with him. But they didn’t want to
say if they would vote for him,” the
Dutchman said on his return from the
CONMEBOL Congress in Paraguay
this week.
Both were lobbying for support for
the election at the end of May, where
they are up against Blatter and Jordan’s
Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, another ally
of Platini.
Van Praag and former Barcelona
and Real Madrid winger Figo share
similar ideas on how to reform the
world governing body but they do
differ slightly on how to allocate the
annual grant to the 209 member
associations, the Dutchman said.
“I want to hand over one million
Euros ($1.08 million) (annually) but
Figo wants to double that. That would
bankrupt Fifa. A million is the most
that can be disbursed without putting
Fifa in danger.”
Van Praag kept up his criticism of
the spendthrift ways of Blatter, who
travelled by helicopter for lunch with
Paraguay President Horacio Cartes
after the congress in Asuncion.
“Why did Sepp Blatter have to travel
to South America in a private jet when
there are good air connections between
Europe and South America?
“There is far too much spent on
travel, salaries and tournament costs.
It is our money. The money of the
national associations. That’s what I’ve
been telling everybody.”
Van Praag said two of the 10 South
American associations had promised
him support in the May 29 election.
However, a source said on Tuesday
the confederation would back the
78-year-old Blatter, who has held
power since 1998, for another four year
term.
Van Praag said he would travel
to other continental confederation
congresses in coming weeks to present
his ideas.
— Reuters
LOCAL
CRICKET
Sarco in contention
for semi-final berth
MUSCAT: In an Enhance sponsored
‘E’ Division T20 match played in the
morning session during the week end
at the Ministry Ground No 1 at Al
Amerat, SARCO stayed in contention
for top honours when they recorded
a massive 5 wicket win against Oman
Engineering.
Winning the toss and deciding to
bat a 10-man, Oman Engineering were
bowled out for 133 off 19.1 overs with
valuable contributions coming from
No 3 batsman Qamar Nazir 47 (36b)
and opening batsman Irteza Ahmed
30 (16b). Jeethesh Shridhara picked up
4 wickets conceding 25 runs.
SARCO in reply got to their target
scoring 136 for the loss of 5 wickets off
14.4 overs.
142 for the loss of 9 wickets at the
end of 20 overs. RAY playing with 10
men in their turn got to their target
scoring 146 for 5 wickets off 18.3
overs, Ragunath M top scored with
an unbeaten 61 (47b, 9x4).
lt to SARCO: 136/5 off 14.4 overs (Tosim Khan 27,
Mohammed Saeed Khan 24 n.o.; Muhammed
Raza 3-24)
Points: SARCO: 2 points (6 Games – 10 points) and
Oman Engineering: 0 (6 Games – 7 Points)
Brief scores:RAHRC: 198/6 off 20 overs (Sunil
Kumar 116, Madan Nivrutti 56) bt Bank Sohar:
146 all out off 18.4 overs (Rashid Mohammed 31,
Suren S 25 n.o.; Manoj V 2-14, Jassim Hassan 2-14,
Rajesh Arumugam 2-20)
Points: RAHRC: 2 points (8 Games – 7 points) and
Bank Sohar: 0 (8 Games – 8 points)
Brief scores:RK Group: 142/9 off 20 overs
(Abhishek Kalla 29, Satish Sitaram 27, Vishal
Bhupendra 24; Sugesh Ragavan 3-15, Vinu
Narayanan Nair 3-25) lt to RAY: 146/5 off 18.3 overs
(Ragunath M 61 n.o., Mifas Mohammed 36 n.o.;
Abhishek Kalla 2-29)
Points: RAY: 2 points (7 Games – 2 points) and RK
Group: 0 (8 Games – 6 points).
KUMAR SLAMS TON
Sunil Kumar opening the batting
slammed a brilliant 116 (62b, 3x6 and
13x4) to steer RAHRC to a 52 run win
against Bank Sohar. The ‘I’ Division
T20 match was played in the afternoon
Brief scores: Oman Engineering: 133 all out session at the adjacent ground No 4 at
off 19.1 overs (Qamar Nazir 47, Irteza Ahmed 30;
Jeethesh Shridhara 4-25, Shakkir Puzhakkal 2-31) Al Amerat.
KHALSA UNITED WIN
In the afternoon at the same venue
in an Oman Cricket organised ‘J’
Division T20 match Khalsa United
thumped Starcare Hospital by a
margin of 57 runs to spoil the team’s
chances for top honours.
Brief scores:Khalsa United: 187/5 off 20 overs
(Sushil Kadam 60, Prashant Barua 50, Arvind Singh
47) bt Starcare Hospital: 130 all out off 17.3 overs
(Jestin Augustin 33, Joshy Benedict 25; Harminder
Singh 4-20, Mohammed Yasar 2-11)
Points: Khalsa United: 2 points (8 Games – 9
points) and Starcare Hospital: 0 (8 Games – 12
Points).
LANDSCAPE TRIUMPH
In another Enhance sponsored
‘E’ Division T20 match played in
the morning at the Municipality
Ground No 3 at Al Amerat, Landscape
Architecture trounced Ibrahim al
Kishri by 68 runs.
