1. travel
2. transports
3. air travel
4. airports

SUNDAY | FEBRUARY 22, 2015 | JUMADA AL ULA 3, 1436 AH
P21 BMW i8 hybrid sports car hits Indian roads
VOL. 34 NO. 100 | PAGES 32 | BAISAS 200
P32 My Fair Lady enchants opera buffs
P25 Windies sink hapless Pakistan
Inside
Chief Executive Officer
DR IBRAHIM BIN AHMED AL KINDI
Editor-in-Chief
ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI
Oman Establishment for Press, Publication and Advertising
PO Box 974, Postal Code 100, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
www.omanobserver.om
FOLLOW US ON:
OMAN
HM greetings to
Saint Lucia
MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos has
sent a cable of greetings to Dr Pearlette
Louisy, Governor General of Saint
Lucia, on the occasion of her country’s
Independence Day anniversary. In his
cable, His Majesty the Sultan expressed
his best greetings to Dr Louisy wishing
her and the friendly people of Saint
Lucia further progress and prosperity.
SUBCONTINENT
US may delay
Afghan pullout
KABUL: President Barack Obama’s new
Pentagon chief said the United States
was seriously considering slowing
the pace of a troop withdrawal from
Afghanistan, as the country faces a
growing Taliban insurgency. US Defence
Secretary Ashton Carter’s comments
in Kabul offered the clearest sign yet
that Washington was ready to delay the
closure of some bases and retain more
troops after appeals by Afghanistan’s
new President Ashraf Ghani and advice
from commanders. To safeguard “hardwon” progress, Obama “is considering
a number of options to reinforce our
support for President Ghani’s security
strategy. REPORT ON P7
REGION
Car bomb kills 4
in Syrian town
DAMASCUS: The opposition forces took
Syria’s civil war to the ruling Assad clan’s
hometown for the first time yesterday,
killing four people in a car bomb attack
on a hospital, state television and a
monitor said. The attack came as the
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
reported that troops had executed 48
people earlier this week in a northern
village, among them 10 children. “A
car bomb attack in the parking of
Qardaha hospital killed four citizens and
wounded several others,” the television
said in a news flash. REPORT ON P13
[email protected]
Strike without
notice is illegal
VINOD NAIR
MUSCAT
Feb. 21: There is a need for more
dialogue and better understanding
among human resources (HR)
managers and employees of companies
in the private sector, Said bin Saleh al
Kiyumi, Chairman, Board of Directors,
Oman Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (OCCI), told the Observer
He was speaking to the Observer
on the sidelines of a meeting of HR
managers in the private sector called
for an interaction with the trade union
representatives.
On strikes called by workers to meet
their various demands, Al Kiyumi said
any strike (random or a flash strike as it
called) announced without prior notice
to the management is illegal.
The agitating workers should raise
their grievances before the management
and under prevailing law should give at
least 21 days prior notice for a strike so
that the parties concerned, including
HR managers, can come out with
solutions that are mutually beneficial.
Al Kiyumi said HR managers should
always open a channel for interaction
with workers to discuss their issues.
He said every month a meeting will be
organised between HR managers and
employees of a company outside the
chamber.
Also, every three months a meeting
will be held between HR managers and
the Federation of the General Trade
Union of the Sultanate.
A special progamme will be allowed
for HR managers in Oman to interact
with international and regional labour
organisations.
INITIATIVES
Q OMANISATION is part of a long-term
national strategy.
Q RANDOM strikes are illegal and prior
notice is a must.
Q HUMAN resources department to be
better structured.
Q ENOUGH time should be given to
settle disputes.
Q ALWAYS open a channel with workers
to listen views.
Al Kiyumi said Omanisation is part
of a long-term national strategy and
OCCI supports all initiatives of the
government in this regard.
“There will be a continuous debate
on the percentage of Omanisation
and some sectors may need more
priority compared to others, but the
chamber will support any policy of the
government.”
He said that though in its early days,
the employees’ union is more organised
today and there is need for the human
resources department in companies to
be better structured with the job profile
adequately explained to handle labour
issues.
The OCCI chief said that a roadmap
will be prepared that is consistent with
the government plans and programmes,
as well as the main objective of the
private sector.
The meeting also covered a number
of issues, such as holidays, benefits,
insurance cover, as well as other issues
that require joint coordination among
the management and the employees.
TURN TO P4
P6
A military vehicle seized by the Houthis is positioned near the house of former
Yemeni president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi in Sanaa. — Reuters
P12
REBEL BUILD UP
ALARMS UKRAINE
P14
US ASTRONAUTS
BEGIN SPACE WALK
WEATHER TODAY
MAX: 350C
MIN: 230C
SALALAH
MAX: 300C
MIN: 220C
FAJR: 05:16
DHUHR: 12:20
ASR: 15:38
MAGHRIB: 18:05
ISHA: 19:35
NIZWA
MAX: 350C
MIN: 200C
SUNRISE 06.33 AM
PRAYER TIMINGS
SANDSTORMS TO EASE
FOR SAFETY: Poor weather cancels Tour of Oman fifth stage
KABEER YOUSUF
MUSCAT
Feb. 21: Sandstorms which are
prevailing in the Sultanate of Oman
along with other GCC countries for
the past two days will ease and normal
temperatures will return from today,
according to the Met office.
Speaking to the Observer, a
spokesperson at the DGMAN
(Directorate General of Meteorology
and Air Navigation) said the direction
of the wind will change from southerly
to north westerly from today, bringing
back the cool temperature.
“Oman has been receiving heavy
southerly sandstorms for the past two
days, but will ease from Sunday giving
way to cool climate. Isolated rains are
expected these days especially in South
COST CUTTING
INSIDESTORIES
MUSCAT
Bikes are seen on roof rack during the fifth stage in the Tour of Oman. — AFP
Tender Board
gets tough with
variation orders
AUSTRALIA CLEARS UP
AFTER CYCLONE
Pakistan, Lanka to sign nuclear deal Venezuela tensions worry neighbours Teen survives 500-metre drop Former Yemen president
Hadi arrives in Aden
ADEN: Yemen’s resigned president
fled south yesterday after weeks under
house arrest by Houthis, in a surprise
move that has stalled UN-sponsored
talks to fill the political vacuum.
Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi arrived in
the main southern city of Aden, where
his supporters have refused to recognise
the authority of the presidential council
installed by the Huthi to replace him, an
aide said.
The aide said that presidential
guards managed to sneak Hadi out of
his residence in the capital, insisting
that the departure was not negotiated
with the Huthis.
There were conflicting reports on
Hadi’s intention to address the nation
within 48 hours.
His aide said Hadi will call on
parliament to meet in Aden, as powerful
tribes in the provinces of Marib, Jawaf
and Baida urged him to declare Sanaa
an “occupied city”, a tribal source said.
He said Hadi “remains the legitimate
president and that he resigned under
pressure from Huthis”.
But Aden Mayor Abdulaziz bin
Habtoor, who is close to Hadi and met
him on arrival, said the president does
not intend to make a speech, adding
that he is “sticking to his resignation”.
Hadi’s resignation did not receive the
parliamentary approval required under
the constitution before the Huthis
unilaterally dissolved all government
institutions on February 6.
Hadi travelled overland in a convoy
of dozens of vehicles, a top security
official in Aden said. SEE ALSO P13
MUSCAT: The Tender Board has
announced a series of measures
aimed at clamping down on so-called
‘Variation Orders’ — a practice often
attributed to escalations in the cost
of state-financed construction and
infrastructure projects.
A Variation Order (sometimes also
referred to as Change Order) pertains
to an alteration to the scope of works in
a construction contract in the form of
an addition, substitution or omission
from the original scope of works.
Variations may include alterations to
the design, bill of quantities, quality,
working conditions, and sequence of
work.
In the Sultanate, a notable
proportion of design and construction
contracts procured through the
Tender Board has been the subject of
variation orders sought by government
ministries and departments during the
implementation phase of the projects
in question. In the upshot, contracts
are prone to cost overruns, delays and
disputes as the requests for variation
orders are deliberated upon.
In recent comments, Tender Board
Chairman Dr Rasheed bin al Safi al
Huraibi affirmed ongoing efforts to
limit change order requests to only the
most deserving cases. As a result of
those efforts, variation orders granted
by the Tender Board dropped from 20
per cent in 2012 to 17 per cent a year
later. DETAILS ON P17
Al Batinah, Musandam coastal areas
and Hajar Mountains.”
However, sea will remain rough and
those who venture into the sea should
observe caution, the Met office said.
Heavy dusty winds made mobility
near to impossible in almost all areas
with a number of minor accidents.
In Sohar, five cars were involved in
a multiple collision incident injuring
the passengers in the vehicles. Sur,
Musandam, Saham and Buraimi also
reported heavy sandstorms making
vehicular movement difficult.
Meanwhile, bad weather forced the
cancellation of yesterday’s fifth stage of
the Tour of Oman.
The organisers took the decision after
the riders came to a halt shortly after the
start of the stage which had already been
shortened because of a sandstorm. “On
account of the weather conditions and
for safety reasons the stage has been
cancelled,” the organisers said.
Several riders remarked how
dangerous the conditions were.
“Four riders had already punctured
on the descent,” said French sprint
specialist Nacer Bouhanni.
The race finishes today with a 133.5km run from Oman Air to Muttrah.
Moody’s affirms
Oman’s A1 rating
STAFF REPORTER
MUSCAT
Feb. 21: International ratings agency
Moody’s Investors Service yesterday
affirmed Oman’s A1 government bond
rating but changed the rating outlook to
negative from stable. Oman’s sovereign
credit profile displays a number of
strengths, according to the ratings
agency.
Real GDP growth will likely remain
positive, although Moody’s expects it
will slow to an average 2.6 per cent per
year until 2018, down from a previously
higher growth trend of 4.7 per cent on
average between 2004 and 2013.
Offsetting this strength to some
degree is the likely sharp fall in nominal
GDP this year from the collapse in oil
prices. This will crimp government and
private sector incomes.
“Our base case scenario for oil
market trends is a Brent crude price of
$55 per barrel on average in 2015 that
rises gradually to $75 per barrel by
2018.
“Having said that, in affirming
the rating Moody’s acknowledges the
potential for upside scenarios for oil
prices and the related more muted
impact that would have on fiscal and
economic performance,” the agency
noted in its report.
Even factoring in the reduced
government revenues and higher
government debt over the next one
to three years, Oman’s debt metrics
will still compare favourably with the
Our base case
scenario for oil
market trends is a
Brent crude price of
$55 per barrel on average in
2015 that rises gradually to
$75 per barrel by 2018
— MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE
International ratings agency
A-rated median.
The Omani government has several
funds, as well as deposits in the
domestic banking system.
Total government assets grew from
RO 8 billion in 2004 to RO 24 billion
by end-2013 – equivalent to 80 per
cent of GDP and around nine times
outstanding government debt.
Assets in the State General Reserve
Fund stood at RO 9.4 billion (around
31 per cent of GDP) at the end of 2013,
while government deposits in the
banking sector, which are available to
help fund budget deficits, equaled about
17 per cent of GDP.
In addition, wider public sector debt
is low, amounting to less than 10 per
cent of GDP as of 2013.
In Moody’s view this limits the risks
from contingent liabilities crystallizing
on the government balance sheet.
TURN TO P4
2
HISTORY OF MONEY IN OMAN
S U N DAY l F E B R U A R Y 2 2 l 2 0 1 5
A book published by the Central Bank
of Oman has documented the history
of money in Oman from ancient times
to the Renaissance era being led by His
Majesty Sultan Qaboos. Additionally,
Oman TV produced a documentary
about the history of money in Oman.
Oman is known by historians to have
housed the oldest mint in Arabian
peninsula.
OMAN
Oman Airports to give awards for
top aviation performers today
PERFORMANCE INCENTIVES: Airlines and retail outlets in Sultanate to be honoured
STAFF REPORTER
MUSCAT
Feb. 21: Sayyid Hamoud bin Faisal
al Busaidi, Minister of the Interior,
will on Sunday inaugurate the second
annual ceremony of Oman Airports
Management Company (OAMC).
The ceremony will honour airlines
and retail outlets operating in Muscat
International and Salalah Airports, and
will be attended by senior dignitaries and
representatives of operating government
institutions, airlines and retail outlets.
OAMC’s responsibility
Shaikh Samer bin Ahmed al Nabhani,
increases in selecting
General Manager of Commercial
Operations at OAMC, said this annual
companies that
event is an expression of the Company’s
are able to run these
appreciation and gratitude to all firms
and companies operating in Muscat airports and ensure their
International and Salalah Airports.
development as competitive
It aims to further encourage them in
the pursuit of excellence and quality in airports that can keep
their services to be ready for the opening up with economic and
of Muscat and Salalah International
population growth in Oman.
Airports which are considered the most
important regional airports with their
SHAIKH SAMER BIN
AHMED AL NABHANI
outstanding capabilities and services.
GM, OAMC
Such factors make both airports a
preferred destination for international
companies specialized in aviation and various airports. Al Nabhani said,
retail sectors with a view to promoting “Muscat International Airport currently
and developing their investments in hosts 33 airlines and 26 retail and
PALESTINE MINISTER ARRIVES
restaurant companies, and Salalah
Airport hosts 6 airlines. The figure is
expected to increase over the next few
years, especially with the continuous
rise in the number of passengers and
airlines and the forthcoming opening of
new airports.”
He noted that OAMC is keen to select
companies that have distinguished skills
and experience in airport operation so
to ensure the provision of premium,
high-quality services. This process is
undertaken in accordance with strict
conditions and mechanisms taking into
account a lot of directives and objectives
that we seek to incorporate into our
airports.
The General Manager of Commercial
Operations said: “While the ceremony
aims to boost the morale of honoured
companies, it also sheds light on the
aviation industry and the Omani
government’s various efforts to enhance
this sector.
The Sultanate has implemented
airport projects at Sohar, Duqm and
Ras al Hadd, in addition to Muscat
International and Salalah Airports,
which increases the Company’s
responsibility in selecting companies
that are able to run these airports and
ensure their development as competitive
airports that can keep up with economic
and population growth in Oman. 8.7
million passengers travelled via Muscat
International Airport last year.”
Al Nabhani also commended the role
played by the Ministry of Transport and
Communications, the Public Authority
for Civil Aviation, Royal Oman Police
and Oman Air in enhancing the
aviation industry and their fruitful
cooperation to achieve the highest level
of performance and excellence in terms
of services, facilities and legislations
regulating the aviation sector. All
this has enabled Oman to obtain an
advanced rank among regional and
international airports.
He noted that the awards will include
several aspects, namely the best low-cost
airline, and the best onboard service,
the fastest growing airline, the best
marketing airline, the best cargo airline,
the best service at Muscat International
Airport, the best service at Salalah
Airport, and finally the best retail
outlets (restaurants, coffeeshops and
food stores), in addition to honoring a
number of authorities and key partners
operating in Muscat International and
Salalah Airports.
(OEPPA Business Development
Department)
The Minister of Social Affairs of the
State of Palestine, Dr Shougi Issa
arrived on Satuday for an official
visit to Oman during which he will
meet with a number of officials. The
minister and and his accompanying
delegation were welcomed by Shaikh
Mohammed Said al Kalbani, Minister
of Social Development and a number
of officials.
Passenger traffic up
9 pc in Muscat Airport
and 20 pc in Salalah
MUSCAT: The total passenger
traffic (including transit and transfer
passengers)
through
Muscat
International Airport has increased by
9 per cent to 851,588 passengers until
January 2015 compared with 780,223
passengers for the same period in 2014.
Statistics issued by the Public
Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA)
show an increase in the arrival
passengers by 8 per cent to 425,045
passengers until January this year
comparing to 392,762 passengers for
the same period of the year 2014.
The
number
of
departing
passengers
has
also
increased
by 10 per cent to 420,629 passengers
until January this year comparing to
383,306 passengers for the same period
of the year 2014. The increase in arrival
and departure traffic into Muscat
International Airport is attributed to
the increase in the number of flights
operated by existing airlines, such as
Oman Air, the Emirates and Fly Dubai.
In terms of air cargo traffic at
Muscat International Airport, aviation
statistics indicate an increase in the
total unloaded and loaded freight by
3 per cent with total shipment (8996
tonnes) compared to 8713 tonnes
in the same period in 2014. Salalah
Airport has witnessed an increase
by 20 per cent in the total number of
HIGH FLYING
Q MUSCAT International Airport saw a 3
per cent increase in freight traffic in 2015.
Q AIR CARGO at Salalah Airport, cargo
traffic has increased by 4 per cent.
Q THE increase in arrival and departure
traffic into Muscat International Airport is
due to the increase in the number of flights
operated by existing airlines, such as Oman
Air, the Emirates and Fly Dubai.
arriving and departing passengers to
81,877 passengers until November 2014
compared to 68,181 passengers for the
same period of 2014.
As for the movement of Air cargo
at Salalah Airport, cargo traffic has
increased by 4 per cent, bringing the
loaded and unloaded cargo to (117
tonnes) during January 2015 compared
to (112 tonnes) in the same period in
2014.
— ONA
OMAN
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
Corporate Oman’s key milestones
omandailyobserver
3
Oman, Kuwait sign MoU
OBESRVER’S BOOK SOON: To feature top ranking policy makers and business leaders
STAFF REPORTER
MUSCAT
Feb. 21: Building up the tempo of the
45th Omani Renaissance anniversary
celebrations, Oman Daily Observer
has kick-started the preparations of
Celebrating Corporate Sector’s Major
Milestones.
This book will evocatively honour
and highlight the corporate sector’s
major milestones in tribute to the 45
glorious years of the blessed Renaissance
march.
It will feature over 40 interviews with
top ranking policy makers and business
leaders with in-depth analysis of the
current trends and future developments
and opportunities in different sectors of
the Sultanate’s economy, thus reflecting
the pulse of the corporate sector.
The book’s focus will be on the
consistent high quality contribution
to the Omani economy, society and
the renaissance march by a number of
corporate sector players.
The benevolent and wise leadership
of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos is seeing
Oman fast becoming a destination
of choice for domestic and foreign
investors.
Since its inception in 1981, the Oman
Daily Observer has been playing a major
role in promoting the corporate sector
in the Sultanate. The new book on 45th
renaissance march aims to encourage the
corporate sector to continue on the path
of innovation, support to Omanisation,
SMEs and Omani products.
The 45th anniversary of the Blessed
Omani Renaissance is an important
time for the country. As part of the
caring for the nation, Observer took it on
itself to bring out a unique publication
showcasing corporate sector’s major
milestones and paying tribute to one of
the greatest leaders of this century, one
who 45 years ago made a promise to the
country and today is reaping the fruits
of his work in love, appreciation and
commitment.
Business owners and CEOs
from many parts of the nation are
participating in this book to celebrate
the achievements of Oman’s corporate
Sector, which since 1970 has been
generating jobs, advancing economic
diversification,
import-substitution,
export promotion and all round growth
and development.
Based on the authentic information
from policy makers directly and the
views of those who make things happen
and are at the helm of affairs will make
this book a unique resource, confirming
that the 45th anniversary of the Blessed
Omani Renaissance assumes great
significance from various points of
views.
As the 45th renaissance anniversary
approaches
those
Oman-based
entrepreneurs, who have worked
hard with commitment to promote
innovation, Omanisation, SMEs and
Omani products, can relish the fact
that much has been achieved in nationbuilding.
45 Years of Blessed Omani
Renaissance: Celebrating Corporate
Sector’s Major Milestones will be a highprofile book, bringing to limelight the
key achievements in different sectors
of the Omani economy and society,
including a key focus on the corporate
sector’s major milestones.
This book is a tribute to His
Majesty the Sultan’s indomitable spirit
and unparalleled vision, which has
been the leading light for all of us in
the Sultanate.
MUSCAT: The Ministry of Civil Service
and the Civil Service Commission of the
State of Kuwait on Saturday signed a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) in
the field of civil service and administrative
development on the sidelines of the 7th
session of the Omani-Kuwaiti Committee.
The Omani side was represented in
the signing by Shaikh Khalid bin Omar al
Marhoon, Minister of Civil Service while
the Kuwaiti side was represented by
Sheikh Sabah Khaled al Hamad al Sabah,
First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Foreign Affairs in the State of Kuwait in the
presence of Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdallah,
Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs.
The signing of the MoU stems from
Fishing nets RO 179 million in 2014 Development plans to
focus on social policies
MUSCAT — The total volume of catch
from commercial, coastal and vocational
fishing recorded 209,071 tonnes by
the end of 2014, an increase of 1.9 per
cent over the previous year, according
to a statistics issued by the National
Centre for Statistics and Information
(NCSI).
Total fish production from vocational
fishing increased by 0.9 per cent to
reach 205,376 tonnes at the end of 2014
compared with 203,454 tonnes in 2013.
The total revenues from vocational
fishing increased by 11.1 per cent to RO
179,519,000 at the end of 2014 up from
RO 161,608,000 recorded in 2013.
Total production from coastal fishing
rose by 126 per cent at 3,154 tonnes up
from just 1,394 tonnes recorded a year
earlier. Commercial fishing grew by 35.8
per cent recording a total of 541 tonnes
up from 398 tonnes in 2013.
Al Wusta Governorate recorded
the highest fish production from
vocational fishing with 54,163 tonnes
followed by North and South Al
Sharqiyah Governorates with 51,537
tonnes, Dhofar Governorate recorded
33,041 tonnes, North and South Al
Batinah Governorates 32,262 tonnes
and Musandam Governorate 20,839
tonnes.
RICH CATCH
Q AL WUSTA Governorate recorded the highest fish production from vocational fishing
with 54,163 tonnes followed by North and South Al Sharqiyah Governorates with
51,537 tonnes, Dhofar Governorate recorded 33,041 tonnes, North and South Al Batinah
Governorates 32,262 tonnes and Musandam Governorate 20,839 tonnes.
Q TOTAL fish production from vocational fishing increased by 0.9 per cent to reach
205,376 tonnes at the end of 2014 compared with 203,454 tonnes in 2013.
Q TOTAL production from coastal fishing rose by 126 per cent at 3,154 tonnes up from
just 1,394 tonnes recorded a year earlier.
Q COMMERCIAL fishing grew by 35.8 per cent recording a total of 541 tonnees up from
398 tonnes in 2013.
Seminar on Woman Economic Empowerment begins today
MUSCAT: A seminar on Woman
Economic Empowerment will be held
at Oman Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (OCCI) on Sunday presided
by Dr Muna bint Salim al Jardaniyah,
Under-Secretary of the Ministry of
Manpower for Technical Education and
Vocational Training. The seminar will
include a number of working papers
on activating the contributions of
woman in the economic activities in
the Sultanate and how to obtain the
necessary finance for the trade projects,
as well as the best means to promote
the small enterprises and opening
new channels to promote products
of the Omani woman. The seminar
will address the obstacles facing the
small and medium enterprises and
means of overcoming these obstacles
in the SMEs, in addition to the most
important woman craft industries in
the Sultanate and their role in boosting
the national economy. —ONA
MUSCAT: The Sultanate’s finance
management
has
realised
the
effects of the decline in oil prices on
sources of budget finance and has
identified alternatives that do not
prejudice the citizens’ interests and
social services.
The Sultanate learnt well from the
lessons in 1997 and 2002 (when oil
prices were record low) and managed
to complete the budgets of these two
years efficiently without prejudice to the
public interests.
While preparing the development
plans, the Supreme Council for
Planning (SCP) takes into consideration
the Royal Directives — to prioritise
social policies.
The state budget aims at achieving
objectives that contribute to pursing the
socio-economic development process
in a balanced manner by continuing
the investment spending necessary for
maintaining economic growth rates
and activating local demand.
The local economy is expected to
achieve a 4.5 per cent growth rate at
fixed prices and that the non-oil sectors
will be the driving force behind this
growth.
The Sultanate’s budget aims at
continuing the development projects,
such as schools, hospitals airports,
ports, roads, fishing ports, electricity,
water and sanitary drainage.
It will also continue the
implementation of the new prioritised
projects for 2015 at the current five year
plan as per the preset time tables for
them.
The budget also aims at continuing
the improvement of the public services
provided to individuals and caring
for social aspects, such as health,
education, housing, social care and
different subsidy programmes.
It also aims to continue activating
the growth and expansion of
SMEs, expanding the services and
programmes provided by Al Raffd
Fund at the different parts of the
Sultanate, increasing oil production
level, improving the quality of general
and university education, enhancing
efficiency of expenditure on the sector,
providing suitable alternatives for
the finance of higher and technical
education and providing finance to
training coupled with employment
programmes.
In a bid to address the expected
budget, the government will issue
long terms Islamic Sukuk and bonds
to activate the local capital market and
increase the efficiency of utilising local
deposits.
This will maintain the public debt as
percentage of GDP at safe levels.
It will also enhance stability
of prices at the local market and
protect the rights of the future
generations.
The approved public expenditure at
the state budget stood at RO 14.1 billion,
a growth by 4.5 per cent compared to
the estimated expenditure in 2014.
The public revenues were estimated
at RO 11.6 billion; a decline by 1 per cent
compared to the approved revenues for
last year.
Based on this estimated deficit for
2015 will be RO 2.5 billion; 21 per cent
of the revenues and 8 per cent of the
GDP. — ONA
Indian School Muscat to mark the anniversary with events and student exchange programmes
ISM@40 to celebrate 60 years of Oman-India ties
Some of the anniversary
events include blood
donation camp,
photography exhibition,
inter-school drama, rock and
sports festivals, international
study tour, mega carnival
and TED Talks. The events are
meant for students, parents
and Indian community
KABEER YOUSUF
MUSCAT
Feb. 21: Indian School Muscat (ISM)
will be celebrating its 40th anniversary
along with the celebrations of 60 years of
Oman-India relations.
The
year-long
celebrations
commemorating ISM@40 was officially
flagged off on February 5 with a variety
of colourful events being staged on and
off the campus.
“We are trying to combine the
ISM@40 events with celebration of
Oman-India relations which will see
several mega events that will shed
light on the bilateral relations between
the two friendly countries,” Dr Avirat
Vaishnav, President of the SMC (School
Management Committee)-ISM, said.
Speaking to the media, Dr Aju
Koshy Samuel, Chairman, Parent and
Community Sub Committee, SMCISM, said the entire calendar events
which take place at ISM on an annual
basis will be based on 40 flavours. Some
of the events include blood donation
camp, photography exhibition, interschool drama, rock and sports festivals,
international study tour, mega carnival
and TED Talks.
“There are three intended audience
to the celebrations, the first being the
students themselves followed by the
ex-students or the alumni of the school
who are spread across the world, and the
last the parents and the larger Indian
community spread across the country,”
said Dr Aju, who is also the Chairman
of the organising committee of ISM@40.
The ISM@40 logo was designed by
Anishka Maryam George, a student of
Class IX, and was chosen from a contest.
There are two student exchange
programmes this year and the alumni
members who are living in the respective
countries would also act as hosts to the
ISM students.
The German student exchange
programme will be held on April 15,
and the second one in October are the
major exchange programmes at ISM this
year. The proceeds from these sponsored
events will go to a major educational
initiative in Oman and another one in
India. “We invite all alumni members,
parents, well-wishers of the Indian
community and other dignitaries who
have been associated with the school’s
long journey to excellence,” Dr Vaishnav
said.
“A book focusing on the 40 years
of journey and how it contributed to
the social development with the help
of archived images will be a landmark
of the events,” said Munir Toprani, an
active ISM alumni .
“With more than 9,200 students
on rolls, ISM is the biggest and one of
the pioneering schools in the country
and it gives us immense pleasure in
commemorating the four decades of
journey,” Srinivas K Naidu, Principal,
ISM, said.
the distinctive relations and constructive
cooperation between the Sultanate
of Oman and the State of Kuwait in all
fields. It is aimed at fostering cooperation
between the ministry of civil service of the
Sultanate of Oman and the Civil Service
Commission of the State of Kuwait in the
fields of civil service and administrative
development on the basis of common
interests between the two countries.
The two sides agreed to encourage
mutual cooperation in various fields
related to, among others, training,
development, investment, employment
systems, civil service legislations,
investment in human relations and
knowledge management.
IN BRIEF
UK business
delegation to
visit Oman from
Wednesday
MUSCAT: A Business delegation from
Wales in the United Kingdom (UK) will
arrive on Wednesday on a two-day visit
to the Sultanate as part of a regional
tour that includes Qatar to promote
the products and services of the UK
companies. The delegation comprises a
number of representatives of the British
companies in the field of education,
infrastructure,
communications
and dairy products. Members of
the delegation will meet with their
Omani counterparts to enhance the
business cooperation relations through
appointing agents for their products in
the Omani market, as well as setting up
joint investment projects and taking
part in implementing the infrastructure
projects in the Sultanate. — ONA
RO 470m allotted
for Certificates of
Deposit
MUSCAT: Certificates of deposit tender
was held at the Central Bank of Oman
(CBO) this week. The total amount
allotted for issue No 905 was RO 470
million. The bulletin issued by the CBO
stated that the average interest rate
of these certificates was 0.13 per cent
whilst the maximum accepted interest
rate was 0.13 per cent. The tenor of these
certificates is 28 days, so their maturity
date is on March 18th. The certificates of
deposit issued to licensed banks by the
CBO as a monetary policy instrument
aimed at absorbing excess liquidity at
the banking sector in particular and
maintaining stability of the interest rate
and the money market in general. The
Repo rate during February 18th till 24th
is 1 per cent. — ONA
Development
Bonds net
RO 274,979,500
MUSCAT: The Central Bank of Oman
(CBO) announced that the value of
subscription of the 46 issue of the
Government Development Bonds
(GDB), issued by the CBO, stood at RO
274,979,500.
The CBO bulletin said that the size of
the new issue is fixed at RO 200 million
with a maturity period of 10 years and
carries a coupon rate of 4.5 per cent per
annum.
The issue settlement date will be on
February 23rd, 2015.
Interest on the new bonds will
be paid on August 23 and February
23 every year until maturity date on
February 23, 2025. — ONA
4
OMAN
omandailyobserver
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
Health summit calls for raising
awareness about iron overload
BULL’S EYE
BLOOD DISORDERS: Iron overload can affect vital organs such as liver and heart
STAFF REPORTER
MUSCAT
The annual shooting competition concluded at the Al Qasf Shooting range in Al
Khaboura. The event was presided Dr Abdulmunim bin Mansour al Hasani, Minister of
Information, on Saturday. — ONA
Feb.21: The incidence of haemoglobin
blood disorders such as thalassemia
and sickle cell disease (SCD), in
addition to rising liver and endocrine
complications have been key focus
areas at the biennial Gulf Iron Summit
that took place this weekend here in
Muscat.
The summit attracted key
practitioners
and
experts
in
thalassemia and SCD, showcasing
the latest research and treatments for
managing blood diseases.
Patients with thalassemia produce
less haemoglobin, a protein in red
blood cells that carries oxygen. As
a result, they suffer from anaemia,
iron overload, bone deformities,
liver disease and cardiovascular
illnesses. The summit aims to act as a
knowledge-sharing platform for best
practices to manage haemoglobin
blood diseases and its complications.
Most importantly, this year’s focus
was the care of patients suffering from
iron overload, a common secondary
disease among transfusion dependent
patients.
The complications
of these diseases
are severe and
there is a need to
support patients
in treating debilitating
health complications such
as iron overload that can
affect vital organs such as
the liver and the heart, and
can result in vascular and
endocrine complications
The focus of Gulf Iron Summit in Muscat was the care of patients suffering from
iron overload, a common secondary disease among transfusion dependent
patients.
The summit explored different
areas of managing thalassemia and
SCD such as novel approaches to
chelation therapy, the role of the liver
in iron overload and its management,
and the transition from childhood to
adulthood when suffering from iron
overload. Dr Zahia Al Raisi said: “The
complications of these diseases are
severe and there is a need to support
patients in treating debilitating health
complications such as iron overload
that can affect vital organs such as the
liver and the heart, and can result in
vascular and endocrine complications.”
“We continue to identify strategies
to leverage and maximise the value of
iron overload treatments by enhancing
and broadening the application of
chelation therapy to reverse ironoverload that contributes to endocrine
dysfunction and heart failure,”
OCCI: Workers’ strike Why college students cheat?
without notice is illegal
SHAIMAA AL MAMARI &
LAILA AL SAADI
From page 1
Nabhan bin Ahmed al Battashi, Chairman,
Federation of the General Trade Union
of the Sultanate, said that HR sections
suffer due to limited powers and all types
of labour strikes can be attributed to the
growing communication gap between
senior managers, decision-makers and
labourers. He urged more powers to be
granted to HR departments.
Meanwhile, at the recently concluded
Oman HR Summit, several points were
raised by HR managers representing
various organisaitons. “The management
should actively question and listen to
employees and encourage prompt dialogue
and debate so that they are encouraged
to learn. They should also demonstrate
through their own behaviour, a willingness
to entertain alternative points of view,” said
Hamdah al Shamsi of Public Authority for
Social Insurance (PASI).
“There should be focus on competitive
salaries and benefits to insure financial
security besides offering supportive work
environment to increase the employability
of the staff. Employees should be allowed
to have greater responsibilities and prove
themselves,” said Ibtihal Mohammed al
Riyami of Omantel.
“Organisations need to ensure that
policies on work ethics are imbedded
into the governance framework of the
organisation and appropriate training on
There will be a
continuous debate
on the percentage
of Omanisation and
some sectors may need more
priority compared to others,
but the chamber will support
any policy of the government.
SAID BIN SALEH AL KIYUMI,
Chairman, OCCI
ethics should be given to all employees
including the senior management.
While positive ethical behaviours
should be rewarded, disciplinary actions
should be taken against any employee
violating work ethics,” Saif al Nabhani,
human resources adviser to Minister of
Health.
We remember the day when our
friend told us how she cheated in
mid-term exams by placing tiny
notes under her abaya and having
some answers on her sandals.
She was speaking proudly as the
teacher could not catch her.
We were shocked as it was the first
time to hear of such new techniques
in cheating and how she dared to do
it! Once results appeared, our friend
got higher marks than us.
We were very annoyed as this was
unfair. However, we could not tell the
teacher since she was our close friend.
Cheating at examinations and
academic dishonesty are common
problems in higher education.
However, students who cheat
often are defensive in what they are
doing.
We spoke to students and asked
them about the reasons for cheating.
A student from Information
Technology Department, Ibri CAS
said, “I cheat because I am graded on
a curve. My score is largely influenced
by the performance of other students.’’
A student from Design Department
said, “I cheat because there is little
chance of being caught.”
Another student said, ‘Many
students are getting better grades
than me due to cheating. Why can’t
I cheat?” Moreover, many students
Parents should ensure
high standards for
honesty by reminding
kids about what the
Prophet said, “Whoever
deceives is not one of us.”
agreed that the pressure for top
grades in order to guarantee future
job is their major reason for cheating.
Some students do not know what
constitutes cheating because they are
unaware of rules.
This lack of understanding may
result in students to cheat by accident,
such as plagiarism.
What actions should be taken to
deal with this problem?
Parents should ensure high
standards for honesty, making it
clear that cheating is unacceptable by
reminding their kids about what the
Prophet said, “Whoever deceives is
not one of us.”
The parents should not compare
the grades of their sons and daughters
with their peers.
Additionally, academic advisers
should bolster a love for learning in
their students and engage them in
topics related to academic ethics.
College administers can create
first-year orientations or seminars on
academic norms and integrity.
The teacher should explain to his/
her students the meaning of cheating.
There are more approaches which
can be used to prevent cheating.
Using open book exams is a new
technique which enables students to
use whatever study materials they
want. Further, some colleges punish
the cheater by giving him/her zero
in the course. However, to reward a
grade of zero to a cheating student is
a lenient rule and sometimes fails to
prevent students from cheating.
Thus, tightening the rules on
cheating penalties, such as retaking
a whole semester of work or banning
the students from the university for
a year, seems to be the most obvious
and readily available solution.
To sum up, cheating is seen by
many students as a means to a fruitful
end. The college should foster its anticheating efforts by better educating
students about academic integrity.
Students should focus on
education rather than grades.
They should know that success at
the price of integrity is unacceptable
behaviour.
Village got its name because it used to contain many water springs in the past
History of Oman unfolds in Al Ayoun village
MUSCAT: Al Ayoun Village is one of
the important areas in the Wilayat of Al
Mudhaibi in the Governorate of North
A’Sharqiyah.
It is located in the Southern part of
the Niyabat of Sinaw.
It is called Al Ayoun, as the residents
of the village say, because it used to
contain many water springs in the past.
It is bordered in the North by many
villages, namely Al Musala Village in
the South, vast desert in the West and
Al Aflaj Village in the East. Al Ayoun is
beautiful and quiet village, filled with its
residents’ activities, vastness of its land,
greenness of its agricultural oasis and its
elevation above the sea level.
The famous historic landmarks in Al
harmony in terms of services and
facilities needed by the villagers in
the old times. There is, in the village, a
main gate on the Western side called Al
Darwaza. The doors of the village still
exist in their engravings and strength.
When entering the village through
the gate, one has the feeling of going
back into the old history.
The village opens at green and rich
date-palm oasis. There at the gate of
the village is an old building called Al
Misbah by the villagers.
It a multi-chamber building that
Al Ayoun Village contains a number of old rock houses that were built in a unique
oversees
the date palms and was built
architectural harmony. —ONA
over an elevated strategic hill.
As part of the overall development
Ayoun village narrate the Omani history, contains a number of old rock houses
deeply rooted in time. Al Ayoun Village that were built in a unique architectural enjoyed by the Sultanate’s villages, Al
Ayoun Village has been provided with
a number of basic services, including
health centre, electricity network that
covers most of its parts, three schools
for boys and one for girls, along with
schools for teaching the Holy Quran.
Mahout Road passes by Al Ayoun
Village and this contributes to the
smooth flow of the villagers to all parts
of the Sultanate, in addition to opening
an economic outlet, embodied in a
number of shops on both sides of the
main road. Moreover, the internal roads
of the village have been paved, and there
are mobile-phone stations.
