1. religion and spirituality
2. islam

WEDNESDAY | APRIL 8, 2015 | JUMADA AL THANIA 18, 1436 AH
P20 FedEx to buy TNT for $4.8 bn to expand Europe deliveries
VOL. 34 NO. 145| PAGES 32 | BAISAS 200
P32 Canada glaciers to shrink by 70pc by 2100
P25 Al Harthy’s front running pace unrewarded
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
Private clinics shut
for violations
MUSCAT: Some private health
establishments were shut temporarily
for not meeting the requirements
stipulated by the Ministry of Health.
This was revealed by the Technical and
Administrative Violations Committee
at the Directorate-General of Private
Health Establishments. The committee
has also decided to withdraw the license
of two doctors, one of them for not
taking proper procedures for controlling
infections and practicing without proper
license and the other for practicing out of
the scope of his specialty. In addition to
this, a license of a doctor was withdrawn
due to unprofessional practice and also
cancelled licenses for two expats.
INSIDESTORIES
NEPAL POLICE, PROTESTERS
CLASH DURING STRIKE
P7
FULL-TIME STAFF TO
PROTECT NRIS MOOTED
P11
[email protected]
UNIQUE HUMANITARIAN AID
OUT OF YEMEN: Countries hail Sultanate for helping in evacuating their citizens
Food safety
centre to open
soon in Oman
KAUSHALENDRA SINGH
SALALAH
STAFF REPORTER
MUSCAT
April 7: The foreign embassies in
Oman hailed the Sultanate for offering
humanitarian support in the evacuation
of their nationals trapped in war-torn
Yemen. To facilitate their nationals’
evacuation, some of the embassies
have set up humanitarian aid offices
in Salalah, while some of them are
facilitating the services through their
social clubs.
Ambassadors of Indonesia, Malaysia
and Jordon termed the Sultanate’s
support as ‘unique humanitarian aid’
for the people trapped in a foreign land
and left to fend for themselves. They
appreciated professional handling of the
situation by Omani officials at the ports,
airports and land borders in evacuating
their nationals while following rules,
regulations and laid down systems.
“We, on behalf of the Indonesian
Government and people do value His
Majesty Sultan Qaboos and the Omani
Government for the kind support and
assistance rendered to the Indonesian
rescue team. The Omani authorities are
P14
WEATHER TODAY
MUSCAT
MAX: 320C
MIN: 260C
SALALAH
MAX: 300C
MIN: 230C
SUNRISE 05.51 AM
PRAYER TIMINGS
FAJR: 04:32
DHUHR: 12:08
ASR: 15:36
MAGHRIB: 18:24
ISHA: 19:54
NIZWA
MAX: 370C
MIN: 240C
Umardin A Mutalib, Malaysian
Ambassador in Oman, echoed the same
feeling and said, “I witnessed their sense
of judgement and humanitarian bent
while facilitating rescue of Malaysians
from Yemen. Zuhair Ensour, Jordanian
Ambassador in Oman, expressed
appreciation to the Sultanate’s Foreign
Office in making things easy for the
Jordanian nationals who wanted to have
safe exit from Yemen.
“A group of 13 students got
evacuated from Hadramout and arrived
in Salalah after due procedure and
travel documents. They would travel
to Amman on Wednesday via Doha. I
thank the Omani authorities for making
things easy for us and our nationals,
who were looking for avenues to get out
of Yemen,” said Ensour.
Among the 13 Jordanian evacuees
are 12 men and one woman, all
medical students of the University
of Hadramaut. “Out of a total of 600
Jordanian medical students with office-bearers of Jordanian Social Club Salalah.
Jordanians living in Yemen, 300 have
very professional and honest in helping Government for their assistance and managed to evacuate, while we have
us. Again from the bottom of my heart, support,” said Sukanto, Ambassador of a challenge to evacuate the rest of the
I convey my appreciation to the Omani the Republic of Indonesia.
people,” said Ensour.
TURN TO P5
57 per cent rise in Omanis
visiting India for medicare
VINOD NAIR
MUSCAT
40PC FLIGHTS SCRAPPED
OVER FRENCH AIRSPACE
Explosion hits China chemical plant Russia looks to Africa for more trade Blasts rock Ukraine city of Kharkiv April 7: Indian hospitals should explore
the possibility of setting up joint ventures
with their counterparts in Oman, said
Redha bin Juma al Saleh, Vice Chairman
of Oman Chamber of Commerce and
Industry for Administration and Finance
Affairs.
He was speaking to the Observer on the
issue of whether having more specialised
hospitals here will help Omanis to have
treatment in the country rather than going
abroad, except for specialised needs.
J S Mukul, Ambassador of India to
the Sultanate, said that India’s specialty
hospitals should use the platform provided
by the Indian Medical Tourism Destination
(IMTD) Exhibition to explore setting up
healthcare centres in Oman, especially
in the Medical City project planned by
the Ministry of Health in Muscat. Mukul
said the year 2015 marks the diamond
jubilee of Indo-Oman relations as the first
consulate was opened in Muscat in 1955.
He said the number of visas issued by
the Indian Embassy in Muscat has gone
up by 38.6 per cent from 59,000 in 2013 to
81,822 in 2014. The number of visas issued
under the medical tourism has also gone
up by 57 per cent in 2013, in comparison
with the previous year.
Meanwhile, an exhibition and
Continued Medical Education program
(CME) titled ‘India — A destination for
Medical Tourism’ will be held at Crown
Plaza Muscat from April 12-13.
TURN TO P6
Power outage
leaves parts of US
capital in dark
WASHINGTON: Widespread power outages in the US
capital and its suburbs yesterday cut electricity to a number
of government buildings, including the White House
and State Department, and at several of the Smithsonian
museums.
The State Department’s daily news briefing was suspended
after power was lost. A department announcement said State
and other nearby buildings were affected because electricity
feeders were down. There was no indication of terrorism
in the outage, US government officials said on condition of
anonymity. The US Capitol complex was operating using a
backup generator, a congressional aide said.
A US official said the White House was without power for
a few minutes. That daily press briefing was delayed because
of the outage.
Some subway stations were running on backup power,
according to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit
Authority. The Smithsonian Institution said four museums,
including the National Air and Space Museum, had been
evacuated. Power company Pepco Holdings Inc was not
immediately available for comment. The company’s website
showed up to 81 customers without power in the District of
Columbia, and other outages in the Maryland suburbs.
Wallace Loh, president of the University of Maryland,
tweeted: “There is a problem with the electric feed to
campus. Pepco is working to restore the power.” — Reuters
April 7: The number of food
establishments in Oman has reached
50,000 and a Food Quality and Safety
Centre will be opened soon. The
ministry has completed works related
to inspection and laboratory analysis
to ensure safety of food in accordance
with specifications applied in the
Sultanate.
This was stated by Hamad
bin Sulaiman al Gharibi, UnderSecretary of the Ministry of Regional
Municipalities and Water Resources,
on sidelines of the Food Safety
Conference, which began at Al Bustan
Palace Hotel under the auspices of
Sayyid Hamoud bin Faisal al Busaidy,
Minister of Interior, yesterday.
He said more than 3,700 tonnes
of food, which failed to meet the
required specifications, was destroyed.
The ministry is working with
international organisations such as
Food and Agriculture Organisation
and the World Health Organisation in
ensuring food safety. SEE ALSO P4
2
OMAN OIL PRICE RISES 82 CENTS
W E D N E S DAY l A P R I L 8 l 2 0 1 5
OMAN
MSM DECLINES 0.02 POINT
Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) said
that Oman oil price (June delivery) has
reached $55.67. The DME statement on
Tuesday said that the price of Oman oil
rose 82 cents from the price of Monday,
which was $54.85. The average price
of Oman oil (April delivery 2015) has
stabilised at $56 and 21 cents, thus
$9.48 per barrel higher than March
delivery 2015.
Muscat Securities Market (MSM)
general index (30) on Tuesday lost 0.02
point, comprising a decline by 0.0003
per cent to close at 6,297.44 points,
compared to the last session, which
stood at 6,297.46 points. The trading
value on Tuesday stood at
RO 5.51 million, comprising a rise by
32.10 per cent compared to the last
session, which stood at RO 4.17 million.
Jurisprudence Sciences
Symposium continues
MUSCAT — The 14th edition of
the Development of Jurisprudence
Sciences Symposium continued
for the third day on Tuesday.
Held under the title “A new
approach for renewing Fiqh
(jurisprudence) and the religious
thinking”, the symposium is hosted
by the Ministry of Endowments
and Religious Affairs and brings
together scholars from all Muslim
countries to deliberate on ways of
renewing Islamic jurisprudence
and coping with the emerging
issues.
— ONA
Seminar on safe Shell signs contracts to train
use of social
103 Omanis for employment
networks
MUSCAT:
The
Information
Technology Authority (ITA) organised
a three-day training seminar at Best
Western Premier hotel under the
theme ‘Safe use of social networks and
enhancing their level of security”. The
seminar aims at raising security level
for the social network accounts of the
governmental agencies.
The training course covers a
number of themes, such as the
importance of social networks, the
reasons for their use, the criteria for
selecting the platform, managing
content on the social networks, and
criteria for monitoring individual
and organisational use of these
networks.
— ONA
MUSCAT:
Shell
Development
Company signed at its office in Mina
Al Fahl on Tuesday two contracts
for
the
Social
Investment
Programme.
The contracts are related to
training 103 Omanis at a cost of RO
354,600.
The two contracts were signed
by Chris Perez, President of Shell
Development Oman, Musallam al
Manthri, CEO of OPAL; Salim bin
Saleh al Siyabi, Executive Manager
of Technical and Administrative
Training Institute; and Laurence
Alpha, CEO of National Training
Institute.
Shell Development Oman will
cover the cost of the contract, which
includes six training programmes
on pipe laying, safety workers,
welding and tests.
The
training
programmes
will be under the supervision of
OPAL.
Chris Perez said that the
rehabilitation of the Omani youth is
one of our responsibilities towards
the Sultanate.
He pointed out that the training
for
employment
programme,
promoted by the company, is one
of the main pillars of the company’s
social investment plans.
More than 3,000 Omani youths
benefited from the training for
employment and training for
training programmes.
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
OMAN
SILVER WIND CRUISE SHIP CALLS AT SALALAH PORT
SALALAH: The cruise ship Silver Wind visited Salalah Port on Tuesday with 359 passengers on board, as part of its tour programme to a number of ports in the
Middle East and Europe. The tourism programme for the cruise ship included tours to the most important archeological and historical landmarks in the
Governorate of Dhofar, besides visiting the beaches and the traditional souqs in the Wilayat of Salalah. The ‘Silver Wind’ started its journey from Port Sultan
Qaboos in Muscat last Sunday as it will end its tour at the Port of Piraeus in the Greek capital, Athens.
— ONA
Majlis panel discusses
conditions of
private schools
MUSCAT: The Committee on Education and Scientific
Research at the Majlis Ash’shura discussed on Tuesday
its study entitled ‘Conditions of the Private Schools in the
Sultanate of Oman’ by hosting Dr Hamoud bin Khalfan al
Harthy, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Education for
Education and Curriculum, and some specialists from the
ministry.
The meeting was held under the chairmanship of
Mohammed bin Rashid al Qanobi, head of the committee,
to examine the ministry’s efforts on the follow-up and
management of private schools sector in the Sultanate.
Fatima Noorani, Director-General of the Private Schools
at the Ministry of Education, gave a presentation on several
themes, including the Directorate General of Private
Schools, its duties, mission and vision.
The meeting discussed a number of topics related to the
private schools in the Sultanate.
— ONA
omandailyobserver
3
4
omandailyobserver
OMAN
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
Food safety meet begins with focus on awareness
21 papers being presented at the
conference discuss six themes — halal
food, the risk levels of pesticide
residues in food products, food
industries and organic, inorganic
and biological contaminants,
pathogens transmitted through
food, mycotoxins and antibiotics in
food, and supervision and
control of food safety.
EMPHASIS: The important role played by raw material producers is underscored
ZAINAB AL NASSRI
MUSCAT
April 7: The Food Safety Conference
2015 kicked off on Tuesday at
Al Bustan Palace Hotel under
the auspices of Sayyid Hamoud
bin Faisal al Busaidy, Minister of
Interior, in the presence of a number
of ministers, under-secretaries,
members of the State Council and
food safety professionals. The twoday conference is organised by the
Ministry of Regional Municipalities
and Water Resources in cooperation
with various agencies under the
theme ‘Food Safety, the Responsibility
of Everyone’.
A large number of experts,
specialists and personnel working
in the field are participating in the
conference.
The meet aims at raising awareness
about the important role played by
raw material producers and the first
stages of the food chain. It also stresses
their effective role in controlling food
products safety and quality till they
reach the end users.
The 21 scientific papers to be
presented at the conference discuss
six themes namely, halal food, the
risk levels of pesticide residues in
food products, food industries and
organic, inorganic and biological
contaminants, pathogens transmitted
through food, mycotoxins and
antibiotics in food, and supervision
and control of food safety.
Hamed al Garebi, the Ministry’s
Under-Secretary, said that a lot of
modern techniques in food industry
have emerged and that led to change
related food habits and increase
health risks expected accordingly.
“Latest statistics released by World
Health Organization (WHO) stated
that food and water borne problems
cause annually two million deaths
around the world, mostly children”,
he said.