Brief scores:Landscape Architecture: 216/6 off 20
overs (Muhammad Mudassar 78, Prasad Peruli 72,
Sajeev Sathanandam 31, Honoz Iqbal Ahmed 25;
Anshul Jangid 3-17) bt Ibrahim al Kishri: 148/8 off
20 overs (Mohammed Shakil 31, Naqeeb Khan 27
n.o.; Vishal Vinod Soni 24, Wasif Bakkar 24; Laiju
Jose 3-6, Muhammed Mudassar 2-27)
Points: Landscape Architecture: 2 points (6 Games
– 8 points) and Ibrahim al Kishri: 0 (6 Games – 2
points).
RUKUN AL YAQEEN SCORE
Rukun Al Yaqeen (RAY) defeated
R K Group by 5 wickets in an ‘H’
Division T20 match played in the
afternoon session at the same venue.
Batting first R K Group scored
LALCHETA STARS FOR AL TURKI
Man of the Match Ajay Lalcheta
with luring bowling figures of 7 for 12
off 5.4 overs including 3 maiden overs
and a hat trick helped Al Turki NMC
record an easy 79 run win against the
National Youth Development Team
(NYDT). The Muscat Pharmacy &
Stores LLC sponsored ‘A’ Division 50
overs a side League match played on
Friday at the MOS Turf Ground at Al
Amerat.
Invited to bat first Al Turki NMC
after an opening partnership of 50 runs
off 8.3 overs between Ajay Lalcheta 37
(53b, 4x4) and his partner Yogesh Patel
30 (24b, 6x4) slumped to 163 all out
off 37.3 overs after the duo’s departure
in quick succession. Shivpalsinh
Rana chipped in with a useful 24 (49b,
1x4).
Young Mohammed Ali Akbar al
Balushi was the pick of the bowlers
ending with figures of 4 for 49 off 10
overs whilst Sufyan Mahmood 3 for
27 and Kunal Pandya 2 for 29 lent
support.
Brief scores:Al Turki NMC: 163 all out off 37.3 overs
(Ajay Lalcheta 37, Yogesh Patel 30; Mohammed Ali
Akbar aAl Balushi 4-49, Sufyan Mahmood 3-27,
Kunal Pandya 2-29) bt NYDT: 84 all out off 29.4
overs (Shuaib Ismail al Balushi 32; Ajay Lalcheta
7-12, Jay Odedra 2-17)
Points:Al Turki NMC: 5 points (7 Games – 20 points)
and NYDT: 0 (8 Games – 5 points)
ENTERTAINMENT
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
Age not a concern for acting: Pooja Kumar
A
to worry about age.
I think for any actor, what matters
is the journey in an industry,” Pooja
said.
Pooja, who made her Tamil cinematic
debut in “Kadhal Rojavae” way back
in 2000, will next be seen in “Uttama
Villain”, which also features Kamal in
the lead.
She admits she has changed a lot
since “Vishwaroopam”
ge is not a concern says actress
Pooja Kumar, who made a
comeback to Tamil filmdom at
the age of 36 with Kamal Haasan’s spy
thriller “Vishwaroopam”. She says the
journey in the industry matters to her
the most.
“I feel age has nothing to do with
acting. Even Sridevi and Hema Malini
are still acting, aren’t they? I think I still
have about 30 years to go before I have
omandailyobserver
29
TINSELTOWN
I’d love to play Indira
Gandhi: Mallika
Sherawat
“I’ve changed a great deal. You know
the good thing about acting is that it
keeps changing.
What worked for you as an actor
yesterday may not work tomorrow.
And the experience of being an actor
changes you so much because you’re
playing different characters in each
film,” she said.
Pooja is also looking forward to the
release of “Vishwaroopam 2”.
Hollywood A-listers embrace
FLYING WITH PASSION
high profile “very seriously” in order to
promote personal flying.
Q BARBARA MUNKER
ROBERT MACPHERSON
H
arrison
Ford,
recovering from
the crash of a
vintage
World
War II trainer, is
just one of many
Hollywood stars who embrace flying as
passionately as they do acting.
Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood,
Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, Brad
Pitt and John Travolta are among the
screen idols with pilot’s licenses in their
wallets.
Others include Michael Dorn,
Edward Norton, Kurt Russell and Hilary
Swank, who began learning to fly while
starring in an Amelia Earhart biopic.
“There’s a pretty good collection of
folks in Hollywood who use general
aviation for transportation and
recreation,” said Thomas Haines of the
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
(AOPA).
Ford, 72, sustained multiple gashes
to his head when his open-cockpit, two-
seat Ryan PT-22 Recruit in US Army
Air Corps colours crashed onto a golf
course.
He was attempting to return to Santa
Monica airport in greater Los Angeles
after telling air traffic controllers that his
engine had failed.
“Dad is OK. Battered, but OK!” his
son Ben Ford said via Twitter, while
Ford’s publicist said the “Indiana Jones”
star looked likely to make a full recovery.
On social media, fans fondly
recalled a famous scene in “Indiana
Jones and the Last Crusade” in which
the swashbuckling archeologist and his
reluctant dad crawl into an open-cockpit
biplane.
“I didn’t know you could fly a plane,”
the tweedy Henry Jones, Sr — played
by Sean Connery — shouts to his
adventurous son. “Fly, yes! Land, no!”
Indiana Jones yells back, as they soar off
into the wild blue yonder.
In real life, Ford is well known among
American pilots as a seasoned airman, at
home in a wide variety of aircraft, and as
a tireless advocate for general aviation.