There are plans to provide the village
with drinking-water network through
this year. — ONA
DR ZAHIA AL RAISI
stated Dr Shahina Daar, Associate
Professor of Hematology, Sultan
Qaboos University. “Iron overload
treatment has matured over the past
years resulting in improved quality of
life for our patients. However, we still
have a high incidence of endocrine
complications, particularly diabetes,
in Middle East patients, and there is an
urgent need to manage iron overload
effectively,” she said.
Moody’s
affirms Oman’s
A1 rating
From page 1
The
government’s
economic
diversification efforts will be helped
by access to funding under the
Gulf Development Programme –
amounting to $10 billion until 2022.
Lastly, Oman’s strong, liquid
and stable banking system provides
support for government funding
and for private sector economic
activity, and does not pose imminent
contingent risks to the government.
According to Moody’s, the driver for
the change in outlook to negative from
stable centers around uncertainty over
the effectiveness of the government’s
policy response to challenges posed by
lower oil prices to Oman’s government
finances, external current account,
and growth performance in 2015 as
well as over the next three years.
The negative outlook also factors
in potential further downside risks to
Moody’s oil price scenario.
Oil and gas revenues accounted
for 85 per cent of total government
revenues on average between 2009
and 2013. Under our base case oil
price scenario, the government’s fiscal
balance would deteriorate to a deficit
of around 11 per cent of GDP in 2015
and to around 8 per cent in 2016.
This is a sharp departure from
surpluses of more than 5 per cent of
GDP on average between 2009 and
2013. As a result, Moody’s expects
Oman’s government debt to rise to
more than 20 per cent of GDP by yearend 2016, from an estimated 8 per cent
in 2013. The change in outlook takes
into account the Omani government’s
plans to introduce measures to address
the fiscal challenges arising from the
oil price shock.
Three committees were set-up
in January to look into revenue
enhancements,
streamlining
of
expenditures,
and
borrowing
strategies. The authorities’ goal is to
increase revenues by RO 300 million
over the originally budgeted amount,
focusing on government’s service fees
as well as scrutinising tax holidays for
corporations.
For 2015, the government plans
to reduce budgeted spending by RO
800 million by streamlining current
spending and keeping spending
requirements
within
budgeted
amounts. As during previous oil price
corrections, the Supreme Council for
Planning is reviewing capital projects
to identify those that could potentially
be postponed.
Former prime minister Syed Yousuf
Raza Gilani said on Saturday he was not
aware if his kidnapped son, Ali Haider
Gilani, had been held captive by his
abductors inside Afghanistan. Talking
to the media here on Saturday, he said
the issue of recovery of his son was
discussed between him and the prime
minister in a meeting held a couple of
weeks back.
PRESIDENT REJECTS SIX MERCY PLEAS
S U N DAY l F E B R U A R Y 2 2 l 2 0 1 5
Pakistan President Mamnoon
Hussain on Friday rejected appeals
for clemency of six death row
prisoners from the Sindh province,
media reported. Following the
rejection of the mercy pleas, the
Home Department of Sindh ordered
the inspector general prisons
to take measures to execute the
convicts, Geo News reported.
Pakistan, Lanka to sign
civil nuclear deal soon
5
ASIA
FURIOUS FANS
PAKISTAN
EX-PM: NO NEWS ABOUT KIDNAPPED SON
BILATERAL TIES: The agreement will be signed when President
Maithripala Sirisena will visit Islamabad in the last week of March
ISLAMABAD: Sri Lanka will sign
a civilian nuclear cooperation deal
with Pakistan next month as the new
President Maithripala Sirisena will visit
Pakistan in the last week of March.
The details would be worked out in
due process before the visit takes place.
Ssources said on Saturday that
Islamabad had received the schedule
proposed by Colombo for the visit of
their president to Pakistan and President
Sirisena could be here on 31st of March.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was
among the first foreign dignitaries
who made a phone call to President
Maithripala Sirisena on his historic
victory in polls last month.
The prime minister also invited the
president to visit Pakistan which was
accepted.
Since then the two foreign offices are
engaged in making arrangements for the
agreed visit. The Sri Lankan president
also plans to proceed to China soon
after visiting Pakistan as he has already
visited New Delhi where he signed an
agreement with the Indian government
for civil nuclear cooperation.
Interestingly, Sri Lanka had to sign
a deal for nuclear cooperation with
Pakistan for civilian purposes under the
umbrella of International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) in the last quarter of the
last year and for the purpose the then Sri
Lankan president had planned to visit
Pakistan but unfortunately Islamabad
was stranded by the sit-in and the visit
Sri Lanka under Maithripala
Sirisena is keen to initiate
its nuclear programme
and it is eying the Chinese
reactors for the purpose
couldn’t take place.
Sri Lankan high commissioner for
Pakistan Air Chief Marshal Jayalath
Weerakkody, who was commander of
Sri Lankan air-force before assuming
the diplomatic assignment in Pakistan,
had confirmed the plan to visit Pakistan
by his former president but that couldn’t
materialised.
He has also hinted at signing a
deal with Pakistan for civilian nuclear
cooperation.
Diplomatic sources say Sri Lanka
is maintaining balance in its ties with
important countries of the region as the
president would be visiting important
regional capitals one after other during
the year.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi is also visiting Sri Lanka next
month, but no schedule has yet been
confirmed by the either sides.
Sri Lanka is keen to initiate its
nuclear programme and it is eying the
Chinese reactors for the purpose.
Interestingly, India and Sri Lanka
have seen an uneasy relationship
in recent few years due to Indians
clandestine interference in the domestic
affairs of Sri Lanka.
New Delhi has been agitating the
question of human rights violations
in the wake of Sri Lanka battle against
terrorists and insurgents who had
support from India.
Sources reminded that Sri Lanka and
Pakistan are two countries of the region
who took lead in signing free trade
agreement (FTA) and since then their
trade is increasing.
The Sri Lankan president will be
accorded a befitting reception on his
arrival in Pakistan accompanied by a
high level delegation.
He will be meeting President
Mamnoon Hussain and Chief of the
Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel
Sharif separately while he will be having
formal talks with Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif. — Internews
Ghani salutes Pakistan peace efforts
KABUL: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Friday saluted
neighbouring Pakistan’s cooperation as Kabul seeks to lay
the groundwork for peace with Taliban insurgents,
the latest sign of improving ties between the two
nations.
Afghanistan “appreciates Pakistan’s recent efforts
in paving the ground for peace and reconciliation”,
Ghani said in a statement. “We welcome the
recent position Pakistan has taken in pronouncing
Afghanistan’s enemy as Pakistan’s.”
He cited two major recent attacks as helping to
bring the countries closer together — one in Yahya Khel in
Afghanistan in November that left nearly 50 people dead, and
a Taliban massacre at a school in the Pakistan city of Peshawar
in December that killed 153, mostly children.
Ghani’s statement came after a top Pakistani minister
said on Thursday that relations between the two countries
had never been better. “I think Afghanistan and Pakistan,
working in close hands and in close cooperation,
it will do wonders for the cooperation in the field
of counterterrorism,” Pakistani Interior Minister
Nisar Ali Khan said as he met with top US
diplomat John Kerry in Washington.
“Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan
have never been better, and that is a very, very
positive development.”
Ghani also spoke after Taliban commanders
said the militants would soon restart contacts with US officials
in Qatar to try to get peace talks on track after more than 13
years of war in Afghanistan.
The US and the Taliban central spokesman later denied
the claims, however. — AFP
Fans vent their anger on a picture of Shahid Afridi at a protest following the defeat of Pakistan by the West India, in Lahore on
Saturday. Chasing the West Indies’s first innings total of 310 runs, Pakistan gave up its first four wickets for just one run — the
worst start in one-day international history — before eventually losing by 150 runs. — AFP
SEE ALSO SPORTS PAGES
Royal wedding held
for Pakistani boy,
Indian girl in Jaipur
ISLAMABAD: The two countries do
not see eye to eye, but an Indian
girl and a Pakistani boy did more
than that at a wedding in Jaipur on
Saturday.
Kunwar Karni Singh Sodha of
Amarkot district of Sindh in Pakistan
tied the knot with Padmini Rathore
of Kanota royal family of Jaipur
district of Rajasthan.
A large number of guests,
including over 100 from Pakistan,
blessed Kunwar Karni Singh Sodha
and Padmini Rathore as the couple
exchanged wedding vows at a
heritage hotel.
The guests who attended
the royal wedding were given a
grand welcome which included a
performance by folk artists.
The guests were treated to
Mughlai and Rajasthani cuisines.
The marriage procession
comprising decorated elephants and
horses started from Trimurti circle
before reaching Narain Niwas Palace.
Weddings have taken place
between families in India and
Pakistan before as well, but what
made this wedding special was that
31 people had gone to Pakistan
Govt to buy equipment
to monitor talk shows
ISLAMABAD: The government of Pakistan will buy Rs 30.4
million equipment to monitor the talk shows of private TV
channels.
Sizable amount will be set aside in the development
budget for the coming year for setting up broadcast centres
at the Control Line, Working Boundary and frontiers close
to Iran, China and Afghanistan to extend transmission of
the Pakistani media. National Film Academy will be set up
in Islamabad to revive the film industry, it has been decided.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will
propose plans worth more than Rs 1.5 billion under Public
Sector Development Programme (PSDP) in budget 2015-16.
The projects aim to translate Urdu dramas into English,
Arabic and Spanish to promote the soft image of the country.
According to official documents, the ministry will
propose 16 projects for the coming budget including setting
up of Sotul Quran FM network all through the country.
These projects will cost more than Rs 580 million while
Rs 140 million will be spent on two projects of PTV. Rs 50
million will be spent on setting up Sotul Quran FM network
in the country. In the wake of Operation Zarb-e-Azb, Rs 40.5
will be set aside for the security of Mazar-e-Quaid and Rs 10
million for building Pakistan Park in Karachi.
Rs 4 million will be spent on constructing a news building for
the APP, Rs 50.5 for procurement of equipment for monitoring
media transmission, Rs 50 million for installing film projects system
in PNCA, Rs 30 million for renovation of PID Karachi office, Rs
30.27 million for setting up Academy of Letters Regional Centre
in Peshawar, while Rs 911 million will be spent on the 43 projects
already included in the PSCP. — Internews
from Jaipur for the engagement
ceremony where even the tika
ceremony took place which is seen
as a rare occasion in Pakistan.
The family of the groom has an
impressive legacy.
The family had given refuge to
Akbar’s father, Humayun, and his
wife in Amarkot (now Umerkot in
Pakistan’s Sindh province) as he
fled to the desert region after being
defeated by Sher Shah Suri in 1540.
The bride, Padmini Singh
Rathore, belongs to Kanota royal
family.
Around 15,000 guests had
attended the ‘tika’ ceremony in
Amarkot.
Despite how the society looks at
India-Pakistan relationship, the bride
says she is stepping into the new
phase with an open mind.
The bride’s father Man Singh
Kanota said it was an arranged
marriage.
The groom’s father Rana
Hamir Singh said that both the
families were happy with the new
relationship.
The groom’s family is expected to
stay in Jaipur till Holi. — Internews
SHOCKER
Power project
loans worth
$16bn not used
ISLAMABAD: In a startling revelation,
the government of Pakistan has failed
to utilise $16 billion in loans that have
been approved by international donors
for energy projects in the country, even
as Pakistan continues to face a severe
energy crisis born of a crumbling
infrastructure, largely due to the Civil
Service of Pakistan’s inability to initiate
the projects.
The $16 billion amount represents
85 per cent of the $18.8 billion loans
approved for Pakistan’s energy sector
by multilateral donors, and includes
projects for power generation, as
well as improving the transmission
and distribution grids. Islamabad’s
failure to utilise these loans has cost
the taxpayers $21 million a year
in commitment fees for the loans,
including $15 million in fees to China
alone. In total, at least 34 projects have
yet to get off the ground despite having
foreign funding available.
Had they been implemented, the
projects would have added 4,000
megawatts of power generation
capacity as well as significantly
improved the crumbling transmission
and distribution grids. — Internews
6
omandailyobserver
ASIA-PACIFIC
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
AFTER-EFFECTS OF STORM: Extensive damage to remote Aboriginal communities
VISA GRANTS
Australia clears up after two cyclones
ROCKHAMPTON:
Australia was
clearing up on Saturday after two severe
cyclones left a trail of destruction,
wrecking hundreds of homes and cutting
electricity to tens of thousands, even as
authorities warned of more flooding and
gusty winds to come.
Tropical Cyclone Marcia barrelled
through the northeastern state of
Queensland on Friday at the highestrated category five, ripping apart houses,
uprooting trees and bringing down power
lines.
The severe system hit hours after
category four Tropical Cyclone Lam
slammed into the Northern Territory,
causing extensive damage to remote
Aboriginal communities near Elcho
Island, some 500 kilometres east of the
territory’s capital Darwin.
Both cyclones have since ceased, but
the Bureau of Meteorology warned of
further flooding, heavy rains, damaging
winds and dangerous surf in southeast
Queensland and northern New South
Wales state.
“What we are seeing here is complete
and utter devastation,” state Premier
Annastacia Palaszczuk said as she visited
residents in the central Queensland coastal
town of Yeppoon, about 670 kilometres
north of the capital Brisbane.
“It has been absolutely horrific what
these people have gone through.”
Despite the destruction, authorities
have so far not received reports of serious
injuries, missing people, or deaths.
“We are very happy to say still... that
A cyclone damaged business is seen in the northern Queensland town of Rockhampton. — AFP
no person has been seriously injured and
we certainly have no reports of anyone
missing at this stage so we hope that will
continue,” state disaster coordinator Steve
Gollschewski said.
Palaszczuk said Yeppoon and nearby
Rockhampton were the worst hit, with the
military called in to help with the cleanup.
“Yeppoon has suffered the brunt of the
cyclone and it is going to take a lot longer
for power to be restored,” she said, adding
that some 60,000 people were without
electricity. Water and sewage systems were
also affected.
Power was slowly being returned in the
towns but could take a few days to be fully
restored, Palaszczuk added.
Indonesia urged to ease tensions
SYDNEY:
Foreign Minister Julie
Bishop called on Indonesia to give two
Australians on death row an “indefinite
stay of execution” as she clarified her
Prime Minister’s comments linking their
fate to aid, media reports said on Saturday.
Tensions between the two nations have
grown after Indonesia confirmed Andrew
Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, ringleaders
of the so-called Bali Nine heroin trafficking
group, were among the next group of
prisoners to face the firing squad.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott last week
denied threatening Indonesia when he
said the country should remember the aid
Australia contributed after the devastating
2004 tsunami. Bishop said she called VicePresident Jusuf Kalla to clarify Abbott’s
comments and emphasise Australia’s close
relationship with Indonesia.
“I have made it quite clear that the
prime minister was simply illustrating the
point that Australia has been and remains
a supporter, a close friend of Indonesia,”
Bishop told the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation.
“Certainly these comments were not
any attempt to threaten Indonesia.”
Relations between the neighbours are
only just recovering from a damaging
rift in 2014 over spying revelations and
people-smuggling. Kalla’s office said on
Friday that the latest executions “will
be delayed for between three weeks to
a month from now due to technical
reasons,” without elaborating further.
Bishop expressed her gratitude that
there had been a delay in the men’s
scheduled transfer from Bali to the highsecurity prison where they are due to
be executed, telling the Sydney Morning
Herald: “I said I hoped we could seek an
indefinite stay of execution.”
However, Indonesia’s attorney-general
Muhammad Prasetyo declared earlier
that “nothing whatsoever” could stop the
execution of the two Australians from
going ahead. Indonesia executed six
drug offenders in January, including five
foreigners, prompting a furious Brazil and
the Netherlands — whose citizens were
among those put to death — to recall their
ambassadors.
Meanwhile,
Brazilian
President
Dilma Rousseff refused to accept the
credentials of the Indonesian ambassador
to demonstrate her anger at last month’s
execution of a Brazilian citizen for drug
smuggling.
“We think it is important that there is
an evolution in the situation in order to
clarify the state of Indonesia’s relations
with Brazil,” Rousseff said as she received
the credentials of ambassadors from five
other countries.
Rousseff said clearance for Indonesia’s
representative would be “held up a little”
with Brasilia and Jakarta at loggerheads
over the impending execution of a second
Brazilian, Rodrigo Gularte, 42, on death
row since 2004 for smuggling six kilos of
cocaine into Indonesia in surf boards.
Gularte’s family have tried without
success to obtain clemency for him,
saying doctors have classed him as
paranoid schizophrenic, which would
normally see him transferred to a
psychiatric facility. Brazilian media
reported that a diplomat had passed a
written request to the head of the prison
asking for such a transfer.
— AFP
Queensland’s fire and emergency
services said 200 homes in Yeppoon and
340 in Rockhampton were damaged
or flooded. Gollschewski said so far 40
severely damaged structures had been
found in the two towns.
Andrew Bennett described how his
Yeppoon house was torn apart by the
cyclone.
Workers removing the wreckage of a car bomb which was detonated by suspected separatist militants in Thailand’s southern
province of Narathiwat.
— AFP
Singapore founding PM Lee Kuan Yew ‘stable’
handed power to Lee Hsien Loong in
2004.
Lee Hsien Loong, 63, was himself
discharged from hospital on Wednesday
after undergoing surgery for prostate
cancer and his doctor has said he should
make a full recovery.
The People’s Action Party, which was
co-founded by the elder Lee, has been
returned to power in every election
since independence and currently holds
80 of the 87 seats in parliament.
In a book published in 2013, the
Asian statesman said he feels weaker by
the day and wants a quick death.
Lee said that he had signed an
Advance Medical Directive, a legal
document informing doctors that a patient does not want the use of any lifesustaining treatment to prolong his life
in the event he becomes terminally ill
and unconscious and where death is imminent.
“If I have to be fed by a tube, and it is
unlikely that I would ever be able to recover and walk about, my doctors are to
remove the tube and allow me to make a
quick exit,” he wrote.
The government announcement of
the senior Lee’s latest hospitalisation
comes on the third day of the Chinese
Lunar New Year, a festival widely celebrated in the majority-Chinese citystate.
“Visited my father in hospital this
morning. Did not see him on the first
day of the New Year, on the advice of
doctors,” Lee Hsien Loong said in a
Facebook post.
“So we wished him Happy New
Year today, and a smooth recovery,” the
younger Lee wrote.
Lee Kuan Yew was also hospitalised
in February last year due to an infection.
The British-trained lawyer, a long-
SYDNEY: The past year has seen
a five-fold increase in the number
of visas Australia grants to wealthy
foreign investors, a Melbourne-based
newspaper reported on Saturday.
Chinese nationals make up about 89
per cent of the 651 Significant Investor
Visa recipients since the scheme came
into effect in 2012, The Age said.
It has so far pumped 3.2 billion
Australian dollars ($2.5 billion) into
the economy.
The visa is available to foreigners
who invest a minimum of 5 million
Australian dollars for a minimum of
four years. They become eligible for
permanent residence afterwards.
The state of Victoria has attracted
the most investment, with New South
Wales second, The Age said.
So-called “golden ticket” visa
holders are exempt from rules that
prevent foreigners from acquiring
personal property, but such purchases
are not included in the basic investment
under the scheme.
The report quoted assistant minister
for immigration Michaelia Cash saying
the number of visas granted is expected
to grow by about 800 by the end of the
financial year.
The government plans to introduce
a new Premium Investor Visa on July
1 to encourage more high net worth
individuals to settle in Australia. — dpa
CAR BOMB EXPLOSION
The PAP, which was co-founded by the elder Lee, has been returned to power in every election
SINGAPORE: Singapore’s founding
leader Lee Kuan Yew, (pictured) credited with transforming the city-state to
one of Asia’s wealthiest economies, is
in hospital breathing with the help of
a machine but in stable condition, the
government said on Saturday.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said the 91-year-old was
admitted to Singapore General Hospital
on February 5 to be treated for severe
pneumonia.
“His condition has stabilised and he
remains on mechanical ventilation in
the ICU (intensive care unit),” the statement said, using a term to refer to machine-assisted breathing.
“He is conscious and lightly sedated,”
it added.
“His doctors are continuing to monitor his condition.”
Lee, the father of current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, is widely credited
with transforming Singapore from an
economic backwater to a rich economy
in just over three decades.
He served as prime minister from
1959, when Singapore gained self-rule
from colonial ruler Britain, until he
stepped down in 1990 in favour of his
deputy Goh Chok Tong, who in turn
“It was incredible, it just exploded,”
he told Brisbane’s Courier Mail as he
described the “roaring” wind.
“The house seemed to pulsate and the
wind blew out the window. Then the roof
blew off. I couldn’t believe all the rain that
was coming in.”
The clean-up process has started in
Rockhampton, which Marcia passed
directly over, as fallen trees and power
lines were removed from roads.
There were long queues for fuel in
the town of 80,000 residents, with people
filling jerrycans for generators.
In the Northern Territory, a state of
emergency has been declared for areas
hardest hit by Lam.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott pledged
federal disaster relief support for affected
residents, adding that similar help was
also extended to Queensland.
Northern Territory Chief Minister
Adam Giles said teams were working with
Aboriginal communities to restore power
and water.
Parts of southeast Queensland, which
has already been saturated by a separate
weather system bringing hundreds of
millimetres of rain to the region since
Thursday, remain on flood watch with
fears some rivers were set to overflow.
The deluge of rain in the region saw
the cricket World Cup match between
Australia and Bangladesh in Brisbane
abandoned without a ball bowled.
Flood warnings have also been issued
for northeast New South Wales state just
below Queensland. — AFP
Chinese investors
boost Australia’s
‘golden ticket’
visa scheme
Prime Minister’s Office
said the 91-year-old was
admitted to Singapore
General Hospital on
February 5 to be treated
for severe pneumonia. Lee,
the father of current Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong,
is widely credited with
transforming Singapore
from an economic backwater
to a rich economy
time fitness buff, has visibly slowed since
his wife of 63 years Kwa Geok Choo died
in 2010 and has been in frail health.
He is still an MP for the port district
of Tanjong Pagar but retired from advisory roles in government in 2011.
He had held the cabinet positions of
senior minister and later “minister mentor” after stepping down as premier in
1990.
— AFP
IN BRIEF
Nursing home killer detained
BEIJING: Police on Saturday caught a man accused of killing three people at a
nursing home in central China, two days after a fight with his boss over unpaid
wages which led to the slaughter.
The suspect, whose name was given as Luo Renchu, 64, was captured at 5 pm
on a mountain in Xiangxiang, Hunan province, Xinhua news agency reported.
The killings happened around 2 am on Thursday, the first day of the Chinese
Lunar New Year, at Aixin Nursing Home in Shuangfeng county when Luo attacked elderly residents and staff with a brick, killing three and injuring 15 others. Luo fled the scene after the attack.
A preliminary police investigation found that the attack took place shortly
after a quarrel between Luo and Fang Hongchun, owner of the nursing home.
Both Luo and his wife work at the home and were owed a total of 40,000
yuan ($6,500) in unpaid wages. They had been promised 10,000 yuan before
the Lunar New Year. Fang only paid them 6,000 yuan, which led to a dispute on
New Year’s Eve.
Privately owned Aixin Nursing Home normally has more than 90 elderly residents, about 70 of whom were spending the holiday with their families. — IANS
Red Army member arrested
Tokyo: A Japanese Red Army member was arrested on suspicion of arson and
involvement in a 1986 mortar attack on Japan’s Embassy in Indonesia, following
his return to Japan after a prison term in the United States, the Kyodo News
agency reported.
The United States deported Tsutomu Shirosaki, 67, to Japan after he was released from a prison in January. He was on Tokyo’s international wanted list.
Shirosaki is suspected of attempting to set fire to a hotel room in Jakarta in
May 1986. Authorities believe the arson attempt was aimed at destroying evidence of his alleged involvement in the mortal attack at the Japanese Embassy
in Jakarta, the Kyodo News report said.
In 1996, Shirosaki was arrested and handed over to US law enforcement officials in Nepal, where he was in hiding, for an alleged mortar attack on the
US Embassy in Jakarta in 1986. He was extradited to the United States. — dpa
SUBCONTINENT
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
omandailyobserver
7
ASSESSMENT VISIT: New Pentagon chief Ashton Carter arrives in Kabul on his first trip since taking charge
US signals likely delay in troop pullout
KABUL: President Barack Obama’s new
Pentagon chief said on Saturday the
United States was seriously considering
slowing the pace of a troop withdrawal
from Afghanistan, as the country faces a
growing Taliban insurgency.
US Defence Secretary Ashton
Carter’s comments in Kabul offered the
clearest sign yet that Washington was
ready to delay the closure of some bases
and retain more troops after appeals
by Afghanistan’s new President Ashraf
Ghani and advice from commanders.
To safeguard “hard-won” progress,
Obama “is considering a number of
options to reinforce our support for
President Ghani’s security strategy,
including possible changes to the
timeline for our drawdown of US
troops,” Carter said after talks with
Afghan leaders.
“That could mean taking another
look at the timing and sequencing of
base closures to ensure we have the right
array of coalition capabilities,” he said at
a joint news conference with Ghani.
Apart from troop numbers, the
United States and its allies would need
to make “long-term commitments
in resources, equipment and other
support” to ensure the success of the
Afghan forces, he said.
Carter’s visit comes amid a sharp
rise in Afghan casualties from the 13year conflict, with the UN recording a
Apart from troop numbers,
the United States and its
allies would need to make
“long-term commitments in
resources, equipment and
other support” to ensure the
success of the Afghan forces,
Carter said. His visit comes
amid a sharp rise in Afghan
casualties from the 13-year
conflict.
US Secretary of Defence Ash Carter with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the Presidential Palace in Kabul. — AFP
22 per cent increase in the number of
civilians killed and injured in 2014 due
to an intensification in ground fighting
between government and insurgent
forces.
It also comes as Obama faces a
decision about the timetable for a troop
drawdown in Afghanistan.
Under the current plan, the
10,000-strong US force is due to drop
to roughly 5,000 by the end of 2015
and then pull out altogether by the time
Obama leaves office in two years.
But the Obama administration
already has delayed the pace of the
withdrawal, allowing 1,000 additional
American forces to remain this year.
And the US commander on the
ground, General John Campbell,
has suggested he favours slowing the
drawdown further, though the details
of the possible options before Obama
remain unclear.
Afghan leaders and some lawmakers
have urged Obama to reconsider the
withdrawal timetable, warning that an
HOMAGE TO THE MARTYRS
early US exit could jeopardise security
and international aid.
Carter said as part of the review of the
pullout plan, Washington was also was
“rethinking the details of the counterterrorism mission” that currently targets
al Qaeda militants with raids by US and
Afghan special forces and drone strikes.
He said the single most important
factor that had prompted the review
of the troop withdrawal timetable was
the formation of a unity government
last year led by Ghani, which he
Honeymooner
survives fall from
World’s End
Bangladeshi youth decorate the Bangladesh Central Language Martyrs’ Memorial monument with flowers in homage to the
martyrs of the 1952 Bengali Language Movement, at the Dhaka University campus in Dhaka yesterday. It marks 63 years since
the police fired at thousands of protesters at a university in Bangladesh demanding that Bengali be declared the state
language. — AFP
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan troops
rescued a Dutch honeymooner who
became the first person to survive a
fall from the World’s End, a 4,000foot cliff that is one of the country’s
main tourist attractions, the military
said.
The 35-year-old man had taken
a few steps back to take pictures
of his new bride when he flew
off the unprotected cliff, army
spokesman
Brigadier
Jayanath
Jayaweera said.
“He was extremely lucky because he
fell on top of a tree about 130 feet from
the top,” Jayaweera said. He is the first
person to survive a fall from World’s
End.” Troops used ropes to reach the
man and winch him to safety. Some
40 soldiers were involved in the initial
rescue which was later backed by a
military helicopter.
The man had to be evacuated from
the area, however, on the shoulders of
troops who carried him over a distance
of five kilometres to the nearest
point at which he could be driven to
hospital.
“His condition is stable and
he is out of danger,” a police official
said. — AFP
said had introduced “certainty” and
“predictability”.
“That’s something we couldn’t have
counted on a few months ago,” he said,
calling it “major change”.
On the first day of a two-day
visit, Carter held talks with the US
commander in Kabul, Campbell, as
well as General Lloyd Austin, head of
US Central Command which oversees
American forces in the Middle East and
Central Asia.
His trip coincides with a concerted
effort by Ghani to promote peace talks
between Kabul and the Taliban, with
Pakistan voicing strong support for the
initiative.
Ghani declined to confirm whether
Taliban leaders were now ready to
enter into direct negotiations with his
government, but he said the conditions
were ripe for a potential breakthrough.
“The grounds for peace have never
been better in the last 36 years,” Ghani
said.
He said he was “hopeful” and
“the direction is positive”. But he
added: “We cannot make premature
announcements.”
The United States and a Taliban
spokesman this week denied there were
new plans to hold peace talks in Qatar,
despite claims by some militant leaders.
Asked about the presence of the IS
group in Afghanistan, Carter played
down the threat, saying some Taliban
insurgents were making an attempt at
“rebranding” themselves.
“The reports I’ve seen still have them
in small numbers and aspirational,” he
said.
The United States first launched
military action in Afghanistan after the
September 11, 2001 attacks, toppling the
Taliban regime that had refused to break
ties with al Qaeda.
A US-led Nato force eventually
swelled to 130,000 troops, but last year
the mission wrapped up its combat
operations against Taliban insurgents.
A contingent of 12,500 foreign troops
has remained to back up Afghanistan’s
350,000 soldiers and police. — AFP
Cooperative fishing between
men, dolphins to be promoted
YANGON:
Authorities
in
Myanmar are trying to promote
the resurgence of cooperative
fishing with freshwater dolphins, a
practice which has been lost as the
species becomes endangered.
“Actually,
fishermen
and
Irrawaddy dolphins were used to
work together fishing in the river.
We are now trying to re-cultivate
the practice by providing assistance
to fishermen from nearby
villages,” said deputy director Han
Win from Myanmar’s fishery
department.
“For a long time, fishermen
used to communicate with dolphin
by splashing the oars in the water
and tapping a stick on one side of
boat, and they would go fishing
together,” Han Win said.
The species is endangered in
Myanmar because of electric-shock
fishing and small-mesh fishing
nets, he said.
“The dolphins are afraid of
fishermen now.”
Authorities plan to provide
assistance to four villages along a
230-kilometre dolphin protection
zone of Irrawaddy River in central
Mandalay and Sagaing divisions.
Their aim is convince fishermen
to use alternative ways of fishing
instead of using electric shocks.
“Then hopefully we can cultivate
the practise again.
This may be one of tourist
attractions,” Han Win said.
There are larger numbers of the
dolphin in both India and
Bangladesh, but there are only
about 63 left in the Irawaddy river
of Myanmar.
That makes this population
critically endangered, one step
away from extinction.
“We are still surveying them.
So, I can’t tell you exactly
how many dolphins are in the
Irrawaddy River,” Han Win said.
The dolphin is also listed as
vulnerable on the International
Union for Conservation of
Nature’s “red list” of threatened
species. Conservationists are
planning ecotourism packages in
2015 to raise awareness and
promote the protection of the
dolphins’ habitat. — dpa
Lanka to discuss new war Myanmar: more than 130 dead
in fighting near China border
crimes probe with UN
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s newly-elected
government will next month look to win
United Nations backing for a domestic
probe into alleged war crimes under
former leader Mahinda Rajapakse, an
official said on Saturday.
The investigation, which the new
administration had promised after
winning January elections, comes after
the previous regime resisted a UN
inquiry into claims that up to 40,000
ethnic Tamil civilians were killed under
Rajapakse’s command in the final
months of a war that ended in May 2009.
Foreign
Minister
Mangala
Samaraweera will travel to Geneva next
month to meet UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al
Hussein, the foreign ministry said in a
statement.
It gave no details, but an official said
that the new Sri Lankan administration
was keen to get his backing for the
Foreign Minister Mangala
travels to Geneva next
month to meet UN High
Commissioner for Human
Rights Al Hussein, says the
foreign ministry
investigation.
“Minister Samaraweera wants to
brief the Human Rights Council about
the new steps that Sri Lanka wishes to
take,” an official said, asking not to be
named.
“Sri Lanka is looking for about two
months to establish a new (domestic)
mechanism.” The government has
pledged a credible, independent
investigation that may draw on foreign
expertise and experience.
Last week, the UN postponed the
publication of an eagerly-awaited report
on a UN-mandated war crimes probe
into Sri Lanka’s brutal separatist war,
giving the new government time to
prove its bona fides.
Zeid’s office in a statement last
week said the report, which had been
scheduled to be presented to the Human
Rights Council early next month, would
be published by September.
Samaraweera’s talks with Zeid
come after the government secured
parliamentary approval on Thursday
for a long-awaited witness protection
law, a key demand of the international
community to ensure accountability in
the island.
The new government has also
pledged to enact a right to information
law, another demand of both local
and international rights activists
who accused the previous regime of
persecuting and silencing critics and
dissidents. — AFP
NAYPYIDAW: Myanmar’s army on
Saturday said more than 130 people had
died in a deepening battle with rebels in
the northeast, declaring it would not rest
until stability was restored to the border
area which tens of thousands have fled.
Fighting raged in the remote Kokang
region of Shan state where conflict
erupted on February 9 when insurgent
attacks on soldiers triggered a military
onslaught, prompting at least 30,000
civilians to escape into bordering China.
In the first press conference since
clashes began, defence ministry
spokesman Lieutenant General Mya
Htun Oo said the conflict had killed 61
military and police officers and around
72 insurgents.
“The fighting is strong... Because
of serious fighting, our helicopters are
helping,” he told reporters in the capital
Naypyidaw.”
We will not retreat until we get
A child eats at a refugee camp at
Myanmar’s border town with China, in
Kokang. — AFP
stability.”
He did not provide figures on
civilian deaths in and around Laukkai
town, where the conflict has centred, as
efforts to evacuate communities remain
hampered by an attack on Tuesday on a
local Red Cross convoy which wounded
two aid workers.
The spokesman blamed the attack on
the rebels: “Our military only provides
protection to civilian convoys...
We are going to take action against
Kokang rebels’ offence.”
The ethnically Chinese Kokang
rebels or National Democratic Alliance
Army (MNDAA), who are fighting
for regional autonomy, have denied
attacking the convoy.
The conflict, the first major unrest
in the region since 2009, has renewed
doubts over a government attempt to
forge a nationwide ceasefire in a country
peppered with ethnic insurgencies.
Myanmar’s
quasi-civilian
government has put the ceasefire
agreement at the heart of its reforms
as the nation prepares for a general
election later this year. — AFP
8
ANALYSIS
omandailyobserver
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
HISTORY HAS TO BE
CHERISHED BY ALL
ABDULAZIZ AL JAHDHAMI
[email protected]
O
man today is not the old Oman of yesterday. Its inconvenient living and ill-fated
face have entirely changed. Since the start of the Omani Blessed Renaissance in early
70s, the country has shaken off the dust of isolation and standstill, opened its doors
and windows to the light, interacted with the global changes and got affected and
influenced by them.
Its strong and cordial historical relations dated thousands of years back with
many countries around the world played a key role in forming Oman’s history and
culture. By a way or another such relations were of high significant to the nation.
While today, the country has been adapted to the modern and revolutionised life, it
has never lost its genuine identity, culture and heritage.
As His Majesty Sultan Qaboos said: “It has been very clear to us that our heritage
is not only represented by forts, castles and ancient buildings, but by spiritual
customs and traditions, by science, art and literature transmitted by one generation
to another. The real preservation of heritage will not be accomplished unless we
understand this and cherish it”.
On the contrary of all this, it has been realised
It has been realised
that the country is losing valuable historical
handwritten manuscripts finding their way out that the country
to neighbouring countries. It is really shocking is losing valuable
and shameful!! These hundreds of years old
historical handwritten
documents are real treasures that shouldn’t be
traded! Such manuscripts are definitely private manuscripts finding
ones and being traded in personal deals.
their way out to
How dare those people to trade their nation’s
neighbouring
precious treasures and history?! What on earth
they are doing! How come they accept to countries. It is really
get compensated for something part of their shocking and this
identity and national history? Of course it’s
needs to be stopped
unbelievable; but it’s happening in this country.
According to a local newspaper, an official
from the Ministry of Heritage and Culture
declared last week that over 30,000 significant and rare manuscripts are in private
possession of individuals or being family inheritance. Thus, the ministry has been
running an awareness programme to urge people get their historical documents
scanned and digitally achieved.
Striving to collect the national historical manuscripts from people, the ministry
called upon citizens to get compensated for their documents. Even so, not many
came forward as they are not happy with the compensation amount allocated. On
the other hand, the ministry is not willing to pay much or may not have sufficient
budget to cover the big sum of money people asking for.
To a certain extent, people are right that such manuscripts worth thousands of
rials, thus the ministry shall get them at any cost if officials truly believe on its value.
According to the ministry’s statistics, it bought 13 manuscripts from people in 2010
for RO 970, 63 in 2011 for RO 9,175 and 45 in 2012 for 6,840.
This means that the ministry paid about RO 74 for each manuscript in 2010,
RO 145 in 2011 and RO 152 in 2012. For the very important documents, it’s not
sufficiently encouraging for people to sell their valuable documents, while they can
get thousands rials from other parties.
On the other hand, being national treasures that should be well preserved,
citizens should part of the heritage and history protection process. Their role is
significant to help the government bodies compile all relevant historical documents.
Alternatively, if not willing to handover the manuscripts to the ministry, they should
get their manuscripts scanned and digitally archived in the ministry.
The Ministry of Heritage and Culture could be generous enough to convince
people get compensated for their manuscripts.
Citizens shall ask for reasonable amount of money that could be affordable by the
ministry or donate the items to the ministry. We are all after one noble and national
mission; preserving history.
Local residents walk near an armoured personnel carrier of Ukrainian armed forces in Artemivsk. — Reuters
West looks helpless in Ukraine
T
he continued fighting in eastern Ukraine has made a of the German Marshall Fund of the United States,
mockery of the West’s latest attempts to negotiate a ceasefire a think tank.