The ministry has developed,
in cooperation with authorities
concerned, a food safety system
based
on
scientific
studies.
Consequently, Food Safety Centre
has been established and soon it will
be operational.
“There is also the Strategic
Programme of Food Safety which is
adopted by the Scientific Research
Council. It is studying micobiological
and
chemical
contaminating
elements in food, genetically
modified food, eating habits in
Omani society and their impacts on
their health, local legislation related
to food safety compared to regional
and international standards, and
building national abilities in same
field”, Al Garebi added.
He pointed out that there are
50,000 food establishments spread
all over the Sultanate until the end of
2014, mentioning that 3,700 tonnes of
food had been destroyed because they
didn’t maintain certified standards.
A visual display of the conference
topic was shown aiming to raise
awareness about the danger of
microbiological
and
chemical
contaminating elements in food. A
presentation on the strategic plan of
the WHO in the field of food safety
(2013-2022) was given by Dr Usama
Maher in which he spoke about
variant food and food poisoning.
He also shed light on relationship
between human beings’ health and
animals’ health, analysed risks and
consumers demands.
On the sidelines of the conference,
an exhibition is being held at Majan
Hall in the hotel with the participation
of food institutions, enterprises and
companies in order to show their
efforts in the areas of food safety and
quality.
Wednesday’s programme includes
discussion on three main aspects:
Pathogens transferred via food; reality
and challenges, fungus poisons,
antibiotics in food, and techniques
used to monitor food safety.
Earlier this week, two workshops
dealing with food affairs were held
with the participation of about 300
people from different food related
fields. The first workshop titled
“Agricultural Pesticides” included a
number of sub-themes, such as the
related national and international
laws and regulations. The second
workshop titled “Safety of Health
Practices in Food Establishments”
included several sub-themes targeting
health inspectors, technicians and
supervisors.
Photos by Shamsa al Harthi
We would like to have 170 weekly connections to India, says Oman Air CEO
More frequencies to India needed
LAKSHMI KOTHANETH
PANAJI
April 7: Oman Air would like to see
more frequencies to India, said Oman
Air’s Chief Executive Officer while
addressing the media in Goa.
“We would like to have 170
weekly connections to India. We
can do it easily but it depends on
how much economic value the
Indian government would give to
the matter. We are ready to start. If
we are looking at the GCC countries
and their connections, we feel Oman
Air is discriminated and we have
been fighting for more than two to
three years to get our bilateral stands
in place. More frequencies mean
investment in India and bridging
the strong cultural and economic
ties,” added Oman Air CEO Paul
Gregorowitsch.
He said the Indian market is
extremely important because 26
per cent of Oman’s national carrier’s
business is coming from the Indian
subcontinent. To Oman Observer’s
question, “If there would be one more
destination Oman Air would like
to fly to in India which one would it
be?” the CEO replied, “It is a mixed
basket of increasing frequencies to
existing destinations, we can think of
Kolkata, and the new airports that are
expected to open in 2016.” At present
Oman Air will fly weekly four times
to Goa.
Multiple
hard
work
has
resulted in Oman Air reaching
its 11th destination in India, said
Gregorowitsch, speaking at the press
conference with media members of
Goa held at Grand Hyatt.
It is the result of the hard work
by the ground, flight operations,
landing and touching down at new
airports, as well as contribution
by the commercial team who are
aware that they are carrying high
number of guests. It is contribution
to the economic development of the
country as well, he pointed out.
“Within two hours we are offering
from our hub by the end of next year
and from the new airport connections
from Europe to India. We must not
forget the other opportunities we
have with other GCC countries.
We have excellent connections to
the globe through our network,”
explained Gregorowitsch.
Oman Air has scheduled GoaLondon connectivity in such a way
that they have inbound and outbound
timings with connection flights.
“We also look at Goa to Portugal
to have an easier corridor by
travelling via Lisbon because there is
a strong number of people travelling
to Portugal. There is a large Goan
community working in the GCC
countries who until now had to
travel to Goa by using connectivity
flights within India such as landing
in Mumbai. Now they can fly directly
to Goa with Oman Air,” said Gopal
Ramarao, General Manager World
Wide Sales, Oman Air.
Oman Air contributes $ 1 billion
to the country’s economy which is
about RO 420 million. To the loss that
Oman Air faces the CEO explained,
“It is due to reasons such as opening
of new internal routes to Duqum,
Sohar in addition to Salalah which
are not commercially driven but are
necessary. There is also investment in
the infrastructure. We are investing
in international routes commercial
results of which will be seen soon.”
At the press meet Oman Air also
announced the new destination China and additional routes to Iran.
The exact destinations are yet to be
unveiled.
As part of the expansion plan,
Oman Air’s fleet has been receiving
a boost with A330 and B737 arriving
in the country. About 24 aircraft will
arrive with the Muscat-based carrier
between now and 2018, taking total
fleet numbers to around 50 aircraft.
OMAN
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
Learning, personal growth key
factors in job satisfaction: survey
omandailyobserver
CULTURAL
5
EXCHANGE
Over half of respondents believe they could easily find similar job in another organisation
MUSCAT: The Bayt.com ‘Job
Satisfaction in the Middle East
and North Africa’ survey, recently
conducted by Bayt.com, the Middle
East’s leading career site, and
YouGov, the pioneer of online market
research, has revealed that 87 per
cent of respondents in Oman find
it most important to work for an
organisation that encourages learning
and personal growth.
FACTORS AFFECTING JOB
SATISFACTION
The most important factor
related to job satisfaction in
Oman is “learning and personal
growth”, according to 87 per cent
of respondents. This is followed
by “the sense of achievement” (85
per cent), and “pay” (77 per cent).
Other important factors are: “team
spirit” (85 per cent), “doing what I
love” (76 per cent),” and “exercising
my creativity” (79 per cent). Oman
respondents place less importance on
“contributing to the community” (68
per cent) than their counterparts in
the Middle East and North Africa.
Overall, 45 per cent of respondents
enjoy coming to work every day;
38 per cent are satisfied with their
present job, with 16 per cent of
them being “very satisfied”. Twentyeight per cent of respondents see
themselves working for the same
company for the next two years,
while 58 per cent are actively trying to
move to another organisation. Over
half of respondents strongly believe
that they could easily find a similar
job in another organisation. A low
base salary (65 per cent) followed by
a lack of career growth opportunities
(60 per cent) are the main reasons for
leaving an organisation.
One fourth strongly believe
that their company’s environment
is happy and pleasant; 25 per cent
strongly think that the morale in their
company is high, while 30 per cent
have an opposite opinion.
In general, trust levels towards
both senior management and line
managers are low. Only a quarter
of Oman employees strongly trust
their line managers and senior
management.
The majority of respondents (61
per cent) say that the performance of
their organisation is either stable or
improving. Only 34 per cent believe
that their company shows an interest
in the well-being of its employees.
Forty-four per cent of respondents
claim that they have a good work-life
balance, while 22 per cent strongly
believe the opposite.
JOB BENEFITS AND TRAINING
On average, 58 per cent of
respondents have medical insurance
for themselves; 64 per cent have
holiday pay; and almost 1 out of 2
receive a sick pay.
In
terms
of
preference,
accommodation (47 per cent) and
medical insurance for family (27
per cent) and self (31 per cent) are
the most popular benefits. Oman
employees also prefer the following
benefits: flexible working hours
(27 per cent), holiday pay (23 per
cent), and school fees for children
(21 per cent). Fifty-five per cent of
respondents in Oman believe that
they use their skills and knowledge
to their full potential. On the other
hand, only 32 per cent say that they
have a clear career path within their
company. Almost half of respondents
(46 per cent) strongly think that
training in their company is not
designed in a way that would help
them grow professionally.
Suhail Masri, VP of Sales, Bayt.
com said: “It is interesting to see
that only 25 per cent of respondents
are happy with training in their
company, when the most important
factor related to job satisfaction in
the region is learning and personal
growth. Companies should thus
invest more time and effort in training
their employees, ensuring that they
have a clear career path, satisfying
pay, and a job that gives them a sense
of achievement and the opportunity
to give back to their community.”
He continued: “At Bayt.com, our
mission has always been to empower
people with the tools and technologies
to build their lifestyle of choice, and
we want to empower employers by
sharing valuable insights into the
minds of professionals in the region
so they can make better decisions
when it comes to hiring and retaining
their top talent. Tools like Bayt.com’s
Company Profiles are a great way for
companies to push their recruitment
efforts through effective corporate
branding.”
“It is through this kind of market
research that the job landscape
can begin to change from both
the employer and the employee’s
perspective,” said Elissavet Vraka,
YouGov.
“Results from the survey show
that salary is indeed one of the most
important factors for job satisfaction
throughout the region, but other
attributes — such as personal
learning and growth — are of equal
importance. Such results should
provide a clear idea to companies
who want to build a happy, engaged
and loyal workforce — one that wants
to stick around and come to work
every day.”
Data for the Bayt.com “Job
Satisfaction in the Middle East and
North Africa” survey was collected
online throughout March 2015, with
5,774 respondents, all of whom were
employed men and women over the
age of 18 years old.
The survey polled people from
varying nationalities including GCC
Arabs, North Africans, Levant, and
Western and Asian expats from the
UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,
Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan,
Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
Oman’s humanitarian help hailed
FROM PAGE 1
Medical student Mohammed Abu
Ahmed took initiative to contact with
the Jordanian Embassy in Muscat
and Hussain al Zoubi, Chairman of
Jordanian Social Club in Salalah. The
mission took up the matter with the
Omani authorities and the processes
for their safe exist started.
Put up in a club’s accommodation
in Salalah, the students are happy over
their safe exit, as they have spoken
already to their parents back home
confirming their safety and arrival in
Amman today.
According to the Indonesian
ambassador, “the total number of
Indonesian nationals in Yemen is
about 4,000. So far about 400 have
already been evacuated and arrived
safely in Indonesia. Our strategy for
evacuation is to move the people to
a safe place first. Oman is one of the
best alternatives for them to transit
while waiting for further arrangement
to fly them to Indonesia.”
“Since there are no airports open
currently in the Yemeni territory, the
only possible way to move them out of
Yemen either by land transportation
or by sea,” said Sukanto and added,
“so far our rescue team, lead by
Indonesian foreign minister, has
succeeded in evacuating them out
of Yemeni territory by bus to Al
Jizan in Saudi Arabia, and then they
are transported by the Indonesian
Air Force Boeng 737 aircraft to
Muscat, and then to Indonesia by
commercial flight.” The Indonesian
Mission is expecting arrival of about
40 Indonesians from the City of
Tareem in Hadramout, while the Thai
Mission in Muscat has also launched
efforts to rescue about 193 Thai
nationals trapped in Hadarmaut.
The embassies are also doing
joint efforts to help each other by
sharing logistics and information
about rescue vessels or other means
of transport to send their nationals to
safer locations.
Career Fair on April 15
STAFF REPORTER
MUSCAT
April 7: Waljat College of Applied Sciences (WCAS) is all set
to host a grand career fair on its campus in KOM, Rusayl on
April 15 under the auspices of Issa Haider Hassan al Balushi,
Director, Employment Department, Ministry of Manpower.
The sixth Career Fair of WCAS is also open to all students,
says Prof S L Gupta, Dean, WCAS. This fair aims to provide
opportunities to the corporate world to interact with bright
and deserving candidates during the event.
This is an excellent forum for prospective employers to
network with potential candidates and to promote their
corporate brand names, as well as showcase products and
services to a vast audience.
This career fair will bring together some major industries
and other organisations based in Oman.
It would provide the students and WCAS alumni a
common platform to meet and gather employment and
career related information from employers, as well as the
opportunity to submit their resume for consideration to
prospective employers. Around 40 companies from different
sectors, including Banking, Construction, Shipping, Trading,
Manufacturing, Education and Training, have confirmed their
participation in this event.
The Career Fair 2015 provides a platform to the students
and the Alumni of WCAS, with Executive Masters in Business
Administration (EMBA), Masters in Business Administration
(MBA), Bachelor of Engineering (CS/EC/Biotech), Bachelor
of Computer Applications (BCA), Bachelor of Business
Administration (BBA), and Diploma holders in respective
fields, to interact with the officials of different companies and
explore successful training and placement opportunities.
SQU, Kennesaw varsity
communities share
cultures and values
MUSCAT: As part of the cultural exchange
programmes of Sultan Qaboos University
with international universities, the faculty
learning community from Kennesaw State
University in the US is visiting SQU.
As part of the visit programme, the US
university team including faculty members
and students will spend two weeks in Oman
visiting different places of historical and
cultural significance and tourist attractions.
At SQU, the Kennesaw State University
delegation was received by Dr Ali bin Saud
al Bimani, the Vice-Chancellor, and Her
Highness Sayyida Dr Mona bint Fahd al Said,
Assistant Vice-Chancellor for International
Cooperation, and other officials from the
International Cooperation Office.
The visiting students and faculty members
reviewed their experience in Oman focusing
on its natural beauty, warm hospitality and
friendliness of the people, and geological
wonders.
Kennesaw University delegation consists
of by Danier J Paracka, Professor of Education
and Director, Academic Initiatives; Douglas
R Moodie, Professor of Management and
Assistant International Officer; Sandra Bird,
Professor of Art Education; and other faculty
members and students.