His personal air force is understood
to include Aviat Husky and de Havilland
Beaver bush planes, a Cessna Sovereign
business jet, a Bell 407 helicopter, plus
the Ryan and a Waco Taperwing biplane.
“I’ve been working for a living
(as an actor) to support my airplane
habit,” Ford — one of Hollywood’s most
bankable stars — once quipped.
Haines has flown several times
with Ford, an AOPA member who has
testified on Capitol Hill and spoken out
in support of America’s smaller airports.
“He is very skilled, very methodical
in his approach to aviation,” Haines
said, adding that the actor takes his
TOM CRUISE, CLINT
EASTWOOD, MORGAN
FREEMAN, ANGELINA JOLIE,
BRAD PITT AND JOHN
TRAVOLTA ARE AMONG THE
SCREEN IDOLS WITH PILOT’S
LICENSES IN THEIR WALLETS
Ties run deep
Hollywood’s deep ties with flying
go back to its golden era, when Cecil
B. DeMille and Charlie Chaplin ran
their own airports and Jimmy Stewart,
a World War II bomber pilot, tooled
around in a humble Piper Super Cub.
Among Hollywood royalty today,
Travolta owns several jets — including
a Boeing 707 in vintage Qantas livery —
which he keeps literally at the door of his
Florida home at a private airport called
Jumbolair.
“We designed the house for the jets
and to have, at our access, the world at
a moment’s notice,” the “Pulp Fiction”
and “Saturday Night Fever” star told
Australian television last year.
“I was five years old when I fell
in love with aviation,” the New Jersey
native added. “This is something in my
blood. I can’t get rid of it.”
Jolie began flying lessons in 2004,
then got herself a Cirrus SR-22, a touring
aircraft — best known for its built-in
airframe parachute — that is the world’s
best-selling single-engine plane.
She personally flew it over Death
Valley, in a crisp white suit, for a Vogue
magazine feature in 2007 photographed
by Annie Leibovitz.
Last year, Jolie’s husband Pitt,
perhaps inspired by his World War II
movie “Fury,” reportedly dropped $3.3
million for the ultimate toy — an iconic
Spitfire fighter.
If that’s correct, he could invite
Cruise to a dog fight: the “Top Gun”
and “Mission: Impossible” hero owns,
among other planes, a P-51 Mustang
fighter on which he had “Kiss Me,
Kate” emblazoned on the cowling in
red letters. A recent YouTube video
suggests that the affectionate nod to
Katie Holmes now has been erased, after
the couple divorced in 2012.
Cruise has said he loved aviation as
a child, carrying Mustang and Spitfire
pictures wherever he went, but put off
learning to fly until the early 1990s when
he overcame dyslexia.
— AFP
A
fter starring in “Dirty Politics”, actress Mallika Sherawat says she
would love to feature in a biopic on late Indian prime minister Indira
Gandhi.
“Biopics are very challenging. I have not really thought about it but, if given
a chance I would love to play Indira Gandhi,” Mallika said in reply to a query.
“I really enjoyed ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’, one of the best biopics, and was
very impressed by it.” There were reports that Mallika had shifted her base
to the US. Clarifying this, she said: “I’m very much here and have not shifted
to America. I am hoping this film will open doors for me and hope directors
take me seriously and offer me performance-oriented roles.”
Cate Blanchett adopts baby
girl, names her Edith
A
ctress Cate Blanchett,
who plays an evil stepmother in upcoming
movie “Cinderella”, and husband
Andrew Upton, have adopted a
baby girl and named her Edith
Vivian Patricia Upton. The news,
confirmed by the Oscar winner’s
publicist on Friday, comes amid
some reports that the couple
had named the child Vivienne,
reports eonline.com.
Edith has joined brothers
Dashiell John, 13, Roman Robert,
10 and Ignatius Martin, 6 in the
family fold.
Though in 2013 Blanchett
had compared handling three
children while maintaining her
film and stage commitments to a
“military operation”, the 45-yearold star ultimately opted to add
another troop to her brigade.
SHOCK MOVE
Uproar after Germany’s Eurovision hopeful bows out
Q KATE MILLAR
T
Andreas Kuemmert waves to the audience
he Eurovision Song Contest has had
its fair share of controversy, but a
shock move on live national TV by
Germany’s entry to bow out even before the
event sparked a media storm on Friday.
Rock and blues singer Andreas Kuemmert
was picked by television viewers in Germany’s
pre-contest on Thursday evening to represent
the country at the Eurovision final in Vienna
on May 23.
But to all-round surprise — and boos
from the audience — instead of celebrating
his win on stage, the 28-year-old said he
couldn’t accept.
“I’m a small singer,” the performer said,
announcing he was “overwhelmed” and
would cede the title to second-placed Ann
Sophie, 24, who, stunned and tearful, hugged
him.
“I just think that she’s simply much more
qualified and suited,” said the auburn-bearded
singer, whose soulful style has been compared
to late British singer Joe Cocker.
The Eurovision Song Contest, an annual
glitzy pop fest broadcast across Europe and
beyond, pits hopefuls against each other in
their quest to follow in the footsteps of ABBA
or other past winners.
The event, decried by some for being
more about politics than music, is popular
won.”
Prestigious weekly Die Zeit said in its
online edition that the “commotion” kicked
up by his decision showed that “free will in
show business apparently counts for nothing”.