“They are not naive. Perhaps they think now this
but may ultimately pave the way for a more durable peace,
question is in a sense settled, it could contribute to a more
say analysts.
It did not take long for the latest truce, brokered by durable ceasefire,” he said.
The question is whether the rebels will now pressure
France and Germany and signed in the Belarussian capital
other areas, notably the port city of Mariupol.
Minsk last week, to look as impotent as previous deals.
But Balazs Jarabik, of the Carnegie Endowment for
With barely a pause, pro-Russian rebels continued their
assault on the key transport hub of Debaltseve, ultimately International Peace, said the rebels may be reluctant to
attack a million-strong city of mostly Russian speakers.
forcing the Ukrainian military into a humiliating retreat.
“The more bloody the rebel advance, the more it proves
“It was a classic case of good intentions paving the way
to hell,” said Ievgen Vorobiov of the Polish Institute of right those who say Russia must be stopped,” said Jarabik.
“Putin has already achieved his main goals — he’s
International Affairs.
“(German Chancellor Angela) Merkel saw the situation taken Crimea, he has a frozen conflict in the east. Now
he needs the fighting to stop so that the
was deteriorating fast and that the United
international pressure on him falls.”
States was talking about supplying arms
With barely a pause,
Russia has encouraged “frozen
and escalating the conflict, and felt she
Russian-backed
conflicts” elsewhere in its neighbourhood,
needed to act.
for instance in Georgia and Moldova
“But she didn’t have a Plan B if the
rebels continued
where it has fuelled separatist movements
ceasefire failed, and she had nothing to
their assault on the
just enough to keep the countries unstable
enforce it — neither military power nor
key transport hub of and make them unattractive partners for
more sanctions.”
the West.
The West has struggled to formulate a
Debaltseve, writes
But even if the ceasefire holds, many
response to the continued fighting.
ERIC RANDOLPH
see the deal as heavily weighted in Russia’s
Merkel and French President Francois
favour.
Hollande emerged from a meeting in
“It puts all the cards in rebel and
Paris on Friday offering nothing but
Russian hands,” said Kadri Liik of the European Council
further calls for the truce to be respected.
Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to deny on Foreign Relations.
“The first Minsk accord (signed in September) prepared
he is directly backing the rebels, even as Nato remains
the ground for a frozen conflict, but the second has handed
adamant that his special forces, artillery and air defence
exactly the sort of leverage to Russia that it has been
units are still very much active in Ukraine.
But some analysts argue the battle for Debaltseve was seeking.”
She points to clauses that say Ukraine will only regain
inevitable, with the rebels clearly seeking more territory
and resources to make a viable mini-state out of their control of its border by the end of the year, and only after
constitutional reforms that will leave Russia with a powerful
fiefdom in the east.
It also had symbolic importance, having been a key focus say over affairs in the east.
The other problem is whether Kiev — with its economy
of military campaigns during the 19th and 20th centuries.
in freefall and its politicians at each other’s throats — is
France and Germany may have decided to accept the
fall of Debaltseve as the price for peace, said Jorg Forbrig ready for the difficult political negotiations to come.
No, Russia isn’t building a giant new aircraft carrier
T
he Kremlin is preparing blueprints for a
huge new aircraft carrier, Russian media
reported in early February, to replace its
navy’s current flattop, the relatively small
and aged “Admiral Kuznetsov.”
Moscow’s new carrier, however, is
likely to remain a paper concept. A
quarter-century after the Soviet Union’s
collapse, Russia lacks the money, expertise
and industrial capacity to build aircraft
carriers. A new flattop could boost
Moscow’s military power by providing
air cover to warships sailing far from
Russian shores and giving the Kremlin
another option for launching air strikes on
distant enemies.
Both are now particular concerns for the
West because President Vladimir Putin’s
Russia has become far more aggressive
along its borders. But the Kremlin has
failed to maintain its expensive shipyard
facilities and perishable worker skills. So it
can’t actually complete the new vessel any
time soon.
The Krylov State Research Centre in
St Petersburg, which brainstorms most of
Moscow’s warships, is doing the design
work for the carrier, according to Russia’s
TV Zvezda. The TV network featured a
scale model of the new flattop earlier this
month. The model is revealing, however.
It underscores the Kremlin’s narrow
chance of ever building the warship. Based
on the model planes on the scale ship’s
deck, the proposed flattop appears to be
huge — at least as big as the US Navy’s
nuclear-powered supercarriers, which can
exceed 1,000 feet in length.
The US operates 10 such nuclear
carriers, each with an air wing of 60 or
more planes, plus 10 smaller, non-nuclear
amphibious assault ships that can launch
small numbers of vertical-landing Harrier
attack planes. Russia’s “Kuznetsov” is bigger
than the US assault ships but smaller than
the nuclear flattops.
When jets take off from the deck of
“Kuznetsov,” which isn’t often, they rarely
number more than a dozen.
The new carrier that Krylov is reportedly
developing would represent a significant
upgrade. That’s why Moscow probably
can’t build this new ship. When the Soviet
Union launched “Kuznetsov” in 1985, it
was a major technical accomplishment
for the then-superpower. Moscow began
A new flaptop could boost
Moscow’s power by providing
air cover to warships sailing
far from Russian shores and
giving the Kremlin another
option of launching air
strikes, notes DAVID AXE
assembling “Varyag,” a sister ship of
“Kuznetsov,” around the same time.
It also started work on a true full-size
carrier, as big as anything the United
States builds. But the Soviet Union’s
collapse in 1991 abruptly halted the carrier
programme. One emerging problem was
logistics. The Krylov design agency is in
Russia, but the Soviet Union’s main carrierbuilding shipyard was on the Black Sea in
Ukraine, which became an independent
country that year.
Ukraine scrapped the big carrier then
under construction and, in 1998, sold the
half-completed “Varyag” to China.
Beijing spent 13 years finishing and
upgrading “Varyag” to turn it into China’s
first-ever flattop.
The rechristened “Lianoning” now
conducts sea trials to help the Chinese navy
prepare for future homebuilt carriers and to
train a cadre of naval aviators.
Russia was left with “Kuznetsov” as
its sole flattop and, deprived of funds and
Ukraine’s assistance, has struggled to keep
the vessel in working condition.
Since the ship was commissioned
into frontline service in the early 1990s,
“Kuznetsov” has deployed just five times.
Each deployment, lasting between three
and six months, saw the flattop sail from
its home port in northern Russia around
Europe and into the Mediterranean.
Russian President Vladimir Putin honours World War II veteran Boris Runov during a
ceremony in the St George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow. — AFP
ANALYSIS
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
omandailyobserver
9
Brickbats and bouquets: From sublime to ridiculous
I
RAY PETERSEN
[email protected]
like to see the good in people, so to see good
is really uplifting. We had a family medical
emergency last week and as a consequence spent
much of the weekend at the Nizwa Hospital, near
the new Sultan Qaboos Mosque and adjacent to
the Firq strip.
Among the many aspects of the hospital
operations that left an indelible impression upon
us was the cultural approach to the family situation.
Family members, almost without exception, were
accommodated in the wards to take care of the
personal needs of the patients, such as bedpan and
bathing duties. My daughter is a peri-operative
nurse, based in the United Kingdom, and she was
able to put this policy into a very clear context.
With the family member (usually a daughter)
taking care of such tasks, assisting with feeding,
and general patient reassurance, it provides the
patient with a much more familiar environment,
if you like, making them feel more at home, away
from home. Especially when we get older, we tend
to need that stability in times of stress, and whether
this is just a local policy, or is part of the cultural
approach to hospitalisation in the Sultanate, it is
very effective, based on the comments passed by
other patients to my family.
In practical terms, it frees the nurses up to do
their core tasks and duties, which are medical by wide smiles around the nurse station made me feel
nature, and not social. Cleaners do cleaning, nurses so humble. Thank you to all in the female surgical
do nursing, and patients do getting well, quicker, ward.
I enjoyed giving that bouquet, and now
and everyone is happy. I would also comment
that although my experience is not extensive, it must issue a giant, king-sized, A1 brickbat!
is difficult not to be impressed with the cohesive Unfortunately, it has to go to a community group
that I prefer to support, BUT,
manner in which all of the staff
Royal Oman Police, you have
work, interact with each other,
tried to inform and educate
and produce quality healthcare
The fines for using a
drivers as to the dangers of
at the end of it. They must have
mobile phone while
using cellphones while they
a super Director or Manager.
driving, must be
drive. Your approach is not
Another thing that was
working, so please try mine.
very clear, was the lack of a
made to hurt drivers
The fines for using a mobile
‘hospital’ smell. Hospitals
more, either by way of phone
while driving, must be
always smell! You know how
meaningful fines, or
made to hurt drivers more,
the soil in a garden smells
when you water it? Or how a
suspension of licences. either by way of meaningful
or suspension of licences.
poultry farm always smells,
The current scenario is fines,
The current scenario is having
or sheep and cattle also have
having no effect at all! no effect at all! I believe that
their own particular aromas?
the ROP must be adopting a
Nizwa Hospital is nothing like
passive policy towards mobile
that. It simply reeked of clean
and fresh, everywhere I walked. So there! So many using drivers, as three situations have forced me to
positives. And then, the next day when I returned speak up again on this issue after a few months of
to give a big box of chocolates to the ward staff, ‘hoping it would go away.’
First, I waited at the entrance to the university
for looking after our ‘treasure’ so well, they were
amazed that their efforts were recognised. The big where I work, one day last week. It was truly
incredible! I noticed many drivers were on their
phones, many texting, as they drove out, on their
way home. I started counting, and by the time my
wife had arrived to collect me I had observed 46
cars leaving, and 34 of those drivers were obviously
using their phones.
Then, later in the week, returning from Muscat,
near the Mawaleh Market, an obviously impatient
driver zoomed up behind me, clearly speeding,
and tailgated for about a kilometre before I could
safely move over. He was in a governmental plated
car, and obviously important, because he was on
the phone (again clearly) while behind me. I eased
over to the right lane, and saw as he went past me
that he was texting with both thumbs, and steering
only with his forearms on the wheel. Amazing!
For the next 40 kms towards home I saw
numerous examples of vehicles drifting across
the dotted white line marking the two lanes, and
two examples of cars getting into the gravel on
the right, fishtailing, and getting back on the road
safely. How do I know they were on their phones?
The illuminated screens are easy to see!
The ROP will not stop this behaviour parked at
the roadside, and that appeared to be their default
position. Come on lads! Get busy and stop this
potential carnage, before it becomes a reality!
SEEKING ALLIES
GLENN CHAPMAN
F
rench Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve met on Friday with Apple,
Facebook, Google and Twitter to discuss ways to thwart terrorists from
using the platforms as stages for propaganda.
“We had frank, rich, deep discussion,” Cazeneuve said during a press
conference at the French consulate in San Francisco. He said his mission
was to foster closer relationships with the Silicon Valley titans so online
terrorist propaganda could be more swiftly removed or countered with
opposing viewpoints. “We don’t want to have to go through the usual
government channels that can take so long; it is important to have direct
communication,” Cazeneuve said.
“I stressed the importance of counter-speech to contradict hate
messages and protect the most vulnerable citizens and prevent them from
joining in terrorism.”
Apple, Facebook, Google and Twitter executives were invited to a
follow-up meeting in Paris in April to delve deeper into the issue and
collaborate on a proper code of conduct.
“We are clear there is no place for terrorists on Facebook,” the leading
social network said after meeting with Cazeneuve.
“We work aggressively to ensure that we do not have terrorists or
terror groups using the site, and we also remove any content that praises
or supports terrorism.”
Cazeneuve said he wanted to work together with Internet firms in the
fight against terrorism and that regulation alone wasn’t the solution to the
problem. While he did not call for Internet firms to take on the burden
of automatically censoring photos, posts, video or other digital content
uploaded to websites, Cazeneuve urged rapid cooperation when it comes
to removing terrorist propaganda reported to the services.
Since the recent terror attacks in Paris, Internet firms have taken to
responding to reports of online terror mongering in minutes or hours
as opposed to months as had previously been the case, according to the
minister. He stressed that his battle against terrorism was in no way a war
on free speech.
“The value of free speech in a democratic society is a core essential
value to the ideals we are trying to protect in the fight against terrorism,”
said Emma Llanso, director of the Free Expression Project at the US
Center for Democracy and Technology, adding that “over-blocking and
censorship is not the answer.”
“We need to support the counter-speech measures; seeing the ideas
that are repellent to democracy and engaging with them rather than
saying it is okay to be silenced; it is just the wrong direction to go.”
Mitzy de Ledezma (L), wife of Mayor Antonio Ledezma, attends a rally in Caracas, Venezuela. — Reuters
Venezuela tensions worry Latin Americans
T
he United States and Latin American nations
voiced concerns over political tensions in
Venezuela after the socialist government
arrested the opposition mayor of Caracas in
an alleged coup plot.
Almost exactly one year after opposition
figure Leopoldo Lopez was arrested as
he led a wave of protests against Maduro,
intelligence agents burst into Mayor
Antonio Ledezma’s office late last Thursday
and hauled him to jail.
A third radical critic of the government,
ousted lawmaker Maria Machado, is
under investigation over an alleged
plan to assassinate Maduro, though she
remains free.
Ledezma, 59, will be held in Ramo Verde
prison, the same jail on the outskirts of the
capital currently housing Lopez, officials
said in ordering his continued detention.
The attorney general’s office earlier said
Ledezma will be booked for his alleged
involvement in a conspiracy “to organise
and carry out violent acts against the
government.”
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles
called on the government to produce
evidence of the supposed conspiracy.
“Does Maduro think that putting
everyone in prison is going to get him
50 popularity points or that he’s going to
win elections?” the two-time presidential
candidate asked.
Maduro, who has accused the opposition
of trying to topple him several times since his
April 2013 election, said late last Thursday
that the mayor was detained over a coup plot
financed by the United States.
Washington dismissed the “baseless and
false” claims.
The United States condemned Ledezma’s
arrest, saying the “systematic intimidation”
of opposition figures appears to be a bid by
the government to divert attention from the
country’s political and economic challenges.
“Venezuela’s problems cannot be solved
by criminalising legitimate, democratic
dissent,” State Department spokeswoman
Jen Psaki said in a statement.
The top US diplomat for Latin America,
Roberta Jacobson, called on Venezuela to
free opposition leaders “as they have been
unjustly imprisoned, and to improve respect
for human rights.”
Chile’s socialist administration of
President Michelle Bachelet voiced concern
over the “polarisation in Venezuela,
which could be a significant obstacle to
dialogue between the government and the
opposition.”
Colombian centre-right President Juan
Manuel Santos said “the latest events worry
us” and that he hoped Ledezma would have
“all the guarantees of due process.”
The UNASUR South American
bloc, meanwhile, is planning to hold an
extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers
on the situation in Venezuela.
Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary-General
of the Organisation of American States, said
Ledezma’s arrest “has caused alarm” due to
the way he was detained.
He called on the government to “stop
those acts that lead to a spiral of polarisation
that envelops Venezuelan society.”
Chile’s administration voiced
concern over the ‘polarisation
of Venezuela’ which could be a
significant obstacle to dialogue
between the government
and the opposition, reports
MARCELO DANIEL BRUSA
But while Insulza said Maduro’s
government must clarify the allegations
against the mayor and respect due process,
he added that “no one could oppose the
holding of trials that the authorities deem
necessary.”
Ledezma was first elected in 2009, but
many of his powers have been stripped by
the central government over the years. Last
week, Ledezma and other opposition figures
signed a newspaper advertisement calling
for a democratic transition in Venezuela.
Maduro’s popularity has plummeted to
20 per cent amid a growing shortage of basic
goods, massive lines outside supermarkets
and soaring inflation of almost 70 per cent
in the recession-hit country.
“Arresting opposition leaders can
momentarily divert attention from the
economic problems, but it will only get
worse,” said Luis Vicente Leon, a leading
Venezuelan political analyst.
The Ssecretary-General of the MUD
opposition coalition, Jesus Torrealba, said
Ledezma’s arrest amounted to a “coup from
the state.”
Maduro confirmed the mayor’s arrest
two days after visiting Cuba’s retired leader
Fidel Castro, a staunch ally since the days of
late president Hugo Chavez.
Cuba’s Foreign Ministry said it rebuffs
“the economic and media war against the
Bolivarian revolution and energetically
rejects the statements and meddling actions
of the United States and Organisation of
American States.”
Ledezma’s arrest led to spontaneous, if
small, protests, with people banging pots
after his arrest last Thursday night.
On Friday, fewer than 200 people
attended a rally called by Machado.
Protests in recent weeks have been much
smaller than last year.
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10
omandailyobserver
INDIA
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
PETROLEUM MINISTRY LEAK: Two offices raided; number of those behind bars raises to 12
Five executives sent to police custody
NEW DELHI: Five corporate officials,
arrested in the sensational petroleum
ministry document leakage case, were
on Saturday sent to three days police
custody by a court here even as police
raided two places in the city as part of its
investigations and Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that no one guilty will
be spared.
Those sent to police custody till February 24 are RIL Corporate Affairs Manager Shailesh Saxena, Jubilant Energy
Senior Executive Subash Chandra, Reliance ADAG DGM Rishi Anand, Essar
DGM Vinay and Cairns India GM KK
Naik.
All were arrested on Friday and
booked under sections dealing with
criminal conspiracy and use of stolen
property. Their arrest took to 12 the
number of those behind bars in the case.
The court had sent three of the seven
other accused to judicial custody for 14
days. The remaining four had been sent
to police custody of three days.
The espionage case in the heart of
the national capital assumed a wider
dimension after police complaint said
the papers stolen included inputs for the
forthcoming union budget and a letter
relating to the prime minister’s office.
The documents also related to the
power and coal ministries, police said.
Former journalist Santanu Saikia,
who is among the arrested, said it was a
Rs 10,000 crore scam.
“It’s a Rs 10,000 crore scam and it was
a cover up,” Saikia told reporters outside
the Crime Branch office here, while being taken to court.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal lauded police for cracking the case
and advised it to trace those who had
Those sent to police custody
till February 24 are RIL
Corporate Affairs Manager
Shailesh Saxena, Jubilant
Energy Senior Executive
Subash Chandra, Reliance
ADAG DGM Rishi Anand,
Essar DGM Vinay and Cairns
India GM KK Naik.
The five people arrested by the Delhi Police for stealing documents being produced before a Metropolitan Megistrate`s court
in New Delhi. — IANS
benefited from leaked information.
“Compliments Delhi police for bursting
espionage racket. During interrogations,
police should try to reach top people,
who would benefit from leaked information,” he tweeted.
Police had announced arrest of five
people, including two petroleum ministry employees, for stealing documents
from the ministry office located in the
high-security Shastri Bhawan near the
Parliament House complex, and leaking
them to corporate houses.
Saikia and Prayas Jain, a Melbournebased energy consultant, were arrested
on Friday. Later in the day, the five executives were arrested.
Police raided the Patel Nagar office of
Jain and Chandra’s office in Noida.
Police officials said that Chandra’s
office and some other rooms were
searched to recover stolen documents.
They also said that Saxena had in his
possession some documents relating to
“national importance and security” and
these had been passed by him to his seniors.
All documents seized are “sensitive”,
an official said.
Rajnath Singh told reporters that
strong action will be taken and no guilty
person would be spared.
“We should be commended as we
found out that this was happening, the
culprits will be punished,” he told reporters. “If we would have not been vigi-
lant, this scandal would not have been
busted,” he added.
Rakesh Kumar, 30, Lalta Prasad, 36
— both brothers and residents of Delhi,
and Raj Kumar Chaubey, 39, a resident
of Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad, were held
red-handed with photocopies of some
secret documents in Shastri Bhawan on
February 17.
Based on information provided by
them, government employees Asharam,
58, and Ishwar Singh, 56 were also arrested. They were part of the multi-tasking staff (MTS) in Shastri Bhawan.
The FIR details how the “secret papers” were photocopied after office
hours by Kumar and Prasad, who used
duplicate keys to open offices after entering Shastri Bhawan with forged identity
cards and temporary passes obtained
fraudulently.
The photocopies were passed on to
Saikia and Jain.
While Ishwar Singh, Asharam and
Chaubey are in judicial custody, all others have been sent to police custody.
— IANS
Negotiations for Apache, Chinook choppers conclude
NEW DELHI: The government has
concluded contract negotiations with
US aerospace major Boeing for procuring 22 Apache AH-64E combat
and 15 Chinook CH-47F heavy-lift
helicopters.
Disclosing this, the IAF chief, Air
Chief Marshal Arup Raha, told India
Strategic defence magazine (www.indiastrategic.in) in an interview that
the process for the final step, that is
approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), has now been
initiated and that “once accorded, the
contracts would be signed”.
Notably, all contracts above Rs
1,000 crore (approximately $165 million at the current exchange rate) in
value have to be approved by the CCS,
which is headed by the prime minister
and includes the finance, defence, external affairs and home ministers.
Procedurally, once the ministry of
defence (MoD) approves a proposal
for forwarding the case to CCS, it has
to be seen and signed by the defence
minister and then goes to the finance
Government
braces up for
tough session
NEW DELHI: The government is
bracing up for budget session beginning on Monday where it will face a
tough challenge to get bills replacing
six ordinances passed.
The government’s agenda includes
44 items of financial, legislative and
non-legislative business.
The session will begin with President Pranab Mukherjee’s address to
members of both houses of parliament.
Parliamentary Affairs M Venkaiah
Naidu has convened a meeting on
Sunday of leaders of all parties in both
houses to discuss financial, legislative
and other business. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has also called a
meeting on Sunday evening of leaders of parties in the house to ensure its
smooth functioning.
The government faces an uphill
task in getting the bills aimed at replacing ordinances passed as opposition parties have conveyed their firm
stand against some of them including
the land acquisition ordinance.
The financial business (11 items)
include presentation of and discussion on general and railway budget,
voting on demands for grants, supplementary demands for grants for
2014-15 and excess demands.
The rail budget will be presented
on February 26, Economic Survey
February 27 and general budget on
February 28.
— IANS
ministry where likewise, the finance
minister has to accord his signature.
Any observations by the finance ministry are generally addressed by the
MoD before the case is put up to the
CCS.
It normally does not take more than
a couple of months once a file is moved
for CCS approval. And if all goes well
— which hopefully should — then the
approval should be there in March or
April. The contract then can be signed
on ASAP basis within weeks.
According to Air Chief Marshal
Raha, all the contracted aircraft should
be delivered within five years of the
signing; the first one though is within
three years.
India will have to pay 15 per cent
(or whatever is agreed) of the negotiated value at the time of the contract.
Payments are then made in accordance
with the delivery schedule.
Sources in the MoD indicated that
negotiations were also on with Boeing
for buying four more P-8I Long Range
Maritime Reconnaissance (LRMR)
aircraft as per the options clause,
and most likely, the contracts for the
helicopters as well as P-8Is should be
through by mid-2015.
The Indian Navy has already bought
eight P-8Is, of which six have been delivered and two are likely to arrive in
India over the next few months. All
these aircraft are being acquired on the
Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) basis
although their weapon systems like
radars and missiles would be through
the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route
from the US Government.
As for the Apaches, Boeing’s VicePresident for Defence, Space and Security in India Dennis Swanson has
pointed out that the Indian Air Force
(IAF) will be getting the very latest helicopter — the AH-64E — that has recently been delivered to the US Army.
This version has 26 modifications over
the earlier AH 64-D model.
The exact specifications for the Indian requirement are not known but
normally, one in every three Apaches
is equipped with Lockheed Martin’s
A US military plane Chinook flying during an unannounced visit of the new US
Defence Secretary Ashton Carter to Afghanistan. — IANS
sophisticated Longbow radar to acquire and designate targets for destruction. At present, IAF has very
old Soviet vintage Mi-35 combat and
Mi-26 heavy lift helicopters. They have
done very well but have aged and need
replacement with contemporary systems.
— IANS
Achuthanandan walks out of CPM
meet, party tries to mollify him
slogans in his support.
“He told me that when a party member belonging to a higher committee
comes under attack in a meeting, he must
be given an opportunity to reply to the remarks made against him,” he said.
The party politburo met and decided
to talk to Achuthanandan, who cancelled
his press meeting scheduled to be held at
4 pm at his home.
The CPM later said the veteran did not
walk out of the party meeting.
Politburo
member
Kodiyeri
Balakrishnan told reporters that
Achuthanandan “informed us that he is
going out for some time”.
“At 11.30 am, he informed us he is going out, and this cannot be seen as an act
9 IPS trainees
at NPA test
positive for
swine flu
HYDERABAD: Nine trainee police
officers at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
National Police Academy (NPA)
here have tested positive for swine
flu, officials said on Saturday.
The Indian Police Service (IPS)
officer trainees, who were tested
positive for H1N1 virus, were
admitted to different hospitals in
the city and three of them were
discharged.
The health authorities took
throat swabs from all trainees who
complained of cough/cold/fever.
According to an official
statement, 917 vaccines were already
administered in the campus to
the trainees, workers, faculty and
families. As many as 2,764 dosages
of homeopathic medicine were also
administered.
G Srinivas Rao, special officer,
Epidemic and Lalitha, district
surveillance Officer, Ranga Reddy
district along with medical team of
four doctors on Saturday conducted
a sanitisation programme on H1N1
to IPS officer trainees, participants of
other courses, faculty and staff.
Medical screening of all trainees
was done and symptomatics were
provided prophylactic treatment. All
preventive measures like sanitisation,
personal hygiene and quarantine are
being taken, said officials.
Jyoti
Buddha
Prakash,
commissioner, health and family
welfare, is monitoring the situation
and providing necessary support
from the state government, said
officials, Swine flu has claimed 51
lives in Telangana since January 1.
Majority of the deaths were reported
from Hyderabad and neighbouring
Ranga Reddy district.
— IANS
G Pansare,
communist
leader dead
The CPM later said the veteran did not walk out of the party meeting
ALAPPUZHA: Former Kerala chief
minister V S Achuthanandan (pictured)
was on Saturday pulled up at the state
CPM conference for breaching party discipline, following which he walked out
of the meet and revealed his intention to
step down as leader of opposition. The
party began a desperate attempt to mollify him and denied he walked out.
A grim-looking Achuthanandan
walked out of the morning session of the
21st state party conference that began
here on Friday. He was followed by a battery of reporters but the veteran headed
for his home near here at Punnapara, and
did not speak to anyone.
Sources said the 91-year-old leader
was deeply hurt after being criticised in a
over 50 page party report which attacked
him for his constant breach of party discipline.
His aide Berlin Kunjananthan Nair
told reporters that Achuthanandan was
deeply hurt.
“He told me that he will not leave
the party and will attend the 22nd CPM
Congress in Visakhapatnam in April. He
wants to quit as leader of opposition in
the assembly,” said Nair, who has been
close to Achuthanandan.
A
crowd
gathered
outside
Achuthanandan’s residence and shouted
IN BRIEF
of breaching party discipline. He never
said he was going because he was upset,
because of the criticism against him,” said
Balakrishnan, who was the home minister under Achuthanandan in LDF rule
2006-11.
But in the same breath, Balakrishnan
added that party discipline in a MarxistLeninist party like the CPM was of utmost importance and no one will be allowed to breach that.
Party’s State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan had lashed out at Achuthanandan
and told reporters that the meeting had
admonished the veteran for his constant
breach of party discipline in the past few
years.
Soon after Vijayan made this remark,
Achuthanandan breathed fire on Vijayan,
causing a huge embarrassment to the
party.
In the report submitted by Vijayan
in the 600-strong party delegate session, more than 50 pages portrayed
Achuthanandan in poor light, while
many leaders also spoke about him.
It was this that upset Achuthanandan
on Saturday morning.
Balakrishnan, however, faced a volley
of questions about the incident but denied the veteran leader had been singled
out.
“The report speaks of not just
Achuthanandan, its a report which looks
into the party functioning in the past
three years and speaks of numerous leaders,” he said.
Asked if Achuthanandan will attend
Sunday’s meeting, he said: “For that, you
will have to ask him”.
In reply to a question if Achuthanandan
would be there in the party after the conference ends on Monday, he said: “The
party will be here. We do not wish to lose
a single member from our party, as we are
trying to include more members.”
“We want you journalists also to join
our party,” Balakrishnan said in a lighter
vein.
“I am not aware of any conditions that
he (Achuthanandan) has put forward.
One thing I can tell you is that tomorrow
(Sunday) afternoon, our state secretariat
is meeting and in attendance would be
the eight politburo members who have
come for this conference,” Balakrishnan
added.
Achuthanandan is the only person
alive among the 38 council members who
on April 11, 1964, walked out of the Communist Party of India protesting some actions of party leader S A Dange, which
paved the way for the formation of the
CPM.
— IANS
MUMBAI/KOLHAPUR:
Rationalist Govind Pansare, a senior
CPI leader and leading light of the
anti-toll tax movement, who was
shot at in Kolhapur on February 16,
died in Mumbai. He was 82.
The Communist Party of India
leader was airlifted to Mumbai’s
Breach Candy Hospital on Friday
evening for further treatment, but
succumbed barely a couple of hours
later around 11.30 pm.
Sir JJ Group of Hospitals dean
TP Lahane, who was monitoring
Pansare’s condition, said excessive
bleeding in the lungs resulted in his
death.
Pansare’s body was airlifted to his
home town where lakhs of people
paid their last respects even as
Kolhapur observed a spontaneous
shutdown to protest his killing.
Condemning the killing, Governor
CV Rao said the assassination of a
selfless social worker like Pansare
was a dastardly act.
“I have no doubt in my mind that
the state government will take every
step to bring the perpetrators of the
crime to justice,” Rao said.
Chief
Minister
Devendra
Fadnavis, several of his cabinet
colleagues, top leaders from the
Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena,
Congress, Nationalist Congress
Party, CPI, Republican Party of India
and others visited the hospital on
Saturday morning and paid homage
to Pansare.
Opposition parties in the state
have called for a ‘Maharashtra
shutdown’
on
Sunday
to
protest Pansare’s killing and
demanded the immediate arrest of
the culprits.
Besides the CPI and other
Left parties, Congress, NCP, RPI,
Bharatiya Republican Party-Bahujan
Mahasangh (BRPBM) led by
Prakash Ambedkar, a three-time MP
and grandson of BR Ambedkar, and
other parties have declared support
to the shutdown.
— IANS
INDIA
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
omandailyobserver
AERO INDIA 2015 AIR SHOW
China calls in Indian
envoy over Modi’s
Arunachal visit
A Sukhoi fighter is seen on the penultimate day of the five-day Aero India 2015 air show at Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bangalore.
— AFP
NEW GOVT: An agreement has been reached on all contentious issues
Mufti to be J&K Chief Minister
as PDP and BJP reach deal
JAMMU:
PDP
patron
Mufti
Mohammad Sayeed will be the new
chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir
two months after the assembly elections,
as his party and the BJP finally arrived
at an agreement on forming an alliance
government in the state.
Sources close to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) patron said on Saturday that an agreement had been reached
on all contentious issues between the
two parties.
“Yes, the main agreement has been
reached on the draft of the Common
Minimum Programme (CMP) on contentious issues like article 370, Armed
Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and
the plight of West Pakistan refugees,” a
party source said.
“It has been agreed that without any
written reference to it, both the parties
would respect the wishes of the people
of the state in consonance with the Constitution of the country with regard to
article 370,” the source added.
The PDP has 28 legislators while the
BJP has 25.
Sayeed returned to the winter capital
Jammu on Friday after spending a week
in Mumbai.
As per the agreement, he will be the
chief minister for the full six-year term.
A PDP insider, who is engaged with
Man held for
selling fake
swine flu
medicine
GURGAON: A man was on Saturday
arrested here for selling fake medicines for prevention and cure of swine
flu, police said.
Charan Singh, who hails from
Lucknow, was living in Bijwasan area
of Delhi.
Police said he was arrested from
RK Hospital in Rajendra Park area in
Gurgaon, while he was supplying fake
swine flu medicines.
Police raided the spot after receiving information that a few people were
being cheated in the name of swine flu
medicines.
Charan Singh employed nearly half
a dozen women to give the medicines
to people. They were charging Rs 40
for children and Rs 60 for an adult.
Police said they were investigating
the case further.
“The health department will establish the reality of the recovered medicines, but certainly it was not for prevention and cure of swine flu,” a police
official said.
At least 17 people have died of
swine flu in Haryana, with four deaths
reported in Gurgaon.
— IANS
the BJP in the dialogue process on government formation on behalf of his
party, said that instead of accepting the
demand that the AFSPA should be revoked from the entire state within a year,
it has now been agreed by the two parties that a committee would be formed
which would recommend gradual, but
timely, revocation of the Act from areas
in the state.
Sources in the BJP said: “The PDP
has agreed to the BJP demand that the
11
CMP should accept that the problems
faced by West Pakistan refugees should
not be politicised, but treated as a humtarian issue that needs to be addressed
on humanitarian grounds.”
On media reports that government
formation in the state was imminent because the PDP and the BJP had agreed
on the draft of the CMP, party chief
spokesman Naeem Akhtar said: “I am
meeting Mufti sahib today (Saturday)
and if anything has been worked out, we
will hold a briefing about it during the
day.”
Unlike his steady dismissal of any
agreement with the BJP during the last
nearly two months when he maintained
the “structured dialogue between the
BJP and the PDP had not even started”,
Akhtar sounded less circumspect on
Saturday about his lack of knowledge regarding an agreement on the CMP.
West Pakistan refugees are those over
25,000 families who came to the state
after the India-Pakistan wars of 1947,
1965 and 1971.
Since these people were not citizens
of the erstwhile state of Jammu and
Kashmir as it existed before accession
to India in 1947, they cannot vote in the
assembly elections nor buy property in
the state.
These refugees also cannot apply for
government jobs since all state government jobs in Jammu and Kashmir are
reserved for permanent residents of the
state.
As an anomaly, the West Pakistan
refugees can vote in the parliament
elections, but not in the state elections
since the state has a constitution of
its own in addition to India’s Constitution and both apply concomitantly to
the state.
With regard to the PDP demand on
return of NHPC-owned hydro-electric
power projects in the state to state ownership, the PDP sources said it had been
agreed that the two parties would work
together for central assistance for state
ownership of these projects.
“The nuts-and-bolts job has been
completed. All that now remains is an
announcement on the agreement between the two which could be made
within the next two-three days,” a source
said.
The sources also added that Sayeed
would formally call on Prime Minister
Narendra Modi after the PDP and the
BJP announce having formalised the
draft of the CMP.
In the 87-member state assembly, the
National Conference has 15 members,
the Congress 12 and there are seven independents.
— IANS
BEIJING: Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin on Saturday called
in India’s Ambassador to China, Ashok
K Kantha, to lodge a “stern representation” over Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s visit to the northeastern state of
Arunachal Pradesh, state-run Xinhua
news agency reported.
Liu expressed “strong dissatisfaction
and staunch opposition” to the Indian
side’s insistence on arranging the visit by
its leader to what he called “the disputed
area” on the China-India border.
Modi visited Arunachal Pradesh on
Friday to attend its 23rd State Foundation Day.
The Chinese embassy in India lodged
a representation with the Indian authorities over the visit on Friday night.
“The Chinese government has never
recognised the so-called Arunachal
Pradesh,” Chinese foreign ministry
spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a
press release.
During the meeting with Ambassador Kantha, Vice Foreign Minister
Liu pointed out that this act by the Indian side “undermined China’s territorial sovereignty, right and interests”, the
Xinhua report said.
He said such an act by the Indian side
artificially amplified differences between
the two countries on the border issue
and thus went against the principles and
consensus that the two sides reached on
properly addressing the issue.
Liu reiterated China’s “consistent
and clear-cut stance on the China-India
border issue”, saying the Chinese government “has never recognised the socalled Arunachal Pradesh unilaterally
set up by the Indian side”.
It was “an universally recognised, unevadable fact that significant disputes do
exist on the eastern section of the ChinaIndia border”, Liu said.
He emphasised that China placed
importance on developing relations
with India. He said the two countries,
as neighbours and the top two developing countries in the world, shared broad
The Chinese embassy
in India lodged a
representation with the
Indian authorities
over the visit.
prospects on cooperation at various levels.
Liu expressed the hope that the Indian side would treasure the sound
momentum in the growth of bilateral
relations, march toward the same goal
with China and abide by the important
consensus on the border issue.
Liu called on the Indian side not to
take any action that might complicate
the border issue and stick to the general orientation of resolving the issue
through bilateral negotiations to maintain the overall growth of bilateral relations.
Modi, who arrived in Arunachal
Pradesh’s capital on Friday, flagged off
the Naharlagun-New Delhi Express by
pressing a button at a function held in
Indira Gandhi Park in Itanagar.
The prime minister hoped the boost
in communications through the railway
would propel growth and development
in Arunachal Pradesh and other parts of
the northeast.
Modi, who was accompanied by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu,
Minister of State for Railways Manoj
Sinha and Minister of State for Home
Kiren Rijiju, also inaugurated an intercity train between Naharlagun and
Guwahati and laid the foundation stone
of a 132 KV power transmission project
and another project to provide pure
drinking water to the residents of the
capital town.
President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to
the state last year had also drawn sharp
reactions from China, which has often
laid claim to the state.
— IANS
Prime Minister Narendra Modi seen at the inauguration of the Festival of Arunachal
in Itanagar.
— IANS
The Teesta water sharing pact had been put on hold after Banerjee’s strong opposition
Mamata assures Hasina on Teesta deal breakthrough
DHAKA: West Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee, who had blocked
the Teesta water sharing deal between
India and Bangladesh four years ago,
reassured Bangladeshi Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina on Saturday of a breakthrough on the issue.
The visiting chief minister raised the
Teesta issue during her luncheon meeting with Hasina at the latter’s official
residence Ganabhaban during the day,
said the prime minister’s spokesperson
Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, according to
a bdnews24.com report.
“Mamata Banerjee has assured our
prime minister to work out a solution
that protects the interests of both West
Bengal and Bangladesh,” Chowdhury
said.