The two sides also reviewed the existing
ties between SQU and Kennesaw State
University and discussed ways to boost the
ties through exchange of students, staff and
faculty members.
Special attention was given to academic
collaboration in nursing and Arabic language
teaching and other areas of mutual interest.
After visiting the Cultural Centre, the
delegation met the Dean of the College of
Arts & Social Sciences at SQU, and interacted
with the faculty members and students.
They listened to presentations on climate
change in Oman, archaeology of Oman,
seafaring tradition of Oman, Omani music
and arts, date cultivation and production
in the Sultanate, and Omani women
community.
The team also visited the Agricultural
Experimental Station. During their visit to
SQU, the US delegation will give talks on US
life and culture, foreign students in the US,
and other topic of mutual interest.
6
OMAN
omandailyobserver
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
Rafo Commander distributes Omantel provides Grow
Biz
service
to
SMEs
excellence certificates
MUSCAT: As part of its continuous
efforts to support SMEs, Omantel
— a leading telecom provider in the
Sultanate — announced the launch
of Grow Biz service cloud service that
offers features similar to traditional PBX
by allowing subscribers
to combine traditional
telephony features with
enhanced IP switching.
Commenting
on
the new service, Adel
bin Yousuf al Awadhi,
Communication
Solutions Manager, said
“SMEs have become
an integral part of the
business landscape in
Oman and the government is extending
all the required support to ensure the
growth of this important sector. We
are glad to join these efforts again by
offering a unique service to SMEs,
which will contribute to enhancing
productivity and performance of small
MUSCAT: Air Vice Marshal Matar
bin Ali al Obaidani, Commander
of the Royal Air Force of Oman
(Rafo), on Tuesday distributed the
certificates of excellence to a number
of distinguished RAFO personnel
at Masirah Air Base in appreciation
of their efforts and excellence in a
number of activities.
RAFO Commander also pinned the
long service and good conduct medals
on a number commissioned and noncommissioned officers, and personnel
of Masirah Air Base in appreciation of
their efforts in the work.
The occasion was attended by
Air Commodore Said bin Salim
al Shibli, Director General of
Administration and Manpower at
RAFO Command, Commander of
Masirah Air Base, a number of senior
officers, commissioned and noncommissioned officers and personnel
at Masirah Air Base. — ONA
and medium enterprises.
“Grow Biz is one of the fixed
lines value added services that allow
subscribers to get features similar to
traditional PBX system thus eliminating
the need to fix physical PBX, which are
typically managed by
an operator. Through
the new service, SMEs
will receive additional
benefits such as call
waiting, free calls
within the company or
other branches, selfhunting, short dial
feature, call pickup
and remotely set call
forwarding and other
services.”
The service is offered at a very
competitive monthly rate of RO 2.500
only that will be added to the monthly
subscription for fixed line subscribers.
Customers of unlimited packages will
pay only RO 1.
IN COMPARISON: Al Dhahirah Governorate witnessed the highest inflation rate with 1.78 per cent
Inflation records 0.68 pc rise in March
MUSCAT: The latest statistics issued by
the National Centre for Statistics and
Information (NCSI) about the indices
of Consumer Prices in the Sultanate
showed that the inflation rate last
March 2015 increased by 0.68 per cent
compared to the rate recorded during
the same period last year while it logged
a 0.11 per cent decrease compared to
rate recorded during February 2015.
The increasing price index during last
March compared to the index recorded
during the same month in 2014 is
attributed to the increasing prices of all
the main sets constituting the consumer
basket except for the foodstuffs and nonalcoholic beverages set whose prices
decreased with 0.85 per cent, in addition
HIGHER EDUCATION
Over 105,000
students
registered
MUSCAT: The statistics department
at the Higher Education Admission
Centre issued the annual statistical
report on the number of students at
higher education institutions. Private
higher education institutions have the
highest number of students followed
by technical colleges, Sultan Qaboos
University (SQU), the colleges of
applied sciences, health institutes,
the security and military academies
and finally the Institute of Sharia
Sciences.
The specialisations of commerce
and management have the highest
number of programmes in different
higher education institutions. Other
specialisations such as religions,
philosophy
and
environmental
sciences have the least number
of programmes, said Maitha al
Lawatiyah, Assistant Director of the
Statistics Department in an interview
with Oman Arabic, sister publication
of the Observer.
A total number of 105,097
students are currently registered
at the Sultanate’s higher education
institutions. Graduates numbered
16,675 in various specialisations at all
the stages of higher education.
The highest number of students
are registered in the commerce and
management specialisations which
account for 28.1 per cent of the total
number of students. Students with
special needs numbered 275 of whom
42.18 per cent study at government
institutions, 41.09 per cent study at
private institutions and 16.73 per cent
obtained scholarships.
The report showed that 31.84
per cent of the employees at higher
education institutions are Master’s
degree holders and 23.73 per cent have
bachelor’s degree. Academics account
for 49.6 per cent of the employees at
the higher education institutions.
to the clothes and shoes set whose prices
decreased with 1.29 per cent.
Among the most significant sets
that recorded an increase in its prices
last March compared to the prices
recorded in the same month 2014
are the accommodation, water, gas
and other fuel types that increased
with 0.42 per cent, the household
appliances, equipment and customary
maintenance set whose prices increased
with 6.15 per cent and the health set
that recorded a 5.79 per cent increase.
The transportation set logged a 1.13 per
cent increase while the communications
set recorded a 4.8 per cent increase. For
its part, the education set logged an
increase of 4.5 per cent.
The increasing price index
during last March compared
to the index during the
same month in 2014 is due
to the rise in prices of all the
main sets constituting the
consumer basket
On the other hand, the prices of
milk, cheese and eggs increased with
0.64 per cent. Also, the prices of oil and
fats increased with 0.25 per cent while
the prices of fruits increased with 0.27
per cent. The non-alcoholic beverages
increased with 0.17 per cent.
The fishes and seafood set led the
decrease in the foodstuffs and nonalcoholic beverages set as it recorded a
6.82 per cent decrease. The vegetable set
also recorded a 0.43 per cent decrease.
At the governorates’ level, the
inflation rate during last February
recorded an increase in all governorates
of the Sultanate compared to the rate
recorded during the same month of the
last year.
Al Dhahirah Governorate witnessed
the highest inflation rate with 1.78 per
cent, followed by Dhofar Governorate
with an inflation rate of 1.45 per cent.
The North and South Al Sharqiyah
Governorates came third on the list with
0.68 per cent. The inflation rate recorded
in Muscat reached 0.65 per cent while it
reached 0.51 per cent in Al Dakhiliyah
Governorate and 0.42 per cent in the
North Al Batinah Governorate.
Compared to the previous month,
the general index of consumer prices
decreased with 0.11 per cent. The
foodstuffs and non-alcoholic beverages
set witnessed a 0.4 per cent decrease. The
clothes and shoes set also decreased with
0.01 per cent. On the other hand, the
accommodation, water, gas and other
fuel types increased with 0.01 per cent
while the miscellaneous commodities
and services set decreased with 0.15
per cent. The transportation set also
decreased with 0.2 per cent while the
other remaining sets witnessed stability
or slight changes in their prices. — ONA
Sultanate selected as AARDO Vice-President
PORT LOUIS: The Sultanate
was selected vice-president of the
Asian-African Rural Development
Organisation (AARDO) for Asia for
the period 2015-2017.
The selection came during the
participation of the Sultanate,
represented by the Ministry of
Agriculture and Fisheries, in the
meetings of the 65th and 66th
sessions of the AARDO Executive
Committee and the18th Conference
in the Republic of Mauritius.
The Sultanate was represented
in the meetings by Dr Is’haq bin
Ahmed al Ruqaishi, Adviser at
the Ministry of Agriculture and
Fisheries, and Ya’aqoub bin Khalfan al
Busaidi, Executive Director of
the Agricultural and Fishery
Development Fund.
The selection of the Sultanate
for this position comes for its major
role and efforts in the field of rural
development and its effective role in
human capacity building and interest
in small and medium-sized projects.
— ONA
Oman at French Documents seminar in Paris
IN BRIEF
OCCI team
meets Turkish
counterparts
in Ankara
ANKARA: The delegation of Oman
Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(OCCI) held a bilateral meetings
with their Turkish counterparts in
Ankara on Tuesday during which
they discussed fields of cooperation,
partnership
and
investment
opportunities.
Members of the OCCI delegation,
led by Ahmed bin Abdullkarim al
Hooti, Head of Small and Mediumsize Enterprises Committee (SMEs),
received a number of Turkish
businessmen. The OCCI delegation
also visited wood, furniture and
kitchen factories, when they were
briefed on those factories in terms of
their types and volume of production.
During the visits, the two sides
discussed potential of cooperation
and benefiting from high quality
Turkish industries in the Omani
market through striking partnerships
and benefiting from the Turkish
expertise in the field of furniture
manufacturing to meet the local
market needs in the Sultanate.
The OCCI business delegation
will take part in the 3rd Furniture
and Decoration Fair 2015, in Ankara,
which is considered an excellent stage
for traders interested in this industry
to unveil their latest products, plans
and cooperation with new partners.
OCCI delegation for Qatar: The
Mining and Quarries Committee at
the Oman Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (OCCI) today held
a coordination meeting to discuss
sending a delegation of businessmen
working in the mining and quarries
sector to the State of Qatar over the
next week.
The visit aims to meet with
the Qatari businessmen and
representatives of a number of
specialized companies in the field of
mining and quarries. The delegation
will also visit a specialised port in the
process of loading and unloading of
mineral materials.
Italian military
official received
SALALAH: Sayyid Mohammed
bin Sultan al Busaidy, Minister of
the State and Governor of Dhofar,
received in his office on Tuesday
Captain Onofrio Marco Frumusa,
Commander of the Italian Frigate
“Grecale,” while anchored at Salalah
Port.
The meeting exchanged
cordial conversations and matters of
common concern to the two friendly
countries. — ONA
57 per cent
rise in Omanis
visiting India
PARIS: Oman at the French Documents
seminar, organised by the National
Records and Archives Authority
(NRAA), kicked off at Paris on Tuesday.
The event is organised, in
coordination with the Sultanate’s
Embassy in Paris, and in collaboration
with the French Diplomatic Archive
Centre, the Archive of the French
Ministry of Defence and the Archives
Nationales (National Archives of
France).
On the sidelines of the seminar, an
MoU in the field of documents and
archives was signed between NRAA
and the National Archive of France. It
also included an Omani exhibition for
documents, which will run through till
April 10.
Shaikh Humaid bin Ali al Ma’ani,
Sultanate’s Ambassador to France,
delivered a speech where he said that
the Sultanate welcomes enhancing
cultural and scientific exchange. It also
encourages the understanding of the
past as a train that takes us to the future.
The Director of Institute du Monde
Arabe (Arab World Institute) Jack Lang
affirmed at his speech that the relations
between the Sultanate and France are
deep-rooted and date back to 1660 when
the Omani marine trade was flourishing
at the 17th and 18th century.
The Director of the National Archive
of France highlighted the importance
of history and the relations between the
Sultanate and France.
Dr Hamad bin Mohammed al
Dhoyani, Chairman of NRAA, delivered
a speech where he said that NRAA
strives to highlight the historic relations
by organising documentary seminars
and exhibitions that highlight the
Sultanate’s relations with many countries
of the world.
The seminar highlights the existing
relations, as well as the cultural,
historical and military aspects of Oman.
The seminar covers a number
important themes that evolve around
the trade relations between the Sultanate
and France in the age of Sayyid Said bin
Sultan 1806-1856. The seminar will also
highlight a number of political issues in
the Omani French relations through the
National Archive of France 1844-1907.
The MoU, which was signed by Dr
Hamad bin Mohammed al Dhoyani,
Chairman of NRAA, on behalf of the
Sultanate and the Director of Archives
at the French Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and International Development,
provides for exchange of archives and
search tools, as well as publications and
researches on these documents.
The exhibition, which will continue
up to 10th April, aims at highlighting the
rich documents of historic value in the
Sultanate. It also displays the documents
that represent the Omani relations with
France in particular and with countries
of the world in general. — ONA
FROM PAGE 1
The
concept
behind
this
programme is to develop strategic
partnership in medical and holistic
healthcare sector between India,
Oman and some other countries
of the region, as well as to promote
the quality of healthcare services
available at affordable prices in India.
The event also aims to improve the
efficacy of healthcare delivery and
to build its capacities to deal with
healthcare problems and provide
treatment solutions in the Gulf
countries.
The forum will serve as a platform
for exchanging ideas and services,
and coming up with a new vision for
the future of the burgeoning medical
industry between India and the
Middle East.
This conference is expected to be
a value addition to the expanding
business and trade ties between
India and the Middle East as there
are tremendous opportunities for
educational institutions, medical
practitioners, business enterprises,
healthcare professional and providers
in the region.
CRACKDOWN ON HAWKERS IN JAKARTA
A street vendor
pulls a cart with his
mannequins during
a sweep operation by
Civil Service policemen
against illegal street
vendors, which caused
traffic congestion at
Tanah Abang market
in Jakarta, on Tuesday.
70TH ANNIVERSARY OF WORLD WAR-II
W E D N E S DAY l A P R I L 8 l 2 0 1 5
Surviving former crew members of
Japan’s Imperial Navy battleship
Yamato and descendants of her
crew attend a memorial service for
the ship’s 3,000 crew on the 70th
anniversary of Yamato’s sinking
during World War-II, before a
monument at Kure in Hiroshima
on Tuesday. The Yamato was sunk
in East China Sea.