But criticism came from the Berliner
Zeitung, which dubbed him
t h e
“anti-popstar”, saying:
“He ought not have
Anti-popstar
Bespectacled Kuemmert, who hails from competed at all.”
southern Bavaria, has become popular since
Big decision
winning reality talent show “The Voice of
Some 3.2 million
Germany” in 2013, and his decision topped
viewers tuned in on
radio and television news on Friday.
“TV uproar,” said popular mass daily Bild Thursday to watch the
outcome
on its front page, adding “Winner doesn’t surprising
ARD
public
want to sing for Germany” in what it said was on
broadcaster.
an unprecedented decision.
“It’s the biggest effrontery in the history of
the contest,” it added.
News weekly Spiegel’s website commented
that Kuemmert certainly
wouldn’t
be forgotten in a hurry
“as the grand singer
who didn’t want to
win”.
It praised him as an
“independent,
headstrong,
genuine artist” who chose in the end to
have nothing to do with the Eurovision
“entertainment machinery”.
“It’s just a pity for us... The man could have
in Germany, which has won it twice, with
performances by Nicole in 1982 and in 2010
with Lena.
Ann Sophie, born in London and from
the northern port city of Hamburg, will now
represent Germany in May with her song
“Black Smoke”.
Disappointed and angry viewers took to
social media, while others voiced respect for
Kuemmert’s move.
“Great personality and great courage are
part of such a big decision. I take my hat off,
Andreas Kuemmert!” read one tweet.
The singer’s record label indicated that
the build-up over the Eurovision contest,
which was last year won by Austria’s bearded
drag queen sensation Conchita Wurst, had
apparently become too much.
In an interview published on ARD’s
Eurovision Internet page, Sigi Schuller
of Universal Music said he believed
Kuemmert’s decision had been spontaneous.
“You saw that he wanted to. Perhaps he
saw a bit too late that he couldn’t,” he said.
“The spotlight is too big.” — AFP
Ann Sophie
performs
during a
qualification
show. — AFP
30
LIFESTYLE
omandailyobserver
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
A Night of Arabic Jazz at ROHM
T
he Royal Opera House
Muscat is inviting
jazz aficionados to
a unique concert of
Arab jazz featuring
internationally
renowned two Arab musicians, Syrian
clarinetist Kinan Azmeh and Tunisian
violinist Yasmine Azaiez, on March 10.
The concert brings together the best
of Arab and jazz traditions as both
artists draw on their roots as well as
their Western musical training. Kinan
combines classical music with jazz and
Syrian music with his famous ensemble
Kinan Azmeh’s City Band. The Yasmine
Azaiez Band brings together Arab, jazz
and Gypsy music, and they will play a
set of original compositions by Yasmine
Azaiez, as well as traditional pieces
rearranged with a modern, colourful
sound.
ROHM’s Artistic Director Umberto
Fanni said of the musicians, “They are
both incredibly gifted musicians who
bring their own musical cultures into
their passion for jazz, uniting the best of
both genres. They are both wonderfully
talented improvisers and their music
fulfills the vision of this opera house to
foster cultural dialogue.”
Kinan Azmeh was born in Damascus
in 1976. He studied at the prestigious
Juilliard School in New York City. He
was the first Arab to win the premier
prize at the 1997 Nicolai Rubinstein
International Competition, Moscow. In
2006 he formed the Kinan Azmeh’s City
Band in New York City.
He has a PhD in Music from the City
University of New York. He was last seen
at the Royal Opera House Muscat as
part of the famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk
Road Ensemble. He returns to present
his unique style of Arab jazz.
Tunisia’s Yasmine Azaiez started
playing the violin when she was four
years old. At 17, she competed in the
Sevenoaks violin playing competition,
where she impressed the jury of
professors from the Royal College
of Music in London and was named
“Young Musician of the Year.” She has
played at renowned venues such as the
Royal Albert Hall under the baton of
Mistlav Rostropovich, Jazz a Carthage,
the Hammamet Festival with Naseer
Shamma, and the Mawazzine Festival of
Morocco.
Her diverse musical background has
allowed her to combine her knowledge
of classical music, Maghrebian
background and jazz studies to generate
a modern new style of which she
describes as “Fusion.”
Kinan Azmeh and Yasmine Azaiez
and their bands will play for one night
only on March 10 at 7:30 pm.
Seminar on ‘How to See and Shoot Like
A National Geographic Photographer
G
reat, you are into photography,
just got your SLR camera and
have started to use it. Maybe you
have dreamed of becoming a professional
photographer, but what strategies and
approaches should you be using to make
your dream a reality... and by the way,
how to boost your photography skills
to the level of a National Geographic
photographer?
These and other fundamental
photography questions will be answered
in this two-day (March 13-14, 2015)
national geographic seminar at Crowne
Plaza, designed to show you what is
the composition of a great shot, how
to photograph like a pro, and how
photography related to people’s dayto-day life. Hear National Geographic
photographers Raymond Gehman and
Photograph Composition Experts Dr
Constance Avery-Clark for the insights
on capture landscapes people and place,
learn the unique relation between
photography and psychology, and seize
the rare opportunity to photograph
outdoors with them.