Banerjee termed the parleys as a
“meeting of hearts”. Sources close to her
said the two leaders discussed bilateral
issues.
The chief minister thanked the people and administration of Bangladesh
for the warm hospitality and reception.
The Teesta water sharing pact had
been put on hold after Banerjee’s strong
opposition over fears that the treaty
could spell disaster for the northern part
of her state.
In September 2011, Banerjee had
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed with Mamata Banerjee, Chief
Minister of West Bengal, in Dhaka.
— AFP
embarrassed then Indian prime minister
Manmohan Singh by pulling out of his
delegation to Bangladesh over the water
sharing agreement, forcing India to drop
it from the agenda.
Though a solution to this vexed issue
depends on the central governments of
the two countries, the role of the chief
minister of a border state like West Bengal is believed to be crucial.
Banerjee has said that the relations of
the two Bengals (Bangladesh and West
Bengal) are as “deep and durable” as the
perennial rivers Ganga and Yamuna.
She also told Hasina that the bill for
implementing the land boundary agreement between the two countries was
likely to be through in the next session
of the upper house of the Indian parliament starting end-February.
Banerjee had stoutly opposed both
the deals since 2011 arguing that they
went against the interests of West Bengal. However, with changing political realities in India, her stance on both these
issues has changed considerably.
On the land boundary agreement,
she had emphasised on a rehabilitation
package for the enclave dwellers and
noted that she was very positive about
the issue being settled this time around.
Once the land boundary agreement
(LBA) is passed, India will cede 111
enclaves totally measuring 17,160 acres
to Bangladesh and receive 51 enclaves
covering 7,110 acres. More than 51,000
people reside in these enclaves.
Later, Banerjee attended a conference
organised by the entrepreneurs of Bangladesh and West Bengal. The participants discussed ways to improve trade
relations between the two neighbouring
countries, especially between Bangladesh and West Bengal.
Banerjee and her delegation were
scheduled to leave Dhaka on Saturday
night.
The chief minister attended the main
function at Dhaka’s Shaheed Minar on
the occasion of Mother Language Day,
which commemorates the martyrdom
of Bangladeshi youths during the Lan-
The visiting chief minister
raised the Teesta issue
during her luncheon
meeting with Hasina at the
latter’s official residence
Ganabhaban during the day,
said the prime minister’s
spokesperson Iqbal
Sobhan Chowdhury.
guage Movement in 1952.
She paid homage to the martyrs.
“It is one of the most memorable moments in my life to be present at Shahid
Minar, I am overwhelmed and deeply
touched with emotions to experience
this historic moment,” she said.
Banerjee said it was her longtime
wish to come to Bangladesh and pay
tribute to the martyrs of the language
movement. “This is a matter of pride for
me.”
— IANS
EUROPE
12
GREEK PACT A ‘GOOD COMPROMISE’
S U N DAY l F E B R U A R Y 2 2 l 2 0 1 5
French President Francois Hollande
on Saturday described as a “good
compromise” the agreement between
Brussels and debt-racked Greece for a
four-month extension of its
bailout. Eurozone finance ministers
reached the hard-won deal in
Brussels on Friday during tense talks
pitting Greece against an angry
Germany.
WORLD
Children play on a T64BV tank on display in Kiev on Saturday during opening of an exhibition of Russian weapons captured
from the pro-Russian rebels during battles in the east of Ukraine. — AFP
DONETSK: Pro-Russian rebels said
they will swap prisoners with the
Ukrainian side as part of a battered
truce that the West hopes will cool
a deadly conflict that has poisoned
relations with Moscow.
“Today (Saturday) there will be an
exchange between us and the Ukrainian
side,” said the rebels’ official for human
rights, Daria Morozova.
Around 40 prisoners on each side
— some of them wounded — are to be
handed over, with the exchange to take
place deep in rebel territory, in the city
of Lugansk, Morozova said.
Journalists were put in a convoy
carrying the rebels’ prisoners from the
separatist stronghold of Donetsk to
Lugansk. The soldiers had beards and
looked tired.
One had his arm bandaged.
There
was
no
immediate
confirmation of the swap from the
Ukrainian side, though smaller
exchanges have taken place in recent
weeks with little fanfare.
If it goes ahead on Saturday, the
prisoner exchange would be a rare act
of compliance with a UN-backed truce
that has been repeatedly violated since
coming into effect on February 15.
In the most egregious breach, the
pro-Russian separatists overran a
strategic transport hub, Debaltseve,
midway between Donetsk and Lugansk.
That offensive forced 2,500
Ukrainian soldiers to flee under fire,
with at least 13 of them killed.
The insurgents seized at least 110
troops as prisoners, adding to the
unknown number of detainees held by
each side.
Germany and France, which
brokered the truce agreed by Ukraine,
the rebels and Russia, are standing by it
despite the many violations. — AFP
Rebel build-up near port city alarms Kiev
KIEV/SAKHANKA:
Pro-Russian
separatists are building up forces and
weapons in Ukraine’s south east and the
Ukrainian military said on Saturday it
was braced for the possibility of a rebel
attack on the port city of Mariupol.
The Kiev military accused Russia
on Friday of sending more tanks and
troops towards the rebel-held town of
Novoazovsk, further east along the Sea
of Azov coast from Mariupol, expanding
their presence on what it fears could be
the next battlefront.
A rebel attack on Mariupol, a city
of half a million people and potentially
a gateway to Crimea, which Russia
annexed last March, would almost
certainly kill off a European-brokered
ceasefire.
The ceasefire, which came into
force last Sunday, has already been
badly shaken by the rebel capture on
Wednesday of Debaltseve, a railway
junction in eastern Ukraine, forcing
a retreat by thousands of Ukrainian
troops in which at least 20 Ukrainian
The rally marks one year since scores were gunned down in uprising
soldiers were killed.
Mariupol is the biggest city still
under government control in the two
rebellious eastern provinces.
Novoazovsk, where Kiev said Russia
was reinforcing, lies 40 km to the east
along the coast near the Russian border.
Military
spokesman
Andriy
Lysenko did not refer specifically to the
movement of Russian tanks and troops
but said the separatists, who Kiev says
are supported by Russian weapons and
fighters, were conducting sabotage and
“Ukraine’s example has
taught us a lot, and we
won’t allow a Maidan in our
country!” organisers said
ahead of the rally in support
of President Vladimir Putin.
disease.
We will treat it.”
After the Kiev uprising ousted
Kremlin-backed president Viktor
Yanukovych last February, Russia
annexed Crimea from Ukraine and has
since backed a separatist insurgency in
People attend an ‘Anti-Maidan’ rally to protest against the 2014 Kiev uprising, which
ousted President Viktor Yanukovich, in Moscow on Saturday. — Reuters
the east of the country.
Moscow police said some 35,000
turned up for Saturday’s event.
The marchers, some dressed in
fatigues, waved Russian flags and many
sported the black and orange St George
ribbon, a symbol of victory over Nazi
Germany that Ukrainian separatists
have adopted as their badge of honour.
“Yankee go home and take the
Maidan with you,” read a massive
banner carried by several people.
Established early this year, the
umbrella movement includes several
groups representing bikers, Cossacks,
athletes and Russian veterans of the
Afghan and Chechen wars, some of
whom have fought alongside rebels in
eastern Ukraine.
One of the movement’s leaders,
Nikolai Starikov, said the march was their
first major rally aimed at discouraging
the pro-Western opposition from
plotting a coup in Russia.
“Don’t even try. Don’t make any
attempts to rock the boat in Russia,” he
said in televised remarks.
State-controlled television gave
ample coverage to Saturday’s event and
said similar rallies had been held across
the country.
The opposition plans a protest on
March 1 against the Ukraine conflict
as well as Russia’s economic crisis,
which has been exacerbated by Western
sanctions over Moscow’s support for the
separatists.
Earlier this week a Moscow court
jailed top opposition activist Alexei
Navalny for two weeks in a move that
will most likely prevent him from
leading next weekend’s rally.
The protest is set to take place in
southeastern Moscow, after authorities
denied permission for the activists to
march through the city centre. — AFP
intelligence operations round the clock
to test government defences.
“The adversary is carrying out
a build-up of military equipment,
weapons and fighters in the Mariupol
area with the aim of a possible offensive
on it,” Lysenko told journalists.
“They are sending out small sabotage
groups out almost every night.
We can see the activities of the enemy
around Novoazovsk where military
hardware, fighters and ammunition are
being amassed,” he said.
One Ukrainian soldier had been
killed and 40 others had been wounded
in attacks in eastern Ukraine by the
separatists in the past 24 hours, he said.
A media team in Sakhanka, half-way
between Mariupol and Novoazovsk,
were told by rebels that one of the
local roads had been closed “because
of fighting” though no shooting or
shelling could be heard. There were no
signs of a new influx of tanks and troops
in the region as mentioned by Kiev on
Friday. — Reuters
IN BRIEF
German cops search for homeless ‘bishop’
Pro-Kremlin demonstration
vows ‘no Maidan’ for Russia
MOSCOW: Thousands of pro-Kremlin
activists took to the streets of central
Moscow on Saturday vowing to prevent
a Ukraine-style uprising in Russia.
The rally by the Anti-Maidan
movement marked one year since
scores of demonstrators were gunned
down in Ukraine’s pro-Western uprising
that came to be known as the Maidan
protests.
“Ukraine’s example has taught us a
lot, and we won’t allow a Maidan in our
country!” organisers said ahead of the
rally in support of President Vladimir
Putin.
“Putinism forever,” said a handmade banner held by an elderly woman,
while a column of Cossacks brandished
a placard reading “The Maidan is a
Italian enthusiast Roberto Colla,
representing French leader and later
Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, stands on
Saturday in the harbour of Portoferraio
on the Italian island of Elba. The Italian
island, where Napoleon was sent
into exile in 1814, marks the 200th
anniversary of the emperor leaving from
Portoferraio with some 600 men and
landing at the Golfe-Juan near Antibes.
Prisoner swap declared
under battered truce
Germany,
Austria see
progress in
creating jobs
BERLIN: While important steps have
been made in combating Europe’s high
levels of youth unemployment, heavily
regulated job markets are still stopping
many under 25-year-olds from finding
work, the heads of the German and
Austrian labour offices say.
Germany’s Frank-Juergen Weise
and Austria’s Johannes Kopf said
on Saturday that all European
Union nations now recognised the
importance of reforms to help reduce
jobless queues for young people.
“There is really encouraging
progress in some countries,” Weise
said.
However, Kopf believes that rigid
employment protection in some
EU countries is still hindering the
access of young people to the labour
market.
More than one in five young
Europeans cannot find a job, according
to latest data from the EU’s statistics
office, Eurostat.
In Greece and Spain, which have
been at the centre of the eurozone debt
crisis, the youth unemployment rate
runs at 50 per cent.
To help address the problem, the
EU in 2013 introduced the Youth
Guarantee scheme.
Its aim is to ensure that all people
under 25 — whether registered with
employment agencies or not —
receive a good-quality, concrete job
offer within four months of them
leaving formal education or becoming
unemployed. — dpa
RE-ENACTING NAPOLEON’S ADVENTURE
FRANKFURT: Police were on Saturday searching for a homeless man accused of
tricking his way into being hosted by several monasteries in Germany by pretending
to be a Brazilian bishop. The 66-year-old man faces a series of charges including abuse
of title, theft and fare evasion, a police spokesman said.
The man, who grew up in southern Germany but has no fixed address, has been
turning up in churches and monasteries, where he was occasionally invited to stay.
Police accuse him of having stolen church property, including Bibles and religious
garments.
He is thought to have recently returned to Germany after spending many years in
Brazil, where he pretended to be a member of the clergy and called himself the Bishop
of Osnabrueck. During his time in Brazil, he is thought to have held masses and heard
confessions. — dpa
Ousted president
Yanukovich speaks
of return
MOSCOW: Ousted Ukrainian
President Viktor Yanukovich, who
fled to Russia a year ago after being
toppled by months of street protests,
said he was ready to return to Ukraine
if the opportunity arose.
The pro-Russian leader was
overthrown by the “Maidan” uprising
in Kiev against his decision to back
away from a deal that would have
taken the country towards integration
with Europe and instead tighten
economic ties with Russia, Ukraine’s
old Soviet master.
Just weeks after his departure,
Moscow annexed the Crimea
peninsula, a base for Russia’s Black
Sea fleet, and pro-Russian separatists
seized key buildings in the east of the
country leading to a conflict in which
more than 5,000 people have been
killed.
Interpol has put Yanukovich on
the international wanted list at the
behest of Kiev authorities on charges
of embezzlement and financial
wrongdoing.
But Russia is likely to turn down
any request to extradite him, Interfax
news agency said last month, citing a
source familiar with the situation.
Yanukovich, who has denied any
involvement in corruption, said in a
TV interview aired on Saturday he
regretted that he could not return
to his country. “God has left me
alive, so it looks like I’m needed for
something... As soon as there is a
possibility for me to return, I will
return and will do everything I can to
make life better in Ukraine,” he told
Russian First channel. — Reuters
German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks with Pope Francis during a private
audience at the Vatican on Saturday. — Reuters
Teen survives 500-metre drop in Alps
VIENNA: A British teenager was counting himself lucky on Saturday after suffering
only a few bruises following a 500-metre drop down a glacier in the Austrian Alps.
The 14-year-old skier and several of his friends were taking panoramic pictures on
the Moelltaler glacier, in the Austrian province of Carinthia, on Friday when he moved
dangerously close to a rim, slipped on the icy ground with his ski boots and dropped
down a steep chute, broadcaster ORF quoted police as saying.
Rescuers found him half a kilometre below with only slight injuries. — dpa
REGION
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
omandailyobserver
13
Hadi out of Sanaa after weeks under house arrest
NEW TURN: The resigned president travelled overland in a convoy of dozens of vehicles, a top security official in Aden said
ADEN: Yemen’s president, who resigned
last month under pressure from militia,
was out of the capital on Saturday after
weeks under house arrest, prompting his
supporters to question UN proposals to
fill the power vacuum.
President Abedrabbo Mansour
Hadi arrived in the main southern city
of Aden, where his supporters have
refused to recognise the authority of
the presidential council installed by the
Houthi militia to replace him, an aide
said.
It was not immediately clear whether
the Houthis had allowed him to leave
Sanaa in the face of demands by the UN
Security Council for an immediate end
to his house arrest.
Hadi plans to address the nation
within 48 hours using the Aden
transmitters of state television which are
under his supporters’ control, the aide
said.
He would not be drawn on whether
Hadi intended to withdraw his
resignation, which did not receive the
parliamentary approval required by
the constitution before the Houthis
unilaterally dissolved all government
institutions on February 6.
Hadi travelled overland in a convoy of
dozens of vehicles, a top security official
in Aden said. He passed through third
city Taiz, which like Aden is outside
Houthi control.
“He managed to leave his house this
morning and his way is being secured to
It was not immediately
clear whether the Houthis
had allowed him to leave
Sanaa in the face
of demands by the UN
Security Council for an
immediate end to his
house arrest.
Protesters take part in a rally against the Houthi movement in the city of Ibb, 190 km southwest of Sanaa, on Saturday after
Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi was out of the capital after weeks under house arrest. — AFP
reach Aden,” the aide said earlier.
The security official in Aden said
that Hadi was staying in a presidential
residence in the Khormaksar diplomatic
district of the southern port city.
The aide insisted that Hadi left
“without an arrangement or even
informing any of the political parties.”
A DAY OF STORM IN WEST BANK
Palestinian workers fix drains in flooded streets during a storm day in the West
Bank city of Hebron on Saturday. — Reuters
The Houthi militiamen, whose
power base is in Yemen’s mainly
northern highlands, overran the capital
unopposed in September.
Last month, they seized the
presidential palace and laid siege to
Hadi’s residence, prompting him to
tender his resignation.
The Houthis have pushed their
advance into mainly areas south and
west of Sanaa, where they have met with
fierce resistance from armed tribesmen
and Al Qaeda militants.
But Taiz and some other parts of the
north, as well as the whole of the south,
remain beyond the militia’s control.
Hadi is originally from the south,
although he spent nearly three decades
in the north, serving as defence minister
and vice-president before becoming
president in 2012, when veteran
strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh was
forced from power by a bloody year-long
uprising.
Hadi has always defended the 1990
union of the north with the formerly
independent south where secessionist
sentiment has grown sharply in recent
years.
But most troops and militia in the
region have pledged allegiance to Hadi
and his supporters hailed his arrival in
the former southern capital as a gamechanger.
Nadia Sakkaf, who served as
information minister in the government
that resigned with Hadi last month,
called for the revision of UN proposals
for a political settlement in Yemen, which
Car bomb kills 4 in Assad clan’s
hometown for first time
DAMASCUS: Dissidents took Syria’s
civil war to the ruling Assad clan’s
hometown for the first time on Saturday,
killing four people in a car bomb attack
on a hospital, state television and a
monitor said.
The attack came as the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights
reported that troops had executed 48
people earlier this week in a northern
village, among them 10 children.
“A militant car bomb attack in the
parking of Qardaha hospital killed four
citizens and wounded several others,”
the television said in a news flash, using
the government term for dissidents.
Earlier,
the
Britain-based
Observatory had reported the blast,
saying it was not immediately clear if it
was from a car bomb or rocket fire.
The blast, the first to hit the heart of
the western town since the outbreak of
Syria’s civil war in 2011, killed a nurse,
a hospital employee and two soldiers,
said Observatory director Rami Abdel
Rahman.
The outskirts of Qardaha have
previously come under rocket fire, while
Residents look for survivors amid the rubble of collapsed buildings, after what
activists said were air strikes by forces loyal to Syrian president, in the eastern
Damascus suburb of Ghouta on Saturday. — Reuters
Latakia province — where the town is
located — has seen several rounds of
heavy fighting.
A mausoleum containing the graves
of President Bashar al Assad’s father and
predecessor, Hafez, and brother Bassil,
is located in Qardaha.
The clan has ruled Syria with an iron
fist for more than 40 years.
Syria’s war began in March 2011 as
a pro-democracy revolt seeking Assad’s
ouster.
It morphed into a conflict after the
government unleashed a crackdown on
dissent.
Meanwhile, the Observatory said 10
children and 13 dissidents were among
48 people executed by government
forces in the northern village of Rityan
earlier this week. — AFP
Civil defence teams cleared the building, which at 336 metres is one of the world’s tallest residential towers
Huge blaze guts 79-floor Dubai skyscraper
DUBAI: Hundreds of panicked residents fled one
of the tallest towers in Dubai early on Saturday as a
huge fire engulfed the skyscraper, causing extensive
damage to its luxury flats.
The inferno gutted the upper part of the
79-storey Torch tower, triggering an evacuation of
nearby blocks in the Dubai Marina neighbourhood,
a correspondent reported.
Amateur footage posted online showed fire
engulfing the upper floors of the tower — home to
hundreds of expatriates — with debris falling onto
the road as strong winds fanned the flames.
Resident Mehdi Ansari said that the fire alarm
sounded at around 2 am.
“I saw there was fire and pieces of the building
falling down so I immediately took my wife and
our baby. We took some important items and went
down,” he said.
“When we went to the staircase, it was full of
smoke. Later the staircase got busier and smokier,
the lights went off and some people panicked.”
Civil defence teams cleared the building, which
at 336 metres is one of the world’s tallest residential
towers.
Dubai police said there were no fatalities but
seven people were treated at the scene for smoke
inhalation.
The inferno gutted the upper part
of the 79-storey Torch tower,
triggering an evacuation of
nearby blocks in the Dubai Marina
neighbourhood, a correspondent
reported. Amateur footage posted
online showed fire engulfing the
upper floors of the tower with
debris falling onto the road as
strong winds fanned the flames.
A civil defence department statement said the
fire began on the 51st floor and swept across the
tower’s facade affecting 20 storeys.
Major General Rashid Thani al-Matroushi,
director of Dubai civil defence, said firefighters
were able to stop the fire spreading to nearby
buildings.
Emergency teams used “strict protocols to break
in quickly and reach the source of the fire,” he was
quoted as saying by Abu Dhabi-based newspaper.
Firefighters battled the blaze for more than
two hours, before hundreds of residents of nearby
praised the emergency services for dealing with the
blaze.
“It was a big fire and the wind was making
things worse. The fire was out of control,” said the
30-year-old sound engineer.
“Some people had to walk down about 50
floors and weren’t in great shape,” he added. “The
firefighters were outstanding. They got there very
fast and medics took care of everyone.”
Dubai Marina is a popular expat neighbourhood
that has a high concentration of residential towers.
It is also a major tourist attraction.
Dubai, known for its skyline of hugely varied
skyscrapers, has seen fires at towers in the past.
In 2012, a huge blaze gutted the 34-storey
Tamweel Tower in the nearby Jumeirah Lake
Towers district. It was later revealed to have been
caused by a cigarette butt thrown into a bin.
Also on Saturday, local media reported that
10 foreign labourers had perished in a fire that
destroyed a makeshift hostel above a tyre shop in
Abu Dhabi.
A picture taken on Saturday shows the damage
Eight others were injured in the blaze that gutted
after a huge fire engulfed the Torch residential
the two-storey building in the Mussaffah district on
skyscraper in Dubai. — AFP
Friday, a daily reported, saying that the unlicensed
towers were allowed to return to their apartments. accommodation above the shop was originally a
Ansari, who lives on the tower’s 27th floor, storage area. — AFP
special envoy Jamal Benomar hailed just
on Thursday as a “breakthrough.”
“The political situation and the
balance of power has changed after the
arrival of Hadi in Aden,” she wrote on
her Twitter account.
She said that southern militiamen of
the Popular Committees, were ensuring
Hadi’s safety.
The militiamen have taken control of
most police stations and checkpoints in
Aden and have clashed with members
of the special police they accuse of
cooperating with the Houthis.
The UN envoy had been shuttling
between the Houthis and their
opponents for weeks trying to forge a
settlement.
On Thursday, Benomar said the
parties had agreed on a new legislative
authority to engage the Houthis and
southern separatists in an “important
step towards achieving a comprehensive
political agreement that would end the
current crisis”.
Last weekend, the UN Security
Council urged the Houthis, to
“immediately and unconditionally”
engage in “good faith” in UN-brokered
negotiations, withdraw their forces from
government institutions and relinquish
power.
It also demanded that the militia
release Hadi, Prime Minister Khalid
Bahah and other officials and activists
under de facto house arrest or in
detention. — AFP
IN BRIEF
Court acquits
ex-minister of
graft charges
CAIRO: An Egyptian court
acquitted former oil minister Sameh
Fahmy of charges of selling cheap
gas to Israel and squandering public
funds and threw out his 15-year jail
sentence, a judicial source said on
Saturday.
Fahmy was first arrested and held
in custody in April 2011.
Prosecutors said former president
Hosni
Mubarak’s
government
sold gas at preferential rates
to Israel and other countries, costing
Egypt billions of dollars in lost
revenue.
The ruling is likely to raise fears
among human rights activists that the
old guard was making a comeback,
especially as it came after a court in
November dropped charges against
Mubarak of conspiring to kill
protesters in the 2011 uprising as well
as graft changes related to gas exports
to Israel.
Fahmy was sentenced in June
2012 and had successfully appealed
his sentence in 2013.
The Court of Cassation ordered
a retrial and Fahmy was released
shortly after. — Reuters
89 schoolkids
abducted by
S Sudan militia
JUBA: An unidentified South Sudan
armed group has abducted at least 89
boys, some as young as 13, from their
homes in the north of the country,
Unicef said on Saturday.
“Eighty-nine
children
were
abducted ...,” a statement said, adding
that “the actual number could be
much higher.” The UN children’s
agency said the mass abduction
happened at the start of the week in
the town of Wau Shilluk.
Witnesses said that unidentified
armed soldiers surrounded the
community and went house-tohouse taking away by force any boys
thought to be over 12 years old.
“The recruitment and use of
children by armed forces destroys
families and communities,” said
Jonathan Veitch, the head of Unicef
in South Sudan. — AFP
14
AMERICAS
omandailyobserver
FREEZING PICTURES
US astronauts begin
spacewalk to lay
cable at station
A man takes pictures of ice floes along the Hudson River in New York. Millions of people awoke to painfully cold weather in the eastern United States, with
temperatures frigid enough in New York City and Washington to break decades-old record lows. — Reuters
VIOLENCE BACK
MEASURES: New steps to help cover cost of major accidents
Bomb rocks
Chile’s capital
Canada demands oil trains
carry more insurance
SANTIAGO: A bomb exploded
near a church in the Chilean capital
Saturday, the latest in series of
blasts sparking panic in the Latin
American nation, though officials
said no one was injured.
The explosion rocked the upscale
Las Condes neighbourhood of
Santiago at 8:50 am (1150 GMT)
close to a church.
Police said there were few people
present and no injuries or deaths
were reported, though they were
investigating who may have planted
the bomb.
“This incident should be
investigated and punished.
Nothing justifies such a violent
act,” prosecutor Raul Guzman said
yesterday.
The bombing is also the latest
in a spate of many explosions that
have left Chile on edge, in the worst
violence to hit the nation in a quarter
century.
In September, a homemade bomb
ripped through the Santiago subway
system wounding 14 people, in what
the government dubbed a “terrorist
act.”
The subway attack was the most
destructive of some 200 unsolved
bombings that have targeted banks,
gyms, embassies and restaurants in
the South American country over the
past five years. — AFP
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
OTTAWA: Canada will increase the
insurance railways must carry when
they haul crude oil and impose a levy
on shippers to help cover the cost of
major accidents in the burgeoning
oil-by-rail industry, Transport
Minister Lisa Raitt said.
Raitt unveiled the measures in
a bill which responds largely to the
2013 explosion of a runaway train
that leveled the heart of the Quebec
village of Lac-Megantic and killed 47
people.
The legislation also gives her
department more power to step in
if it feels a railway is not being run
safely.
“Rail companies will be
concerned about the amount of
extra regulation that we may be
putting in place today, but for the
safety of Canadians and protecting
communities it is the right way to
go,” Raitt said.
With demand for pipelines
outstripping capacity, crude is
increasingly being shipped on long
trains, and Raitt has put a priority on
tightening safety and imposing the
polluter-pays principle for accidents.
The costs of the cleanup and
reconstruction for Lac-Megantic
far exceeded the C$25 million ($20
million) insurance carried by the
Transport Minister Lisa Raitt
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway,
driving the railroad into bankruptcy
and leaving Canadian federal and
provincial governments to pick up
the tab. Raitt said she was stunned to
have learned the coverage was only
C$25 million.
Within two years federally
regulated railways carrying any
crude oil will now have to have
insurance of at least C$100 million,
ranging up to C$1 billion per
incident for annual shipments
exceeding 1.5 million tonnes.
Canada will also charge crude oil
shippers C$1.65 a tonne — roughly
25 cents a barrel or about half a
penny a US gallon — which will go
into a supplementary fund to pay
for damages exceeding a railway’s
minimum insurance level.
A government official said last
year that Ottawa was considering
something loosely based on the
Ship-Source Oil Pollution Fund,
set up in the 1970s to cover
big maritime oil disasters and
financed with levies on oil tanker
shipments.
Friday’s bill allows for the
possibility of expanding the levy to
cover other dangerous goods, but
Raitt said she was focusing on crude
because the safety record had been
improving for all dangerous goods
except for crude.
The Federation of Canadian
Municipalities said the new
legislation was a good step, but
that it hopes the government will
look at expanding the levy to other
dangerous goods.
The Railway Association of
Canada — which represents the
industry — complained the bill
should also apply to substances such
as chlorine, which the association
said could have a severe impact if
spilled. — Reuters
MIAMI: Two US astronauts wearing what
Nasa assured are “healthy” spacesuits began
a spacewalk on Saturday to lay cables outside
the International Space Station (ISS), after an
equipment failure which briefly delayed the
mission.
The spacewalk officially began at 7:45
am when Barry “Butch” Wilmore and flight
engineer Terry Virts placed their suits on
internal battery power, Nasa said.
Moments later, the pair — each carrying
two suitcase-like bags of cable and gear —
floated outside the airlock to begin the first
of several spacewalks aimed at preparing
the orbiting outpost for the arrival of
US commercial crew capsules, bringing
astronauts to low-Earth orbit in the coming
years.
Initially planned for Friday, the spacewalk
was postponed by a day to allow Nasa more
time to wrap up an investigation into a
problem with a piece of equipment inside
certain spacesuits.
The breakdown in the fan pump separator
— which helps control the suit’s temperature
— in two of the American spacesuits
was part of the same system that failed
in 2013 when water flooded the helmet of
a spacewalking Italian astronaut, nearly
drowning him.
In December, when astronauts were doing
spacesuit maintenance, they found that the
fan pump separator in one suit did not speed
up as expected.
The same problem with another spacesuit
was detected in January.
A replacement part that was on board the
space station was installed in the suit Virts is
wearing, and a new spacesuit was shipped to
the space station for Wilmore.
Nasa commentator Rob Navias said early
Saturday that both suits are “healthy” and in
good working order.
“All suit systems are reported to be in
excellent condition,” Navias said.
The spacewalk will be the 185th in the
history of the space station, and is scheduled
to last about six and a half hours.
The duo’s next spacewalk is set for
Wednesday, followed by another on Sunday,
with the goal of routing a total of 364 feet
(110 metres) of cable.
These and several more outings in the
coming months are designed to prepare
the station and the robotic arm for a pair
of international docking adapters (IDAs),
which will be delivered later this year.
When the new docking ports are
eventually completed, up to two cargo ships
and two crew ships will be able to latch on to
the space station at the same time.
Boeing has said it hopes to send an
astronaut and pilot for the first time in late
2017 to the International Space Station,
aboard its crew capsule called CST-100.
SpaceX is aiming to follow soon after
with its Dragon V2 crew capsule, modeled
on the Dragon cargo carrier that is currently
making trips back and forth to space carrying
supplies, food and material for science
experiments.
Nasa lost its ability to send astronauts to
space when it closed the 30-year space shuttle
programme in 2011.
The world’s astronauts must now rely on
Russia’s Soyuz capsules for transport to lowEarth orbit, at a cost of about $70 million per
seat. — AFP
Nasa astronauts Barry Wilmore (L) and Terry Virts during a spacewalk to lay cable on the
International Space Station. — AFP
Only a tiny fraction of Cubans have access to high-speed Internet but US rapprochement has added pressure on the island to modernise
Cuba, sorely lagging online, says it wants Internet for all
HAVANA: Internet laggard Cuba once
again pledged online access for all its
people on Friday, acknowledging the
country cannot develop without being
better connected.
Only a tiny fraction of Cubans have
access to high-speed Internet.
Cuban officials have been promising
better Internet service for years but have
cited the US economic embargo and
political aggression as reasons for its
stunted development.
The recent US rapprochement
toward Cuba has added pressure on the
Communist-led island to modernise.
“The will exists on the part of the
(ruling Communist) Party and the
Cuban government to develop the
information society and put the Internet
at the service of everyone,” First VicePresident Miguel Diaz-Canel said at
the closure of a three-day technology
conference.
Diaz-Canel, 54, is first in the line of
succession behind 83-year-old President
Raul Castro and has been advocating
a more open Internet since becoming
vice-president two years ago.
His remarks on Friday were covered
by official media.
The conference brought together
technology experts from across the
Caribbean island, with state-controlled
media promoting voices calling for Cuba
to catch up with its neighbours.
The Geneva-based International
Telecommunications Union (ITU)
ranks Cuba 125th out of 166 countries
in telecommunications development,
the lowest in the Americas.
It says about 25 per cent of Cubans
have some online access.
Ordinary Cubans mostly have access
to state-controlled Intranet at workplaces
and schools, or can pay for expensive
Internet sessions by the hour at offices of
the state telecommunications monopoly
Etecsa.
Cuban servers block access to antiCastro sites and pornography.
The United States has set connectivity
as a priority in its new relationship with
The will exists on the
part of the ruling
party and the Cuban
government to develop the
information society and put
the Internet at the service of
everyone.”
MIGUEL DIAZ-CANEL
First Vice-President — Cuba
Cuba, making telecommunications
equipment, technology and services
among the first exemptions to the
embargo after Washington and Havana
announced on December 17 they would
restore diplomatic relations.
Meanwhile,
IDT
Corporation,
the largest US-based provider of
international long distance calling,
has reached an agreement with Cuba’s
ETECSA telecom company to provide
phone service between the two countries
as they normalise relations.
The Cuban company, Empresa de
Telecomunicaciones de Cuba SA, said
in a statement Friday that the deal
enables “the reestablishment of direct
communication between the United
States and Cuba.”
It “will allow for better capabilities
and improved communication quality
between the people of both nations,”
added the statement, published in staterun Granma.
The head of IDT hailed the deal as
“groundbreaking.”
“This is an important first step in the
liberalisation of telecommunications
between the US and Cuba,” said
IDT CEO Bill Pereira in a statement
Thursday.
“The agreement will help make
it easier and more affordable for our
customers to call friends and family in
Cuba.”
IDT said the agreement was
filed this week with the US Federal
Communications Commission and is
subject to FCC review for a period of 10
days.
If the deal is approved, IDT will
be the only US carrier to have a
direct interconnection into Cuba, the
American company said.
In December, US President Barack
Obama and Cuba’s Raul Castro
announced their two nations would
begin normalizing ties, ending a halfcentury of enmity between the former
Cold War foes.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan President
Nicolas Maduro said Thursday that he
had visited Cuba and met retired leader
Fidel Castro, considered one of his leftist
mentors.
Maduro, whose country is facing
a severe economic crisis, said his talk
with the ailing Castro focused on global
issues.
“I made the most of Tuesday’s day of
carnival and I visited Comandante Fidel
Castro, who sends his greetings to all
the people of Venezuela,” Maduro said
during lengthy comments broadcast
publicly.
“We talked about the world, peace,
and climate change — we spoke on
many subjects.”
The embattled Venezuelan leader
often makes known his Cuban trips only
once he’s returned home.
During his stay in Havana, Maduro
also met President Raul Castro and
other senior officials.
Raul Castro took over from his
brother Fidel in 2006. — Reuters
15
Boko Haram attacks
island on Lake Chad
INTERNATIONAL
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
ON WAY TO SKI RESORTS
omandailyobserver
CONTINUING VIOLENCE: African allies seek to stop cross-border
spread as attack on a village in Niger and clashes leave 21 dead
Cars congest the N90 highway between Albertville and Moutiers, central eastern France on Saturday as people make their way
to ski resorts in the French Alps, during France’s school holidays. — AFP
Insurgents in Libya
‘direct threat’ to Europe
Prime Minister Manuel Valls talks to reporters at a leaders’ meeting of the Party of
European Socialists (PES) in Madrid on Saturday. — Reuters
MADRID: Militants in Libya pose a
“direct threat” to Europe, French Prime
Minister Manuel Valls said in Madrid
on Saturday.
“I would like to cite the question
of Libya and the direct threat to our
security of the creation — under our
eyes and not far from our borders —
of a new haven for the terrorist,” Valls
told a gathering of social democrats,
according to a transcript of his speech.
Valls’ comments come amid growing
concern that the IS group, which has
already seized swathes of Iraq and Syria,
has also established a foothold in Libya.
The lawless North African country
has become fertile ground for militants
following the ouster of Muammar
Gaddafi in 2011.
Analysts have warned that IS is
expected to gain more strength in Libya,
and said the international community
was running out of time to combat its
spread there.
“The threat of IS in Libya is set
to increase exponentially,” analyst
Mohamed El Jareh, from the Atlantic
Council’s Hariri Centre for the Middle
East, said on Friday.
Since Gaddafi was killed, Libya’s
beleaguered authorities have been
struggling to rein in powerful armed
militias who are battling for power and
the country’s oil wealth.
Recent attacks in Libya claimed by
IS have boosted concern that some
militias have in fact pledged allegiance
to the extremists. — AFP
NIAMEY: Boko Haram militants
attacked an island on Niger’s side of
Lake Chad but the army repelled them
after heavy fighting, residents and
security sources said on Saturday.
The Lake Chad area — a vast maze of
tiny islands and swampland sheltering
thousands of Nigerian refugees — is
thought to be serving as a hideout for
the insurgent group.
“There was heavy weapons and
machine gun fire from about 2000 local
time,” said a resident of Niger’s nearby
lakeside town of N’Guigmi, which
Boko Haram attempted to seize earlier
this month. Niger security sources said
several Boko Haram members were
killed in the fighting.
It was not immediately clear which
island had been attacked and whether it
was inhabited, but the security sources
and residents said it was in Niger and
within 50 km of the borders with Chad
and Nigeria.
Meanwhile, a Boko Haram attack on
a village in southeastern Niger followed
by clashes with the army have killed
at least 21 people, mostly from the
militants’ ranks, Niger’s military said on
Saturday.
“Seven Niger soldiers were killed and
two others wounded in a Boko Haram
attack on a village near Lake Chad on
Friday night,” a military report said.
“Boko Haram lost 14 members.”
Last week, Boko Haram fighters
aboard motorised canoes attacked a
fishing village in Chad, killing at least
five people in the group’s first known
lethal attack on that country.
The group, which has killed
thousands of people in a six-year
insurgency in Nigeria, has been gaining
strength in the past year. It has carved
out a territory the size of Belgium in the
northeast of the country and intensified
cross-border raids.
But regional forces from Nigeria,
Chad, Cameroon and Niger have won
battles against the group in recent weeks
Youth fighting ‘superbug’ infection
from Los Angeles outbreak
LOS ANGELES: An 18-year-old
man who was one of seven patients
infected with a drug-resistant bacterial
“superbug” during a medical procedure
in Los Angeles was under 24-hour
monitoring at a hospital as he fought
a severe infection, his attorney said on
Friday.
Infection by the carbapenemresistant enterobacteria, or CRE, during
endoscopies at a large teaching hospital
in the University of California at Los
Angeles system has contributed to two
deaths among the seven patients.
Officials warned that as many as
179 people who had endoscopies at the
UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Centre
may have been exposed to the so-called
superbug.
The procedures were done between
October 3 and January 28.