7
ASIA
Chemical plant blast, anti-pollution protest in China
CAUSE & EFFECT: The explosion and blaze came amid reports of a crackdown on environmental protests in China’s Inner Mongolia region
BEIJING: More than 800 firefighters
battled for almost 24 hours to put out
a vast fire at a controversial chemical
plant in the Chinese city of Zhangzhou,
state media said on Tuesday, the second
accident at the site in two years.
The explosion and blaze came
amid reports of a police crackdown on
environmental protests in China’s Inner
Mongolia region some 2,200 kms away,
sparked by waste discharged by local
chemical plants onto grazing land.
Government officials in Inner
Mongolia vowed to shut down several
plants after the protests, in which
thousands of police were said to have
used tear gas and batons.
Large and sometimes violent protests
against factories have become more
common in China in recent years, where
industry is a cause of widespread air,
water and soil pollution.
Footage broadcast by CCTV News
of the Zhangzhou blast showed flames
billowing into the air following the
explosion at the plant producing
paraxylene — a chemical commonly
known as PX and used to make fabric —
in the eastern province of Fujian.
The explosion, said to have been
triggered by an oil leak, occurred on
Monday evening, with the official news
agency Xinhua saying that witnesses
reported feeling a tremor as far as 50
kms away. Some 829 firefighters battled
the blaze, the agency said, and it was put
out after 21 hours.
No fatalities were reported, but
conflicting reports put the number
of injured at six or 19. Proposals for
plants producing PX, a flammable
and carcinogenic liquid used in the
production of polyester films and
fabrics, have sparked large protests in
several Chinese cities in recent years
over perceived health risks.
The Zhangzhou PX plant was
originally slated to be built in the nearby
coastal city of Xiamen, but was moved to
its present site after thousands took part
in a protest in 2007.
In Inner Mongolia, dozens of
people were arrested at the weekend
when around 2,000 police broke up
demonstrations in Naiman Banner, a
mainly rural region, according to the
US-based Southern Mongolian Human
Rights Information Centre (SMHRIC).
Pictures posted online showed people
gathering on a countryside road beside
an overturned police car, as well as riot
police with shields and dogs. Used tear
gas canisters lay on the ground. One
banner hanging over a roadblock read:
“Push out the chemicals, give us back
— AFP
clean water and blue skies.”
Firefighters battle a blaze
after an explosion at a
paraxylene factory in
Zhangzhou, east China’s
Fujian province on
Tuesday. — AFP
Myanmar militia proposes rebel summit
YANGON: Myanmar’s most powerful
ethnic minority militia has made a
rare invitation to insurgent groups
negotiating peace with the government
to meet at its headquarters, a member
of the team negotiating with the
government said on Tuesday.
Myanmar’s complicated ethnic
minority politics have been a source of
strife for decades and remain a potential
flashpoint as the country emerges from
decades of strict military rule.
The militia force, the United Wa
State Army (USWA), operates in
northeastern Myanmar’s Shan State and
controls zones on both the Chinese and
Thai borders.
The group was formed after the
collapse of Myanmar’s communist
insurgency in 1989 and has operated
under a ceasefire with government
forces since then, prospering from
various businesses, including drugs,
according to the United States, and
building up a formidable force.
Despite the ceasefire between the Wa
and the army, speculation occasionally
builds that government forces will move
against the Wa to take control of their
zones and eliminate any threat they
pose.
The Wa have not been fully involved
in the separate peace talks that began
in 2013 and resulted last week in a
draft nationwide ceasefire between 16
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s attorney general
said on Tuesday that 10 death-row
convicts including two Australian drug
smugglers would be executed together
for the sake of ‘efficiency,’ a report said.
A Jakarta court on Monday rejected
a last-ditch appeal filed by Australians
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran
challenging the president’s refusal to
grant them clemency. But two other
convicts from different cases — Nigerian
Silvester Anderson and Serge Atlaoui of
France — still have their appeals pending,
so the others could be not be executed
yet, Muhammad Prasetyo said. “I think
doing it at the same time is better in
terms of efficiency, effectiveness and
security,” Prasetyo was quoted as saying
by Viva.co.id news website.
He said legal challenges after the
convicts’ failed requests for presidential
clemency were unusual, but the
government was willing to wait. “It
should have been over, but when there
are challenges... we respect them,” he
reportedly said. — dpa
War games, not flexing muscles: Philippines
Myanmar student protesters and activists gesture from a departing police truck following a court hearing in Letpadan on
Tuesday. Dozens of students arrived at court for a hearing after they were arrested in a police crackdown on a student-led
protest that sparked international alarm. — AFP
minority factions and the government.
The Wa invitation to some of the
factions that signed the draft to gather
at their headquarters on the border with
China was a mystery, the member of the
truce negotiating team said.
“We have to make sure why they
called, what their aim is to receive
Lanka Parliament rejects
raising $3 billion in bonds
COLOMBO:
Sri Lanka’s new
government suffered its first setback
in Parliament on Tuesday when its
proposal to raise the state borrowing
limit by over $3 billion was shot down
by legislators after a heated debate.
The government of Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe had asked the
225-member legislature to approve
raising the Treasury Bond limit by
Rs 400 billion ($3 billion) to Rs 1,250
billion. MPs voted 31 in favour and 52
against in what analysts saw as a major
embarrassment for the government.
There was no immediate reaction
from the government to the shock
defeat. But earlier in the day the ruling
party said it needed more money to
meet spending commitments made by
the previous regime.
The government came to power
after Maithripala Sirisena won the
backing of most of the Opposition
and defeated strongman President
Mahinda Rajapakse, who had ruled the
country for a decade. Despite lacking
a parliamentary majority, Sirisena
appointed the then-opposition leader
Wickremesinghe to form a minority
government. Tuesday’s vote exposed its
vulnerability.
Sirisena came to power promising
IN BRIEF
Indonesia Attorney General says 10 convicts
to be executed together for efficiency
Maithripala Sirisena
to scrap the executive presidency and
return the country to a parliamentary
democracy.
In his election manifesto, he
promised to dissolve parliament on
April 23 and call a fresh parliamentary
election after establishing democratic
institutions to run the public service,
the police, the elections department
and the judiciary.
Higher education minister Rajiva
Wijesinghe resigned last month,
saying political reforms had not gone
far enough. The new government has
drafted a constitutional provision to
reduce some of the president’s executive
powers and a two-day debate is
scheduled from Thursday.
— AFP
us,” Hkun Okker, a member of the
Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination
Team, said.
UWSA officials were not available for
comment.
Myanmar’s
semi-civilian
government, which took power in
2011 after 49 years of military rule,
has made ending hostilities with the
many groups that have taken up arms
since independence in 1948 one of its
priorities.
The UWSA, which once received
support and arms from China, has an
estimated 30,000 troops, is led by ethnic
Chinese commanders.
— Reuters
MANILA: About 11,500 US and Philippine
troops will take part in annual military
exercises this month near disputed waters
in the South China Sea, the Philippine
military said on Tuesday, while denying
the drills were a show of force to China.
The number of troops taking part in the
exercises will be the largest since the allies
resumed joint military exercises in 2000.
The Philippine military said the joint
exercises were not aimed at countering
China, which has been undertaking land
reclamation on tiny reefs and islands
in the Spratly islands, which both allies
say is a threat to peace and stability.
“This has no direct relationship with the
ongoing construction of structures, not
a show of force,” said military spokesman
Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Cabunoc. “The
joint exercises are designed to increase
our capability to defend our country from
external aggression. It is to test how ready
and how effective we can operate with
our American allies in both humanitarian
and security operations.” China claims
most of the potentially energy-rich South
China Sea, through which $5 trillion in
ship-borne trade passes every year. The
Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and
Taiwan also have overlapping claims.
China has rejected diplomatic protests
by the Philippines and Vietnam and
criticism from the United States over
its reclamation work on reefs and tiny
islands, saying it falls “within the scope
of China’s sovereignty”. More than 5,000
Filipino and 6,000 American soldiers
will take part in the 10-day exercises on
western Palawan island, Zambales, and
Pampanga provinces. — Reuters
Nepal statute: Police, protesters clash
KATHMANDU:
Stone-throwing
Nepali Opposition protesters, led by
Maoists, clashed with police in the
capital on Tuesday as they enforced
a three-day nationwide shutdown of
schools, business and transport in the
latest violence to mar talks over a new
constitution.
Police in helmets and carrying shields
fired tear gas to stop protesters attacking
vehicles near the prime minister’s office,
police official Kamal Singh Bam said.
The protesters burnt a taxi after dousing
it with petrol.
The Himalayan nation wedged
between India and China emerged in
2006 from a civil war led by the Maoists
that left 17,000 dead. It abolished the
monarchy in 2008.
Politicians have missed several
deadlines to agree on a new charter for
the fledgling republic, and turmoil has
increased in recent months. At least
two activists were injured in Tuesday’s
clashes, a protest organiser said.
An opposition front led by Maoist
former rebels sponsored the biggest
nationwide shutdown in five years
to press the coalition government to
seek consensus on the first republican
constitution, seen as vital to ending
instability.
“The strike is to exert pressure on the
government that has not listened to our
demands in negotiations,” Maoist leader
Nepalese police extinguish a burning motor-bike which was set alight by protesters during a three day nationwide strike led by
the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) in Kathmandu on Tuesday. Police fired tear gas and arrested dozens of
demonstrators for trying to enforce the strike to protest against the government’s plan to push through a new constitution
without Opposition agreement. — AFP
Dinanath Sharma said.
From dawn, opposition activists
waving red hammer and sickle flags
fanned across Kathmandu to enforce the
strike. Elsewhere, activists threw stones
and damaged half a dozen vehicles
but no serious injuries were reported,
Bam said. Two dozen protesters were
detained.
Pashupati Murarka, of the Federation
of the Nepalese Chambers of Commerce
and Industry (FNCCI), said one day
of shutdown caused losses worth $20
million and would scare away tourists
and investors and deny work to
thousands of daily wage earners.
“I am sick of the strike,” said Dipak
Adhikari, a government employee who
had to walk 8 km (five miles) to work.
“I think it only adds people’s hatred
towards the organisers.”
— Reuters
8
ANALYSIS
omandailyobserver
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
THE PARAMETERS
OF IRANIAN DEAL
B
eware diplomats bearing fact sheets; they rarely reveal the whole truth. The nuclear
negotiations in Lausanne have already produced three separate fact sheets, issued
by the United States, Iran and France, each highlighting different aspects of the
emerging agreement.
But under all three versions, Iran’s oil exports are likely to rise in 2016. The
battle of the fact sheets confirms the first rule of analysis: never trust a summary
produced by someone else, always go back to the original documents.
In this instance, there is no final document setting out all the undertakings by
the various parties because there are still significant areas of disagreement.
By reading the fact sheets side by side, however, the outlines of an eventual deal
between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security
Council plus Germany (P5+1) are now reasonably clear.
The basic bargain allows Iran to maintain and gradually develop a complete
fuel cycle in exchange for tough restrictions and inspections to ensure its activities
have exclusively civilian uses.
It aims to ensure it would take a year or
By reading the fact
more for the country to produce enough
fissionable material for a bomb in the event sheets side by side,
that the agreement breaks down at any point however, the outlines
over the next 10 years.
of an eventual deal
While there are still many technical details
to be negotiated, the outlines of the political- between Iran and
level agreement are clear, with all sides making the five permanent
significant concessions compared with past
members of the UN
negotiating positions.
Within minutes of the announcement Security Council plus
of a preliminary framework between Iran Germany are clear,
and world powers last Thursday, the White
reports JOHN KEMP
House had issued a “fact sheet” presenting its
interpretation of the emerging agreement.
The fact sheet succeeded in controlling the
media and political narrative in the crucial 48 hours after the announcement but
reflected only some of the understandings tentatively reached by diplomats.
The US version devoted 31 paragraphs to new controls that would be
established on Iran’s nuclear activities but only eight to the issue of sanctions relief.
While the sections on nuclear controls were highly specific, the parts on
sanctions were notably vague about the timing and extent of relief.
Iran would have had no reason to agree to the deal as presented by US press
officers, so it was immediately clear the fact sheet did not reflect the whole package
of understandings that had been reached.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif complained it was much too
early to start publishing fact sheets.
Zarif told a television interviewer that “the Americans put what they wanted in
the fact sheet. I even protested this issue with (US Secretary of State John) Kerry.”
So Iran has now issued its own fact sheet, published by the Foreign Ministry in
Farsi, and translated by various outside organisations.
Predictably, Iran’s version devotes more space to the removal of sanctions and
goes into much greater detail about the extent and timing.
France, too, issued its own details, providing additional information about the
framework, which has been summarised in the Wall Street Journal.
Iran will be allowed to maintain a complete nuclear fuel cycle and continue
enriching uranium to reactor grade, but be subject to strict controls on the
number of centrifuges it can operate and inspections by the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) to account for nuclear materials.
Iran will be prohibited from enriching uranium beyond the 3.67 per cent used
in civilian nuclear reactors for at least 15 years. Uranium that has already been
enriched beyond this level will be blended down or exported.
Iran will sign and ratify the IAEA’s Additional Protocol on nuclear inspections,
which almost all IAEA members have already implemented, and reach agreement
with the agency on measures related to disclosure of previous activities with a
possible military dimension (PMD).