Raymon Gehman is a National
Geographic photographer, with 25 years
experience in photography. His passion
Center. She has taken
for natural world, extraordinary
Gehman
photography
landscapes and fine arts is reflected
workshops
and
is
in his featured piece in
Gehman’s contact in
National Geographic Magazine
Florida.
including “The Vanishing
Topics Covered
Praine Dog”, “Tales of
Better Photography
Twin Cities” and
by “Better Seeing”: Gaining
“Rocky Times for
insights
on
how
Banff ”. He has
technical
tools,
been awarded
depth of field,
three national
aperture,
light,
geographic
c omp o s it i on ,
c o v e r
and different
photographs
angle
can
and earned
make you images
the honour
communicate
of being a
more effectively.
National
Camera Technique
G e o g r aph i c
for
Better
Explorer in
Raymond Gehman
Photos: Take your
Residence.
He is the author of several National photography skills a step further by
Geographic books and has his fine art understanding how the adjustment of
photograph exhibited in Virginia, Texas, aperture, ISO, Shutter speed, focusing,
and Washington DC. He has extensive flashing, and composition can enhance
experience in teaching photography and your images you bring home from your
conducting workshops around the world. travel.
Discover How People Relate to
Dr Constance Avery-Clark is an
and
Photographic
amateur photographer and an active Photography
member of Palm Beach Photographic in a Psychology Manner: Learn to
photograph by heart and understand
the importance of having fun while
shooting. Learn the skills to connect your
photograph with people, capture images
that reflect a vivid character, as well as
make your photography work reflects
the human emotions and spirit in a most
authentic way.
Still have questions? send email to:
[email protected] or x8tour@gmail.
com
Seminar Enrolment Form is available
at http://xcitetour.com/
Photography Competition 2015
XCite
Tour
encourages
all
photographers in Oman to contribute
their photos to this competition that will
showcase the beauty and rich culture
of Oman to the outside world through
brilliant imagery. Sponsored by SKT
photography equipment and Khimji’s
Life Style, the competition is open to all
citizens, residents, and visitors in Oman.
Free entry. Deadline to submit
your images: March 10, 2015 at 5 pm.
Winner will be announced on March 14,
2015. For entry forms, and terms and
conditions, visit http://xcitetour.com/
events/ or https://www.facebook.com/
x8tour.
SAYEH WOODMAN
[email protected]
Mummy, you are
doing a fab job!
S
o it’s Mother’s Day soon, on Sunday, March 15. Rather than share
the endless amounts of ways you can show her how much you love
her, and thank her for everything she’s done for you by what gifts and
meals you can treat her too, after all our mums are great and deserve to be
spoilt. Being a mum myself now, I want to thank all the mums out there
for doing a cracking job, a hard job, but most rewarding.
Here’s my little note, a letter, a reading, a story (however you like to
digest it) to all those mothers — OK, not so little, it’s a long note as I do like
a good natter! I shall start.
Mothers are not rare to find. Good mothers are. Have you ever
wondered what goes on to make a good mother?
It is a pertinent question whose answer cannot be contained within
a few words. Mothers comprise of a bundle of emotions that sometimes
defy reason. So this goes out to all the mothers who have kept awake
all night with their sick toddlers in their arms, constantly uttering those
compassionate words, “It’s OK honey, Mummy’s here.”
For all the mothers out there who can do the jobs that daddy does
amongst their own, and still make their baby their number one priority.
For those who show up at work with milk stains on their dress, and
diapers in their handbags. You’ll always have something in your handbag
to remind you of your baby, whether that is wipes, a storybook, a dummy,
or even treats.
For those mothers who cannot restrain tears from trickling down their
cheeks when they hold their babies for the first time in their arms; and for
the mothers who give birth to babies they’ll never see.
For the mothers who gave homes to babies, and gifted them a family.
For the mothers who yell at their kids who want chocolate all the time,
who have tantrums, which constantly ask ‘Why?’
For the mothers who defy all odds just to watch their kid perform and
repeat to themselves “That’s my child!!”
For all the mothers who say “Goodnight” more than once in a night.
For the mothers who taught their children to tie the shoelaces even
before they started going to school and home schooled their little ones.
For the mothers who incontinently turn their heads when they hear the
word “Mum”, even though they know that their kids are nowhere around.
For the mothers who silently shed tears for their children who have
gone astray.
For those strong mums that contain all emotions and feelings, until
their little ones are in bed fast asleep, and then let it all out.
For all those mothers whose heart aches to watch her son or daughter
disappear down the street, walking to school alone for the very first time.
So, this is meant for all the young and aged mothers, working mothers
and housewives, married mothers and the single mothers, those with one
and without... I’m hereby sending you a wish... I wish you a very Happy
Mother’s Day for Sunday, March 15!
IT workshop held
at CAS-Ibri
T
he College of Applied Sciences Ibri recently organised a workshop for
IT students on IT program specialisations. The workshop was given by
Maryam al Amri, Akram al Raisi and Areef al Zadjali from Oman IT
Society.
Al Amri talked about social media networks’ negative and positive impact on
youth and how to use social media in enhancing learning process.
Akram al Raisi talked about information security challenges that face users and
how to face them properly.
Areef al Zadjali introduced the society’s vision and mission to participants
explaining that OITS works in cooperation with other institutions to unify the
efforts of IT workers in the Sultanate and to enhance cooperation among them in
a bid to promote IT knowledge all over the country.
STUDENTS’ DAY OUT
SULC students tour RUSTAQ AND BARKA
T
he students of SULC recently visited
Ain Kisfah in Al Rustaq and Ain al
Thawarah in Barka. They enjoyed the
hot spring and experienced the freshness of
the mineral water found in the area. They
talked to the locals in Arabic and shared their
ideas regarding the traditions and culture of
the Sultanate.