All five of the confirmed infected
patients who remain alive are under
treatment, said UCLA spokeswoman
Dale Tate.
The infections all occurred during
procedures in which a specialised scope,
known as a duodenoscope, was inserted
down the throat to diagnose and treat
pancreatic and bile duct diseases.
The outbreak has raised questions
about whether methods for cleaning the
endoscopes were adequate.
The 18-year-old man, whose name
has not been released, was among those
infected by CRE, said attorney Kevin
Boyle, a member of his legal team.
The man went to the medical centre
in mid-2014 for a pancreatic ailment
and received an endoscopy, Boyle said.
The man became ill and was
hospitalised a short time later.
By November, he had been diagnosed
with CRE.
The youth spent 83 days in the
hospital, mostly in the intensive care
unit, the attorney said.
“It’s definitely a severe infection,”
he said, adding that the infection had
landed the young man back in a Los
Angeles hospital.
The 18-year-old was not in the
intensive care unit but was under 24hour monitoring.
“The (man’s) prognosis is unknown,”
Boyle said.
He would not give the name of the
hospital where the young man is being
treated.
Further details on the conditions
of the five infected patients have not
been disclosed, and details on the
circumstances of the two deaths have
not been made public.
Officials have said there is no broader
threat to public health, and that hospital
officials have called and sent letters to
at-risk former patients.
All of them are at home, rather than
at a hospital, Tate said.
No further infections have been
reported.
Corey Egel, a spokesperson for
the California Department of Public
Health, said the short-term risk window
for additional CRE infections among
the patients who came into contact with
the scopes was over.
There remains, however, a possibility
of future infections if the organism
was able to colonise inside any of the
patients.
“Any person who is colonised with
any multi-drug resistant organism is
at some increased risk in the future
of developing an infection with that
organism,” he said.
The medical centre has said that it
had been sterilising the duodenoscopes
implicated in the infection, which
it began using in June, according to
manufacturer standards. — Reuters
The Zimbabwean president is the only leader that Zimbabwe has known since independence from Britain in 1980
Mugabe turns 91, slowly sheds negative image
HARARE: Zimbabwean President
Robert Mugabe turned 91-years-old on
Saturday showing no sign of giving up
power as the West slowly eases pressure
on a man who has been an international
pariah for the last decade.
Mugabe, one of the Africa’s most
divisive figures, is the only leader
that Zimbabwe has known since
independence from Britain in 1980.
Leaders from his generation like
South Africa’s Nelson Mandela have
died while others like Zambia’s Kenneth
Kaunda retired long ago, but Mugabe
plans to run in the 2018 election, his last
under a new constitution, when he will
be 94.
Last December Mugabe fired his
deputy of 10 years, changed the ruling
party constitution to concentrate more
power in his hands and promoted his
wife Grace into the top rungs of the
ZANU-PF decision-making politburo.
The EU and United States imposed
travel and financial sanctions on Mugabe
and his acolytes in 2002 accusing the
veteran leader of vote rigging and
human rights violations.
Finger-wagging and remonstrating,
Mugabe has said the West is punishing
him
for
seizing
white-owned
commercial farms to resettle blacks
and have sponsored his opponents at
home.
On
Saturday,
newspapers
printed
congratulatory
messages
from companies and government
departments hailing Mugabe as “chief
of chiefs”, “embodiment and a template
of unparalleled Pan-Africanism” and
“revolutionary and a visionary”.
A senior Mugabe aide said he was
spending the day at home with his
family and would hold huge celebrations
in the resort town of Victoria Falls on
February 28.
“Given the rarity of this achievement,
we believe that this is the best evidence
yet that his leadership is indeed the will
of the Almighty God,” Simon Khaya
Moyo, ZANU-PF’s spokesman said in a
congratulatory message.
‘Given the rarity of this
achievement, we believe
that this is the best evidence
yet that his leadership
is indeed the will of the
Almighty God’, Simon
Khaya Moyo, ZANU-PF’s
spokesman, said in a
statement
Robert Mugabe
Viewed as an international pariah
only two years ago as Zimbabwe’s
political crisis topped the agenda at
all summits of the regional Southern
African Development Community
(SADC), Mugabe’s political fortunes
have now changed for the better.
After a landslide victory in July 2013
elections that has left the opposition in
tatters, Mugabe is now SADC chairman
and was last month chosen to chair the
African Union, positions his ZANUPF says are an endorsement of his
nationalist policies.
The European Union (EU) on Friday
renewed an arms ban on Zimbabwe
as well as travel and asset freezes on
Mugabe and his wife, although the
bloc has gradually eased sanctions to
encourage reforms.
The EU this week gave Zimbabwe
234 million euros ($266 million) in aid,
the first time the bloc has directly given
financial aid to the southern African
nation’s government since 2002.
Delegations from Britain and France
have already visited Zimbabwe this year
as Western countries explore business
opportunities in a country that has
pivoted to China for financial assistance
in the last decade.
Political analysts say the West may
have realised that ZANU-PF could
be in power for longer and calculated
that, given Mugabe’s advanced age and
rumours of ill health, he could soon leave
the political scene. Mugabe frequently
travels to Singapore for medical checks
but insists he is fit.
“It may have dawned on the West
that Zimbabwe is stuck with ZANUPF for a long time to come and that
this is time for rapprochement,”
said Eldred Masunungure, a political
science lecturer at the University of
Zimbabwe. — Reuters
as they seek to hem them within their
heartland.
Niger, a poor desert nation, is also
seeking to dismantle clandestine Boko
Haram networks around its southern
border.
The defence ministry on Friday
raised 2 billion CFA francs (£3.46
million) to help the army fight the
militants via a telethon campaign.
French Foreign Minister Laurent
Fabius arrived in Chad on Saturday
as part of a 48-hour trip to countries
affected by Boko Haram’s insurgency.
He will travel to Cameroon and Niger
next.
“I came here to offer (President
Idriss) Deby France’s support and
solidarity,” he told journalists, adding
that he expected African countries to
lead the fight against Boko Haram.
France, the former colonial master, has
a strong military presence in the region
and provides intelligence and logistical
aid. — Reuters
IN BRIEF
Death toll
from attack on
Somali hotel
rises to 25
MOGADISHU: The death toll
in Friday’s bombing of a hotel in
the Somali capital has risen to 25,
including two lawmakers and workers
from the prime minister’s office, the
government said on Saturday.
Police previously said at least
10 people had been killed in the
attack on Central Hotel, near the
presidential palace in the centre of
Mogadishu.
Al Shabaab rebels set off a car
bomb inside the Central Hotel
compound which also houses a
mosque popular with government
officials.
After the car blast, a suicide
bomber ran into the mosque during
Friday prayers and blew himself up.
“The confirmed death toll is 25
civilians and officials, including two
lawmakers and deputy Mogadishu
mayor,” the government said. “Among
the dead are also officials and workers
from the prime minister’s office.”
Some 40 people were wounded
in the two blasts, including two
ministers who were lightly injured.
‘Germany need
to play a bigger
role in Africa’
KIGALI: Germany should play
a bigger role in Africa, Foreign
Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
said on Saturday, responding to
calls for Europe’s biggest economy
to take on more responsibility in the
continent.
Germany
traditionally
sees
Africa as “a continent of crises and
conflicts,” Steinmeier said during a
visit to Rwanda. “We have to look at
it in a new way.”
Germany has an interest in a
closer relationship with Africa, he
added.
In his comments, Steinmeier
stressed German support for African
peace missions, noting that Berlin
spends 100 million euros ($113.8
million) a year for a UN peacekeeping
mission in Congo.
The German foreign minister
went on to praise Rwanda as “an
anchor of stability” in the region, with
the nation emerging as a model in the
field of information technology and
environmental protection. — dpa
16
omandailyobserver
PANORAMA
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
Chinese performers re-enact a traditional Qing Dynasty ceremony in which
emperors prayed for good fortune at the Temple of Heaven as part of the Chinese
Lunar New Year festivities in Beijing. Chinese are celebrating the Lunar New Year,
which marks the beginning of the Year of the Sheep on February 19. — AFP
S A Buick Skylark 1966 is displayed prior to the start of the 21 Gun Salute International
Vintage Car Rally in New Delhi. The fifth edition of the annual 21 Gun Salute International
Vintage Car Rally was flagged off from the Red Fort on a 52 km route to Gurgaon, with the
theme of ‘Save the Girl Child’. — AFP
Director Abderrahmane Sissako (C) poses with team members and the trophies
received for the film Timbuktu at the 40th Cesar Awards ceremony in Paris.
Sissako’s foreign-language Oscar-nommed Timbuktu was the big winner of the
40th Cesar Awards, snatching up seven kudos, including the film and director
nods. — Reuters
Members of Somalia’s police participate in a parade during the arrival
of Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh at the Aden Abdulle
International Airport in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. — Reuters
A visitor pets
a sheep at
the Paris
international
agricultural
fair at the
Porte de
Versailles
exhibition
centre in
Paris. — AFP
Alison Cragie (top), a member of a
women’s surf boat crew, is thrown from
the boat by a breaking wave during a
race in the Day of Giants Surf Boat
Competition being held at Piha Beach,
located west of Auckland. — Reuters
Athletes compete in the women’s cross-country 7.5 km classic and 7.5 km freestyle skiathlon
event at at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun. — Reuters
SUNDAY | FEBRUARY 22, 2015 | JUMADA AL ULA 3, 1436 AH
P18
P21
P20
Inside
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Tender Board gets tough
with variation orders
CONTRACTS: The Board has announced a series of measures
aimed at clamping down on so-called ‘Variation Orders’
CONRAD PRABHU
MUSCAT
Feb. 21: The Government Tender Board
has announced a series of measures
aimed at clamping down on so-called
‘Variation Orders’ — a practice often
attributed to escalations in the cost
of state-financed construction and
infrastructure projects.
A Variation Order (sometimes also
referred to as Change Order) pertains to
an alteration to the scope of works in a
construction contract in the form of an
addition, substitution or omission from
the original scope of works. Variations
may include alterations to the design,
bill of quantities, quality, working
conditions, and sequence of work.
In the Sultanate, a notable proportion
of design and construction contracts
procured through the Tender Board
has been the subject of variation orders
sought by government ministries and
departments during the implementation
phase of the projects in question. In
the upshot, contracts are prone to
cost overruns, delays and disputes as
the requests for variation orders are
deliberated upon.
In recent comments, Tender Board
Chairman Dr Rasheed bin al Safi al
Huraibi affirmed ongoing efforts to limit
change order requests to only the most
deserving cases. As a result of those
efforts, variation orders granted by the
Tender Board dropped from 20 per
cent in 2012 to 17 per cent a year later.
In 2014, approvals for variation orders
declined to 12 per cent in number terms,
and by a hefty 34 per cent in value terms.
In a recent memo to government
ministries and departments that are
covered by the provisions of the Tender
Law, the Tender Board listed a number
of conditions that must be met when
submitting Variation Order requests.
In addition to detailed reasons and
justifications for the variation order,
requests must be accompanied by copies
of the Variation Order Report and Bill
of Quantity Tables prepared by the
contractor, and duly approved by the
consultant and client. Detailed drawings
providing a comparative analysis of the
Variation Order and the Original Scope
of Work must be included as well.
Importantly, the new measures
require the government ministry/
department (client) to explain why the
works spelt out in the Variation Order
request had not been included in the
Original Scope of Works in the first
place. The Client is also required to
clarify if the new work identified in the
Variation Order is complementary to
the project or is new work unrelated to
the original project contract.
Further with a view to ensuring that
the additional costs are budgeted for,
clients are required to explain if the
costs have the approval of the Ministry
of Finance or if additional financing has
been arranged in lieu.
Besides, the client is required to
certify that at least 10 per cent of the
contract value (including the cost of the
variation order) has been earmarked for
Small and Medium Enterprises (SME).
Omani contractors have generally
welcomed the new restrictions,
asserting the move would put the
onus on the client to ensure that the
feasibility studies and design work that
they commission is comprehensively
thought through and diligently spelt
out in the design and tender documents
before a contract is eventually awarded.
US fines Japanese air bag maker $14,000 a day for non-cooperation
Takata hit with daily fine on
air bag probe as repairs lag
WASHINGTON/DETROIT:
US
regulators slapped Takata Corp with a
$14,000 per-day fine for failing to fully
cooperate with a probe of its faulty air
bags and revealed that a fraction of the
17 million cars recalled because of the
problems have been repaired.
The Japanese parts supplier is still
struggling to come to terms with the
massive recall and investigation related
to the air bags, which have been prone to
rupture unexpectedly, spraying shrapnel
into vehicle occupants.
Defective Takata air bag inflators
— which activate the devices in case of
collision — have been linked to at least
six deaths and dozens of injuries, and
have resulted in several lawsuits.
Takata failed to comply with two
orders US safety regulators issued last
year requiring documentation and
other material for a probe into the faulty
air bags, according to Transportation
Secretary Anthony Foxx.
The government is accusing Takata
of dumping more than 2.4 million pages
of documents on the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration without
any guide to or explanation of the
content.
“As you are well aware, NHTSA has
repeatedly engaged Takata and asked
for the company’s explanation of the
content of the deluge of documents
that it has produced thus far,” NHTSA
said in a letter to Takata lawyer Steven
Bradbury, explaining the reason for the
fine, to be levied starting on Friday.
Takata said it “strongly” disagreed
with NHTSA’s characterisation, adding
that it had been meeting regularly with
NHTSA engineers to identify the cause
of the issues with the inflators.
In another sign of Takata’s struggles
to put the issue to rest, the US safety
regulator also said on Friday that nearly
90 per cent of the vehicles recalled
because of defective Takata air bags
were still unrepaired as of December 31.
NHTSA has urged owners of
certain vehicles from Toyota Motor
Corp, Honda Motor Corp Ltd, Mazda
Motor Corp, BMW AG, Nissan
Motor Co Ltd, Mitsubishi Motors
Corp, Subaru Co Ltd, Fiat Chrysler
Automobiles, Ford Motor Co and
General Motors Co to replace the air
bags as soon as possible.
On Friday, Foxx also called on
Congress to pass legislation requiring
car rental agencies and used car dealers
to fix safety defects in the vehicles they
rent or sell.
Senators John Thune and Bill
Nelson on Friday urged Takata to help
federal regulators. “We cannot tolerate
delays or limited cooperation when
people’s lives are at stake,” they said in
a statement.
— Reuters
Orpic concludes pre-qualification
stage for Liwa Plastics EPC packages
BUSINESS REPORTER
MUSCAT
Feb. 21: Oman Oil Refineries and
Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic)
has finalised the pre-qualification process
for the Engineering, Procurement and
Construction (EPC) work packages of its
state-of-the-art Liwa Plastics Industries
Complex (LPIC).
Taking advantage of Oman’s natural
resources and capitalising on the
synergies with the existing refinery and
the growing global market for plastics,
the $3.6 billion project will create new
business opportunities and employment
in the Sultanate, and firmly reinforce
the company as a significant player
in the international petrochemicals
marketplace.
The project will be executed through
four EPC packages which include a
Steam Cracker and Polymer Units, a
Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) Extraction
Unit and a NGL Pipeline from Fahud to
Sohar. “This process is a key milestone
to our project and all the contractors
were required to demonstrate their
know-how on projects with similar
size, nature and complexity, along with
their international experience with
the generation of in-country value
considering the legacy that we want
to create to Oman,” said the General
Manager responsible for the project,
Henk Pauw.
The following step of the project
is releasing a tender invitation for the
qualified companies which was initiated
in January, 2015 and the project
schedule foresees the second stage by
early April, when the currently ongoing
front-end engineering design (FEED)
will be finalised. The awards of the EPC
packages are expected to be made in the
last quarter of 2015.
The Liwa Plastics Industries
Complex will enable Oman, for the first
time, to produce polyethylene, the form
of plastic that rates highest in terms of
global demand. After LPIC, the plastic
production in the Sultanate will have
increased by 1 million tonnes, giving
Orpic a total of 1.4 million tonnes
of polyethylene and polypropylene
production by 2018.
The main objective is to further
increase
the valuea d d e d
that can
be derived
f r o m
Omani
c r u d e
oil
and
natural
gas, as well
improve
O r p i c ’s
product mix and business model, double
its profit and support the diversification
of the national economy by contributing
to the development of a downstream
plastics industry in Oman.
The EPC contractors will supply all
the equipment and materials required
for the implementation of the project
based on an approved ‘Vendor List’.
Interested suppliers shall contact the EPC
qualified contractors for registration. As
part of Orpic’s commitment to support
the local companies, it has invited all
companies to register at Oman’s Joint
Supplier Registration System (JSRS).
18
omandailyobserver
OMAN
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
The Wave, Muscat inks mortgage financing pact
REAL ESTATE: Bank of Beirut will provide home-financing plans for both local and foreign investors looking to buy a residential property
BUSINESS REPORTER
MUSCAT
Feb. 21: The Wave, Muscat and Bank
of Beirut have signed an agreement
to offer Mortgage Financing services
on real estate purchases at Muscat’s
vibrant waterfront community. Bank
of Beirut will provide competitive and
convenient home-financing plans for
both local and foreign investors looking
to purchase a residential property at The
Wave, Muscat, while offering maximum
flexibility and a variety of repayment
options to meet the needs of prospective
buyers.
Upon signing the agreement,
Hawazen Esber, Chief Executive Officer
of The Wave, Muscat, said, “As part of us
providing a second to none integrated
living experience, we look to partner
with reputable financial institutions such
as Bank of Beirut to provide professional
support for purchase transactions.
This agreement will provide more
financing options to our customers
and will help to make the dream
of owning a property at The Wave,
Muscat a reality.”
Bank of Beirut is now offering up to
80 per cent of the value of the property
for nationals, as well as for expats. The
loan period shall be up to a maximum
period of 25 years with a competitive
floating interest rate of 4.5 per cent per
annum regressive.
“We understand that buying new
property is among the biggest purchasing
decisions that people make”, commented
Ramy Zambarakji, Chief Executive
Officer at Bank of Beirut Oman.
“Keeping this in mind, we have designed
an exclusive home loan package which is
built on a solid foundation of trust and
transparency, one that will particularly
benefit new home buyers at this exciting
development.
We are pleased to offer flexible
mortgage and financing options through
the Bank of Beirut’s Housing Loan, for
both Omanis and expatriate residents,
making buying that dream home at The
Wave, Muscat much more achievable,”
added Zambarakji.
The Walk, Muscat’s retail and
commercial gateway at The Wave,
Muscat is now home to one of Bank
of Beirut’s newest branches in the
Sultanate.
This branch is conveniently situated
to serve the customers’ needs and to
help potential home owners in exploring
the variety of realty options and
acquire financing. (OEPPA Business
Development Dept)
Samsung reports
growth in home
appliances segment
BUSINESS REPORTER
MUSCAT
Feb. 21: Figures released by
Samsung Gulf Electronics
today reveal that the brand’s
share of the home appliance
segment grew by 10-15 per
cent in 2014. Quick reactions
to market demands, strong
product launches, and a focus
on premium design are credited with its strong categorywide performance.
“Samsung aims to turn every experience into an enjoyable
one, and this ethos is especially true of our Home Appliance
portfolio. Everything that we developed last year was
designed to make it easy for our consumers to create a happy,
comfortable home, in the height of quality and convenience.
Our latest growth figures are a positive sign that we are
hitting the mark,” said Mohammed Gharabieh, General
Manager of the Home Appliance Division at Samsung Gulf
Electronics. “As we continue to deliver innovative appliances
with timeless, sleek design, we are confident that Samsung
will continue to become a preferred brand for the region’s
consumers.”
Samsung claimed its stake in the home appliances industry
with its people-inspired design in 2014. In March, the
company launched a premium refrigerator made specifically
for customers in the MENA region. Built to withstand the
heat and humidity of the Middle East, the RT6000 met the
needs of households in the region by maximising freshness
at optimal energy levels to keep food fresher longer and
reduce the cost of energy on the consumer.
One of the best performing products in the Home
Appliance category was the Food Showcase Refrigerator,
which was developed on insight that consumers in the
region preferred larger fridges than the average buyer.
A high-range and convenient storage solution, the Food
Showcase Refrigerator was introduced to the Middle East
market during Ramadhan, with 821 litres of space along
with compartmentalised storage.
KR opens Bait Al Ahlam
showroom at Al Seeb
STAFF REPORTER
MUSCAT
Feb. 21: KR Infra Group has opened the new branch of Bait
Al Ahlam, the complete solutions to home furniture in Al
Seeb on February 18, which is slated to be one of the largest
showrooms of its kind in Oman.
Bait Al Ahlam which in essence is “All about Your
Dream Home” is the retail destination with over 3,000 sqm
displaying the most eclectic range of home furniture from
around the world.
Coupled with around 1,000 sqm of air- conditioning,
home appliances and ‘Paint a Home Lounge’ the new
showroom promises to be a favourite destination which no
homeowner can afford to ignore.
Hritik Khimji, Director, Khimji Ramdas said, “Bait Al
Ahlam is a preferred destination for home essentials. For over
a decade, it has continued to resonate strong values of quality,
reliability and customer trust. The brand name Bait Al Ahlam
has reached a level of maturity where it will carry forward the
legacy without the reputed Khimji’s Tag which it wore till now.
We want to thank all our customers who have seen the
brand grow from strength to strength over the years.”
The Showroom is open from Saturday to Thursday from
9.30 am to 9.30 pm and on Friday from 4.30 pm to 9.30 pm.
OMAN
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
omandailyobserver
19
Global crude oil prices – changing market dynamics
F
or much of the last six years since
the financial crisis in 2008 global
oil prices recovered swiftly and
have remained high in a range of $100 per
barrel since 2010. The soaring oil prices
during this period were being supported
by steady economic recovery following
the crisis, increasing consumption in
rapidly growing countries like China
and conflicts in key oil nations like Iraq
and Libya.
Thus, in the midst of growing
demand, oil prices spiked. But then very
soon and unexpectedly, WTI crude that
peaked at around $106 per barrel in June
last year had fallen more than 50 per
cent to under $50 per barrel by January
this year. Simply put, the reasons for
this change are two-fold — surging US
production coupled with weakening
demand in many countries due to
insipid economic growth.
As the oil prices remained high for
an extended period of time, beneath
the surface many of market dynamics
were shifting. Soaring prices spurred
companies in US and Canada to start
drilling for new, hard-to-extract crude
in North Dakota’s shale formations and
Alberta’s oil sands.
This led to a boom in ‘unconventional’
oil production. The US alone has added
4 million extra barrels of crude oil per
day to the global market since 2008 that
has a total production of 75 million
barrels per day.
BUSINESS ALERT
A’ Saffa unveils Zingle Chicken Drumettes
MUSCAT: A’Saffa
Foods,
Oman’s
leading
poultry
and
processed
value
added
product producer
has launched an
appetising and tasty
product in Oman
with its new A’Saffa
Zingle
Chicken
Drumettes. Celebrating 10 years of “great taste and healthy living,’’ A’Saffa
promises to offer their valued patrons with yet another exciting range of chicken
product.
The new savoury Zingle Chicken Drumettes from A’Saffa are hygienically
processed from the purest, premium natural ingredients, aromatic spices and
will go to be a firm favourite amongst children and families looking for a spicy,
fiery and crispy food affair. The Drumettes are part of a chicken wing that looks
like a mini drumstick. The new product will be available at all hypermarkets,
supermarkets and departmental stores across the country.
Commenting on the launch, A’Saffa Head Marketing & Sales, Sidhartha Lenka
said: “We believe that A’Saffa Zingle Chicken Drumettes is superior in taste and
are more tender and crispier. The Zingle Drumettes are produced using the latest
research and studies making a crispy and spicy dish for families.”
Although production was picking
up, there were issues in key oil nations
like Iran, Iraq and Libya that took more
than 3 million barrels per day off the
market according to industry experts.
By mid-2014 however, production in US
and Canada was still rising fast and the
world’s oil supply kept growing. On the
other hand, even more significantly, oil
demand from Asia and Europe suddenly
began weakening owing to economic
slowdowns in China and Germany.
Thus weaker-than-expected demand
and steadily rising supply caused oil
prices to start dropping from their peak
in June to around $80 per barrel by midNovember.
Furthermore, Opec’s unexpected
decision in November to not cutback on its oil output in order to prop
up prices in an oversupplied market
triggered further sell-off pushing prices
Both Capital Market Authority and Central Bank of Oman have issued
circulars to financial and non-financial institutions to comply with FATCA rules.
The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) has also followed up recently advising licensed
banks to have a review of their compliance with FATCA rules, as necessary, by
their external auditors as part of their annual audit.
The aim of this seminar therefore, was to familiarise individuals responsible
for Compliance, Tax and Finance discipline in their companies with FATCA
rules, deadlines, implications for non-compliance and overall impact on their
business. The seminar content was delivered by KPMG subject-matter-experts
from India and Oman teams.
All-new Lincoln MKC inspired by fashion
LINCOLN
has
been
consistent with designing
stylish vehicles that do a lot
to keep you noticed. Lincoln
colour and materials design
team often turns to fashion
trends for colour, fabrics and
materials. Lincoln designers
create colour and materials
combinations that appeal
to male and female luxury
customers.
Colour and materials designers at The Lincoln Motor Company find inspiration
nearly everywhere. Tahitian Pearl, a deep plum colour with an iridescent finish,
was developed exclusively for the all-new 2015 Lincoln MKC small premium
utility. Vibrant colours and sensual textures influence a car designer’s daily work.
They turn to the world of fashion to guide those elements for Lincoln vehicles.
IN its effort to promote healthy
Fashion offered a trove of inspiring ideas on the 2015 Lincoln MKC, Lincoln’s
lifestyles and competitive sports
first-ever small premium utility. Seeing something as simple as elaborate stitching
in the Sultanate, Bank Sohar
on a handbag or an accent colour on a designer jacket can really impact the design
participated as the Gold Sponsor
strategy of the design team at Lincoln.
for the recently completed Al
The team creates colour and materials combinations that transcend gender.
Amerat Challenge Race. The
It was a chief objective when designing the MKC, as evidenced in the Reserve
second edition of the event
package design. The Bridge of Weir® Deepsoft leather seats are White Sands, a
saw the participation of over
soft, cream colour with a feminine appeal. In contrast, the Espresso-coloured
1,000 local and international
instrument panel and dark wood appliques have a more masculine quality. In
athletes who took part in the
Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) sanctioned Oman, Lincoln vehicles are brought to you by Arabian Car Marketing Co LLC.
marathon on February 14 at the Amerat-Bausher Mountain Road.
Organised by Excellence Performance in cooperation with Oman Athletic
Association (OAA) and various ministries and government departments, the Al
Amerat Challenge is the first (AIMS) sanctioned race to be held in the Sultanate.
The race took place on February 14 at the Amerat-Bausher Mountain Road and
THE presence of the Nissan
witnessed the participation of 1,080 participants in both the 9 km race and the
Sentra vehicles on the
1.8 km fun race categories. The prize distribution ceremony for the winners took
road is aptly supported by
place under the auspices of Shaikh Rashad Ahmed Mohammed al Hinai, the
Nissan Oman’s world-class
Under Secretary of the Ministry of Sports Affairs. Representing Bank Sohar at
service facilities and trained
the prize distribution ceremony were Salim Khamis al Maskri, Senior AGM
manpower. The Nissan Sentra
of Branches, Abdullah Hamed al Mahmoodi, Chief Manager of Events and
1.6L and 1.8L offer drivers the
Promotions and Abdullah al Shidi, Al Amerat Branch Manager.
spaciousness and comfort of
cars usually found in the larger
segment, as well as technology
usually associated with much
more expensive cars.
The Nissan Sentra from the house of Suhail Bahwan Automobiles focuses
KPMG in Oman, a leading international firm providing Audit, Tax and Advisory
services, organised a half-day seminar on Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act on class-above design standards inside and out. Automatic dual-zone climate
control system with rear passenger air vents, navigation system, rear view
(FATCA) at Crowne Plaza Muscat last week.
This was the latest in a series of Seminars and Training Courses that KPMG camera, intelligent key & Push engine start, and leather seats on selected models
held earlier and is planning to hold over the coming months. This Seminar are just some of the features Sentra introduces to the segment. However, all
brought together people from regulators, financial institutions and companies models benefit from the standard fitment of soft interior trims, and a wide range
of safety equipment including dual airbags, ABS (anti-lock Braking System), EBD
operating in Oman who are impacted by FATCA rules.
FATCA rules issued by Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of USA introduce (Electronic Brake- force Distribution), and BA (Brake Assist).
Suhail Bahwan Automobiles offers wide range of after sales service with
a series of business and systems requirements that may be difficult and costly
to operationalise. Non-compliance risk is substantial, including a punitive modern technology and state-of-the-art facilities in strategic locations. Their
practice of Total Ownership Experience and customer-centric approach will
withholding tax, penalties and reputational damage.
Bank Sohar backs Al Amerat Challenge Race
Sentra showcases enhanced performance
KPMG organises seminar on FATCA
down to below $50 per barrel in January
as inventory continued to pile up. US
crude stockpiles have risen to a fresh
record high of 417.9 million barrels as
at the end of the first week of February,
highest level for this time of the year in
at least the last 80 years since the EIA
started keeping records.
On the other hand, number of rigs
drilling horizontal wells into shale
formations has dropped from 1,372
in November to 1,025 as of the end of
the first week of February according to
Baker Hughes rig survey. Reduction in
rig count is also in line with average 30
per cent reduction in capital expenditure
announced by America’s independent
drillers.
However despite a lay down of 98
rigs, US production was 9.2 million
barrels per day (bpd) during the second
week of this month, up 49,000 bpd over
the previous week. But growth in US oil
output has slowed and numbers showed
a decline in production of 36,000 bpd.
Thus Saudi’s idea behind Opec’s
decision to not cut output may have
begun to show some consequences in
the form of capital expenditure cuts
and declining rig count. This would
in effect lead to slower growth in
the unconventional high cost crude
production and thus aid in narrowing
the gap between excess supply and lower
demand also keeping the rapid inventory
growth under check.
(Disclaimer: The views and opinions
expressed in this article are solely those
‘ˆ–Š‡ƒ—–Š‘”•ƒ††‘‘–”‡ϔŽ‡…––Š‡
opinion of the Observer.)
ensure that customers of Nissan are given par excellence professional services for
all car related needs.
Suhail Bahwan Automobiles is the exclusive importers and distributors of
all Nissan vehicles in Oman. SBA has 19 showrooms, 22 Service Centre and
35 parts centres. The Nissan warehouse in Oman is one of the largest in the
GCC, ensuring 98 per cent parts availability at all times. SBA has successfully
spearheaded Nissan’s growth in Oman.
Philips launches 50-inch smart Full HD LED TV
THE Philips 6500 series
Smart Full HD LED
TV
with
Ambilight
makes every moment
extraordinary.
Packed
with
features,
it’s
designed with an Ultra
Narrow bezel and Slim
dimensions that bring to
mind the good things in
life.
Why just watch TV
when you can also experience a world of online entertainment, information and
social networking in the comfort of your living room. With Philips SMART TV
you can enjoy online viewing and a wealth of online apps, browse the Internet,
rent films; stay connected with FB and Twitter and so much more.
Specifications:50” Display, 1920x1080 Pixel Resolution, Full HD LED, Pixel
Plus HD, 200 Hz Perfect Motion Rate, Smart TV and Wi-Fi enabled
Mustafa Sultan Electronics Co LLC (MSEC), one of the leading electronics
company in Oman, is the distributor for Philips along with brands like Haier
and Whirlpool. MSEC has two showrooms in the capital at Al Khuwair and
Ruwi. Philips TV range is available in all MSEC Showrooms & Hypermarkets.
All MSEC products have full warranty and are backed by their professionally
managed computerised service centre.
Cash gift promotion on Higer pick-ups
THE guaranteed cash gift promotion
by Towell Auto Centre (TAC),
one of country’s
l e a d i n g
automobile
d i s t r i b ut or s ,
on its range of
Higer pick-ups
will end on
March 14, 2015.
Delivering an impressive
combination of
power, capability and efficiency, Higer
pick-up is a high-grade
light duty vehicle, with new generation appearance. Available at a starting price
of just RO 4,749, Higer pick-ups have become very popular in Oman because of
their reliability and strength. TAC is offering a guaranteed cash gift of RO 450 on
all its 2015 models.
A senior spokesperson of TAC elaborates on the benefits of Higer pick-up:
“In a country like Oman, a pick-up is the best means of transportation be it for
a perfect weekend adventure or varying business needs. It has a host of benefits
such as better fuel economy, higher actual payloads, comfortable seating for big
families and more towing capacity.
Higer is a popular award-winning brand within China, known mainly for its
buses and coaches. We had introduced its pick-up range in Oman last year and
people especially from fishing, transportation, construction sectors have been
appreciative of its toughness, power, utility and comfort. We had displayed the
range at Muscat Festival 2015 for the first time and we saw an overwhelming
response. To further add to its attractiveness, we had offered cash gift promotion
of RO 450 on its 2015 models, which will end by next month. So all those who
are interested to own a dependable workhorse for personal or professional utility
must avail this offer soon”.
20
omandailyobserver
PERSPECTIVE
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
RADICALLEFT
Greece in tough climbdown on debt promises
JOHN HADOULIS
Greece had asked for
six-month loan assistance
from its European creditors
to enable it to submit a new
four-year reform blueprint
that would scrap the
harshest austerity measures.
G
REECE’S radical left
government was at
pains yesterday to
put a positive face on
an EU compromise
deal that is sharply
at odds with its anti-austerity ambitions.
At a last-ditch meeting on Friday,
Europe gave Athens some breathing
room to present alternative reforms in
a bid to save its crucial financial lifeline.
But the new leftist Greek government,
which came to power last month
pledging to end deeply unpopular
austerity measures, has just two days
to submit proposals that will satisfy its
sceptical peers.
“Greece is heading in a new
direction,” said government spokesman
Gabriel Sakellaridis, adding that the
talks had yielded “significant benefits for
the Greek people”.
Greece had asked for six-month loan
assistance from its European creditors
to enable it to submit a new four-year
reform blueprint that would scrap the
harshest austerity measures.
Instead, it received a maximum four
months in which to reach an agreement,
but no money to tide it over in the
meantime. The government said it had
averted threatened cuts to pensions
and tax hikes, and had persuaded its
European creditors to drop unrealistic
budget demands.
But the opposition socialists said the
deal took Greece “kilometres backwards”
and accused the government of engaging
in “theatrics for domestic consumption”.
The liberal Kathimerini daily spoke
of a deal with “stifling” conditions, while
the centre-left Ta Nea said “both sides
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis during a joint press after an Eurogroup Council meeting on Friday at EU Headquarters in Brussels. — AFP
had made compromises”.
To win the hard-fought deal, Athens
agreed to submit a list of economic and
other reforms by Monday.
The government pledged to refrain
from one-sided measures that could
compromise existing fiscal targets,
and had to abandon plans to use some
11 billion euros in leftover European
bank support funds to help restart the
Greek economy. On Tuesday, the hated
“troika” of creditors will decide whether
to proceed with Friday’s agreement, with
the chance that the compromise could
be scrapped if they are not satisfied.
“If the list of reforms is not agreed,
this agreement is dead,” Greek Finance
Minister Yanis Varoufakis admitted after
the talks.
The government had promised to
spend 2.0 billion euros this year on
poverty relief for thousands of families
hit by five years of wage cuts and tax
hikes.
Last week it presented legislation
offering debt forgiveness to low-income
citizens owing money to the state, but
Brussels has now demanded to vet such
measures beforehand.
The 19 eurozone finance ministers
reached the agreement at tense talks
pitting Greece against an angry
Germany, suspicious that the new
ECONOMY
FORECAST
Subsidy cuts in India’s budget
may disappoint investors
I
ndia may slash its food and fuel
subsidy bill by about $8 billion in
next week’s budget, two sources
said, but despite the impressive
headline, the cut is not as radical
as free market champions had hoped for
in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first
full budget.
Most of the 20 per cent cut in the
budget for subsidies results from lower
global oil prices rather than structural
changes, with the government’s appetite
for reform tempered by a heavy local
election defeat in New Delhi this month.
“The total subsidy bill could come
down to around Rs 2 trillion ($32
billion),” a senior government official,
who has direct knowledge of the matter,
said.
That calculation was echoed
by another source privy to budget
discussions.
Fuel subsidies are expected to drop
by around two-thirds to Rs 220-230
billion in the fiscal year that starts on
April 1, thanks above all to a halving of
international oil prices to around $60 a
barrel.
The sources said Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley was likely to set the total
budget for subsidies at about $32 billion,
down from $40 billion in the current
financial year.
It will be the first full budget
presented since Modi’s Bharatiya Janata
Party swept to power in India last May.
It produced an interim budget in
July that was largely designed by the
outgoing Congress party government.
The numbers imply four-fifths or
$6.5 billion of the total subsidy savings
will come from lower fuel subsidy costs.
Other subsidy costs will only be cut
by around 5 per cent.
That could disappoint investors, who
see the February 28 budget as a test of
Modi’s stomach for unpopular reforms,
with some critical that he has not moved
faster to revive the economy.
“The direction of subsidy reduction
government in Athens was looking to
ditch its austerity obligations.
“The meeting was intense because
it was about building trust between
us,” said Eurogroup head Jeroen
Dijsselbloem, after the talks ended with
a two-page statement setting out the
tough conditions Athens will have to
fulfil.
“This trust will be on the basis of
the agreements and changes in the
agreements which will have to be worked
out,” he said. Two previous rounds of
talks failed in acrimony with Greek
accusing Berlin and other hardline
member states of sabotaging a deal.
“Being in government is a rendezvous with reality. Quite frequently it is
not as nice as the dream,” said German
Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble,
Greece’s harshest critic who has fought
the new government’s demands every
step of the way.
He added that the deal promised to be
a tough sell to government supporters.
If Athens sticks to its commitments,
it stands to receive up to 7.2 billion euros
in funds still left in the EU portion of its
240 billion euro bailout ($273 million).
Markets reacted positively to the
deal, with the Dow and S&P 500 surging
to fresh records on Wall Street as fears
of a catastrophic exit by Greece from the
euro receded.