The domestic enrichment programme will be restricted to fairly inefficient
first-generation centrifuges for the initial 10 years of an agreement, though it will
be allowed to continue research and development on more advanced models,
which could be implemented after the end of the first 10-year period.
Enrichment activities will be concentrated at the above-ground (therefore
bomb-able) Natanz facility, while the underground Fordow facility (which has
been hardened against air strikes) will be converted to “an advanced nuclear and
physics research centre”.
Greek PM in tightrope act
F
irst it was for sale, then the deal was scrapped, then the sell- divergent voices within his own Syriza party and has little
off was back on and now it is to be a joint venture, or maybe room to offer major concessions without undermining
not. Few issues sum up the confusion of leftist Greek Prime support from the public, his party’s far-left flank and his
Minister Alexis Tsipras’s first two months in office better right-wing coalition partner. Losing any of the three could
than the bewildering saga of the country’s biggest port, bring a government collapse.
As if to underscore the point, Panagiotis Lafazanis,
Piraeus, a bastion of militant trade unionists.
His government’s first declaration in January was to the outspoken head of Syriza’s far-left faction, warned last
say the asset sale — a key part of Greece’s privatisation weekend that any retreat from anti-austerity and antiprogramme agreed with international creditors — had bailout pre-election promises would be suicidal.
“The government will stand firm on its pledges in
been cancelled. Athens then appeared to change heart: on
a trip last month to China, which is a bidder and already the face of vile blackmail and disorienting dilemmas not
runs part of the port, the deputy prime minister said the because of party pressure but because such a retreat would
be a real ‘Waterloo’ for the government,” Lafazanis, who is
sale would go ahead.
Three days later, the economy minister appeared on energy minister, told the Agora newspaper, invoking the
fall of French Emperor Napoleon.
television to insist the sale remained
In an early sign of dissent, about 30 out
halted and that a joint venture would be
Even as Greece
of 149 Syriza lawmakers voiced doubts at
agreed instead. The same day, Greece
teeters closer to the
a closed-door meeting about a February
sent its lenders a list of reforms that
cited the Piraeus port sale as among the
financial abyss, there 20 agreement with lenders that averted a
banking collapse, though only a handful
privatisations going ahead.
is scant public debate opposed it in the end, Syriza officials say.
Whether the port is actually open for
about what might
A fresh impasse with lenders and
bidders is anybody’s guess. Indeed, it is
internal rifts are spurring media
not clear if the government itself knows,
come next, writes
speculation that Tsipras may have to call
given the multitude of contradictory
DEEPA BABINGTON
early elections or a referendum to avoid
statements that has come to characterise
caving to lenders’ demands, though his
Tsipras’s administration.
government denies any such plan.
The message is equally confused in
Even as Greece teeters closer to the financial abyss, there
talks with foreign creditors that affect the financial survival
of the cash-starved Greek state, one European diplomat is scant public debate about what might come next.
Almost no one publicly advocates defaulting on Greece’s
involved in talks said.
240 billion euro debt to the euro zone and the International
“It is as cacophonic as it seems,” the diplomat said.
Inability to agree — much less implement — a common Monetary Fund.
Polls show Tsipras enjoys support from a stunning 78
line on privatisations underscores the challenges Tsipras
faces to convince lenders his government is committed to per cent of Greeks, but that could quickly evaporate if
austerity-weary voters see him reneging on the pledges that
reform and worthy of financial aid.
With Athens weeks away from running out of cash, won him election to end painful spending cuts but stay in
Tsipras has called for an “honest compromise” and held a the euro zone.
Keeping the public on side is important for Tsipras, who
series of fence-mending meetings with European leaders
that have helped lower the tone of acrimony with the euro often refers to his “popular mandate” as the key weapon the
zone and IMF. But the novice prime minister has to juggle pro-bailout opposition lacks.
Inward-looking election campaign reflects Britain’s global retreat
B
ritain’s membership of the European Union
hangs on the outcome of a knife-edge
election in four weeks’ time, but the issue
and that of the country’s wider global role
have been largely absent from a campaign
narrowly focused on domestic worries.
It’s not unusual for British elections to be
dominated by schools, hospitals and taxes,
but foreign policy debate has rarely been
so slight as before the May 7 vote. Many
diplomats say this reflects Britain’s shuffle
from the global stage and a self-inflicted
downgrading of its military and diplomatic
muscle.
“While much of the world seems to be
going to hell in a hand basket, there has
been little talk about Britain’s international
role and responsibilities,” Chris Patten,
Britain’s last governor of Hong Kong, said
in a Project Syndicate commentary.
“The UK was once famous for punching
above its weight in global affairs, but perhaps
the country no longer really matters much
— if only because it does not want to matter,”
the former Conservative Party chairman
and European Commissioner said.
The only full TV debate of the campaign
last Thursday, a day of world drama,
underscored a pivot towards the parochial.
Iran had just sealed an initial nuclear
deal with six world powers including
Britain; Yemen, a former British colony, was
engulfed in fierce fighting; and in Kenya,
another former possession, militants had
slaughtered over 100 people.
None of those events rated a single
mention in the debate, which featured
Conservative Prime Minister David
Cameron and six other party leaders.
Instead, the participants discussed Britain’s
debts, its stretched public health service
and immigration.
The only words on foreign policy
were about whether there were too many
foreigners in Britain and whether leaving
the EU would make things better.
How many Syrians should be let in, how
many foreigners are treated free for HIV,
and, briefly, whither Britain’s membership
of the EU ahead a possible referendum on
the subject in 2017.
Cameron has promised to renegotiate
Britain’s EU ties if re-elected, before holding
an in-out vote.
His rival, Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband, has said he won’t offer a
The only words on foreign
policy during the debate were
about whether there were too
many foreigners in Britain
and whether leaving the EU
would make things better,
notes ANDREW OSBORN
referendum unless there is a major new
transfer of powers to the EU.
That means the election will decide
whether or not Britain votes on its EU
membership, something it last did in 1975.
Former prime minister Tony Blair,
channelling fears inside Britain’s foreign
policy establishment, said yesterday the
ballot was a chance to show London
wouldn’t turn in itself.
“It is about character. It is about who
we are and where we’re going as a nation,”
said Blair, a fervent believer in liberal
interventionism, who led Britain into a
string of overseas military engagements
from 1997 to 2007.
“A decision to exit Europe would say a
lot about us and none of it good: that, with
all the challenges of the world crowding
in upon us, demanding strong and clear
leadership, instead of saying ‘here’s where
the world should go’, we say ‘count us out’,”
the Labour politician said in a speech.
Britain, which under Margaret Thatcher
sent a flotilla to the South Atlantic in 1982
to recapture the tiny Falkland Islands seized
by Argentina, still packs a global punch.
It has the biggest defence budget in the
EU, a seat on the UN Security Council and
is the world’s sixth biggest economy. It took
part in 2011 air strikes against Libya to
topple Muammar Gaddafi and only ended
its combat role in Afghanistan last year.
A supporter of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) walks next to a
children’s toy car on Sunnyhill Farm in Martson, central England. — Reuters
ANALYSIS
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
omandailyobserver
9
National airlines can play a major role in growth
O
HAIDER AL LAWATI
[email protected]
man Air, the national carrier of the Sultanate, is
on the verge of achieving greater achievements
over the next decade. Some of these developments
include receiving new aircraft and others flying
to more destinations in various countries around
the world. These new destinations will contribute
in promotion of tourism, exchange of trade
and investment with those countries. This will
also facilitate direct travel of citizens to these
countries reducing the time taken to arrive to their
designated destinations.
Paul Gregorowitsch, CEO of Oman Air, said
during the inauguration event of direct flight
to Singapore recently, that the total number of
the company’s aircraft will reach 70 by 2020.
He said that the company will be flying to other
destinations in China, Korea and Bangladesh.
He said by the end of this year, more than 60
per cent of connecting flights will go through
Muscat International Airport. There was no doubt
he added that the financial support provided by
the government will contribute in the promotion
of Oman Air’s operations. It will also enable it to
purchase modern aircraft. However, he said this
support will be gradually reduced by 2017 when
the company reaches a breakeven point and starts
making profit. This confirms that the company
operates in accordance with well-chartered plans.
directed towards the company’s investment for
In this regard, Darwish bin Ismaeel al Balushi, the purchase of new aircraft and for providing
Minister Responsible for Financial Affairs, said the company with the expertise and work force
national carrier’s revenues increased by 4 per cent to boost its plans. The number of employees has
in 2014, reaching RO 398.389 million and he said currently reached 6,322 of different nationalities.
this has contributed in reduction of net loss by RO A large number of them work at foreign stations.
4.280 million amounting to 4
Omanisation rate is nearly 60
per cent compared to the net
per cent of the total workforce.
loss in 2013.
The number of passengers
The Sultanate has
According to a statement
carried by Oman Air also saw
by Al Balushi, Oman Air is
a positive growth with the
benefited from the
carrying on according to the
carrier transporting
operations and activities national
determined pace of growth
5.1 million passengers in 2014,
of the national airlines. compared to 4.1 million in
and the as per the plans
approved by the board of
2013. With the operation of
This underscores the
directors in 2013.
the new Muscat International
role played by it in
At a time when the
Airport in the coming period,
realising economic and the number of passengers
company is making efforts to
increase the number of aircraft
will double, especially as the
social objectives.
and foreign destinations, the
company is going to add new
company is making serious
aircraft to the existing fleet.
efforts to improve quality and
The company has added
productivity. It is also working to increase revenues four new destinations over the past year, including
to reach the break-even point and make profits as two domestic. It has also added two foreign
planned.
destinations, Manila (Philippines) and Jakarta
Government support for the company is in (Indonesia). Efforts continue to increase the
the range of approximately RO 138 million and is number of flights to many existing destinations.
There is no doubt that the existing working staff
in the company has succeeded in the past year in
handling 41,450 journeys and serving 8.7 million
passengers. The catering unit of the company has
also provided 6.7 million meals. It thus, increased
the catering revenue by 3 per cent.
Moreover, the company has made a continuous
improvement in the quality of services provided
to passengers. It also renovated and modernised
the facilities of check-in and travel procedures
for passengers. All this would be a prelude to
the company becoming one of the most efficient
companies in the region.
No doubt that these positive developments for
the company will enable it to realise profits in the
future to enable it to cover its operating losses.
However, there are many positive returns in others
aspects. The government views the company
positively and with satisfaction due to social and
economic benefits for citizens.
The Sultanate has also benefited from other
operations and activities of the company, which
reached a value of around RO 420 million,
according to a financial study. All this underscores
the importance of the role played by national
airlines in realising the economic and social
objectives of the economy.
DESTITUTE CAMP
LAYAL ABOU RAHAL
L
ebanon’s Ain al Helweh camp has long provided a stable, if destitute,
bolthole for Palestinian refugees, some of whom have lived within its
walls since fleeing their homes more than six decades ago.
But the war in neighbouring Syria has transformed parts of the
southern camp into a safe haven for those travelling to fight there,
creating districts where even Palestinian security forces fear to tread
and raising tensions among residents. In Taware district, the black flag
of the IS group flutters in the wind.
A photograph of IS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi is plastered on the
walls of a small kiosk, alongside a picture of slain Al Qaeda chief Osama
bin Laden.
Abu Hajer, a Palestinian from Ain al Helweh who fights with Al
Nusra Front in Syria, uses the camp as a rear-base in between fighting.
“The first time, I spent three months in Syria, then I went back to the
camp after I was wounded,” he said from Syria.
“This is how it is every time, I go and I come back,” the man in his
twenties said.
Wanted by Lebanese security forces, he crosses government
checkpoints at Ain al Helweh’s entrances with a fake ID and “small
adjustments to my appearance,” like shaving his long beard.
Lebanon’s security forces say at least 46 men have left Ain al Helweh
to fight in Syria’s four-year war, in addition to a number who “come
and go.”
Major General Mounir al Maqdah, head of Palestinian security
forces in Lebanon, said many of the fighters were no older than 17.
“They’re from a new generation that is very reckless,” he said.
Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camps offer few employment
opportunities. Lebanese law bars their residents from several
professions. Under a decades-old agreement, state security forces do
not enter the camps, leaving them under the control of Palestinian
groups. But even they are afraid of entering the three neighbourhoods
of Ain al Helweh that have come under the control of extremist groups.
One of these groups was established in Ain al Helweh as hardliners
rose to prominence in Syria. It includes militants accused of bombings
and assassinations in Lebanon.
Jamal Hamad, a cleric and leading official in the group, called the
group a “mosaic” of fighters.
“There’s empathy in the camp with these groups. There’s empathy
with Al Nusra Front, and there’s some empathy with the IS group,”
Hamad said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with Beatrice Attalah, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Madagascar, during their meeting in Moscow. — Reuters
Sanctions-hit Russia looks to Africa for trade
R
ussia is pursuing costly state oil and platinum
projects in Africa despite an economic
crisis at home, hoping they will bolster
sales, including of arms, for businesses hit
by Western sanctions over the conflict in
Ukraine.
Moscow has mostly focused on building
ties with Asia since the US and European
Union sanctions came into force last year,
but the Africa deals signal a desire to rebuild
what was a big market for its weapons and
technology during the Soviet era.