The students were accompanied by the
coordinator and one instructor.
The SULC received new students from
different countries such as America, China,
South Korea, South Africa, Nigeria, Belgium,
Australia and Netherlands. These students
are here to study Arabic Language for one
year. It was a long day tour experience for
everybody.
The students will keep these memories
from us even after they leave Sohar University
and they had good knowledge about Oman’s
history and cultures.
SULC organise such tours to different
regions and places around Oman for
international students to give them a chance
to explore Omani culture and traditions ant
its amazing places.
SPOTLIGHT
S U N DAY
MARCH 8 l 2015
omandailyobserver
31
Interrogating PHOTOGRAPHS
Q CLIVE G
[email protected]
Y
oung
or
novice
photographers
sometimes ask me for
advice on how to take
better
photographs.
It is of course a moot
point whether or not I am competent to
give such guidance, but assuming for a
moment that I am, my suggestions are
usually three-fold.
First, photograph that which you
are passionate about — your cat,
your kids, your car — so that your
photographic practice will be imbued
with a loving glow. But remember that,
as a photographer, you do not just look
at the images you take of your cat and
say, “Ahhh! Tiddles is so cute!” You
must also analyse the quality of the
photographic representation of Tiddles
as well, that is, the technical aspects of
your photographs. After all, it is just as
possible for a photograph to have a great
subject but be a technical disaster as it is
for an image to have very uninteresting
subject matter and yet be technically
superb. What we should be aiming for
is meaningful subject matter and great
technique rolled together into super
pictures.
Second, practise, practise and then
practise some more. Photography is a
skill just like chess or cooking, so the
more you practice the better you will
become, with the caveat that you should
analyse with a critical eye the results of
your practice in order to identify your
shortcomings.
Third, search through magazines,
books and exhibitions to identify some
photographs that you admire FROM A
TECHNICAL POINT OF VIEW, then
analyse them on a technical level. This
is perhaps easier said than done for the
beginner, so I would like to elaborate
here on this great way to improve your
technique.
What I will do is give some technical
analysis of a photograph, with examples
of the types of questions and answers
that such an analysis might involve, then
ask you to do something similar on a
second photograph.
Imagine you are leafing through a
magazine and you happen upon the
image of an old Omani door that you see
here, taken by yours truly just last week
in the lovely town of Al Mudhayrib in Al
Sharqiyah Governorate.
Suspend your disbelief for a moment
and imagine that you think it is
absolutely superb, not only for its lovely
subject matter, but also for the way it
has been shot. “How did Clive take this
amazing picture?” you say to yourself.
Analyse the Depth of Field
camera on Aperture Priority Mode
(A or Av, depending on the make of
camera), I had control over the aperture
setting and the camera worked out the
corresponding shutter speed.
t 3FNFNCFS JG ZPVS TIVUUFS TQFFE
falls below 1/60th of a second, you are
likely to get a fuzzy image due to camera
shake, unless you use a camera stabiliser,
such as a tripod.
“How come only the iron ring in the
door is in sharp focus but the background
gets progressively more blurred?” might
be your next question. The answer, of
course, is that the photographer selected
a large aperture, or to put it another way,
a small f-stop, in order to achieve a very
shallow depth of field. He then focused
on the iron ring and then took the shot.
Consider the ISO
In this image, the f-stop was f.2.8
t 3FNFNCFS UIF TNBMMFS UIF GTUPQ
As this is an image of a static subject in
the narrower the depth of field will be.
Conversely, the larger the f-stop, the bright light, then there really is no point
in having the ISO at anything other than
deeper the depth of field will be.
its lowest setting, which on my camera
is ISO 100. But if the photograph you
Estimate the Shutter Speed
are analysing is of a fast-moving subject,
“But wait a minute,” you say. “If it was then you should consider what ISO
a bright sunny day and the photographer setting the photographer might have
used a wide aperture of f.2.8, then he used.
t3FNFNCFSQIPUPHSBQIFSTVTF*40
must have had to use a very high shutter
speed to compensate for so much light to boost their shutter speeds, so the faster
entering the lens.” The shutter speed the subject, the higher the ISO setting is
was in fact 1/2000 of a second (one two- likely to be. Also remember that as ISO
Analyse the Light
thousandths of a second), so the camera settings rise, image quality tends to fall,
As ‘photography’ literally means could easily be hand-held without so keep your ISO as low as your subject
‘to draw with light’, perhaps the first danger of camera shake. As I had my matter will allow.
question you will ask is, “What are the
lighting conditions in this photograph?”
As you can see, the image was taken in
LET’S BE HONEST, UNDERSTANDING THE TECHNICAL
harsh, raking sunlight, creating strong
ASPECTS OF GOOD PHOTOGRAPHY ISN’T ROCKET
highlights and shadows and thereby
bringing out the wonderful textures and
SCIENCE, SO WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE THEIR
designs in the wood. The image would
CAMERAS ON FULL AUTOMATIC AND LEAVE EVERYTHING
not look so good if it had been taken on
UP TO THE COMPUTER CHIP INSIDE TO WORK OUT
a dull day.
t 3FNFNCFS UIF MJHIU JO ZPVS
ALL THE SETTINGS? IS IT ANY WONDER, THEN,
photograph has a strong deterministic
THAT THE IMAGES TAKEN ON FULL AUTO OFTEN
effect on the quality of the image. Poor
FALL FAR SHORT OF EXPECTATIONS?
quality lighting will almost always lead
to a bad photograph.