European officials said the standoff
had come down to a clash of personalities
with Schaeuble furious at the negotiating
style of the casual Varoufakis.
After the talks, a key European
official said the Schaeuble-Varoufakis
relationship was still fraught.
“The trust just isn’t there.(This time)
Varoufakis kept a very low profile,” the
source said.
An employee counting Indian currency at a bank in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.
is perfect but we need more to be
done,” said Deven Choksey, Managing
Director at Mumbai brokerage KR
Choksey Securities, who called for
more welfare schemes, including
fertilisers, to shift to direct cash
payments to avoid fraud.
The sources suggested that the focus
on savings would be on cutting waste
rather than more radical free market
efforts some policy advisers have been
lobbying for.
According to calculations described
by the first source, lower oil prices
combined with measures to deregulate
fuel prices and clamp down on fuel
benefit fraud will account for four-fifths
of the savings.
The launch of direct transfer of
funds into bank accounts of over 100
million households earlier this year for
subsidised cooking gas alone is expected
to contribute over one billion dollars
towards overall savings next year.
“The finance minister will
have to meet investors’
expectations without
inviting a political backlash.”
Nearly Rs 100 billion ($1.6 billion)
of the savings could come from
clamping down on corruption in
fertiliser distribution and adjusting food
subsidies, he said.
The officials said the thrust of the
budget was to improve the economic
environment by trying to spark
consumer demand and investment
without overshooting a fiscal deficit
target of 3.6 per cent of GDP.
Lower subsidy costs would help the
government increase funding for Modi’s
dream projects like railways, roads, solar
power and support to exports while
honouring deficit commitments closely
watched by ratings agencies.
India’s vast but decrepit state railways
have sought to nearly double spending
on new infrastructure to Rs 500 billion
in the upcoming rail budget for 2015/16,
a senior Railways Ministry source said.
Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party
ideologically support weaning voters off
distorting subsidies.
But Modi needs to win state elections
to implement that agenda in parliament,
and a resounding defeat in the highprofile Delhi state poll this month may
force him to reconsider some proposals.
“The finance minister will have to
meet investors’ expectations without
inviting a political backlash,” said the
second official.
Modi is expected to quietly delay
implementation of a food aid law passed
by the last government that would
widen distribution of ultra-cheap grains
to two-thirds of the population.
— Reuters
Tokyo investors’ eye
on Greek debt talks
T
he fate of last-ditch talks on a Greek debt deal and the situation
in violence-wracked Ukraine will be high on the radar for
Tokyo investors next week, with any surprises likely to jolt the
market, analysts said.
“We’ve been worrying about Greece and Ukraine for a long time and
nothing has surfaced yet, so if it does, there could be a big shock to the
market,” said Tomomi Yamashita of Shinkin Asset Management.
“At least here in Japan it seems we’re managing to overcome that thanks
to a stronger economic outlook, confidence in earnings, and expectations
of higher wages for workers at big companies.”
The Nikkei 225 index hit its highest level in 15 years last week on the
back of relatively upbeat Japanese economic data and record-setting highs
on Wall Street recently, while a still-weak yen inflated the bottom line at
many firms, as the latest earnings season wraps up.
Tokyo investors are
also optimistic that spring
labour negotiations in
Japan will usher in pay
hikes, answering calls
from the government to
lift wages in a bid to boost
spending.
“With excess liquidity
globally,
and
with
Japanese stocks starting to
A man walks past a stock quotation board
look profitable after they outside a brokerage in Tokyo. — Reuters
went through a critical
juncture, investors are more likely to take risks,” Masayuki Doshida,
a senior market analyst at Rakuten Economic Research Institute, told
Bloomberg News.
But he added: “The gains look too quick and as it starts to feel top
heavy selling is going to take priority.”
Investors are focusing on Europe, where finance ministers from the
19 euro zone states hold a meeting in Brussels later in the day to consider
a proposal by Athens to extend its loan programme, which expires at the
end of the month.
Germany threw up a challenge on Thursday when it dismissed a
proposal from Athens to apply for a six-month extension that was free of
painful austerity measures, just moments after the European Union had
hailed it as a step in the right direction.
The leaders of Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia on Thursday,
meanwhile, pledged renewed support for a tattered ceasefire in eastern
Ukraine despite violations — including the storming of a key town by proRussian rebels. On Friday, the benchmark Nikkei ended 0.37 per cent,
or 67.51 points, higher at 18,332.30, after closing at a 15-year high on
Thursday. The index added 2.34 per cent over the week.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares rose 0.36 per cent,
or 5.40 points, to finish at 1,500.33, with a weekly gain of 3.52 per cent.
Japan Display shares jumped 5.39 per cent to 488.0 yen amid reports
that the company was mulling the construction of a new plant to supply
smartphone screens to Apple. — AFP
TECHNOLOGY
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
LI-FI
omandailyobserver
21
EYEWEAR
Li-Fi breakthrough: 224Gbps
link broadcast with an LED bulb
RESEARCHERS at the University of Oxford have
reached a new milestone in networking by using
light fidelity (Li-Fi) to achieve bi-directional speeds
of 224 gigabits per second (Gbps). To put this in
perspective, 100Gbps fibre optic core networks
have only become a reality in recent years and have
yet to become ubiquitous.
Li-Fi is still a long way from being used
commercially, but by way of illustration, using
a 224Gbps speed would technically allow for 18
movies of 1.5GB each to be downloaded in a single
second.
The technology is being developed as a potential
alternative to Wi-Fi, and because it uses visible light
spectrum to transmit data, when coupled with a
high-speed fibre Internet connection, researchers
believe this can offer speeds far greater than
those attained by existing contemporary Wi-Fi
technology (600Mbps).
The research, published in the journal Photonics
Technology Letter, details how the specialised
broadcast LEDs and receivers operate with
different fields of view and bands that affect the data
transmission speeds.
“The link operates over ~3 m range at 224
Gb/s (6 x 37.4 Gb/s) and 112 Gb/s (3 x 37.4 Gb/s)
with a wide field of view (FOV) of 60° and 36°,
respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is
the first demonstration of a wireless link of this
type with a FOV that offers practical room-scale
coverage,” the report states.
The emerging technology has the potential to
provide low-cost wireless Internet more securely
in localised areas, given that light is unable to pass
through walls.
The fastest speed previously achieved using
Li-Fi was in October 2014, when a team of
researchers from the universities of Oxford,
Edinburgh, St Andrews and Strathclyde
working on the Ultra-Parallel Visible Light
Communications Project reached transmission
speeds of 10.5Gbps via Li-Fi.
Sony steps up in wearable
space with SmartEyeglass
SONY last week began taking orders for SmartEyeglass Internetlinked eyewear, moving ahead in the market as Google steps back to
revise its Glass strategy.
The offering from the Japanese consumer electronics comes amid
growing interest in wearable computing, but also questions about
whether consumers will warm to connected eyewear.
SmartEyeglass connects with smartphones and then superimposes
text, images or other information onto whatever real scene is in view.
A version of the eyewear tailored for software developers will be
available in Japan, Germany, Britain and the United States on March
10. The price in the US will be $840. In Europe it will be 670 plus
applicable taxes. SmartEyeglass for enterprises will also be available
in March in France, Italy, Spain and elsewhere.
Along with the hardware, Sony will release an upgraded
software development kit “to tap into the ingenuity of developers to
improve upon the user experience that the SmartEyeglass provides.”
Sony is encouraging software makers to develop fun, hip, or
functional applications for
SmartEyeglass so people will
be enticed to buy the eyewear
on track for commercial
release in 2016
Sony said that it “has
its eyes set on the future of
wearable devices and their
diversifying use cases, and it
hopes to tap into the ingenuity
of developers to improve
upon the user experience that
the SmartEyeglass provides.” Sony said it sees a wide range of uses for
the eyewear, beyond the obvious display of information at eye level
without having to turn attention to another device.
It sees ‘‘considerable implications for AR (augmented reality),
which holds great potential in the domain of professional use as well,
such as when giving instructions to workers at a manufacturing site
or when transmitting visual information to security officers about a
potential breach,’’ the Sony statement said.
Google in January halted sales of its Internet-linked eyewear
Glass but insisted the technology would live on in a future consumer
product. The technology titan put brakes on an “explorer” program
me that let people interested in dabbling with Glass buy eyewear for
$1,500 apiece. Glass became available in the United States in early last
year to anyone with the money and desire to become an “explorer.”
The Glass test program was later expanded to Britain.
3DPRINTER
World’s first all-in-one rotary compact 3D printer
THE brainchild of Nanyang Technological University‘s
(NTU Singapore) start-up Blacksmith Group, the allin-one Blacksmith Genesis printer not only perseveres
to make the technology accessible to regular consumers,
but also simplify 3D printing.
Users who have no knowledge of 3D software to
scan objects will be able to deploy the device easily and
effectively. Once the object has been scanned, users can
edit the digitized model of the item on their PC and
print it in 3D. The all-in-one 3D Blacksmith Genesis
printer’s production was initially funded via a campaign
on crowdsourcing site Indiegogo in August 2014. The
month-long campaign raised over $80,000 surpassing
its $75,000 goal with ease. The company took the wraps
off the user-friendly Blacksmith Genesis printer at the
American Association Advancement of Science (AAAS)
annual meeting that was held in San Jose, California.
“We designed Blacksmith Genesis with the average
hobbyist in mind. Most 3D printers sold on the market
now are not really user-friendly as their 3D models and
blueprints usually have to be designed from scratch on
the computer,” revealed CEO Fang Kok Boon.
Weighing 6 kgs, the Blacksmith Genesis sports
a 2-inch LCD screen. It is Wi-Fi compatible and also
has a USB connection and in-built SD Card reader to
aid immediate printing needs. The printer is housed
in a black aluminium case and unlike traditional 3D
printers, it deploys a novel rotary platform for scanning
and printing purposes.
AUTOMOBILE
BMW i8 hybrid sports
car hits Indian roads
FORMER cricket player Sachin Tendulkar poses next to the BMW i8, a hybrid
sports car, during its launch in Mumbai. German carmaker BMW India last week
launched BMW i8 — a hybrid sports car at a whopping price of Rs 2.29 crore.
The car will be available only in key cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai
as a completely built unit. The car was first showcased in at the 2014 Auto
Expo. The plug-in hybrid system combines the benefit of an electric motor and
a petrol engine, giving enhanced fuel efficiency. The i8 is the first BMW to ever
feature dihedral doors. The contoured side skirts accentuated by blue elements
(characteristic of the ‚i‘ range) also contribute to the car‘s aerodynamic focus.
LAPTOP
Asus introduces slimmest ultraportable ZenBook UX305
ASUS is counting on consumer love for
thin and light with its latest entry into the
ultrabook marketplace.
It’s heralding its newest ZenBook UX305 as
the world‘s slimmest, given its 0.48-inch girth,
and weighing in at just 2.6 pounds. The 13.3inch QHD is claimed to be “ultraportable”
with a price tag starting at $699.
The ultraportable laptop runs on an Intel
Core M processor with 8 GB RAM and a 256
GB solid-state drive, which provides “superb”
all around performance, according to Asus.
The wedge-shaped all-aluminium form
factor even comes in a new colour option,
Obsidian Stone. But whether its sleek
figure is enough to grab market attention
and consumer adoration is yet to be seen
as there are more than a few thin and light
laptops on the shelves, though early reviews
of the ZenBook UX 305 are making big note
of its price, which is nearly half of some
competitor‘s offerings.
The ATIV Book 9 from Samsung and
Lenovo‘s Yoga 3 Pro, which are compatible
competitors, start at about $1,200, as one
industry reportnotes.
The Asus option also features pretty
decent battery life, which is likely another big
user draw, given a 10-hour battery promise.
And while it’s small in nature, its display
isn’t too shoddy either with 1080p screen.
Reportedly there’s a higher-end version in
the pipeline that will boast a 3,200 x 1,800
touchscreen, though it’s doubtful that will
come in at under $700.
In making it so quiet and fanless, Asus is
tapping what it calls its ‘IceCool’ technology.
The laptop sports 802.11ac wireless, a USB
Ethernet adapter and three USB 3.0 ports.
There‘s also a 720p webcam and the B&O
ICEpower amplifier.
By all accounts the ZenBook is
ultraportable, powerful and potentially a
great fit for those on a tight laptop budget.
22
LEISURE
omandailyobserver
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
Online Editor’s Choice
CRYPTIC PUZZLE
CARTOONS
ADAM @ HOME
1 Though suitable for making jam set,
it’s disposed of (6)
7 Metal used by an Athenian in any
case (8)
8 Disappointing thing to do at the
altar (4)
10 Ways to sure ruin (6)
11 Tibia’s companion (6)
14 A gross misstatement (3)
16 Might he foxily remove the bails?
(5)
17 For cooking, they’re good in certain
ways (4)
19 Start composing a duet about a
bonehead (5)
21 Old people with average ways (5)
22 Punished for having a good figure?
(5)
23 Trouble among the charioteers? (4)
26 Killed getting the vice out of Los
Angeles? (5)
28 A lot to learn at last (3)
29 Arcane or cryptic in my way, I see
(6)
30 How tribes can move themselves (6)
31 Very Scottish uniform for a
sergeant, say (4)
32 They’re apt to be broken as one
19 As a study, a bit burdensome? (3)
hurtles madly out East! (3,5)
20 Be at a dead end, albeit in a
33 One voice in a trio? (6)
comfortable place (3)
21 The very little a petite mother
DOWN
needs? (7)
1 Port seeming to disagree violently
22 A suitable amount of profit (3)
with a drink of beer (6)
23 For him, there’s nothing in making
2 Whacks small children (6)
a terrible score (6)
3 Coasters are small ones (4)
24 Enthusiastic about not getting out
4 A junior coach? (7)
(4)
5 Extra responsibility for a bonehead? 25 Possibly a tired speech? (6)
(5)
26 A metal man? (5)
6 Where, in Cumbria, water is right
27 On some fires, wood simply won’t
for raising a lady (5)
burn! (5)
8 I such food served in a Chinese
28 Figure to back ‘14 Across’ (3)
vessel? (4)
30 In vital statistics, one third (4)
9 Permitted ingredient of toiletries (3)
EASY PUZZLE
12 One of those hanging around in
ACROSS
belfries? (3)
1
Pamper
(6)
13 A dance to get down to! (5)
7 More powerful (8)
15 Moisten with some beer and fresh
8 Long story (4)
water (5)
10 Necklace (6)
18 In strangely uneven way? (5)
by Brian Basset
CALVIN AND HOBBES
by Bill Watterson
GARFIELD
by Jim Davis
STONE SOUP
8
9
12
13
15
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
30
CR O SSW O R D
ACROSS
THURSDAY’S CRYPTIC
SOLUTIONS
ACROSS: 1, Cross 6, P-ouch 9, Hearten 10, About 11, NY-Lon 12, Bronx
13, Century 15, Lea 17, Iris 18, Seeing
19, Gnats 20, Cohort 22, Pest 24, Hut
25, Di-vorce 26, An-T-on 27, Mean-T
28, Barry 29, Tedious 30, Aske-D 31,
Thief (of time).
DOWN: 2, Rubber 3, Shunts 4, Set
5, Dr-ur-y (Lane) 6, Pennies 7, Onyx
8, Ch.-osen 12, Brunt 13, C-inch 14,
Night 15, Liver 16, A-gat-E 18, Stein
19, Gran-Ted 21, Outers 22, Pota-sh
23, Scarce 25, D-or-Is. 26, Ante 28,
But (rev.).
11
14
16
17
19
21
22
23
26
28
29
30
31
32
33
Caustic (6)
Domestic fowl (3)
Regions (5)
Shortly (4)
Lure (5)
Claw (5)
Easily frightened (5)
Filth (4)
Devil (5)
Pronoun (3)
Bad-tempered (6)
Log (6)
So be it (4)
Attractive (8)
Stretch (6)
DOWN
1 Flower (6)
2 Rattled (6)
3 Russian ruler (4)
4 Skyline (7)
5 Once more (5)
6 Pulls (5)
THURSDAY’S EASY SOLUTIONS
ACROSS: 1, Acute 6, Rummy 9,
Rameses 10, Stoat 11, Feast 12, Proud
13, Dutiful 15, Red 17, Otic 18, Mature
19, April 20, Sorely 22, Safe 24, Era 25,
Chiller 26, Legit 27, Shrug 28, Swoon
29, Referee 30, Ended 31, Trays.
DOWN: 2, Cut out 3, Tragic 4, Eat 5,
Pearl 6, Refusal 7, Used 8, Master 12,
Puppy 13, Douse 14, Tiara 15, Rural
16, Defer 18, Might 19, Alleged 21,
Orphan 22, Slower 23, Felony 25,
Cider 26, Lure 28, Set.
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:
Your domestic
set-up will
need some
reorganisation
in the coming
year and
although minor
differences
will arise, your
endeavours to
do right by
everybody will
soon get over
any trouble.
Your financial
affairs will
take
a turn for the
better and you
will be able to
realise some of
your dreams.
London area (4)
Information (3)
Plaything (3)
At no time (5)
Keepsake (5)
Film award (5)
Barrier (3)
Fish (3)
Fiddles (7)
Brown (3)
Proper (6)
Metal (4)
Neatened (6)
Discard (5)
List (5)
Border (3)
Fury (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
Rectify an error due to your own
negligence as soon as possible so
that you can enjoy complete
peace of mind in your future
activities.
A newcomer may be trying too hard
and making unnecessary mistakes.
Don’t be too critical of his aggressive
attitude and try to understand how he
feels.
An urgent letter may precipitate a
course of action today which you
were not anticipating. You will be
wise to follow it through as the
outcome is of some importance.
A business transaction with someone living abroad must be approached very carefully. Make sure
you know who you are dealing with,
and demand full details at all times.
A business trip which you had
planned may have to be postponed
for a while and you will be glad of
the opportunity to catch up with
some of your social commitments.
Delay for a while your acceptance
of an invitation to join a new social
circle. Your mind should be on your
career,and your present social obligations keep you well occupied.
VIRGO
LIBRA
SCORPIO
SAGITTARIUS
CAPRICORN
AQUARIUS
August 22September 22
September 23October 22
October 23November 21
November 22December 21
December 22January 20
January 21February 19
Scrutinise
an
important
document with extra care before
putting your signature to it. If the
meaning is unclear consult a professional expert.
Since you feel a strong attraction to
great works of art, a close study of
the subject may induce you to devote the major part of your spare
time to it.
Be careful not to spoil a smoothly
running relationship by making
occasional reminders of a less
happy period in the history of the
friendship.
Don’t be too complacent just because things are running smoothly now. It is essential that you
maintain your efforts or you may
fall behind.
Don’t take it upon yourself to
make a far-reaching decision
without everybody who may
have the slightest connection
with it.
A cash gift from a wealthy relation may enable you to pay off a
debt. Don’t squander it on useless trifles. You will feel better if
you use it to pay the money owing.
CLASSIFIEDS
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2 0 1 5
omandailyobserver
23
Situation Vacant
URGENTLY needed
Pharmacist (male/
female) to work at a
pharmacy in Sohar/
good salary/ MoH
licence is a must.
Ž‡ƒ•‡•‡†›‘—”
to: Dawaapharmacy@
yahoo.com
·····
WANTED experienced
accountant with
administration
experience in
Aluminium, Glass sales.
Call to 99705023.
E-mail: remmaj2014@
gmail.com.
·····
REQUIRED a teacher
(Math, Computer, English
ƒ†…‹‡…‡Ȍˆ‘”’”‹˜ƒ–‡
school in Al Athaiba.
99360950.
HAMDAN Salim Al
Hashli: Required
Heavy Truck
Driver, Pakistani/
Indian.99413507,
92665151.
·····
·····
SYRIAN Mashavi cook
and Moroccan lady cook
ˆ‘”—”—‡ƒ…Š‘–‡ŽǤ
24704994, 99238012.
·····
LOOKING to recruit
ƒ“—ƒŽ‹ϐ‹‡†Interior
Designerȋ’”‡ˆ‡”ƒ„Ž›
ˆ‡ƒŽ‡ȌǤŽ‡ƒ•‡ˆ‘”™ƒ”†
›‘—”–‘ǣ‹†‡•‹‰‡”Ǥ
[email protected].
LOOKING ˆ‘”ƒ
Housemaidˆ‘”ƒ†‹ƒ · · · · ·
ˆƒ‹Ž›ǡˆ—ŽŽ–‹‡Ǥ‹†Ž›
contact on 99800340, BIOLOGIST/
99426928
Microbiologist/
Lab Specialist/
·····
Biochemist. For
SYRIAN Mashavi Cook
ƒƒ‰‹‰Žƒ„”‡ˆ‡””ƒŽ
and Moroccan Lady
service. Must have
Cookˆ‘”—”—‡ƒ…Š
Omani driving licence.
Hotel.24704994 or
Apply to: mubasu23@
gmail.com
99238012.
·····
Situation Wanted
INDIAN male BE
mechanical engineer
with 3-month
…‡”–‹ϐ‹…ƒ–‡…‘—”•‡‹
QA/QC, pipeline and
NDT. In Oman on visit
visa, seeks suitable
placement. Contact
95803035, E-mail:
jittenvjacob@gmail.
com
CHARTERED Accountant
9 years experience in Finance - consolidation as
per IFRS, Treasury, Budget, Investments, taxation,
AP/AR. Currently working in Sr Finance position
in Oman. Joining immediate. NOC available.
Contact: 95489269,
e-mail:prds1406@gmail.
com
·····
INDIAN male 39 years,
with 5 years experience
‹–Š‡ϐ‹‡Ž†‘ˆDz‡…Š‹cian” and 4 years experience as supervisor/billing. On visit visa. Contact:
93570126
·····
For Sale
AN Iraqi electrical engineer, long experience in
construction works and
ˆƒ…–‘”›ƒ‹–‡ƒ…‡‰‡–ting electrical works and
driving licences looking
ˆ‘”•—‹–ƒ„Ž‡”‡’Žƒ…‡‡–Ǥ
Contact: 98959043
·····
INDIAN male, 25 years,
BBM, knowledge in
ˆϐ‹…‡ǡƒŽŽ›ǡŠƒ˜‹‰
two years experience
in Oman as showroom
sales, merchandiser
™‹–Šˆ”‘’”‡˜‹‘—•
…‘’ƒ›Ǥ‹•ƒ‡š’‹”‡•
on — April 10. Contact:
98659980
·····
SRI Lankan male, 23
years, CIMA (Part qualiϐ‹‡†Ȍ͵›‡ƒ”•‡š’‡”‹‡…‡
in an American company
as an Auditor/ management trainee seeks a
suitable job in Oman.
Good English knowledge.
Contact: 94633968
·····
For Sale
ˆ‘”•ƒŽ‡ǡ‡ƒ—–›
Salon Barka, near LuLu
Hypermarket Center.
Contact: 97655500.
·····
A 400 sq m residential
commercial building situƒ–‡†ƒ––Š‡ˆ‹”•–Ž‹‡‘ˆ–Š‡
BUILDING consists of 5
ˆŽƒ–•ˆ‘”•ƒŽ‡™‹–Š†‹ˆˆ‡”‡– public road in Rawdat
•’ƒ…‡•Ǥƒ…ŠˆŽƒ–…‘•‹•–• Samad Al Shaan. The
building is within 300 m
‘ˆ•‹––‹‰”‘‘™‹–Šƒ
ˆƒ”ˆ”‘–Š‡ƒ‘‘”
bathroom, 3 rooms with
ˆƒ…‹Ž‹–‹‡•ǡƒ‹–…Š‡ƒ†ƒ Al Din Al Salmi. It houses
store. Location next to the a 100 sq m 3 outlets. The
remaining 300 sq m plot
™ƒ–‡”ˆ‹ŽŽ‹‰•–ƒ–‹‘
tankers- Seih Al Ahmer - is workers residence, a
Bidbid - Muscat direction store and a toilet. The
premise is at RO 55,000
- opposite Oman Oil
Station. For inquiries and plus 3 per cent commission.99600909.
reservations, please be
·····
–Šƒˆ—ŽŽ›…‘–ƒ…–ǣ
99442143.
͵ˆŽƒ–ˆ‘”•ƒŽ‡
·····
in Maabela South.
FULLY equipped, 2 chair
Ali99830331
‡–ƒŽŽ‹‹…ˆ‘”•ƒŽ‡‹Ž · · · · ·
Seeb area. MoH approved.
TWO twin villas in Al
Call: 94514045.
Khuwair 33. Total built
·····
area 526m2.
3 BEDROOM house at
ͳ͹ͺǡͲͲͲȋˆ‘”„‘–ŠȌǤ
Betras Zanzibar RO
‡‰‘–‹ƒ„Ž‡ǡˆ”‘–Š‡
90,000. Contact Owner:
owner. 99414767.
99348943.
·····
·····
INDUSTRIAL area
land in Rusayil,
5,000 Sq.mt and
building with 8 shops.
Contact 95490842,
92702891.
BANGLADESHI, looking
ˆ‘””‹˜‹‰Œ‘„‹‘ˆϐ‹…‡Ǥ
Please call: 92757135.
·····
’”‘ˆ‡••‹‘ƒŽǡ
excellent English,
Š‹‰Š“—ƒŽ‹ϐ‹…ƒ–‹‘ǡͳͲ
years managerial exp
in Oman in reputed
companies, results ‘”‹‡–‡†’”‘ˆ‡••‹‘ƒŽ
seeks challenging
Management/
Operations/Admin/Bus
Dev role, Quick joining.
NOC. 91229392.
·····
ACCOUNTANT, Indian
male, BCom with 8
INDIAN male with 6
years experience, seeks
years experience in
suitable placement, on
sales/ marketing &
visit visa. 91327026.
purchase/ accounts with
Omani driving licence
·····
Ž‘‘‹‰ˆ‘”ƒ•—‹–ƒ„Ž‡Œ‘„Ǥ
INDIAN male, 27,
Contact: 98851980.
diploma in Civil
·····
Engineering, 6 years
experience, 3 years in
ˆ‡ƒŽ‡ǡƒ‰‡ʹͶǡ
GCC as a site engineer.
with MBA-HR/BCom
Now on visiting visa
Ž‘‘‹‰ˆ‘”Œ‘„Ȁ˜‹•ƒ
seeks suitable placement. immediately, currently
Contact: 966267251.
working in Hyderabad as
E-mail: bineshvb@gmail. an administrator.
com
Contact: 99861145.
·····
·····
›‘—Ž‘‘‹‰ˆ‘”
a voyage with your
ˆƒ‹Ž›‘ƒŽ‡‰ƒ…›Ǧ
boat, including
„—ˆˆ‡–ǫŽ›™‹–Š
15/-. For more
info@
alainaintourism.
com 92808636.
·····
Announcement
Abu Ayyub
al-Hashemi
land transport
ȋ”‡…‘‡†ƒ–‹‘Ȍǡ
register No. 1205902
announces that
it is intending to
convert its name
to Abu Ayyub alHashemi trade
ȋ”‡…‘‡†ƒ–‹‘ȌǤ
‡‡ˆ‹…‹ƒ”‹‡••Š‘—Ž†
„‡‹ˆ‘”‡†‘ˆ–Š‡
changes.
·····
Lost
MOHAMMED Al Islam
Jashim Noor has lost
Bangladeshi Passport No
E 1085378. Finder
please handover to ROP.
·····
MOHAMMED Shakeel Al
Islam has lost
Bangladeshi Passport No
F 0733899. Finder
please handover to ROP.
·····
SHEILA Morgan has lost
British Passport No
110950198. Finder
please handover to ROP.
·····
GRAHAM Morgan has
lost British Passport No
107799618. Finder
please handover to ROP.
·····
JENET Desita Tesima has
lost Ethiopian Passport
No EP 1570871. Finder
please handover to ROP.
·····
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
Services
INDIAN male QA/QC
Engineer-Civil (BE,
Ȍ‹ƒ‘
visit visa, overall 10
›‡ƒ”•‘ˆ‡š’‡”‹‡…‡
in high rise tower,
‘ˆϐ‹…‡„—‹Ž†‹‰ƒ†
residential
construction project
in Qatar and UAE,
holding valid GCC
driving licence
00968 93958533,
e-mail: sheikhnavid@
yahoo.com
Tourism
REQUIREDˆ‘”ƒ•Žƒ”ƒ‡…”‡ƒ–‹‘‡–‡”
ȋŽ—„ȌGymnasium Supervisor — Omani
‡ƒŽ‡Ǥ—ƒŽ‹ϐ‹…ƒ–‹‘ǣ‹–‡••”ƒ‹‹‰ǡ‹”•–‹†
and CPR Training. Experience: 3 years supervising
ϐ‹–‡••ˆƒ…‹Ž‹–›™‹–Šϐ‹–‡••‹•–”—…–‹‘ǤŽ‡ƒ•‡
•‡†„›ƒšǣʹͶͺ͵ʹͳͻ͵‘”‡Ǧƒ‹Ž–‘ǣ‘…‡ƒ‹–̷
omantel.net.om
·····
·····
Situation Wanted
FREE INFORMATION
ABOUT ISLAM
Situation Vacant
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‡…–
†‘…—‡–•ˆ‘”–›’‹‰
or clearing and will
deliver the same on
completion.
Our services include
–›’‹‰ƒŽŽˆ‘”•
related to Ministry
‘ˆƒ’‘™‡”ǡ
Immigration, e.g.,
˜‹•ƒ•ǡ”‡‡™ƒŽ‘ˆ
visas, all services
”‡Žƒ–‡†–‘‹‹•–”›‘ˆ
Commerce & Industry,
‡Ǥ‰Ǥǡ”‡•‡”˜ƒ–‹‘‘ˆ
commercial names,
ƒ‡†‡–‘ˆƒ…–‹˜‹–‹‡•
‘ˆ–Š‡…‘’ƒ›ƒ†
all services related to
Royal Oman Police;
ƒ…‡ŽŽƒ–‹‘‘ˆ
‹•ƒ•ƒ––Š‡—•…ƒ–
International Airport
ˆ‘””‡’ƒ–”‹ƒ–‹‘‘ˆ
employees; Directorate
‡‡”ƒŽ‘ˆ”ƒˆϐ‹…Ǣƒ†
ƒŠƒ„‡”‘ˆ
Commerce & Industry.
”ƒ•Žƒ–‹‘‘ˆŽ‡‰ƒŽ
documents. Medical
reports, commercial
agency agreements,
literature, catalogues
(Languages: Arabic,
English, French,
’ƒ‹•ŠƬ–ƒŽ‹ƒȌ
Our Address: Ruwi,
†Œƒ…‡––‘
—Žˆ
”ƒ•’‘”–‘Ǥȋ
ȌǤ
Telephones: 24793331
/24794286
GSM: 99231500
/96777170/ 95959838
Managed by: Salim
ŠƒŽˆƒƒŽƒ†‹
ȋ͵͵›‡ƒ”•‘ˆ‡š’‡”‹‡…‡
‹ƒƒ‰‡‡–Ȍ
·····
yˆ‘”•ƒŽ‡
and rent
yBuildings cleaning
yDocuments
processing, clearance.
Contact Ali: 99830331,
Nasser: 99325183.
·····
MIDAWA Trading
& Cont. Est: For
Plumbing, Painting
and Maintenance
96191837.
·····
1. AC
maintenance and
servicing.
2. Fridge,
washing machine
and dish washer
repairing.
3. Painting and
cleaning services.
4. Electrical,
plumbing and
carpentry work
97014234,
99447257,
24504281.
·····
‘ˆ
photocopier (all
„”ƒ†•Ȍǡ•ƒŽ‡•‘ˆ
copier & printers
ȋ‡™Ƭ”‡ˆ—”„‹•Š‡†Ȍ
Ƭ”‡–ƒŽ‘ˆ
photocopier.
93256831,
91712204,
91712203.
·····
Good News
Treatment, Yoga
Massage &
slimming. Web
address: www.
siddhayur.com
92504980/
24475280.
·····
Tours
DOLPHIN
Ǥ
Every Day 8 am
and 10 am. For
booking
94110088/
91162534. E-mail:
coraloceantours@
gmail.com Web:
www.
coraloceantours.
com.
·····
For Sale/Rent
ȍ͵
VILLASˆ‘”•ƒŽ‡Ȁ
rents KABIR/AL
Ȍǡ
ȋŠ‘’•Ȁ‘ˆϐ‹…‡•ˆ‘”
”‡–ȀŽŠ—™ƒ‹”Ȍ
ȋŽƒ–•ˆ‘””‡–Ȁ
ƒ†‹ƒ„‹”ȌǤ
96596348.
·····
Investment
ˆ‘”ƒ
‹˜‡•–‘”ˆ‘”ƒˆ—ŽŽǦ
equipped existing
medical complex as
soon as possible in
‹Žƒ›ƒ–‘ˆƒ‹ƒǡ
‘˜‡”‘”ƒ–‡‘ˆŽ
Wusta. 92212557,
99242249.
·····
CLASSIFIED
SECTION
RUWI: 24785668
Behind Royal Oman
Police, Adjacent to
Dhofar Building
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 FEBRUARY 22, 2015 l JUMADA AL ULA 3, 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.
·····
LINCOLN Navigator
4WD, 1998, grey,
335,000 km, RO 1,600/96417989.
·····
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
For back or neck pain / discomfort
due to injury, illness, stress or
computer overuse,
Let us help you restore your body
and Get you back on track.
For more information
contact our coordinators at
P. O. Box: 565, Wadi Kabir,
Postal Code: 117,
SULTANATE OF OMAN
2 BEDROOM flat,
majlis, hall and 2
bathrooms, near
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SUNDAY | FEBRUARY 22, 2015 | JUMADA AL ULA 3, 1436 AH
BEST
QUOTE
It was a wonderful
performance. Jerome
Taylor was excellent
with the new ball and
I supported him quite
well.
— JASON HOLDER, WEST
INDIES CAPTAIN
BEST BATTING
59
Umar Akmal for
Pakistan against West
Indies
BEST BOWLING
3-15
Jerome Taylor
for West Indies
against Pakistan
Windies sink hapless Pakistan,
rain washes out Aussies
Bravo’s painful afternoon — he was
swearing while
later reprimanded for swe
he was at the crease. “It was a wonderful
Indies skipper
performance,” said West In
really well.
Jason Holder. “We batted re
“Jerome Taylor (3-15) was
w excellent
with the new ball.”
Pakistan were staring down the
barrel at one for four, the worst start
to any ODI innings, with the
t previous
record held by non-Test sside Canada’s
four for four against Zimbabwe
went
in 2006. Nasir Jamshed
Jam
without scoring when he
lobbed the second ball from
Taylor to Russell
Russ at short
midwicket.
‘ T O TA L LY
FLOPPED’
FLOPP
T a y l o r
finished off the
fin
opening over
op
with Younis
w
c a u g h t
behind for
b
a duck and
in his
h next over
Haris Sohail
dismissed H
impressive figures of
to have the impressiv
three wickets for one run in two
overs.
Holder bagged
bagg his first
wicket of the tournament
when he had Ahmed
Shahzad caught in the gully
for one in his first over.
Pakistan captain Misbahul-Haq didn’t pull any
punches after his side’s second
defeat in as many matches,
with this result significantly
worse than their 76-run defeat
by arch-rivals and defending
champions India.
“We just flopped in all
three departments,” Misbah
said.
“We didn’t bowl well, a
lot of dropped catches and
batting totally flopped.”
“As a bowler, as a fielder,
as a batsman, you have to
go there in the middle and
perform. That’s what we are
not doing at the moment.”
Two defeats left Pakistan,
the
1992
champions,
at the bottom of Pool
Pakistan batsman Sohaib Maqsood (right) looks back as West Indies wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin (left) attempts to stump him during B. They resumed their
faltering campaign against
their 2015 World Cup Group B match in Christchurch. — AFP
SYDNEY: West Indies condemned
hapless Pakistan to a record-shattering
start to a one-day international
Saturday before completing a 150-run
World Cup rout, while Australia’s clash
with Bangladesh was abandoned in
cyclone-battered Brisbane.
West Indies, the 1975 and 1979
champions, scored 310 for six at
Christchurch’s Hagley Oval, with 115
runs coming in a swashbuckling final
10 overs as Lendl Simmons, Andre
Russell and Darren Sammy hit out.
In reply, 1992 winners Pakistan
crumbled to their second straight
defeat as they were all out for 160 after
the top four wickets fell for just one run,
the worst start in ODI history.
The West Indies, meanwhile,
bounced back from their shock first-up
loss to Ireland as six batsmen posted
scores of 30 or more.
“In the last game things didn’t go
well for us, and we just turned up today
and wanted to show the world that
we are not just a pushover,” said manof-the-match Russell, who hit 42 not
out off 17 balls before claiming three
wickets.
Denesh Ramdin top-scored with
51, Simmons added 50 to go with his
century against
gainst Ireland,
Darren Bravo
avo scored 49
while Marlon
on Samuels
and Sammyy chipped
in with 388 and 30
respectively.
y.
Bravo
was
unfortunatee not to
reach what
hat would
have been
n his 17th
ODI half-century
century when
he was forced
ced to retire hurt
with a pulled
ed hamstring.
It was the
he second time he required
medical
treatment after being
dazed earlier
arlier
in the innings
nings
when
a
powerful
throw from
om
Younis Khan
hit him on
the side of the
helmet as he scrambled
through forr a single.
The 26-year-old
6-year-old left-hander is
expected to
o miss the next two games
against Zimbabwe
mbabwe in Canberra on
Tuesday and
nd South Africa in Sydney
next Friday.
y.
However,
er, that wasn’t the end of
SCOREBOARD
WEST INDIES
D Smith c H Sohail b S Khan ...................23
C Gayle c Riaz b Irfan ................................ 4
D Bravo (rtd hurt) ....................................49
M Samuels c sub (Yasir Shah)
b Haris Sohail .......................................38
D Ramdin c sub (Yasir Shah)
b Haris Sohail .......................................51
L Simmons (run out) ...............................50
D Sammy c Afridi b Riaz ..........................30
A Russell (not out) ..................................42
Extras (B-2, LB-6, W-4, NB-1)..................23
Total (6 wkts, 50 overs) ................ 310
Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-28, 3-103, 3-152,
4-194, 5-259, 6-310.