The drive by government-owned
industrial giant Rostec, which includes
Russia’s monopoly arms exporter in its
vast portfolio, is complicated by the
economic slowdown, which has strained
government finances and forced firms to
seek state support.
Lower commodity prices mean nongovernment Russian investors in Africa in
the early 2000s have mostly pulled out, but
Rostec says it is on track to build a $4-billion
oil refinery in Uganda and a $3-billion
platinum project in Zimbabwe.
The conglomerate, which controls
hundreds of firms ranging from arms
exporter Rosoboronexport to the world’s
top titanium producer VSMPO-Avisma,
sees the projects as a door-opener in Africa,
particularly to its fast-growing arms market.
“Apart from proceeds from the project
itself, building the crude oil refinery (in
Uganda) opens markets for products of all
Rostec’s companies and Russian companies
as a whole,” Rostec said in a statement.
The company and its chief executive,
Sergei Chemezov, an ally of President
Vladimir Putin, face sanctions over Russia’s
annexation of the Crimea region and
Western accusations, which Moscow denies,
of supplying separatists with weapons and
troops.
RT Global Resources, a 100-per cent
owned Rostec subsidiary, won the contract
to build and operate the refinery in February,
raising concerns among some Ugandan
opposition lawmakers about the selection
of a company closely linked to Russian arms
exports. Uganda and Zimbabwe are not
legally obliged to comply with the sanctions
against Russia and both already have
strained relations with the West.
Rostec said the project was launched
in 2013, well before the introduction of
sanctions, and remained interesting in
economic terms despite them.
The first stage of the Uganda project
will require $2 billion and the second
$1.7 billion, with the peak of investments
expected in 2018-19, it said. Rostec did not
comment in detail on its involvement in the
platinum-mining project in Zimbabwe.
Russian
development
bank
Vnesheconombank (VEB), which is
expected to provide finance for the project
and is also under sanctions, only said a
cooperation agreement had been signed by
partners in the project.
When the platinum deal was signed in
September, Zimbabwe’s defence minister,
Sydney Sekeramayi, said the southern
African country was looking at possible
weapons purchases from Russia as well.
While geopolitical rivalry with the West
Uganda and Zimbabwe are
not legally obliged to comply
with the sanctions against
Russia and both the countries
already have strained relations
with the Western nations,
writes GLEB STOLYAROV
may play a role, Rostec may be inspired
by China, which has spent years pouring
investment and loans into the continent to
help meet its demand for natural resources,
although for Russia, markets are the key.
Rostec says it is interested in working
with African countries that want to develop
their defence sector. Moscow was an active
supplier of weapons to Africa before the
collapse of the Soviet Union, when it lost the
bulk of its market share.
It is now the world’s second-largest arms
exporter behind the United States but sales
to Africa make up a relatively small fraction
of its total sales volume.
“Many countries on the African continent
are traditional partners of Russia in military
and technical cooperation, quite familiar
with the quality of Russian weapons,” Rostec
said. Soviet weapons still used in Africa and
requiring repairs could also support demand
for Russian arms, it added.
In 2013-2014, Rosoboronexport signed
more than 20 contracts worth more than
$1.7 billion with sub-Saharan African
countries, and Rostec said it intended to
increase shipments to Africa in the coming
years. Currently only 2 per cent of military
products supplied to African countries
come from Rosoboronexport, Rostec said
on its website in September.
Rosoboronexport is already working with
Angola, Nigeria, Mozambique, Namibia,
Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea and is also
looking to develop cooperation with Kenya,
Rwanda, Djibouti and Ethiopia, Rostec said.
Konstantin Makiyenko, deputy head of
the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and
Technologies (CAST), a Moscow-based
security and defence think tank, said Russian
firms were interested in increasing exports
to Africa because the region’s weapons
market was growing at a very fast pace.
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10
omandailyobserver
INDIA
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
RBI leaves rates, reserve ratios unchanged
GOVERNOR’S FORECAST: Raghuram Rajan projects a growth rate of 7.8 per cent for the current fiscal year
MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) on Tuesday made it clear that it
will cut interest rates further only if it
sees more robust containment of prices
and commercial banks lowering the cost
of housing, auto and corporate loans.
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan,
who conducted the first bi-monthly
review of the monetary policy for the
current fiscal year, decided to retain the
repurchase rate, the reverse repurchase
rate, the cash reserve ratio and the
statutory ratio at existing levels. He also
projected a 7.8 per cent growth for the
current fiscal year, subject to a normal
monsoon — over which the RBI was
worried — as also an inflation rate of
5.8 per cent by the end of the year, after
easing to around 4 per cent by August.
Rajan said the Reserve Bank adopted
an accommodative policy stance since
January, ensuring comfortable liquidity
in the system. “Going forward, the
accommodative stance of monetary
policy will be maintained, but monetary
policy actions will be conditioned by
incoming data.”
“For monetary transmission to occur,
lending rates have to be sensitive to
the policy rate,” Rajan said, expressing
confidence that the Indian economy will
rebound, notably in the manufacturing
sector, while also nudging commercial
banks to play their part.
“The outlook for growth is improving
gradually.
Comfortable
liquidity
The Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan arrives for a news conference after the bi-monthly monetary policy review
in Mumbai on Tuesday. — Reuters
conditions should enable banks to
transmit the recent reductions in the
policy rate into their lending rates,
thereby improving financing conditions
for the productive sectors of the
economy.” Accordingly, the repurchase
rate and reserve repurchase rate have
been maintained at 7.5 per cent and
6.5 per cent respectively while the cash
reserve ratio and the statutory liquidity
ratio have been left untouched at 4 per
cent and 21.5 per cent.
The repurchase rate is the interest
commercial banks pay for borrowing
money from the central bank to meet
short-term fund requirements.
The reverse repurchase rate is the
interest central bank pays when surplus
short-term funds are parked with it by
commercial banks.
The cash reserve and statutory
liquidity ratios are the minimum
mandated amounts of money against
the deposits that commercial banks have
to retain in the form of liquid assets. A
change in this has a direct impact on
the money available to banks to extend
loans and other advances. The RBI cut
its repurchase rate by 25 basis points on
January 15 and on March 4. Accordingly,
the reserve repurchase ratio also stood
adjusted by an equal margin. The cash
reserve ratio has remained unchanged
since 2013, while the RBI brought
down SLR by 50 bps in February 2015.
Meanwhile, markets which had factored
in the possibility of an unchanged policy
rates reacted negatively.
Sensex closes flat:
A benchmark
index of Indian equities markets, the
30-scrip BSE sensitive index (Sensex),
provisionally closed Tuesday’s trade flat
— up 12 points or 0.04 per cent.
The Sensex recovered after falling 230
points in the wake of the RBI deciding
to maintain its policy rates unchanged in
its first monetary review for the 2015-16
fiscal.
The Nifty also ended the day’s trade
flat. It closed 0.40 points up at 8,660.30
points.
The Sensex touched a high of
28,641.08 points and a low of 28,274.36
points in the intra-day trade. — IANS
5 terror accused shot 20 wood smugglers killed in Andhra
dead in Telangana
HYDERABAD: Police shot dead five
terror accused as they tried to escape
from custody in Telangana’s Warangal
district on Tuesday when they were
being brought to Hyderabad, police said.
Policemen opened fire when the
accused tried to snatch a weapon from a
policeman in the vehicle near Pemburti
in Jangaon mandal of Warangal district,
about 80 km from here.
Viqaruddin Ahmed and his four
associates, involved in the killing of two
policemen and several other extremist
offences, were killed in the incident that
took place between 10 and 10.20 am.
A police official said the accused
attacked policemen and tried to snatch
weapons when the vehicle was stopped
to enable them to attend nature’s call.
“They tried to snatch weapons
from police and raised slogans. In the
scuffle, there was an exchange of fire in
which five accused were killed,” Deputy
Inspector General of Police Malla Reddy
said.
A policeman fell on the ground in the
scuffle and sustained minor injuries.
There were 17 policemen escorting
the accused involved in several
offences. The police identified them as
Viquaruddin, Mohammed Zakir, Syed
Amjad, Izhar Khan and Mohammed
Haneef.
While Haneef, an Ayurvedic doctor
was from Gujarat, other accused hailed
from Hyderabad or other parts of
Telangana. Police cordoned off the scene
of offence on Warangal-Hyderabad
highway, leading to traffic jam.
The bodies were later shifted to a
hospital in Jangaon, where an autopsy is
being conducted.
The accused were arrested in 2010
after a series of attacks on police in
Hyderabad.
According to police, Viqaruddin
had links with various terror outfits and
was involved in several incidents. He
had also floated militant outfit Tehreek
Galba-e-Islam (TGI).
They were shifted to Warangal
Central Jail in 2011 after they attacked
a prison official in Cherlapally Jail in
Hyderabad.
Viqaruddin continued picking up
fights with staff in Warangal Jail. He also
had fight with policemen escorting him
and other accused to the court.
Viqaruddin and his associates had
attacked policemen in the old city of
Hyderabad between 2008 and 2010
to avenge the police firing on people
protesting after the bomb blast at historic
Mecca Masjid in 2007.
The attacks on the anniversary of
the blast had kept Hyderabad police on
tenterhooks for long.
Police claimed that they had also shot
dead a policeman in Gujarat in 2007
while looting a bank.
The incident occurred close on the
heels of a gunfight in Nalgonda district
on Saturday in which two operatives
of banned Students Islamic Movement
of India (SIMI) and a policeman were
killed.
— IANS
HYDERABAD/CHENNAI:
Police
said they shot dead 20 smugglers of red
sanders, a rare wood with huge demand
globally, in Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor
district on Tuesday, but a rights activist
called it a massacre.
The police said they opened fire after
coming under attack from the smugglers
in Seshachalam forest in two places
within a kilometre’s radius in an area
about 500 km from Hyderabad.
The victims, poor tribals, hailed
mainly from Tamil Nadu.
Deputy Inspector General of Police M
Kanta Rao said that over 100 smugglers
and labourers engaged in felling the trees
attacked the police, forcing them to open
fire in self defence.
“They attacked our personnel with
sickles and other sharp-edged weapons,”
Rao said. He said the incident happened
between 5 and 6 am.
Eleven people were killed at
Pacchinodu Banda and nine near
Etagunta. “We are ascertaining the
number of policemen injured,” Rao said.
Classified as endangered in the
International Union for Conservation of
Nature’s Red List, red sanders fetch Rs 25
lakh a tonne abroad. It is used mainly in
aphrodisiac drugs and to make musical
instruments and furniture.
The forests have witnessed clashes
between red sander smugglers and police.
In May 2014, police killed three
smugglers in Chittoor district. Over
3,000 smugglers were arrested and 2,025
tonnes of red sanders were seized in 2013.
But on Tuesday, the People’s Union
for Civil Liberties (PUCL) alleged in
Chennai that the killings by the Andhra
Pradesh Police was a massacre, and said
The spot where police shot dead 20
smugglers of red sanders in Chittoor.
the police personnel must be tried for
murder.
“It is a massacre... planned murder by
the Andhra Pradesh Police. They should
be tried for murder,” S Balamurugan,
general secretary of the PUCL Tamil
Nadu unit, said.
He urged the Tamil Nadu and Andhra
Pradesh governments to act fast so that
around 100 people remaining in the
Andhra forests were saved.
Balamurugan said that landless tribals
from Tamil Nadu are lured by smugglers
to cut the precious trees. The labourers
got paid around Rs 300.
“They are not aware of the risks. The
labourers think that cutting trees is a
petty crime,” he said. “Earlier too, several
people who had gone the forests to cut
trees in Andhra Pradesh have vanished
without any trace.”
Andhra officials said the police Task
Force and forest officials continued to
comb the forests for smugglers and
labourers who reportedly escaped.
Police sounded an alert in adjoining
districts to prevent the smugglers from
escaping. The officer said they were yet
to identify those killed but they were all
believed to be from neighbouring Tamil
Nadu.
Police and forest department
personnel launched joint operations
on Monday night following a tip that
smugglers had entered the forests.
Director-General of Police J
V Ramudu met Chief Minister N
Chandrababu Naidu in Hyderabad and
briefed him about the massacre.
In Andhra Pradesh, red sanders grow
mainly in the Seshachalam hill ranges
spread across Kadapa, Chittoor and
Kurnool districts and in parts of Nellore
district. The area under red sanders is
estimated to be 4.67 lakh hectares.
Red sanders helped Andhra Pradesh
earn over Rs 1,000 crore from global
auction last year.
The government in December 2014
auctioned 4,160 tonnes of red sanders
logs seized from smugglers in recent
years. Forest officials said there was
a good response to the auction. They
also conducted pre-bid meetings and
roadshows in China and Japan where the
rare wood enjoys huge demand.
The state plans to use 30 per cent of
the proceeds from the sales to protect the
natural red sander forest.
The remaining money may be used
to finance the government’s scheme to
waive off farm loans.
— IANS
Nomads herd flock of sheep through high-rises
NEW DELHI: Every year Padma Ram
and his family make their way to the
outskirts of New Delhi in search of fresh
grazing for their livestock.
The traditional nomads and their
hundreds of sheep make for an unusual
sight amid the concrete blocks of
the Indian capital, which provides a
surprisingly large amount of green
pasture. Mules carry everything the clan
needs to survive the journey from the
western desert state of Rajasthan, from
cooking utensils to light beds made of
wood and rope. They camp wherever
there is good grazing, using nets to
ensure the sheep do not roam away.