“Which of the so-called ‘rules’ of
composition underpins the structure of
this photograph?” you could ask. Clearly,
the ‘rule of thirds’ is the compositional
tool used here, since the main point of
focus, the iron door ring, is situated on
both an invisible horizontal third line.
t 3FNFNCFS UIBU JU JT BEWJTBCMF UP
practice following some of the ‘rules’ of
composition, at least in the beginning,
otherwise your photographs might look
as if the camera went off accidentally!
So now it is your turn. Analyse this
photograph of a grungy interior, taken
in the old settlement of Al Hamra.
Consider which of the three answers to
each of the five questions is the most
likely.
Question 1: What kind of light was
used in the photograph?
a. The low, ambient light of the interior.
b. Direct sunlight.
c. Flash.
Question 2: What f-stop might the
photographer have used? Why?
a. f.2.8 because the depth of field is very
shallow.
b. f.22 because the depth of field is deep.
c. f.5.6 because the depth of field was
not important in this shot.
Question 3: What might have been
the shutter speed, if the aperture was
f.22 and the ISO was 100?
a. 1/2000th of a second.
b. 15 seconds.
c. 1 second.
Question 4: Did the photographer
use a tripod? Give reasons for your
answer.
a. Yes, because the sharpness of the
image suggests a high ISO and the large
depth of field suggests a small f-stop.
b. Yes, because the sharpness of the
image suggests a low ISO and the large
depth of field suggests a small f-stop.
c. Yes, because the sharpness of the
image suggests a low ISO and the large
depth of field suggests a large f-stop.
Question 5: What rule of composition
is evident in this photograph?
a. The Rule of Thirds.
b. Symmetry.
c. Framing
When you have finished, compare
your results with the model answer at
the end of this article. If you got them all
right, well done!
After these analyses, you should be in
a position to take similar photographs
of an old Omani door or a dim interior,
though needless to say plagiarism is not
the point of the exercise.
The aim here is to broaden your
technical skills and, by extension, the
range of visual vocabulary you use in
your work. But of course, we do not only
learn about technique from studying
great pictures.
We can learn a lot by studying bad
ones too, especially if they are our own
bad pictures. So next time, we’ll do just
that.
If you struggled with the analysis,
then you might want to Google these
technical terms and make sure you
understand them:
Ambient light
Aperture
f-stop
Shutter speed
ISO
Depth of field
Answers
1. a; 2. b; 3. b; 4. c; 5. b.
recognition of his many skills both in the
Arab World and beyond.
The evening was also made into a
very special occasion by an invitation to
the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra
to participate. It has been highly active
building for itself a worldwide reputation
since its foundation in July 1987.
Already it has a worldwide
reputation. Among the many historic
landmarks are ranked an appearance
with world famous violinist Lord Yehudi
Menuhin. It is no exaggeration to say
ROSO has an international reputation in
its own right and certainly showed great
skill in opening the evening with Marcel
Khalife’s Symphony of No Return.
This linkage with ROSO was more
than just a symbolic gesture. It was a
sign and symbol of Oman’s growing
reputation worldwide in the world of
music.
— Photo credit:
Khalid al Busaidi, ROHM
Analyse the Composition
WORLD OF MUSIC
THE TRIUMPH OF THE OUDH
Q MAURICE GENT
I
t was a special occasion for many
reasons. Marcel Khalife, Master
of the Oudh for generations, was
visiting Oman and the Royal
Oman Symphony Orchestra, which has
travelled worldwide showcasing the
musical excellence of Oman was also
going to be there.
The mix created a programme, which
was cheered to the echo. Marcel Khalife
has been an important figure in the world
of music since the 1970s when he taught
at the Beirut National Conservatory
of Music. The Royal Oman Symphony
Orchestra (ROSO) dates back to 1987
when it started to win worldwide praise
for its performances.
ROSO appropriately played the
Symphony of No Return written by
Marcel Khalife himself. The idea in the
piece is to present a large number of
forces working together in harmony,
working to produce a richer and
worthwhile life.
‘The goal in The Symphony of No
Return was also to compose the melodies
of life rather than the melodies of classical
composition. The melodies I recalled
from my early childhood, he says, which
I remembered with overwhelming
enthusiasm and love. They had many
rhythms and intonations, which proved
their worth.
He then felt himself upon a mission
to discover his own culture. Since 1974
he has also been composing music for
dance, which has created a new genre
of compositions. This has led to the
creation of the Near Eastern Ballet. His
compositions for dance included The
March of the Prodigy and Black Tents.
All this led to composing sound
tracks and the creation of new
connections in the world of music. “The
goal in the Symphony of No Return was
to compose the melodies of life rather
than the melodies of classical tradition”.
The melodies I recalled from my early
childhood. He said he felt himself to be
on a mission to discover his own culture,
remembering melodies from recitals in
his early childhood.