Bowling: Irfan 10-0-44-1, Sohail Khan 10-173-1, Afridi 10-0-48-0, Haris Sohail 9-0-62-2;
Riaz 10-0-67-1, Sohaib Maqsood 1-0-8-0.
PAKISTAN
N Jamshed c Russell b Taylor.................... 0
A Shehzad c Simmons b Holder ............... 1
Y Khan c Ramdin b Taylor ......................... 0
H Sohail c sub (Carter) b Taylor ................. 0
Misbah c Gayle b Russell .......................... 7
S Maqsood c Benn b Sammy ..................50
U Akmal c Smith b Russell ......................59
S Afridi c Holder b Benn .........................28
W Riaz c Ramdin b Russell ....................... 3
S Khan c Ramdin b Benn ......................... 1
M Irfan (not out) ....................................... 2
Extras (LB-3, W-5, NB-1)........................... 9
Total (all out, 39 overs) .......................160
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, 5-25,
6-105, 7-139, 8-155, 9-157.
Bowling: Taylor 7-1-15-3, Holder 7-2-23-1,
Russell 8-2-33-3, Sammy 8-0-47-1, Benn
9-0-39-2.
Zimbabwe in Brisbane on March 1.
But the West Indies’ chances of
qualifying for the quarter-finals have
improved considerably.
Australia’s Pool A match with
Bangladesh in Brisbane was predictably
abandoned without a ball bowled
because of torrential rain, a legacy of
Tropical Cyclone Marcia which had
caused widespread destruction and
flooding throughout Queensland.
That meant both sides collected a
point apiece for the no-result at the
Gabba and left them on three each in
Pool A, with runaway leaders New
Zealand topping the group with six
points following three straight wins.
“It was obviously disappointing
not to get out there today. It’s a place
that we play really well out here at the
Gabba but we can’t control the weather,”
said Australia batsman Steve Smith.
Australia now have a long gap
between their opening 111-run
win over England in Melbourne on
February 14 and their next match
against New Zealand in Auckland on
February 28. — AFP
The two time former champions had been brushed aside by non-Test nation Ireland in their Pool B opener but it was different at Hagley Oval
Holder hails ‘wonderful’ West Indies’ brilliant performance
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand:
West Indies captain Jason Holder praised
his side’s “wonderful performance” as
they got their World Cup campaign
back on track with a 150-run thrashing
of Pakistan in Christchurch on Saturday.
The two-time former champions had
been brushed aside by non-Test nation
Ireland in their Pool B opener but it was
a different story at Hagley Oval.
They again topped 300, Denesh
Ramdin and Lendl Simmons both
making fifties, but the big difference on
Saturday was their bowling.
West Indies reduced Pakistan to a
stunning one for four — the worst-ever
start to a one-day international innings
— with fast bowler Jerome Taylor (three
for 15 in seven overs) leading the way.
“It was a wonderful performance,” said
Holder at the presentation ceremony.
“Jerome Taylor was excellent with
the new ball and I supported him quite
well,” added the skipper, who at the age
of 23 years and 108 days became the
youngest captain to oversee a World
Cup win, beating Shakib Al Hasan who
was 23 years and 338 days when he led
Bangladesh to victory over Ireland at
Mirpur in 2011.
West Indies’ Andre Russell was
named man-of-the-match for an allround contribution, which saw him West Indies captain Jason Holder (right) celebrates with Denesh Ramdin (centre)
follow a quickfire 42 not out with three and Chris Gayle (left) after dismissing Pakistan batsman Ahmed Shehzad. — AFP
for 33. “The game was set up for me to
play my part,” said Russell.
“I told Lendl Simmons to stand wide
of mid-on when I was batting because I
didn’t want to hurt him with my straight
drive.
“The start from Jerome Taylor
and Jason Holder meant the bowling
platform was also set up for me. We put
them on the back foot early and it was a
good win today.”
For Pakistan, the champions in 1992
when the World Cup was last staged in
Australia and New Zealand, this was a
second defeat in as many pool matches
following their 76-run loss to titleholders and arch-rivals India.
“It was a tough day, especially after
winning the toss,” said Pakistan captain
Misbah-ul-Haq.
“There was a little bit in the pitch, but
we couldn’t really exploit it.”
As for Pakistan’s stunning slump, he
added: “The guys (batsmen) up front
have been struggling a bit, and that
made it very difficult for us, especially on
a pitch like that, with the ball seaming a
bit.”
Misbah insisted it was now vital that
Pakistan maintained their self-belief.
“Performances like that could really
dent you, but you have to pick yourself
up and think about your strategies.”
— AFP
S U N DAY F E B R U A R Y 2 2 l 2 0 1 5
26
iN BRIEFS
FEBRUARY 14 TO MARCH 29
Buoyant India face
tough South Africa test
CRUNCH
AUSTRALIA &
NEW ZEALAND
TIME
MCG BATTLE: Both teams will look to outdo each other to reach quarter-finals
Former Indian captain Anil Kumble
speaks to the media as he is inducted
into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground. — AFP
Hall of Fame
entrant Kumble
relishes honour
Melbourne: Former India captain Anil
Kumble enters cricket’s Hall of Fame
on Sunday, saying he was honoured to
become only the fourth player from his
country to join the elite club.
“Its a great honour to be inducted
into the Hall of Fame,” the 44-year-old
Kumble told reporters at the Melbourne
Cricket Ground on Saturday. “I am proud
to be part of great luminaries.”
The former leg-spinner will be
presented a commemorative cap in
a special ceremony in front of some
80,000 spectators during the innings
break of the World Cup match between
South Africa and India on Sunday.
Kumble’s 619 wickets is the third
highest in Test cricket behind fellow
spinners Muttiah Muralitharan of
Sri Lanka, who has 800 wickets, and
Australian Shane Warne (708).
Kumble, who retired in 2008 after a
18-year career in which he played 132
Tests and 271 one-dayers, captained
India in 14 Tests between 2007 and
2008, winning three and losing five.
He is only the second bowler after
Englishman Jim Laker to claim all 10
wickets in a Test innings, achieving the
feat against traditional rivals Pakistan
at the Ferozeshah Kotla in New Delhi
in 1999. Despite his record, Kumble
admitted he lacked the skills of both
Muralitharan and Warne.
“I could never compete with them
because I did not have their skills,” said
Kumble. — AFP
I’ve never seen a
coward captain
like Misbah,
says Akhtar
KARACHI: Former
paceman Shoaib
Akhtar labelled
captain Misbah-ulHaq “a coward” and
“a selfish player”
after Pakistan were
crushed by 150
runs by West Indies
in the World Cup on Saturday. “I have
not seen a more coward and selfish
captain than Misbah,” the 39-year-old
Akhtar told the Geo News TV channel.
“He is not willing to bat up the order
to protect the other players at a time
when he needs to show inspiration.
“He is happy with his own runs
and I don’t know what coach Waqar
Younis wants. He has no game plan
or direction for the team,” added
the man known as the Rawalpindi
Express, who won 46 test caps and
played in 163 one-day internationals.
Misbah, 40, has been a successful
test captain since taking charge in
2010 and has also led the one-day
squad since 2011.
He batted at number five against
West Indies in Christchurch on
Saturday but made only seven as
Pakistan were bowled out for 160
to slump to their second straight
defeat in the competition. Former
test captain Ramiz Raja also believes
it is time for senior batsman Younus
Khan to step down after failing in the
opening two World Cup matches.
“I beg of Younus. Thank you for
your services to Pakistan cricket but
please leave this ODI side now,” said
Ramiz. “I think Younus should tell the
management he should be rested.
Our fielding has also been a joke but
we need just one good match to get
back on the winning track.”
— Reuters
Melbourne: India appear relaxed
and refreshed, and South Africa
unsettled, ahead of their World
Cup clash on Sunday, but the
facade could be short-lived when
the two Pool B heavyweights take
the field.
Some 80,000 fans at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground are in
for a treat in the day-night match
that will almost certainly assure
the winner a place in the quarterfinals from Pool B.
Both teams won their opening
games, defending champions India
thrashing Pakistan by 76 runs in
Adelaide last Sunday and South
Africa beating Zimbabwe by 62
runs in Hamilton earlier the same
day.
The margin of victories were
deceptive because while India
outplayed their arch-rivals, South
Africa were severely tested with
both bat and ball by their lowlyranked rivals.
The Proteas were wobbling at
83 for four before being bailed
out by a brilliant record stand of
256 for the fifth wicket between
century-makers David Miller and
JP Duminy.
Zimbabwe then made a valiant
chase of 339 for four, reaching 191
for two in the 33rd over before the
last eight wickets fell for 86 runs to
hand South Africa full points.
Leg-spinner Imran Tahir’s three
for 36 hid a disappointing outing
for pace spearhead Dale Steyn,
Do or die time
for Pakistan,
says Misbah
India’s batsman Ajinkya Rahane (R) attends a practice session at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
yesterday, ahead of their World Cup match against South Africa. — AFP
whose nine overs cost 64 runs for
one wicket. It was later revealed
Steyn was suffering from sinusitis,
which continued for so long that
he missed training till Wednesday,
but now appears to be returning to
top gear.
South Africa need Steyn to fire
to contain the deep Indian batting,
against whom he took five for 50
the last time the two sides met in
the World Cup in Nagpur four
years ago.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men
overcame that defeat to lift the title
a fortnight later, but they will still
be wary of what awaits them at the
gigantic MCG on Sunday.
Having extended their World
Cup domination over Pakistan to
six matches in a row, India now
face an adversary to whom they
have lost all times in the premier
50-overs-a-side tournament.
The Indians spent a relaxed
week in Melbourne since the highprofile clash against Pakistan,
alternating between net sessions
and rest days without publicly
disclosing the likely line-up for the
big game.
Media speculation of injuries to
off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin
and seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar
were quickly dispelled by the team
management, which announced
that all 15 squad members were
available.
India’s former World Cupwinning coach Gary Kirsten,
who is now a consultant with his
native South Africa, will stress on
exploiting India’s weak bowling to
counter the strong batting led by
Virat Kohli. — AFP
Brisbane washout piles pressure on England
BRISBANE, Australia: The
beleaguered
England
team
found themselves under even
more pressure after rain forced
Australia’s World Cup match
against Bangladesh in Brisbane on
Saturday to be abandoned without
a ball bowled.
A point apiece for the no-result
at the Gabba saw both Australia
and Bangladesh move to three
points, three behind Pool A leaders
New Zealand with a game in hand.
England are languishing in last
place in the seven-strong group
after big losses to both Australia
(111 runs) and New Zealand (eight
wickets), with Eoin Morgan’s side
unable to afford many more slipups if they are to claim a top-four
finish that will see them into the
quarter-finals.
Brisbane had been lashed by
rain in the two days leading into
the match, due to the effects of
Cyclone Marcia, a category five
storm off the central Queensland
coast.
There had been some hope the
match night go ahead if conditions
improved and, at one stage, the
groundstaff began preparing the
outfield as rain eased during the
afternoon.
However, it soon picked up
again and it became obvious
that there would be no chance of
staging even a 20 overs per side
game, the minimum required to
constitute a result in a one-day
international.
The
washout
favoured
Bangladesh, who were given no
chance of beating tournament
favourites Australia but who must
now be thinking of reaching the
Spectators wearing rain gear wait
in the stands as rain from Cyclone
Marcia delays the start of the
World Cup match between
Australia and Bangladesh at the
Gabba in Brisbane. — AFP
last eight ahead of England.
“We still have to win two or
three matches and we’re looking
forward to it,” upbeat Bangladesh
captain Mashrafe Mortaza said.
“I can’t say that England is
under pressure from us, but we are
looking forward to playing against
England, or against Sri Lanka, or
even against Scotland.
“It’s all about preparation
— we’re trying to get our best
preparation to play against them,”
he added. “And if we play at our
best we have a chance.”
Mortaza said the Tigers’ biggest
disappointment was not being
able to play at the famous Gabba
ground.
“We were looking forward to
it because we don’t get enough
chances to play on that sort of field
against a team like Australia,” he
said.
“We could have got some
experience out there that would
have helped us in the future.
“But you can’t do anything with
the rain, you have to accept it, and
we are looking forward to the next
match,” added Mortaza. — AFP
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand: Pakistan’s World
Cup campaign needed improvement across the board,
captain Misbah-ul-Haq declared on Saturday after a
humiliating 150-run loss to the West Indies.
The rout at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval was
compounded by a batting display that set a record for
the worst start to a one-day international innings, with
Pakistan’s first four wickets falling for just one run.
Pakistan now languish at the bottom of Pool B
with two losses from two outings, their performance
against the West Indies a step backwards from the 76run loss to arch-rivals and defending champions India
in their tournament opener.
“It’s a do or die situation for us and there are no
ifs and buts,” Misbah said as he tried to look ahead to
Pakistan’s next game
against Zimbabwe,
while sifting through “ We just lost in all
the wreckage of three departments.
Saturday’s crushing We couldn’t bowl
loss. “We just lost in all
three departments,” well, a lot of dropped
Misbah
admitted. catches, and the
“We couldn’t bowl
batting totally
well, a lot of dropped
catches, and the flopped.”
batting
totally
MISBAH-UL-HAQ,
flopped.”
Pakistan captain
After electing to
bowl first, Pakistan
took
two
early
wickets, including the out-of-form Chris Gayle, and
were still in a relatively strong position when the West
Indies were 194 for four going into the final 10 overs.
But they could not contain a late onslaught from
Andre Russell, who hit an unbeaten 42 off 17 balls,
and Lendl Simmons with 50 off 46 as the West Indies
reached 310 for six.
Pakistan, who won the World Cup the last time the
tournament was staged in Australia and New Zealand
in 1992, immediately collapsed in their run chase.
After the first four wickets fell quickly, they were
five for 25 after 10 overs and eventually all out for 160
in exactly 39 overs.
“We need to pick up ourselves up and come hard in
the next game because now we’re at the edge,” Misbah
said.
“We have to forget the last two matches and learn
from our mistakes. We can only win if we perform.”
Misbah said Pakistan’s problems against the West
Indies began from the moment he won the toss and
opted to use bowler-friendly conditions, with overcast
skies and a hint of moisture on the pitch. — AFP
Black Caps were rampant in Wellington on Friday with Southee taking a country-best 7/33 in the defeat of England
Coach Hesson enjoys Black Caps’ England rout
WELLINGTON: New Zealand coach
Mike Hesson said on Saturday he
had enjoyed his team’s eight-wicket
demolition of England, adding it had
set-up them up nicely for their next
World Cup match against fellow cohosts Australia.
The Black Caps were rampant in
Wellington on Friday, with seamer Tim
Southee taking a New Zealand oneday international best seven for 33 as
England slumped to 123 all out in 33.2
overs.
Brendon McCullum then smashed
the fastest World Cup half-century, off
just 18 balls, as New Zealand chased
down their meagre target in a mere 12.2
overs.
Victory left New Zealand sitting
Hesson said it had been a rare day Hesson told reporters. “The fact it came
pretty at the top of Pool A, with three where he sat back and enjoyed the game. in such an important game was pleasing.
wins in as many games.
“There were a few pats on the back,”
“It was one of those days where, as a
coach, you could sit back and enjoy it.”
He added: “Tim set the tone, he had
the ball on a string, swinging it just
enough to be challenging.
“It was a masterclass,” said Hesson of
his spearhead, whose figures were the
third best in all World Cup matches.
“The fielding sets the intensity and
attitude for us. A number of dismissals
followed great pieces of fielding, whether
it was keeping a guy on strike or creating
indecision.”
Hesson, who has overseen New
Zealand’s
transformation
from
perennial ‘dark horses’ to serious World
Cup contenders, said they were reaping
the rewards of having a well-prepared
group of talented cricketers.
“We’ve got pretty good cattle in
terms of the skills set of our bowlers,” he
said. “We also scouted the English well.
Shane Bond (bowling coach) did some
excellent work in that regard.”
Hesson believed his team was ready
for ‘the match of the Pool’ with titlefavourites Australia in Auckland on
February 28.
“There’s no baggage. Australia are
a formidable outfit and there will be
nothing better than those two sides
going toe-to-toe in front of a full
house.”
And he insisted Australia’s fondness
for aggressive ‘sledging’ or verbal abuse
of their opponents, would not unsettle
his side.
“We play against quite a few teams
who act that way, but it’s not how we do
things. We’ll soak it up as best we can
and go about our job. A bit of maturity
from some key players has certainly
helped.” — AFP
SPORT
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
omandailyobserver
Lukaku spurs Everton; Celtic held
GAFFER
27
STORY
BIG NIGHT: Balotelli stars in victory for Liverpool, Tottenham drew 1-1 with Fiorentina at White Hart Lane
Everton’s Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku (left) heads the ball in front of Young Boys’ goalkeeper from Namibia Yvon Mvogo during the UEFA
Europa League match round of 32. — AFP
PARIS: Celtic’s rematch with Inter Milan
ended in a memorable 3-3 draw in Glasgow
in the first leg of the Europa League round of
32 on Thursday as Romelu Lukaku inspired
Everton to a big win.
Lukaku scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 Everton
victory against Swiss side Young Boys that
leaves the Toffees with one foot in the last 16,
but the Premier League’s other representatives
in the competition still have work to do.
A late Mario Balotelli penalty gave
Liverpool a 1-0 win against Turkish league
SERIE A
leaders Besiktas at Anfield, while Tottenham
Hotspur drew 1-1 with Fiorentina at White
Hart Lane, meaning they must now score in
the return in Florence next week.
Celtic will also be up against it in Italy but
they have given themselves a chance after
coming from 2-0 and then 3-2 down to hold
Inter in a repeat of the 1967 European Cup
final. Members of the Celtic team, known as
the Lisbon Lions, that won that game 2-1 to
become the first British club to be crowned
champions of Europe, were in attendance
NEWS
Inzaghi keen on
‘Milan-style football’
ROME: AC Milan coach Filippo Inzaghi
believes his injury-plagued side cannot
afford to start thinking of European
football next season as they attempt to
rescue their dismal campaign.
While a Champions League berth
appears to be out of sight after a wretched
start to 2015, fifth place in Serie A and
the chance of Europa League football is
still a possibility for 11th-placed Milan.
At a news conference on Saturday,
Inzaghi, reflecting on the injuries that
have hampered the club this season,
warned: “We can’t be thinking about it
(fifth place) right now. We need to take
it one game at a time and get back to
playing Milan-style football.”
Rather than “Milan-style football”,
though, fans at the San Siro have had to
get used to unaccustomed struggles for
one of European football’s powerhouses.
At the end of last year, Milan were
seventh, just two points off third and a
spot in next season’s Champions League
qualifying round.
Now, having managed just five points
in seven games in 2015 — only bottom
club Parma have fared worse — they lie
12 points behind third-placed Napoli.
Lazio, in fifth, are seven points clear of
Inzaghi’s men.
As they prepare to face relegationthreatened Cesena on Sunday, Milan’s
plight has left Inzaghi bemoaning the
team’s injury woes.
“When 90 per cent of our players
were available, we were very close to
third place. It’s very difficult to find an
‘When 90 per cent of our
players were available, we
were very close to third
place , it’s very difficult to
find an identity when you
have to change your line-up
week in and week out. It’s
not a question of how many
attacking players I will put
on the pitch’
identity when you have to change your
line-up week in and week out,” he said.
One of the striking problems for
Inzaghi, such a prolific goalscorer in his
day, has been Milan’s lack of goals. Only
once, in their last eight games, have they
managed to score more than one goal.
“It’s not a question of how many
attacking players I will put on the pitch,”
said Inzaghi. “It would be ideal to score
early in the match. Doing so should
allow the team to relax. Fans have been
patient with us but I know how difficult
playing in San Siro can be.”
Cesena are second from bottom on
sixteen points but are enjoying their
best spell of the season with wins against
Lazio and Parma, as well as a draw with
leaders Juventus, in the last four weeks.
“It has been the story of our season,”
Inzaghi reflected ruefully. “We always
seem to play teams when they are in
peak form.” — Reuters
to watch a remarkable match played in wild
winter conditions in Glasgow’s East End.
John Guidetti was the hero for Celtic on the
night, coming off the bench to volley home
a stoppage time equaliser against Roberto
Mancini’s side. Before that, Celtic’s evening
had started in nightmare fashion, with
Xherdan Shaqiri and Rodrigo Palacio putting
Inter 2-0 up inside 13 minutes.
Stuart Armstrong, making his home
debut for Celtic following his January move
from Dundee United, got one back and then
forced the 26th-minute own-goal by Hugo
Campagnaro that restored parity.
However, Inter went back in front just
before the break when Palacio pounced on
an error by Celtic ‘keeper Craig Gordon to
roll the ball home. “We don’t get punished the
way we did tonight in the domestic league, but
we were also a little unlucky,” Celtic manager
Ronny Deila told BT Sport.
“We have to do better defensively. They
maybe scored from every chance they had.”
However, the Norwegian added: “I’m
so proud of the boys. In the second half we
controlled the game and had three or four
chances and scored at the end. The atmosphere
was fantastic. Without fans like that it wouldn’t
be possible.”
Meanwhile, the Europa League again
brought out the best in Everton as Lukaku
became only the fourth player representing
the blue half of Merseyside to score a hat-trick
in Europe, following in the footsteps of Alan
Ball, Andy Gray and Yakubu Aiyegbeni.
Seamus Coleman also scored, with Roberto
Martinez’s side coming from behind after
Guillaume Hoarau gave Young Boys an early
lead at the Stade de Suisse.
The Toffees have won only one of their
last nine Premier League games but they won
their Europa League group in style in the
autumn and they were impressive again on
this occasion.
However, the one blotch on their evening’s
work was the sending-off of defender John
Stones for bringing down Hoarau in the box,
although Hoarau blazed the resulting spotkick over the bar.
Of Lukaku, who missed several chances to
add to his tally late on, Martinez said: “He’s the
complete striker, but he’s only 21 and people
forget about that.
“We saw today he really makes a difference
in front of goal and he’s someone who is going
to have a really strong ending to the season.”
BALOTELLI WINNER
Liverpool won 8-0 the last time they
entertained Besiktas in the Champions League
in 2007, but on this occasion they needed
Balotelli to score an 85th-minute penalty to
win the game at Anfield and give them an
advantage to take to Istanbul.
And Balotelli only scored after an apparent
disagreement with Jordan Henderson, the
captain on the night, and Daniel Sturridge
over who would take the penalty.
Tottenham took the lead against Fiorentina
as Roberto Soldado, starting instead of the
in-form Harry Kane, volleyed in after just six
minutes, but Jose Maria Basanta equalised
before the interval. — AFP
Manchester United Manager Louis van Gaal at full time
with the players.
— Reuters
Van Gaal’s
injury worries
receding
MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM: Louis van
Gaal is finally on the verge of having a clean bill of
health within his Manchester United squad after a
long season battling against a crippling injury list.
And with the United manager aiming to clinch a
Champions League place for his club, and contending
for the FA Cup via a home quarter-final tie against
Arsenal, that could spell bad news for his rivals.
United have lost just one of their last 19 league and
cup games, an extraordinary transformation following
last season’s troubles under David Moyes and a slow
start to the current campaign.
That run has come despite a long list of injured
players, one which is slowly improving to the point
that only England international midfielder Michael
Carrick is unavailable for selection. It is a far cry from
the early season when van Gaal would routinely have
11 first team players unavailable, and the Dutchman
could barely conceal his enthusiasm at the prospect of
having a fully-fit squad from which to select.
“We are very close to that stage,” said van Gaal. “In
the first four months I started only to select from out
of the fit players. And, as you know, I always had 10 or
11 players injured. “Now, the last month, I only have
one or two players and now only Michael Carrick is
injured so that’s a big difference. “That’s also because of
the way of training, also the players had to adapt to the
way of training, and now that’s complete. That’s the big
difference with the beginning of the season.”
Van Gaal has had his critics in his first season in
charge of the club but has nevertheless presided over a
remarkable upturn in fortunes and he believes that his
first team players have now got over the difficulties of
getting used to a new management style. — AFP
Squabbling Liverpool seek solace at St Mary’s
LONDON: The harmony — or lack of it
— in Liverpool’s squad will fall under the
microscope on Sunday when Brendan
Rodgers’s side visit Southampton in a
clash of Champions League qualification
hopefuls.
Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Besiktas in
the Europa League on Thursday was
overshadowed by an incident in the
build-up to the hosts’ late winner when
substitute Mario Balotelli snatched
the ball from stand-in captain Jordan
Henderson before scoring the penalty
that settled the game.
Regular captain Steven Gerrard,
analysing the first-leg match for ITV as
he convalesces following a hamstring
injury, said Balotelli’s behaviour had
been “disrespectful” to Henderson.
But Henderson and Balotelli
downplayed the altercation after the
game — the former in a television
interview; the latter, inevitably, on
social media — and Rodgers said he
would make sure the matter was put to
bed.
“That is my job to manage that. It is
what I do behind the scenes every day,”
the Liverpool manager told his prematch press conference.
“You see from the way the team has
been playing recently the respect and
commitment they show for each other.
“The only thing I would say on it is I
don’t like the etiquette. You don’t like to
see four or five players around a football
looking to take it.
“It was maybe more the etiquette
which was not as we would have liked,
but we got the end result.”
While the incident caused Liverpool
embarrassment, there is no denying
that they have returned to something
approaching their best following a run
of one defeat in 17 matches.
EPL
Liverpool’s Mario Balotelli (front) spreads his arms wide after scoring from the penalty spot for the opening goal as team-mate
Emre Can (back) embraces him from behind during the UEFA Europa League round of 32 first leg match at Anfield in
Liverpool. — AFP
The burst of form has taken
Rodgers’s side to within sight of the
Premier League’s Champions League
qualifying places, where Southampton
currently occupy the fourth and final
berth.
With Liverpool four points back,
victory for the visitors on Sunday would
fuel belief for players and supporters
alike that a testing season could yet end
with a return to Europe’s premier club
competition.
LALLANA FEARS JEERS
Liverpool edged Southampton 2-1
on the season’s opening day and won 3-0
at St Mary’s last season.
Southampton have failed to score
in their last two home games — losing
1-0 to Swansea City and drawing 0-0
with West Ham United — but coach
Ronald Koeman believes Liverpool’s
expansive style will give his side more
opportunities.
“Swansea and West Ham didn’t come
here to play open football and that gives
us more difficulties,” he said.
“We didn’t have the quality to break
it down, but Sunday’s game will be
different. It is all about sharpness in the
box.
“I’m surprised they (Liverpool) have
four points less than we have. To come
closer, they have to win.”
Former Southampton captain Adam
Lallana is set to make his first appearance
at St Mary’s since leaving for Anfield last
year and he has admitted that he expects
a hostile reception.
“I’m not stupid enough to think the
way I left didn’t leave a sour taste in a
few people’s mouths,” he told BBC Radio
Solent this week. — AFP
28
SPORT
omandailyobserver
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
RIO OPEN: Nadal came through 4-6, 7-5, 6-0 in two hours and six minutes after Cuevas was fastest out of the blocks in the tight match
Nocturnal Nadal survives to reach Rio semi-final
RIO DE JANEIRO: Claycourt king
Rafael Nadal battled into the early hours
as he reached the semi-finals of the Rio
Open after beating Uruguayan Pablo
Cuevas on Saturday.
Nadal, who will bid this season for
a tenth Roland Garros crown, came
through 4-6, 7-5, 6-0 in two hours and
six minutes, after Cuevas was fastest out
of the blocks in a contest lasting until
3:20 am (0520 GMT).
The late finish infuriated the world
number three and defending champion,
who complained of having to start a
match at just after 1:00 am. “I know it
is not the fault of the tournament. It is
the fault of the ATP wanting to change a
match over (to a different court).
“If it were a Grand Slam where you
get a day and a half (between matches),
then okay,” Nadal said afterwards,
reflecting that he would have to be back
in action again on Saturday evening.
“I am going to go off to bed and we’ll
see if I have recovered” for a meeting
with Italian world number 28 Fabio
Fognini. Fognini had kept Nadal waiting
to enter the centre court fray as he beat
Argentine Federico Delbonis 6-4, 6-7
(10/12), 7-6 (11/9) in a three-hour
marathon.
Nadal had seen off fellow Spaniard
Pablo Carreno Busta and Brazilian
Thomaz Bellucci to set up his meeting
with Cuevas, but the Mallorcan’s ring
rustiness showed as he conceded the
opening set in 44 minutes.
After trading early breaks, Cuevas
broke in the ninth game and although
the challenger spurned a triple set point
he closed out the fourth opportunity on
44 minutes.
Cuevas sent down six aces but
fourteen-time Grand Slam champion
Nadal’s wiliness and sheer doggedness
reeled him in. Having levelled the
contest Nadal wrapped matters up in
taking the decider in just 25 minutes.
Also advancing was second seeded
Spaniard David Ferrer who battled past
Argentine Juan Monaco 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
in just over two hours on court at the
Jockey Club in hot sunshine.
With temperatures hitting 42 degrees
C (108 degrees F), both men made errors
before Ferrer finally managed to find top
gear as he gradually wore Monaco down,
moving him around the court.
The ninth-ranked Spaniard broke
Monaco twice and pocketed the opening
set with an ace and the Argentine looked
out for the count after dropping serve
again at the outset in the second.
But the 30-year-old Monaco broke
back in the sixth game as he levelled
the contest. That was as good as it got,
however, for the South American veteran
as Ferrer upped his game thereafter and
finished his rival off with a huge serve.
— AFP
Rafael Nadal of Spain returns to Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay during their men’s singles match at the Rio Open in Rio de Janeiro.
NBO ‘A’ maintain unbeaten streak in ‘C’ Div
MUSCAT: National Bank of Oman ‘A’
(NBO ‘A’) maintained their unbeaten
stint in the Al Ansari Group of
Companies sponsored ‘C’ Division T20
tournament in a match played in the
morning session during the week end
at the Municipality Ground No 2 at Al
Amerat, when they inflicted a massive
7 wicket win against Uday Khimji
International.
The feature of the game was the
bowling performance of Maanas Kapoor
4 for 17 and Zaheer Abbas 3 for 20 off 4
overs each for NBO ‘A’.
Brief scores:Uday Khimji International 127/8 off
30 overs (Ramkumar Chinnagounder 43, Roshan P
Mankar 31; Maanas Kapoor 4-17, Zaheer Abbas 3-20)
lt to N B O ‘A’: 128/3 off 12.2 overs (Maanas Kapoor
37 n.o., Shankar M G 32, Abhishek Prafulll 29; Derick
W George 2-22)
Points: N B O ‘A’ - 2 points (7 Games – 14 points) and
Uday Khimji International - Nil points (7 Games – 2
Points)
UTSC: 95/4 off 11.2 overs (Faleel Taylakandy 50 n.o.)
Points: FAP UTSC - 2 points (7 Games – 2 points) and
Oman Medical Complex – Nil points (7 Games – 3
Points)
TIMES OF OMAN VICTORIOUS
In an Enhance sponsored ‘E’ Division
T20 match played in the morning at the
MAJEES WIN AGAINST
adjoining ground No 3 at Al Amerat
ORANGE MART
during the morning session, Times of
Majees
defeated Orange Mart by 20
Oman recorded a 4 wicket win against
runs
in
an
‘F’
Division T20 match played
Landscape Architecture.
in
the
morning
session at the adjacent
Brief scores:Landscape Architecture: 152/9 off
20 overs (Prasad Peruli 42, Sajeev Sathyanandam ground No 4 at Al Amerat. Skipper
35, Darwish Ellickal 28; Sherbaz Safdar 2-35) lt to Zulfiqar Habibulla led the way with a
Times of Oman: 154/6 off 17 overs (Suhaib Abdul
Ghani al Balushi 35, Adnan Ul Haq 29, Syed Kazimi brilliant 74 (45b, 13x4) whilst Shejeer
26; Darwish Ellickal 3-16, Shameer Valiyagath Thaha shone with the ball ending with figures
2-24 )
of 4 or 28 off 4 overs.
Points: Times of Oman - 2 points (6 Games – 11
points) and Landscape Architecture - Nil points (5
Games – 6 points).
MUTHUMURUGAN SHINES
Opening
the
batting
M
Muthumurugan scored 36 (26b, 6x4)
and thereafter ended with bowling
figures of 4 for 21 to help Professional
Trading defeat King Travels & Tours
by 72 runs and remain unbeaten. The
Oman Cricket organized ‘G’ Division
T20 tournament was played in the
Brief scores:Oman Medical Complex – 91 all out
off 14.2 overs (Sarath C M 23; Sameer 4-22) lt to FAP afternoon session at the same venue.
FAP UTSC WIN
FAP UTSC crushed a 10 man Oman
Medical Complex team by 6 wickets
in a Raha Poly Products sponsored ‘D’
Division T20 match played at the same
venue during the afternoon session.
Sameer caused the debacle ending
with figures of 4 for 22 off 4 overs.
Brief scores: Professional Trading: 177/8 off 20
overs (Rasik EP 43 n.o., M Muthumurugan 36,
Nandakumar BJ 25; Anup Rajan 3-33) bt King Travels
& Tours: 105 all out off 17 overs (Rageesh OK 24;
M Muthumurugan 2-21, S Boopathy 2-14 and NP
Premkumar 2-22 )
Points: Professional Trading - 2 points (7 Games – 14
points) and King Travels & Tours - Nil points (7 Games
– 7 points)
Brief scores:Majees: 188/7 off 20 overs (Zulfiqar
Habibulla 74, Mohsin Abbas 47; Benny Babu 2-37) bt
Orange Mart: 168/9 off 20 overs (Shyam 57, Jeason
47; Shejeer 4-28)
Points: Majees - 2 points (7 Games – 6 points) and
Orange Mart - Nil points (7 Games – 5 points)
AL FAIRUZ TRADING TRIUMPH
In an afternoon ‘H’ Division T20
match played at the same venue Al
Fairuz Trading defeated Future Oilfield
Supply by 3 wickets.
Brief scores:Future Oilfield Supply: 136/8 off 20
overs (Nazim Mohamed Hussain 33, Akhil C Vijayan
28 n.o., Ali Murtaza 25; Rohan 2-17, Aneesh M 2-20)
Al Fairuz Trading: 137/7 off 15.2 overs (Zaheer 46;
Nazim Mohammed Hussain 2-20, Akhil C Vijayan
2-21, Nazim Zafarullah 2-30)
Points: Al Fairuz Trading - 2 points (7 Games – 9
points) and Future Oilfield Supply - Nil points (8
Games – 9 points)
AHMED STEERS RAHA
National Team captain Sultan Ahmed
remained unbeaten on 93 (81b, 1x6 and
8x4) to steer Raha to a thumping 171
run win against OCT Muscat ‘A’ who
have yet to register a win in the league.
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 Raha CT scored freely
to reach 272 for the loss of 8 wickets
off their quota of 50 overs. Zeeshan
Siddique with a run a ball 44 (2x6 and
4x4), opening batsman Mohammed
Nadeem 37 (52b, 5x4) and Shahid
Naseem 27 (32b, 4x4) all made valuable
contributions.
Brief scores:Raha: 272/8 off 50 overs (Sultan Ahmed
93 n.o., Zeeshan Siddique 44, Mohammed Nadeem
37, Shahid Naseem 27; Mohammed Ali 3-55, Rafiq
Mohammed 2-44, Ali Akbar 2-46) bt OCT Muscat ‘A’
: 101 all out off 20.4 overs (Khalid Rasheed 4-16,
Khursheed Alam 3-33)
Points:Raha CT - 5 points (6 Games – 25 points) and
OCT Muscat ‘A’ - Nil points (6 Games – Nil points)
SPANISH
—Reuters
LEAGUE
‘Modric will be ready
for El Clasico’
MADRID: Real Madrid boss Carlo
Ancelotti has insisted that midfielder
Luka Modric will be fit by the time his
side face Barcelona in a crucial La Liga
clash on March 22.
Modric returned to training this
week after three months out due to a
torn thigh muscle.
The Croatian’s influence has been
badly missed by the Madrid midfield
in recent weeks as Barca have closed
to within a point of Real at the top of
the table, whilst Los Blancos were also
dumped out of the Copa del Rey by city
rivals Atletico Madrid.
Ancelotti has also been short
on numbers in midfield as James
Rodriguez faces two months on the
sidelines due to a broken bone in his
right foot, whilst Sami Khedira has a
hamstring injury.
“He feels good, but we will take it
slowly,” Ancelotti said on Saturday.
“He hasn’t done a full session with
the team yet, but he will do next week
and by the 22nd he will be ready.
We hope he can play before the Camp
Nou.”
Ancelotti will oversee his 100th
game in charge of the European
champions on Sunday night when they
travel to Elche.
Despite winning four trophies in
that time, the Italian’s hold on the job
has been questioned in recent weeks,
particularly after Real were humbled
4-0 by Atletico earlier this month.
However, the 55-year-old said he
wasn’t concerned that talks over an
extension to his contract, which runs
until 2016, seem to have stalled and that
the matter will be resolved at the end of
the season.
“I feel valued and happy here.
There is no rush for the renewal
of my contract, we have a year-and-ahalf.
“Since I arrived here I knew we
need to win, but that isn’t something
new, in all the teams I have coached the
objective was to win titles. I don’t think
I will renew only if we win. —AFP
The West London club had already suspended three men and on Friday they revealed two more people would be barred with possible life bans
Chelsea suspend two more fans in Paris racism probe
Chelsea’s Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovic (right) celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the English
Premier League match at Stamford Bridge in London. — AFP
LONDON: Chelsea announced they had
suspended two more people from the club’s
Stamford Bridge stadium on Friday as their
investigation into the Paris Metro racism
incident gathered pace.
A commuter, described in media reports
as French-Mauritanian Souleymane S,
was blocked from boarding a train by fans
travelling to the Parc des Princes for the 1-1
draw against Paris Saint-Germain in the
Champions League on Tuesday.