At one recent stop outside Delhi,
small children chased sheep and played
happily on swings hung from tree
branches.
The women, dressed in traditional
hand-embroidered blouses and skirts,
busied themselves with milking, fetching
water and cooking. The family sells the
male lambs and keeps the milk to drink
or make into butter. “For generations,
we have made our living herding sheep,”
said 65-year-old clan elder Padma Ram
as he adjusted his red turban.
“We don’t know how to read or write
and neither do our children; this is the
only way of life that we know.” — AFP
A photo taken recently shows shepherd
Lassa Ram, leading his sheep out to
graze at the start of the day at his family’s
camp in Sikri in Faridabad some 50 kms
from New Delhi. The shepherds trek
long distances in search of pasture for
their 2,500 sheep which they make a
living from by selling the male lambs
and their wool. While the men graze and
milk the sheep, the family’s women cook,
fetch water and churn butter, and move
from camp to camp year-round,
stopping for baths and laundry only
when they find accessible water, and
eventually make their way home to the
western state of Rajasthan. — AFP
IN BRIEF
SC refers pleas
against judges
appointment to
larger bench
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on
Tuesday referred to the constitution
bench the challenge to the validity
of the constitution amendment and
enabling law to replace the collegium
system for the appointment of
judges to higher judiciary. In apex
court bench of Justice Anil R Dave,
Justice J Chelameswar and Justice
Madan B Lokur said that since they
have referred the matter to a larger
bench, the question of interim relief
too will be decided by it. The National
Judicial Appointment Commission
Act, 2014, was challenged in a
batch of petitions including by the
Supreme Court Advocate-on-Record
Association.
Besides contending that the
NJAC route for the selection and
appointment of judges infringed on
the independence of judiciary, the
petitioners challenging the NJAC
Act, 2014, said it could not have
been passed in August 2014 as there
was no supporting provision in the
constitution. It came into effect
only after December 31 assent to
the constitutional amendment by
President Prabnab Mukherjee.
On the other hand, the
government contested the
maintainability of the petitions,
saying that these were premature
and academic as statutory provision
to bring in the NJAC has not been
notified and operationalised.
The government had contended
that unless the NJAC was
operationalised and someone’s rights
were affected, there was no cause of
action to challenge their validity.
While the Supreme Court
Advocate-on-Record Association,
NGO Change India, Centre for
Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), Bar
Association of India and others had
moved the court challenging the
appointment of judges to higher
judiciary through NJAC route, the
Supreme Court Bar Association
had come out in the favour of the
replacing the collegium system of
judges’ selection by the NJAC. — IANS
Bail granted for
three in L N Mishra
murder case
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High
Court on Tuesday granted bail to
three convicts who are serving life
imprisonment for assassinating then
railway minister L N Mishra in 1975.
A division bench of Justice G S
Sistani and Justice Sangita Dhingra
Sehgal granted bail to Gopalji,
Santoshanand Avadhuta and
Sudevananda Avadhuta, and asked
them to furnish a bail bond of Rs
50,000 with two sureties of a like
amount each.
On Monday the court had granted
bail to another accused Ranjan
Dwivedi, an advocate. The court
asked all the accused not to leave
Delhi while on bail.
On December 8 last year, a Delhi
court had sentenced four followers
of Hindu sect Anand Marg to life
imprisonment in the nearly 40-yearold case, after convicting them for
criminal conspiracy and murder.
The convicts — Gopalji (73),
Dwivedi (66), Santoshanand
Avadhuta (75) and Sudevananda
Avadhuta (79) — had challenged
the verdict in the high court and also
sought bail. — IANS
Curfew eased for 4
hours in MP town
NEEMUCH, Madhya Pradesh:
The curfew imposed on a town
in Neemuch district of Madhya
Pradesh after communal violence last
week was relaxed for four hours on
Tuesday, police said.
Sub-divisional police officer
Indrajit Singh said that the curfew
was relaxed for four hours from 7 to
11 am so that people could step out
of their houses and buy essential
commodities. The condition in Jawad
town is improving slowly, he added.
The curfew continued for the fifth
day on Tuesday. On Monday, it was
relaxed for six hours, and on Sunday
for two hours.
On Friday, some people threw
stones at a procession in Jawad
town, taken out on the occasion of
Hanuman Jayanti. Some people were
also attacked with knives and sticks,
police said.
Violence then flared, with a mob
setting fire to shops and vehicles. The
administration then imposed curfew
on the town. — IANS
INDIA
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
omandailyobserver
Full-time staff to protect NRIs mooted
WALKING UP: Slow response to crisis in Yemen underlined the need for a full-time staff to protect Indians abroad
NEW DELHI: India’s evacuation of
more than 3,000 nationals from Yemen
has been a triumph of improvisation,
but some officials in Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s government say a slow
response to the crisis has underlined
the need for a full-time staff to protect
Indians abroad.
On Monday, India rescued more
than 1,000 people by plane and ship, the
most on a single day since Saudi Arabia
launched air strikes against Iran-allied
Houthi rebels in Yemen on March 26.
India has been asked by 26 nations —
including the United States — to help
get their citizens out of the conflict zone.
Yet New Delhi struggled for several
days to ramp up its rescue effort and had
to hire a ship to make the first evacuation
of its nationals from the port of Aden as
fighting escalated there.
Government
insiders
draw
unfavourable comparisons with China’s
swifter evacuation of 570 nationals on
warships that was completed on March
31. An Indian navy patrol vessel made
a first evacuation only on the following
day.
“The Chinese were way ahead in the
rescue process,” said one senior foreign
ministry official, requesting anonymity
due to the sensitivity of the matter.
India’s rescue effort got off to a false
start, with planes commandered from
Air India sitting idle in Muscat, Oman,
because it was impossible to negotiate
the opening of a safe air corridor with
the Saudis.
Things only really got moving
with the deployment of foreign office
minister V K Singh — a retired army
chief — to a forward operations base in
Djibouti, on the other side of the Gulf
of Aden, from where Indian Air Force
C-17 transporters have been picking up
evacuees brought out by Air India from
Sanaa and flying them home.
A second official said the challenges
of evacuating thousands of Indian
nationals from fighting in Iraq last year
had shown that a full-time staff was
needed to rescue overseas Indians in
times of crisis.
“We were late in assessing the crisis
— and this was exactly the same case
during the Iraq crisis,” this official said.
The scramble jars with Modi’s
ambition to boost India’s global clout, by
increasing the military’s ability to project
power and connecting with a large and
widely dispersed diaspora that was long
neglected by New Delhi.
The Ministry of External Affairs
has, however, rebutted criticism that
it was slow to warn more than 4,000
Indians living in Yemen to leave, saying
it issued the first of a series of advisories
in January as the security situation
Tobacco indeed causes cancer, says
Kerala medical community
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amid wide-spread shock
and anguish over misinformed statements on tobacco’s
association with cancer, Kerala’s medical community has said
that tobacco consumption indeed causes cancer.
Paul Sebastian, well-known surgical oncologist and
director of Regional Cancer Centre here, said no less than
the World Health Organisation has categorically said that
tobacco causes cancer.
He pointedly referred to the cohort study in Karunagappally
taluk in Alappuzha district started in the late 1980s to study
the potential health effects of high background radiation. The
study that covered 65,829 men aged 30-84 showed an elevated
lung cancer incidence among bidi smokers, strengthening the
association of lung cancer risk with bidi smoking.
“Karunagappally is known for high background radiation
from thorium-containing monazite sand and the study set
out to explore the lung and other cancer risks increased by
exposure to high-level natural radiation, and the synergistic
effect between radiation and other factors, including bidi
smoking. However, our cohort study showed that the
relatively high lung cancer incidence in this area is unlikely
to be due to high-level natural radiation,” Sebastian added.
Founder director of Regional Cancer Centre, M Krishnan
Nair said the prime minister’s assurance that the government
will go ahead with 85 per cent pictorial warnings on packets
of cigarettes is reassuring.
Mufti meets
Modi, briefs him
about Kashmir
NEW DELHI:
Jammu and
Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti
Mohammad Sayeed on Tuesday
called on Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and discussed with him
various issues related to the
northernmost state.
Sayeed later told reporters that he
briefed the prime minister about the
political situation in the state and also
discussed issues related to the recent
floods.
“We discussed the political
situation in the state, issues relating to
good governance, peace process and
the agenda for alliance,” he told media
persons.
This was Jammy and Kashmir
Chief Minister Sayeed’s first meeting
with Modi after becoming the chief
minister on March 1.
Sayeed also met Home Minister
Rajnath Singh, briefed him about the
law and order situation in the state,
and discussed the issue of composite
townships for Kashmiri Pandits in the
state.
— IANS
“Baseless statements that tobacco does not cause cancer
cannot take away from established facts of science, and
collective efforts of the scientific and medical fraternity.
Reports of the National Cancer Registry Programme (NCRP)
have a dedicated chapter on tobacco related cancers. The 2011
Report shows 45.4 per cent tobacco related cancers among
males and 16.8 per cent among females in India,” said Nair.
V P Gangadharan, eminent medical oncologist and head of
Medical and Paediatric Oncology, Lakeshore Hospital at Kochi,
said tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death and
disease and strategies such as large pictorial warnings can save
one million precious Indian lives every year.
“Tobacco snatches away the best years of a user’s life,
hampering productivity and social well-being. Pictorial
warnings of 85 per cent can go a long way in preventing
youngsters, migrants, and illiterates from getting addicted to
tobacco products,” said Gangadharan.
— IANS
deteriorated.
Foreign ministry spokesman Syed
Akbaruddin declined to comment on
calls for a permanent evacuation staff,
saying the rescue had gone remarkably
well in difficult conditions.
“It was much more perilous, the
circumstances were more turbulent, and
diplomatically it was a tightrope walk,”
said Akbaruddin.
No Indians have been reported killed
or wounded in the fighting in Yemen.
There are 21 million people of
Indian origin abroad and they send
home an estimated $70 billion a year
in remittances — more than any other
country receives from its overseas
workers.
One-fourth of these overseas Indians
are in the Middle East, mainly nurses,
construction workers, drivers and hotel
staff. India evacuated 7,000 citizens from
Iraq last year, and nearly 18,000 from
Libya in 2011, as fighting swept these
nations.
Modi, since sweeping to power last
year, has pressed for higher pay for
migrant workers in the Gulf and cracked
down on private recruiters who charge
big up-front fees to place medical staff
abroad.
Yet India’s Embassy in the Yemeni
capital Sanaa has a full-time staff of just
10, making it tough to track citizens
there — some reluctant to leave even in
the face of danger because losing their
jobs would spell financial ruin.
Many of those still in Yemen are
nurses from Kerala. The state’s chief
minister called on the Centre on Monday
to instruct its embassy to intervene to
get their passports back from employers
so that they can go home.
“There is pressure growing from
below,” said foreign policy expert C
Raja Mohan, a distinguished fellow
at the Observer Research Foundation
in New Delhi, who has called for a
“well-staffed permanent mechanism”
for Indians abroad. “India needs
quite clearly a mechanism (for rescue
missions) that can look at the full
spectrum of issues and bring the
military in,” said Mohan. — Reuters
11
ITALIAN MARINES
SC to hear plea
for extending
stay in Italy
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court
will on Thursday hear a plea by Italian
marine Massimilano Latorre, seeking
extension of his stay in Italy by another
three months for further treatment
and recuperation following heart
surgery on January 5.
The bench of Justice Anil R Dave
and Justice Kurian Joseph on Tuesday
said Latorre’s plea would be taken
up on Thursday, after counsel Soli
Sorabjee mentioned the matter for an
early hearing.
The court on January 14 had
extended by three months Chief
Master Sergeant Latorre’s stay in Italy
for his recovery after his heart surgery.
The application seeking extension
said doctors at the Taranto Military
Hospital have specifically advised
Latorre to continue to undergo
intensive rehabilitation therapy in
his home environment to help him
recover. Latorre and another marine,
Salvatore Girone, are accused of killing
two Indian fishermen off the Kerala
coast in February 2012, allegedly
mistaking them for sea pirates.
While allowing three months
extension to Latorre on January 14, the
apex court had taken an undertaking
from the Italian ambassador assuring
the court of the marine’s return on
expiry of the extended period.
The court had on September 12,
2014 allowed Latorre to go to Italy for
four months for treatment, recovery
and rehabilitation after he suffered a
— IANS
brain stroke.
TULIPS WELCOME TOURISTS TO KASHMIR
Tourists visit the Tulip Garden in Srinagar on Tuesday. Officials say the garden with its 1.2 million tulip bulbs is Asia’s largest,
spread over 12 hectares. The garden was first opened for tourists in 2008 and it remains open for over a month every spring.
— AFP
PM to visit soldiers’ memorial in France Jaya case: SC verdict on
NEW DELHI:
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi will pay homage to the
thousands of Indian soldiers killed in
WW-I at a memorial in the French city
of Lille and will also visit the southern
city of Toulouse during his visit to
France beginning on Thursday evening.
Modi will be accorded a ceremonial
welcome on Friday morning in Paris
with the “highest protocol and honours”.
He will meet a select group of top French
business leaders to discuss his Make in
India initiative, diplomatic sources said.
FRANCE VISIT
Modi begins a week-long threenation trip to France, Germany and
Canada from April 10 which he has said
will be focused on boosting the Indian
economy through investments and
manufacturing for creating jobs.