“I listened with overwhelming
love and enthusiasm to rhythms and
intonations, which proved their worth
in time. Since 1974 has felt himself on a
mission to help develop a new culture,
a new genre of composition. All this
led to the creation of the Near Eastern
Ballet. His compositions for dance have
included The Marvels of the Prodigy
and Black Tents. This has logically
led to new sound tracks and a greater
SUNDAY | MARCH 8, 2015 | JUMADA AL ULA 17, 1436 AH
P29
P30
P31
Inside
Age not a concern for acting: Pooja A Night of Arabic Jazz at ROHM The triumph of the Oudh FOLLOW US ON:
www.omanobserver.om
[email protected]
HOME ON WHEELS, now in OMAN
Q SWATI BASU DAS
[email protected]
I
t was all about the love for
travel until they reached
a juncture — Iran — that
changed the concept of travel
they had perceived. As they
encountered the place and
the people of a country that completely
brought a twist to their travel tale — the
Ivan family is all set on the wheels since
April 2014 with a moving phrase — Iran
is Great. Irrespective of the negative
image portrayed worldwide, Iran has
given this family a stay and a tour worth
remembering.
As for them the image portrayed
globally does not correspond to what
they have encountered during their visit
to the country, following which they
made it a mission to bring the phrase
closer to not only their life but touching
lives of millions in whichever country
they travel in their van.
A selfless approach to narrate their
own personal account has brought the
house on wheels closer to the heart of
not only Iranians but also the people of
the Sultanate of Oman.
Says Badr al Makrashi a resident of
Wattayah: “It is great to see some people
having such a great heart and a mission
without any profitable intention. It is a
pure love for the places they travel and
the friends they make.”
As the van brings a huge curiosity
and even a smile to many a face whoever
passes by it.
Queries flows in and the Ivan family
are ready to answer them all with a
smile and never hesitate to detail out on
their travelogue and thereafter making
friends to know more about the place
and the culture and the saga continues
where ever their van puts a halt for few
weeks.
“I spoke to them near the Darsait area
and found them quite interesting. Their
campaigning is worth mentioning and
great to know that it is selfless and no
profit intent. A campaign that holds and
shares only experiences,” says another
passer-by who just peeped in the van
to know if at all it is some interesting
promotional activity.
The van is a home that caters to the
daily needs. From cooking, baking,
work-station and even schooling, the
van does it all. “We have been travelling
for 5 years and our van is more than a
transportation means.
It is our home on wheels, the place
where we grow as a family. Our kids
don’t go to school.
The van is the place we call school.
We do road schooling or we should
rather call it world schooling,” says
the happy family on wheels who are
currently enjoying the beauty of Sur.
Keeping travel as their focus to know
and connect more people through a
simple yet very heavy phrase; the Ivan
family project has nothing official about
and how small they think of themselves
“It is our experience which we to be. It is a lesson for their future as
want to share with the world and it is world citizens”, says Cristian Ivan.
“Travelling has always been our first
irrespective of all customs. It is purely
as we love to know the
a family initiative to prove to the world c h o i c e
that every place on earth is worth
visiting and getting up close with
the history, culture, nature and
its people,” the Ivan family
THEY HAVE
puts forward.
TRAVELLED ALL ACROSS
Cristian and Audrey
believes it is a project for
EUROPE AND MIDDLE
their kids to learn from.
EAST, WITH ONE MISSION.
“They can learn that they
can do things without
A MISSION THAT BRINGS
taking direct advantage
THEM CLOSER TO SEVERAL
of them.
CULTURES AND MILLION
They can get involved
in things they believe in, no
OF HEARTS
matter how big the project is
it.
people their culture and their habits,
and we never knew that our visit to a
country can move us so much that we
will decide to move with it overland in
different countries,” says Cristian.
Travelling the globe on the Mercedes
van for a cause that speaks more than
their desire to new people and places,
the Ivan family holds more than a travel
connection with Iran where they have
faced both odds and evens on their visit
during the year 2013.
“We were robbed in Iran with all our
documents and valuables; but what
followed changed our notion about
the people there in the country. The
way they reacted by offering us a great
amount of help touched our life. The
negative incident was overshadowed by
the goodness we encountered. I have
visited many cities in Urmia, Tabriz,
Yazd, Kashan, Isfahan, Shiraz and each
has a certain beauty to me, my family
and I really enjoyed myself in Yazd.
Extraordinary architectural monuments
was new for us and very warm people
ready to help us at every step,” says
Cristian and his wife Audrey.
Starting their journey from Europe
with an initiative to introduce the
cultural, natural, historical richness
of Iran, the Ivan family is recently
exploring the beauty of Oman and
getting a hearty welcome by the people
in the Sultanate.
Terming Oman as a very calm and
friendly country Cristian says, “In some
countries our presence were ignored but
here in Oman we were greeted dearly
and the locals approached us wherever
we stopped. Oman is a very hospitable
country and we feel at home here.” He
recalls they have made several friends
in their one month stay in Oman. All
with the eagerness to know what the
Ivan family has to share with them as
a welcoming experience of their travel
and their mission.
“We made so many friends in our
short stay here and we were privileged
as they all invited us to their homes and
spent a lovely time together,” says the
Ivan family.
On there visit to the Sultanate the
Ivan family was overwhelmed with the
response they got from the people here.
“The Omanis approached us
wherever we stopped and we had the
chance to visit quite a few families here
in Oman. Many Omanis were interested
in our message of peace we are carrying
from Iran into the world.
They wanted to know more and even
asked how they can co-operate in our
mission. This is really amazing”
“It is the people of a country which
make it amazing and Oman is indeed
a country where a month is not enough
to explore. We haven’t seen everything
here but we like to leave some things
for the next time we come here and we
definitely want to return to Oman one
day,” the Ivan family summed up.