Footage captured by a bystander appears
to show Souleymane being pushed back on
to the platform amid chants of “we’re racist,
we’re racist and that’s the way we like it”.
The west London club had already
suspended three men and on Friday they
revealed two more people would be barred,
with the potential for life bans.
“Chelsea Football Club has suspended a
further two people from Stamford Bridge
as a result of ongoing investigations into
the incident on the Paris Metro on Tuesday
evening,” a statement on the club’s website
announced.
“This makes a total of five to date. If it is
‘Chelsea Football Club
has suspended a further
two people from Stamford
Bridge as a result of ongoing
investigations into the
incident n the Paris Metro
on Tuesday evening’
deemed there is sufficient evidence of their
involvement in the incident, the club will
issue banning orders for life.”
The club’s investigation is being
undertaken in conjunction with the
Metropolitan and Paris police.
Later on Friday, the Metropolitan Police
released images of three other fans they
believe were involved in the incident and
appealed for help to identify the trio.
The three singled out in images taken
from the Metro are not the same as the trio
initially suspended by Chelsea.
A Chelsea spokesman stated that owner
Roman Abramovich is “disgusted” by the
incident, while Blues boss Jose Mourinho
said he was “ashamed”.
Chelsea said they have apologised in
writing to Souleymane and invited him
and his family to London to attend the
second leg of the European clash against
PSG on March 11. But in an interview
given to BBC Radio 5 Live on Friday,
Souleymane argued that Chelsea hold a
degree of liability for the conduct of their
fans and has yet to receive any contact
from Stamford Bridge.
“Chelsea are partly responsible and I
have brought a complaint. They have partial
responsibility because it’s their supporters,”
Souleymane said.
“Chelsea need to call my lawyers and
they haven’t done that yet, unlike PSG.
Their director-general has called my lawyer
and he called me. I haven’t had any reply
from Chelsea. Nothing.”
FRENCH PREZ CALLS VICTIM
The black Frenchman who was the
victim of racist abuse by Chelsea fans on
the Paris Metro has received a personal
message from President Francois
Hollande. — AFP
ENTERTAINMENT
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
omandailyobserver
Kristen Stewart makes history,
‘Timbuktu’ wins big at Cesars
Q GUY JACKSON
K
risten Stewart on
Friday became the
first American actress
to win a Cesar,
France’s
equivalent
of the Oscars, while
“Timbuktu” won seven awards including
best film for its portrayal of northern
Mali under militant control.
“Twilight” star Stewart received the
best supporting actress award for her role
alongside Juliette Binoche in “Clouds of
Sils Maria”.
Directed by France’s Olivier Assayas,
24-year-old Stewart plays the personal
assistant to a star actress played by
Binoche and follows their intense, lovecharged relationship.
The victory for “Timbuktu” could
propel it towards greater glory at the
Oscars today, where it is nominated for
the best foreign film award.
Abderrahmane Sissako, who also
won a Cesar for best director among the
film’s haul of awards, said he wanted to
show the residents of the ancient city
struggling to maintain their daily lives
in the face of the brutal rule of militants
who seized a large portion of Mail’s vast
desert in 2012.
Most of the film had to be made in
Sissako’s native Mauritania as northern
Mali, despite being freed from militants’
control by a French military intervention,
remains an extremely dangerous place,
especially for foreigners.
In his acceptance speech, Sissako —
who became the first black African to
win the best director Cesar — praised
French people for taking to the streets in
their millions after the Paris attacks last
month that left 17 dead.
“France is a magnificent country
because it is able to stand up to the horror
I’m open for TV shows,
says Anushka Sharma
A
fter featuring in hit films
like “Rab Ne Bana Di
Jodi”, “Band Baaja Baaraat” and
“PK” among others, actress
Anushka Sharma is now keen
to do a television show.
Anushka was present on
the set of crime-based show
“Savdhaan India” to promote
her upcoming film “NH10”
when she was asked about her
plans to make an entry into
small screen.
To that she said: “No,
actually I haven’t thought
about it. But, I always be open
for every kind of creative
opportunity that might come
my way.
So, in near future if a show
that has a good story comes my way, so I would be open for sure.” “NH10”
is a story of couple that goes on a road trip which gets transformed into a
complete nightmare, making it a fight for survival.
A
and to the violence,” he said.
“There is no clash of civilisations.
There is a meeting of civilisations,” he
added.
‘Je t’aime Juliette’
Stewart has spoken of how working
with Binoche, one of France’s leading
ladies for three decades, was a privilege
and as she mounted the stage in Paris on
Friday she shouted “I love you Juliette” in
French.
“Clouds of Sils Maria” marks a return
to arthouse films for Stewart, who made
her name as Bella, the love interest of
Robert Pattinson’s vampire in the hugely
successful five-film “Twilight” series.
The best actor category saw Pierre
Niney beat Gaspard Ulliel in a battle
between two portrayals of legendary
fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. The
two biopics were released within months
of each other last year.
There was more American success
when two-time Oscar winner Sean Penn
— artfully dishevelled in a black suit and
loosened tie — received a Cesar lifetime
achievement award to tumultuous
applause from the audience at the
Chatelet theatre.
Adele Haenel won the best actress
award for romantic comedy “Love at First
Fight” (“Les Combattants” in French).
Louane Emera was earmarked as a
rising star when she was given a best new
actress award for her role in “La famille
Belier”, about the hearing daughter of a
deaf family of farmers who discovers she
has a rare talent for singing.
The film, which has been compared
to British smash hit “Billy Elliot”, has sold
more than six million cinema tickets in
France.
— AFP
SEAN PENN INSPIRED
BY FRENCH FILMS
A
TINSELTOWN
Media need respect, dignity: Big B
HONOURED
ctor Sean Penn, who received
an honorary Cesar Award on
Friday night from the French
film industry, feels honoured to be
felicitated by those who provide him
“inspiration and encouragement”.
After an emotional introduction
from a crying Marion Cotillard, who
called the actor an “idealist” and a
“rebel (who) questions the world and
society” in his work and life, Penn said
he was inspired by French film while
growing up as a teen in the 1960s,
reports hollywoodreporter.com.
He continues to be encouraged
by the strength and independence of
French cinema.
“It’s been kind of a refuge when
things get too cynical in what we do.
Artists are encouraging to each other to
sustain a vivid industry, which we saw
so briefly in American cinema,” he said.
“French cinema is unique for
29
sustaining those emotions, (it’s) a kind
of refuge when things get too cynical.
It’s been a breath of fresh air, and that’s
the reason this means quite a lot to me.
“It has been a very sustaining
inspiration, so when I came with my
first film as a director, which was in
Cannes, there was a sense of film
and a discussion about film that was
so refreshing and compared to that
which I think is ‘follow the advertising.’
Instead of ‘let the advertising follow,’
which I think is too much in American
film.
“So to be honoured by those who
honour me with inspiration and
encouragement is notable,” he added.
Penn, who arrived with fiancee
Charlize Theron on a rainy Friday
night, met with French President
Francois Hollande on Thursday to
discuss his humanitarian charity — The
J/P Haitian Relief Organization.
ctors and the media are known
to share a “love-hate” kind
of relationship, but
Bollywood’s
megastar Amitabh Bachchan took to
his official blog to laud the dedication
of mediapersons, saying they deserve
“respect” and “dignity”.
“I do feel, that the job assigned
to a member of the media has an
agenda too. They get briefed from
their seniors, much like what we
are subjected to by our writers and
directors,” the 72-year-old posted on
srbachchan.tumblr.com.
“They have a job on hand. They
are under instructions and they are
carrying out their job. They need the
respect and dignity of their presence,”
he added. He also noted that
instructing journalists to ask a particular set of questions is unfair.
“Once agreed to meet the press or the media, then dictating to them what
they can ask and not ask is really expecting too much.
It also is freedom curbing. If you do not wish to make a statement or say
something for public consumption, do not agree to meet the media. But
once agreed, be prepared for all kinds... they could be favourable to you, or
uncomfortable, at least that is what my experience says,” Big B shared.
Neil Patrick Harris’ magic room
A
ctor Neil Patrick Harris has a
room in New York that has a
secret door and is full of magician’s
props and antique magic kits.
“It has a secret door to get in, so
there’s this big magic poster on the wall
and then there’s a smaller magic poster
on the side and that’s of a magician
and one of his eye’s is a button,” Harris
said on the talk show “Jimmy Kimmel
Live,” reports femalefirst.co.uk.
“You wouldn’t ever know, but when
you push the button, it opens the door
and then you can go in and I have lots
of magic props.
I love that ‘Scooby Doo’ stuff, the
secret doors.
I wanted it to be a candlestick and you pull the candlestick and you heard
‘zoinks’ and it opened,” he added.
The 41-year-old actor, who has four-year-old twins Harper and Gideon,
has stopped the two children from exploring the room by placing the entry
button high up so they can’t reach it until they’re older.
“Our kids are four and I collect antique magic kits and so it’s the room
they’re not allowed in.
And so they can’t open it until they’re nine or ten and able to reach the
button,” he said.
Sean Penn and Charlize Theron at the Cesar Awards ceremony.
— AFP
‘OSCAR BAIT’ MOVIES
Why do blockbusters rarely win top honours at OSCARS?
SARA PUIG
o who has actually seen the top
Oscar movies? Film buffs, mostly.
That’s because — let’s face it —
most of the films shortlisted for Academy
Awards glory are relatively small-budget
independent flicks, not crowd-pleasing
blockbusters.
And it’s even more the case this year,
with only one of the eight films up for best
picture produced by a major Hollywood
studio.
Take the two frontrunners: “Birdman”
was written, produced and directed by
Mexican Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for
some $18 million, while “Boyhood” cost
only $4 million to make — over 12 years.
That is a drop in the ocean compared
to the $100-200 million budgets of studio
hits from last year like “Hunger Games:
Mockingjay — Part 1,” “Guardians of the
S
An Oscar statue
Galaxy” or “Big Hero 6.”
Each of them made at least $200
million at the North American box office
alone.
By comparison, “Boyhood” and
“Birdman” have so far earned $44
million and $72 million, respectively, in
worldwide ticket sales. Other best picture
Oscar nominees like “Whiplash” and
“Selma” made even less.
“The Theory of Everything” —
the story of British scientist Stephen
Hawking — did better ($98 million) and
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” made $174
million, but that’s still a long way from the
year’s biggest blockbusters.
“A lot of times, ‘Oscar bait’ movies are
very personal projects that have meaty
roles for actresses and actors, but don’t
necessarily reach a wide audience,” said
Jeff Bock of box office tracker Exhibitor
Relations.
Changing Oscar trends
A decade ago, Hollywood blockbusters
were more regularly rewarded by the
Academy: “The Lord of the Rings: The
Return of the King” won the best picture
Oscar in 2004, after “Gladiator” in 2001
and “Titanic” in 1998.
More recently, voting members of
the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences, which hands out the golden
statuettes, have honoured indie darlings
such as “No Country for Old Men”
(2008), “Slumdog Millionaire” (2009) and
“The King’s Speech” in 2011.
This year, the exception is Clint
Eastwood’s “American Sniper.”
It’s the only studio film — produced
by Warner Bros — in the best picture race
and is nominated in five other categories.
The movie, based on the life of Navy
SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, has been a huge
box office hit, making $400 million
since its December 25 release, with $300
million in the United States and Canada
alone.
Its $60 million budget puts it
somewhere between an independent and
a big studio movie in terms of cost.
As Hollywood’s finest gather for the
Oscars today, US film-going audiences
have made their tastes known.
Erotic romance “Fifty Shades of Grey”
is far and away this month’s box office
smash hit, amassing more than $300
million worldwide since its opening about
a week ago, despite decidedly lukewarm
reviews.
In Oscars history, the biggest-budget
film ever nominated was James Cameron’s
sci-fi blockbuster “Avatar,” which made
$2.8 billion at the global box office.
But it was beaten at the 2010 Academy
Awards by “The Hurt Locker,” about a
bomb squad maverick in Iraq, which only
made $49 million worldwide.
Other recent winners including
“Crash” (2006), “The Artist” (2012) and
even last year’s “12 Years a Slave” — all
low-budget indies with modest domestic
box office hauls.
Ethan Hawke, nominated for
best supporting actor for his work on
“Boyhood,” said there is a crucial link
between independent movies and awards
season.
“Awards are the industry’s way of
advertising itself. If we didn’t have awards,
then producers would have no agenda.
The only agenda would be to make money
and awards create a counter-agenda of
something substantive,” Hawke said.
— AFP
30
omandailyobserver
LIFESTYLE
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
Classic ballet THE NUTCRACKER
at ROHM
SAYEH WOODMAN
[email protected]
It’s the year of the Goat!
H
T
he Hamburg Ballet will bring
Tchaikovsky’s family favourite, The
Nutcracker, to stage at the Royal
Opera House Muscat for two evening
performances on February 27 and 28.
The classical ballet tells the tale of
Marie, a girl who is given both a nutcracker and ballet
slippers for her 12th birthday.
After her party is over she falls asleep wearing the
slippers, only to dream of a being in a dance theatre.
In her dream she witnesses a number of beautiful
dances and is even able to dance with the boy she loves
before she wakes.
The Nutcracker originally premiered in 1892, and
over the years has been interpreted many times.
While often produced as a Christmas story so it can
be performed in December, the original ballet wasn’t
about Christmas.
The Hamburg Ballet’s version is choreographed and
staged by John Neumeier, with sets and costumes by
Jürgen Rose.
It was premiered by the Frankfurt Ballet, in Frankfurt, on October 21, 1971.
“Under the leadership of John Neumeier, who is an
innovative and passionate choreographer and dancer,
the Hamburg Ballet, has been one of the very best European ballets for over 30 years.
THE NUTCRACKER ORIGINALLY
PREMIERED IN 1892, AND
OVER THE YEARS HAS BEEN
INTERPRETED MANY TIMES.
THE HAMBURG BALLET’S
VERSION IS CHOREOGRAPHED
AND STAGED BY JOHN
NEUMEIER, WITH SETS AND
COSTUMES BY JÜRGEN ROSE
John Neumeier is truly an amazing artist and we
are lucky to have the Hamburg Ballet perform here
in Muscat,” said ROHM’s Artistic Director Umberto
Fanni.
John Neumeier was born in 1942 in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin.
His dance studies took him to Chicago, to Marque-
ere’s to a prosperous year for all of you celebrating and supporting
Chinese New Year. For those that don’t really celebrate seem to
feel obliged to dash to the supermarket or nearest traditional
restaurant and show support with a scrumptious Chinese dish. I don’t blame
you. Chinese food is immense! On a more serious note though, Thursday
marked the end of the Chinese year of the horse, and hello to the year of the
goat, as I’m led to believe, or in fact the year of the sheep? The mystifying
yang character, from the Mandarin Chinese Character Yang, suggests that
the animal, is a horned animal, has two horns and a pointy face, so any of
these animals fit into the equation.
For some, there’s a stigma attached to the year of sheep; those born during
it are thought not to be leaders. There’s also the goat interpretation, which is
rooted in the fact that it was one of only six animals that was eaten in ancient
China — and mainly by the rich and powerful.
After some research, I found some interesting information that I wasn’t
aware of, and wanted to share with you my findings, yet again! Every
week’s a school week! Chinese New Year is the longest and most important
celebration in the Chinese calendar.
Chinese months are reckoned by the lunar calendar, with each month
beginning on the darkest day. New Year festivities traditionally start on the
first day of the month and continue until the fifteenth, when the moon is
brightest. In China, people may take weeks of holiday from work to prepare
for and celebrate the New Year.
Legend has it that in ancient times, the Buddha asked all the animals to
meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year
after each one. He announced that the people born in each animal’s year
would have some of that animal’s personality. Those born in sheep years are
often artistic, charming, sensitive, and sweet. It is known as the most creative
sign in the Chinese zodiac. The likes of Michelangelo, Jane Austin and Bruce
Willis amongst many more were born in the year of the goat or sheep.
People would celebrate wearing red clothes, decorate with poems on red
paper and give money and gifts in red wrapping and envelopes. Yes, red is
seen to be extremely good luck and very present for weddings, anniversaries,
birthdays and New Year! The colour red symbolises fire, which according to
the legend can drive away bad luck, making it good luck.
This time of year like for most cultures is all about family. Family gettogether and this is very important. Lanterns are the prominent featured
décor. A lantern festival is taken place, which has the infamous dragon
dance. Again, like all festivities lots of food is consumed and the festival
wouldn’t be the same without it.
A wonderful insight into such a wonderful celebration, that is celebrated
across the world. Hope you had a lovely time, and if you haven’t managed
too yet, hope you got to celebrate. I’ve already decided on my takeaway for
this weekend!
tte University in Milwaukee, to Copenhagen and to
The Royal Ballet School in London.
In 1963 he joined the Stuttgart Ballet.
In 1969, he became Director of Ballet Frankfurt,
where he soon caused a sensation with his new interpretations of such well-known ballets as The Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet.
In 1973, he joined The Hamburg Ballet as Director
and Chief Choreographer, a position he has held ever
since.
“My world is dance. As long as I can remember, I
have always wanted to dance — even before I actually
knew what it was! But, almost from the beginning, I
wanted not only to dance myself, but to create dances,
to tell wordless stories using movement,” Neumeier
has said.
The Hamburg Ballet was formed from the ballet department of the Hamburg State Opera in 1973 when
John Neumeier was appointed Director and Chief
Choreographer.
The Hamburg Ballet will be accompanied by the
Brno Philharmonic Orchestra from the Czech Republic with German conductor Michael Schmidtsdorff.
For more information visit the website at www.rohmuscat.org.om.
TRADITIONAL SWEETS
Sweets exhibition in Al Dhahirah Governorate opens Celebration of French cuisine
Q TAYMORA AL GHAWI
U
nder the auspices of Deputy
Chairman of Oman Chamber
of Commerce and Industry
(OCCI) and the Head of Industry
Committee in the main branch in Muscat,
Ayman bin Abdullah al Hasni, Small and
Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Committee
in Oman Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, Al Dhahirah branch, is
organising the First Sweets Exhibition
in the Governorate of Al Dhahirah on
Monday. The exhibition will take place
in OCCI, Ibri branch and will last for two
days.
The exhibition aims to encourage
home-made sweets, both traditional and
new, and to highlight the different types
of locally-manufactured sweets. Those
who want to
participate in this
exhibition should
go to OCCI, Ibri
branch to fill a
participation
form.
Announcing
the
exhibition,
Ali Al Kalbani
Ali bin Salah
al Kalbani, OCCI Board Member and
the Head of OCCI, Al Dhahirah unit,
stated that Ibri branch make all efforts
to activate SMEs and home projects in
the wilayats. It also attempts to motivate
Omani people to present and market their
sweet products. He also added that so far will include Al Dhahirah’s three wilayats, coordination with Hadath al Mustaqbl
many small and medium businesses have namely Ibri, Yanqul, and Dhank. The Projects Company.
participated in the event. The exhibition two-day exhibition is organised in
‘
G
oût de France/Good France’ will
celebrate French gastronomy
in various locations worldwide on
March19, 2015. More than thousand
chefs on five continents will be preparing
day. In one
French meal on that
dinner, chefs
and diners
w i l l
celebrate
the
excellence, diversity and modernity of
France’s gastronomy.
This project is supported by the
French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and International Development and
by chef A
Alain Ducasse. It is a unique
opportunity
opportunit to enjoy and share the taste
of France through
a festive event on an
t
international
internation scale.
The Fr
French Embassy in Muscat
with iits
partners
will take part of this
ts p
ts
a
international
intern
rn
nat
atio
ion
n event. Three prestigious
ho
otels
ls w
illl honour the merits of French
hotels
will
cuisin
ne o
cuisine
offering a gourmet menu
prep
ep
par
a e by their chefs: Al Bustan,
prepared
The Chedi and Crowne
Plaza will take their clients
on a journey to France on
the eve of March 19.
FOND OF TEACHING
EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AWARDS CONFERRED Seminar held on tackling
I
ndian School Al Wadi Al Kabir
was the chosen venue for hosting
the function for the giving away of
annual ‘Navin Asher Kazi Excellence
in Teaching Awards’. JS Mukul,
Ambassador of India to the Sultanate
of Oman, was the Guest of Honour.
Also present on this occasion were
Kanaksi Gokaldas Khimji, Kiran Asher
and Wilson V George, Chairman of the
Board of Director of Indian Schools
in Oman. Talmiz Ahmed, former
ambassador of India to the Sultanate,
too, along with other dignitaries graced
the occasion.
In all, sixty nominees from six
different categories were invited on the
stage by turns against a backdrop of their
icons and identities.
The winners from different categories
were declared as follows: Kindergarten
category Prema George (ISM) — 1st
and Madhvi Gandhi (ISD) — 2nd.
In the Primary School category,
Prashanthi Suvarna (ISM) — 1st
and Nalini Raghunath (IS Muladha)
— 2nd; Middle School category K
Nowshad Firoz Kurshid (ISWK) 1st
and Sheeja Abdul Jaleel (IS Muladha)
— 2nd; Secondary/Senior Secondary,
S Srinivasan (IS Salalah) — 1st and
Kailash Patro (ISWK) — 2nd, and in
the Co-Scholastic discipline, Ponni
Chellam Baskar (IS Salalah) — 1st and
Sajeev Mangathil Dassaya (ISM) —
2nd. The special prize went to Vishala
Lakshminarayan from the Apex Centre
for Special Education.
Wilson V George, welcomed the
august gathering. Addressing the
distinguished gathering, the Chief
Guest said that teachers being the font
head of knowledge and wisdom, should
work towards motivating the younger
generation into building a stronger
and enlightened India. Talmiz Ahmad
offered a far-reaching standpoint of
socio-educational milieu and hinted
that the need of the hour was to sort out
analogous anomalies at local and global
levels.
Kiran
Asher’s
spontaneous
sponsorship in nurturing the tree planted
by Navin Asher was duly acknowledged.
It was an evening full of glowing tributes
paid to the distinguished teachers.
The function was interspersed with
entertaining numbers by the school
students.
student dropouts
W
ith a view to enhance
student retention rate and
student support services,
Modern College of Business and Science
recently hosted a seminar on tackling
student dropouts, by delegates from its
academic partner, the Columbus, Ohiobased Franklin University.
Dr Keith Groth, Dean of Franklin’s
College of Arts, Sciences
and
Technology and Michael Klinger, Lead
Faculty for Learning Strategies at the
university, were the key speakers at the
seminar titled “Helping Students to
Persist and Succeed.”
The seminar essentially looked
at innovative and effective ways
of addressing the issue of student
dropouts, and increasing graduation
success rate. Department heads,
faculty members, student advisers and
representatives from the registration
and
administration
departments
attended the seminar.
The speakers
shared Franklin
U n i v e r s i t y ’s
v a l u a b l e
experience
in
the realm of
institutional
solutions with
special
focus
on
checking
Dr Keith Groth
dropout rates and
boosting graduation figures.
Speaking about the seminar an
official from Modern College said, “It is
important that educational institutions
explore ways to establish an effective
framework to help students successfully
complete their courses. Dropouts
are a serious issue, which need to be
addressed with urgency. The seminar
was intended to enlighten our staff
across departments to work toward
achieving better student retention
figures.”
PHOTOGRAPHY
S U N DAY
FEBRUARY 22 l 2015
omandailyobserver
31
Food for Thought from the GARBAGE
(L to R) Julia’s only child, Rafael, in 1933 when he was 3 years old. (2) Julia, her husband Victor, sister Argentina and son Rafael walking along Las Ramblas in the spring of 1941. (3) Julia and Rafael on Las Ramblas in 1943. (4) Rafael around the year 1950,
pictured at the lower end of Las Ramblas. (5) Rafael in 1955, wearing a mourning band in his lapel for some unidentified person
Q CLIVE G
[email protected]
A
s I walked through
the warren of narrow,
cobbled streets in
Barcelona’s Gothic
Quarter one cold
morning in the
spring of 1987, I happened to notice
some torn photographs in a pile of
household rubbish on the pavement.
As any true devotee of the photographic
medium would have done, I got down
on my hands and knees and sifted
through the stinking garbage, gathering
as many of the photographic fragments
as I could find.
Back in my dingy apartment, I found
that I had rescued some 300 scraps
of photographs. About a month later,
when I had finally pieced the fragments
together and glued them onto card, I had
a total of 133 complete black and white
photographs, ranging from passport to
postcard size, as well as a small number
of incomplete pictures. After I’d spread
them out on the floor, it was clear that
I had found the contents of a family
photograph album. But whose album
was it? The images were not recent, that
was clear, but would I be able to work
out the timeframe? Were there any clues
to the identities of the people in the
photographs? And why had every single
photograph been torn in half and the
whole lot thrown in the refuse?
After several more weeks of
work, I had assembled the images in
what I thought to be the most likely
chronological order and deciphered
the captions written on the backs of
some of the images. It became clear
that the album had been compiled by
a woman called Julia Cabezon and that
the timeframe was from about 1910 to
1959. The majority of the images in the
collection were of her only child, a boy
called Raphael, as he grew from infancy
to manhood. In addition, there were
quite a few photographs of Julia and her
small family strolling on Las Ramblas,
formerly Barcelona’s most fashionable
thoroughfare. There were also plenty of
photographs of Julia’s brother and two
sisters and their respective families.
In Julia’s honour and memory, I take
the liberty of sharing with you here a
selection of images from her beautiful
album.
Julia’s album provides fabulously
rich material for a photo nerd such as
I to bore you to death with. I could, for
WOULDN’T IT BE HEARTENING TO THINK THAT SOME
OF OUR PHOTOGRAPHS WILL SURVIVE LONG INTO
THE FUTURE SO THAT OUR DESCENDANTS WILL
BE ABLE TO SEE HOW PEOPLE LOOKED, DRESSED
AND LIVED IN THE EARLY DECADES OF THE 21ST
CENTURY? CHANCES ARE, HOWEVER, THAT MOST OF
THE IMAGES WE TAKE TODAY WILL BE GONE BEFORE
WE ARE, UNLESS WE START MAKING MORE EFFORT
TO PRESERVE THEM FOR POSTERITY
example, rabbit on about how Julia’s
numerous images of her son support
the theory that popular photography
developed largely as a medium for
capturing images of children as they
grow up. Research carried out in France
in the 1980s found that households with
young children are three times more
likely to have a camera than households
without.
Or I could reduce you to a
catatonic state with a long discussion
of photography in the days before
ownership
of
cameras
became
commonplace. It is interesting to note
that none of the photographs in Julia’s
album were actually taken by her or
any of her family members. Instead, all
the images were taken by ‘professional’
photographers in studios, or by street
photographers who touted for business
on Las Ramblas or in the various parks
and scenic spots around Barcelona.
Better still, I could drive you to tear
your hair out by talking endlessly about
how the camera is always complicit
in the telling of lies. In virtually every
image in Julia’s album, the subjects
are immaculately dressed and smiling
broadly, yet by no stretch of the
imagination can we believe that these
images represent the reality of life in
post-civil war Spain.
But no, instead I wish to use Julia’s
poignant photographs to illustrate one
of the critical differences between the
old photographic processes and the new.
Here is a set of pictures ranging in age
from 105 to 55 years old. And if that
were not remarkable in itself, consider
the fact that someone did their best to
obliterate these pictures, first by tearing
them up and then by consigning them
to the garbage. And yet they still survive.
Compare this to the digital
photographs we take today, which have
a tendency to vanish like morning
mist without any help from us. Do
you imagine that the picture you took
of your son on his first birthday, or of
your daughter at her graduation, will
be around in half a century or a century
from now for your descendants to look
at and learn from? Is it likely that a photo
geek with a silly hairstyle will spot your
memory card in a pile of rubbish in the
street in the year 2045, fish it out and
then be able to extract your images from
it?
According to Vint Cerf, a founding
father of the Internet and one of the
world’s leading scientific thinkers,
the answer to these questions is most
probably no. In a recent lecture, this
learned gentleman predicted that we are
about to enter what he called “a digital
dark age”. According to him, computer
operating systems are evolving so fast and
storage devices and formats becoming
ever more advanced that the technology
we use today to read and store data will
soon be obsolete. As a result, much of
the data we blithely store digitally today
will become unreadable in the not too
distant future, condemning us to total
historical oblivion.
Now I fully understand that you
may balk at the idea of returning to film
photography, but I do not think it too
outrageous to suggest that you invest in a
good-quality inkjet printer, make prints
of your best pictures and keep them in a
portfolio or album.
At the very least, you should do what
Julia did and keep a hard-copy record of
your family and your kids as they grow
up. Alternatively, you could Google
‘print-on-demand photo books’ and use
one of the many online companies to
make a photo book for surprisingly little
money.
The fact of the matter is that however
flimsy a piece of paper might seem, at
present it has far greater potential for
longevity than does a digital file, as Julia’s
charming photographs surely testify.
PASSION FOR FLUTES
A STIRRING PERFORMANCE
OF MUSIC ON
THE FLUTE
Q KABEER YOUSUF
S
imply said, music has no linguistic
barriers and it transcends all
geographical boundaries and
converses with the listener.
This may be an old adage but in Leta
M Slupic, a flute player by passion and a
geologist by profession, it is a truth and
one cannot pull his or her soul away from
her when the heart-wrenching music
emanates from her native American
flutes.
She loves to share with people
around the language of music which is
understandable even to a layman and
that is the triumph of Leta who possesses
more than 400 unique pieces of flutes
and more than 100 of them are with her
in Muscat and the rest at her hometown
of Rochester in the northern United
States, bordering Canada.
“I would like to share this music
with people in Oman. Unlike other
wind instruments, flutes, especially the
native American flutes, are much easier
to learn. This would really encourage
children to learn music through which
they could communicate and share”.
It all began some 12 years back when
“It was something new for me for I
d
had never seen anything like this and
the sound was most charismatic. Hee
asked if I liked to try. I already had thee
wind instrument experience with oboee
and knew how to play. I picked up one,,
n
started playing and that’s it”, she said in
her soft yet energising style at a recentt
n
expo at Oman International Exhibition
Centre.
Since then, she began to collectt
traditional flutes from around thee
world and now she owns more than 4000
standalone flutes from across the globee
made of wood, ceramic, brass and so on..
“What makes these native American
n
n
flutes unique is that they are not in
major scale but in pentatonic minor, a
very ancient five-note scale. Majorityy
of the ancient flutes has this pentatonicc
scale, which is naturally harmonious..
So, no matter what notes or what order I
play, it will sound good. It’s easy to create
songs”, Leta blows into her favourite
hand-carved mid-range flute and the
haunting and soulful sound carries us to
an unknown world and people listen to
her carefully only to cheer and praise her
after each rendition.
“My grandparents were violin and
piano instructors and it was mandatory
in my family to learn classical music. I
started at the age of two, but never felt
really bound to classical music. It was so
rigid and I wanted to experiment with
music”, she says. Leta started playing
oboe when she was in 4th grade, and
she attended an arts and craft festival in some corner of the huge hall. There she played that all the way through college
her hometown and she was captivated found a man with various kinds of flutes until she was 22, when she got married
by the beautiful sound that came from which were all hand-made by him.
and moved to another city.
“WHAT MAKES THESE NATIVE AMERICAN FLUTES
UNIQUE IS THAT THEY ARE NOT IN MAJOR SCALE
BUT IN PENTATONIC MINOR, A VERY ANCIENT
FIVE-NOTE SCALE. MAJORITY OF THE ANCIENT
FLUTES HAS THIS PENTATONIC SCALE, WHICH
IS NATURALLY HARMONIOUS. SO, NO MATTER
WHAT NOTES OR WHAT ORDER I PLAY, IT WILL
SOUND GOOD. IT’S EASY TO CREATE SONGS”,
LETA BLOWS INTO HER FAVOURITE HANDCARVED MID-RANGE FLUTE AND THE HAUNTING
AND SOULFUL SOUND CARRIES US TO AN
UNKNOWN WORLD AND PEOPLE LISTEN TO HER
CAREFULLY ONLY TO CHEER AND PRAISE HER
AFTER EACH RENDITION
“After
marriage
and
new
responsibilities, I noticed I was missing
music in my life. I really needed to have
it back and it reemerged in the shape of a
native American flute”
For next two to three years she taught
herself to play the one flute she bought
from the man at the crafts fair for $350.
Eight years ago she and her husband (also
a geologist) moved to Brunei and she
noticed there wasn’t much music there.
“I spoke to some friends about
starting a flute players group and they
liked the idea. We had an open house
night, which led to once-a-week flute
circle, to share music and information.
We will have flutes in same key, one
would start a song, sustain the note, pass
it to the person next, continue the song,
build it further and it would go around
in a circle. It was a wonderful way of
communication through music.”
Two of her daughters, aged 12 and 14,
are also learning music. “My next goal
is to learn Ney, the Egyptian-Perisan
flute, which would be a good challenge.
I started composing a lot after I came in
touch with these woodwind instruments
and now I want to collect a traditional
Omani flute which I believe is available”,
Leta smiles.
She has recently launched her
collection in the form of a CD titled
“Sound of the Spirit”.
SUNDAY | FEBRUARY 22, 2015 | JUMADA AL ULA 3, 1436 AH
P29
P30
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Inside
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MY FAIR LADY enchants opera buffs
Q MAURICE GENT
O
ne of the top opera
companies
in
Europe, a totally
packed
house,
a festive happy
atmosphere with
people from all age groups, all joining
in the fun. Who could ask for anything
more?
It was the performance of the
Cologne Opera, which made it a night
to remember. It was a joyous, almost
swashbuckling performance. What
made it special for me is that it is based
on the story of George Bernard Shaw’s
Pygmalion and I appeared at the tender
age of 13 as the young suitor, Freddie
Eynseford Hill in George Barnard
Shaw’s version.
But you certainly need no childhood
memories to enjoy a highly professional
performance. It moved with skill at a
great pace. The secret was that all the
performers enjoyed themselves very
much. They had clearly come to enjoy
themselves and that was made very
clear.
The whole performance proceeded
at a brisk business-like pace whether
in the house of Professor Higgins or in
the street. It was action driven whether
it was the squawking of young Eliza
Doolittle or the noisy rumbustious street
scenes. It is of course this sort of variety
that has become a hallmark of ROHM
performances in tragedy, comedy and
all sort of solo performances.
For any version of My Fair Lady to
succeed the heroine of the piece, Eliza
Doolittle has to be sensitive, pugnacious
and likeable. Surprise. Surprise. This
particular Eliza came from Northern
Ireland and was full of fight and spirit.
She has also already proved her skills
in London at Covent Garden, where
she transformed herself quickly from
vulgar outspoken street urchin to polite
IT WAS THE
PERFORMANCE OF
THE COLOGNE OPERA,
WHICH MADE IT A
NIGHT TO REMEMBER. IT
WAS A JOYOUS, ALMOST
SWASHBUCKLING
PERFORMANCE. WHAT
MADE IT SPECIAL
FOR ME IS THAT IT IS
BASED ON THE STORY
OF GEORGE BERNARD
SHAW’S PYGMALION
and mannered gentlewoman.
Aolee Miskelly is certainly one to
watch. Confident, pugnacious, with
a strong voice, she can nevertheless
assume the natural born grace of a
gentlewoman,
The premiere of My Fair Lady was
held in New York way back in March
1956, but it has enchanted every
generation. Partly because of the genius
and imagination of George Bernard
Shaw, who composed the original
play about the flower girl, who was
transformed into a society belle. It was
an original story, which easily caught
the imagination. Partly because, those
who used Shaw’s original theme, were
themselves highly talented and astute.
There is no doubt that My Fair Lady
will live on and enchant generations to
come.
Do not miss one of the top
performances of the year. Tchaikovsky
and the Nutcracker are due to perform
at the ROHM on February 27 and 28.
— Photos by Khalid al Busaidi,
ROHM
FISHERMEN’S TRADITION
IT’S TO MAKE THEIR WISHES COME TRUE
QAARON TAM
C
A couple take a selfie as a child throws her wish onto the branches of a special
tree. — AFP
arnivals and fireworks are Hong
Kong’s trademark Chinese Lunar
New Year celebrations — but tens
of thousands of people also travel to a
remote village to hurl oranges at a tree in
hopes of making their wishes come true.
In a tradition stretching back more
than a century, visitors to the “wishing
tree” in Lam Tsuen — a village near the
city’s northern border — come from all
over the city and mainland China to take
part.
Queues of hopefuls write their wishes
on red pieces of paper, attach them to
oranges and throw the fruit at a tree in the
village square. If the orange lodges on a
branch, the wish will come true — or so
the belief goes.
A banyan tree used for the tradition
was replaced with a plastic replica after
an accident in 2005, which saw a branch
loaded with oranges snap off and injure
an elderly man and a child. Plastic fruit is
now also used.
But that has not put off the crowds of
annual visitors who started flocking to the
tree on Thursday and will do so for more
than a week over the holiday period.
“I wished happiness and good health
for my family. Everybody is looking for
a good sign,” Frank Fung, a 26-year-old
computer engineer, said after he landed
his wish on a tree branch with one throw.
“I wished to have a child last year and
now I am pregnant!” said Xiao Xiaomei,
in her 30s, who works in retail.
“It’s my first time here, I think it’s
wonderful, I think it’s traditional — it’s
real Hong Kong,” said Helen Friel, 27,
from Ireland, who has worked in Hong
Kong for three years as a teacher. “I
wished for good health and wealth for
my family.” The tradition was started by
Chinese fishermen who would write their
wishes onto paper and throw them onto
trees at the Lunar New Year, said Luke
Lam, organiser of the festival, who was
born in Lam Tsuen and has lived there
most of his life.
The fishermen would travel from the
city’s southern ports and visit temples to
make offerings to protective deities and
throw up wishes en route to the final
temple in Lam Tsuen, Lam said.
“They would also leave red packets
(containing money) attached to their
wishes — when I was little I opened the
red pockets after they left,” Lam said of
the fishermen’s offerings. It is a custom to
hand out red packets containing money
— known as lai see — to relatives, friends
and acquaintances during Chinese new
year.