In Paris, Modi will visit the Unesco
headquarters on April 10 to meet its
director-general Irina Bokova.
He will address the diplomatic
community,
private
sector
representatives, Unesco staff, and
leading personalities, including Unesco’s
Paris-based goodwill ambassadors
Narendra Modi
there.
Modi will also offer flowers to the
statue of Sri Aurobindo, the Indian
philosopher who took part in India’s
independence movement, at the Unesco
headquarters.
Modi will then visit the French
National Assembly where over lunch
he will meet senior political leaders. In
the evening, Modi will meet President
Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace
for bilateral talks.
The Indo-French CEOs Forum,
which is to meet on Thursday, will
present its report to the two leaders, the
source added.
A number of MoUs are expected
to be inked, especially in the field of
Smart Cities, the sources added. Modi
and Hollande will meet the media after
inking the MoUs.
On Saturday, Modi accompanied
by French Foreign Minister Laurent
Fabius, the No 2 in the government, will
fly to Toulouse.
In Toulouse, he will visit the French
space centre CNES or the National
Centre for Space Studies, where the two
sides will examine further cooperation
in the area of space.
He will also visit Airbus SAS, the
aircraft manufacturing division of
Airbus Group in Blagnac, near Toulouse.
From there he will fly to Lille to visit
the Neuve Chapelle war memorial in
the memory of the thousands of Indian
soldiers who died in the battle of Neuve
Chapelle during World War-I, the
sources added.
He will also visit a trade fair
and then depart on Sunday for
Germany.
— IANS
counsel on April 15
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court
on Tuesday said it will pronounce
next week the verdict on DMK leader
K Anbazhagan’s plea challenging the
appointment of G Bhavani Singh as
special public prosecutor (SPP) by
the Tamil Nadu government in the
Karnataka High Court.
The Tamil Nadu government had
appointed Bhavani Singh as SPP in
the hearing of former chief minister
Jayalalithaa’s challenge to her conviction
and sentencing in a corruption case
before the high court.
A bench, headed by Justice Madan
B Lokur and Justice R Banumathi, that
reserved its verdict after the conclusion
of arguments on Tuesday, said they
will pronounce verdict on April 15 and
requested the Karnataka High Court
not to give any order on Jayalalithaa’s
appeal till then.
The high court had on March
11 reserved its orders pertaining to
Jayalalithaa’s plea.
Anbazhagan who had moved the
apex court challenging the appointment
of Bhavani Singh as SPP had contended
that the Tamil Nadu government had
no jurisdiction in appointing him after
the transfer of the case from Tamil
Nadu to Karnataka.
The Karnataka government too had
opposed the appointment of Bhavani
Singh as SPP but did not pursue it to
its logical conclusion, inviting the apex
court’s rebuke that its words should
have been matched by its deeds.
On the other hand, Jayalalithaa
had contended that when a practising
lawyer is appointed as special public
prosecutor in the trial of a criminal
case then the appointment was not coterminus with the pronouncement of
the verdict by the trial court but holds
good even at the stage of appeal against
the trial court order.
She had told the apex court that
the appointment of SPP could not be
restricted to the trial court only as a case
travels in stages and under the statutory
provisions as the case progresses to the
higher judiciary in appeal, the public
prosecutor remains the same. — IANS
12
STUDENTS MARCH TO DEMAND SECURITY
W E D N E S DAY l A P R I L 8 l 2 0 1 5
Kenyan university students marched
in the capital on Tuesday to demand
more security from the government
after gunmen killed nearly 150 people
at a campus in Garissa last week. A
citizens group planned to hold a vigil in
Nairobi’s main park later in the evening,
tapping growing public frustration
over security in the wake of the attack
claimed by Al Shabaab militants.
WORLD
Italy police
violated
torture law
ROME: Europe’s top human rights
court ruled on Tuesday that Italy had
violated EU rules against torture at
the 2001 Group of Eight summit in
Genoa and ordered compensation for
a protester seriously beaten by police
there.
The European Court of Human
Rights in Strasbourg ruled that Arnaldo
Cestaro had been subjected to what
amounted to torture or inhuman
treatment during the raid on a school
where members of umbrella protest
group the Genoa Social Forum were
sleeping.
Clashes between anti-globalisation
demonstrators and police during the
2001 G8 summit in Genoa caused
one death and hundreds of injuries,
sparking accusations of police brutality
in Italy and abroad and several judicial
inquiries. Cestaro was 62 years old when
police beat him on the head, legs and
arms with heavy truncheons, causing
serious injuries. The court ordered
45,000 euros ($48,816) in damages
for the beating, which it said qualified
as torture under EU law. After three
years of investigations, the court noted
that 28 officials were charged over the
violence and 12 were sentenced in 2008
to between two and four years in prison.
But those directly responsible
for Cestaro’s injuries had never been
identified, it said. The court regretted
the inadequate official reaction and said
Italian penal legislation did not appear
to contain proper sanctions against
torture or to have a sufficient dissuasive
effect against similar acts in future.
— Reuters
FRENCH SENATOR KILLS SELF BEFORE TRIAL
THE WHEEL OF LIFE
A French senator and
former mayor of Tours,
due to stand trial in a
corruption case over
fake Chinese wedding
trips in the picturesque
Loire valley city, killed
himself on Tuesday
before the trial opened,
authorities said.
Australia targets web
pirates in new ruling
A woman washes laundry as two girls look on at culvert sections used as shelters in Manila yesterday. — AFP
SYDNEY: An Australian court on
Tuesday ordered six Internet service
providers to release the details of
customers who shared the Hollywood
film “Dallas Buyers Club” online in a
ruling that could set a precedent for
crackdowns on online piracy.
The Federal Court of Australia
said the Internet service providers
(ISPs), the most prominent being
iiNet — which has almost one million
broadband customers — had to hand
over the names and physical addresses
of the customers associated with 4,726
Internet protocol (IP) addresses.
The IP addresses — unique labels
applied to each device connected to
the Internet — were supplied by the
owners of the 2013 Hollywood film
starring American actor Matthew
McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club.
They told the court the IP addresses
were used to share their film online
using BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer filesharing network.
“I will impose upon the applicants
a condition that this information only
be used for the purposes of recovering
compensation for the infringements
and is not otherwise to be disclosed
without the leave of this court,” Justice
Nye Perram said in his ruling.
“I will also impose a condition on
the applicants that they are to submit
to me a draft of any letter they propose
to send to account holders associated
with the IP addresses which have been
identified.” However Perram also ruled
Dallas Buyers Club LLC had to pay the
costs of the proceedings and the ISPs’
costs of handing over customers’ details.
The judge added that customers’
email addresses should not be released.
— AFP
Greek refuses creditors’ demand to raise VAT
ATHENS: Greece on Tuesday refused
to meet demands from the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) to raise taxes, just
hours after its government quantified for
the first time compensation claims for
damages incurred by Germany during
Nazi occupation.
“There is no way that the
government’s position will be to increase
VAT rates,” Government Spokesman
Gavriil Sakellarides said in an interview
with Skai television, referring to
demands from the IMF to introduce
more pension cuts and raise taxes.
“For us this is a red line and we will
stand firm against such proposals from
the institutions until the end,” he added
in reference to Greece’s creditors the
European Central Bank, the IMF and
the European Commission.
Greece is in a race against time to
reach agreement with its creditors by the
end of April as it struggles to meet hefty
debt repayment deadlines.
A repayment of 450 million euros
to the IMF is due on Thursday, and the
Greek government has vowed to honour
it. Greece has submitted its bailout
reform plans to European creditors —
which include combating tax evasion
and streamlining public administration
— in the hope of accessing 7.2 billion
euros remaining in its current bailout.
Despite Greece’s agreements with
lenders, critics argue that the government
has been slow in adopting the economic
reforms that could restore the country’s
growth and competitiveness.
The news comes after the Greek
government for the first time quantified
its compensation claim against Germany.
— dpa A Greek national flag flutters atop the parliament building in Athens yesterday. — Reuters
After a two-year gap, the two sides are pledging to work towards ending AROUND THE GLOBE
Woman allowed to file for divorce on FB
the island’s division as soon as possible
Cypriots to resume peace talks
NICOSIA: Greek and Turkish Cypriots
are ready to resume peace talks
following a six-month hiatus, the UN
envoy announced on Tuesday, aiming
for a “strategic compromise” this year
on the divided island.
The two sides have agreed to start
UN-brokered negotiations “within
weeks, not months,” Norwegian
diplomat Espen Barth Eide told
journalists in Nicosia.
Eide said talks would not start until
after April 19 presidential elections
in the breakaway Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which could
go to a second round the following
Sunday.
Cyprus has been divided since
Turkey invaded in 1974 in response to
an Athens-engineered coup seeking to
unite the island with Greece.
Its northern third, still occupied
by Turkish troops, later declared itself
independent. The TRNC is recognised
only by Ankara, while the Greek
Cypriot-controlled Republic of Cyprus
is recognised by the international
community and is now a member of the
European Union.
“My primary focus is a strategic
settlement, that is a strategic
compromise to be reached,” said Eide
of a peace process that has repeatedly
failed to make headway over the terms
of a possible reunification. “I strongly
believe that 2015 will be a decisive year,
a decisive year in the right direction.”
Eide said Greek Cypriot leader Nicos
Anastasiades and his Turkish Cypriot
counterpart, Dervis Eroglu, “agree that
circumstances are right... Both sides
want the dialogue to resume from
exactly where it was stopped.”
And he added that “there is strong
support from the Turkish government
towards reunification.”
The leaders still have to tackle
the thorny issues of property rights,
territorial adjustments and power
sharing.
They re-launched talks in February
2014 after a two-year gap, pledging to
work toward ending the island’s division
“as soon as possible.” And they agreed
that any settlement would be based on
a “bi-communal, bi-zonal federation
with political equality.. with constituent
Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot states.”
In a 2004 referendum, a UN
reunification blueprint based on a
federal solution was overwhelmingly
rejected by Greek Cypriots and
approved by Turkish Cypriot voters.
Asked why the talks have been
shelved for so long, Eide replied
that “a number of people have been
comfortable with no solution,” but did
not elaborate.
Tensions over offshore exploration
for oil and gas had threatened to derail
the peace process altogether despite
calls from the international community
for the two sides to return to the
negotiating table.
In October, the Greek Cypriots
suspended participation in the latest
round of talks to protest what they said
were moves by Turkey to undermine
their right to exploit gas and oil reserves.
A Turkish ship encroached on
Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone
(EEZ) off the south coast, after Ankara
had given notice that a seismic vessel
would carry out a survey in the same
area where Italian-Korean energy
consortium ENI-Kogas is operating.
The seismic ship has been withdrawn
and a renewed notice for the survey
vessel expired on April 6.
But the Greek Cypriots have warned
that if talks resume and Turkey again
violates the Cypriot EEZ, they will
have no other option than to suspend
participation again.
Turkey’s withdrawal from the EEZ
coincided with ENI-Kogas and France’s
Total announcing that they had not
found exploitable gas reserves during
recent test drills.
ENI-Kogas has asked for a two-year
grace period to re-assess its search,
while Total will conduct geological
surveys instead of drilling.
— Reuters
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades meeting with Special Adviser to the UN SecretaryGeneral on Cyprus, Norwegian Espen Barth Eide (2ndR) yesterday at the presidential
palace in Nicosia. — AFP
Selfies are bad,
Prince Harry
tells Aussie teen
SYDNEY: Prince Harry has warned
Australians against taking a “selfie” with
him during his one-month stint Down
Under, saying he much prefers normal
photographs.
The 30-year-old British prince was
warmly received by hundreds of fans
in Canberra on Monday, including one
teenage girl who wanted to have a
photograph of herself with him in the
background.
“No, I hate selfies,” the popular royal
said in the one scheduled public event
of his month in Australia, during which
he will be embedded with Australian
soldiers in Sydney, Darwin and Perth.
“Seriously! You need to get out
of it. I know you’re young but selfies
are bad,” he added.”Just take a normal
photograph”.
Lauren Rosewarne, a University of
Melbourne social media expert, said
the prince’s comments should be seen
as “words of wisdom” for young people
leaving indelible electronic footprints
with their social media postings.
“Young people need to be
reminded as many times as possible
that what you put online stays online,
even if you delete it,” she said.
“He knows probably better than
anyone... how these images will never
go away.” The prince may also have
been warning of the aesthetic failings
of selfies, a photograph a person
takes of themselves, typically with a
smartphone and often shared over
social media, Rosewarne said.
The prince, who spent two tours in
Afghanistan flying helicopters with the
British Army, is in Australia for a monthlong mission before he retires from the
army in June.
— AFP
NEW YORK: A Manhattan court judge has granted a Brooklyn-based nurse permission
to serve her husband divorce papers via a private message posted on the social
networking site Facebook after attempts to contact him failed.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Matthew Cooper ruled recently that the woman
is “granted permission to serve defendant with the divorce summons using a private
message through Facebook,” Time magazine reported.
It is, however, unclear if the decision will set a legal precedent for others. The
woman named Ellanora Baidoo, 26, married Victor Sena Blood-Dzraku -- both originally
from Ghana -- in a civil ceremony in 2009.
Later, he refused to have a traditional Ghanian wedding as per the promise he
made to his wife and left the apartment without informing anyone. He has, however,
kept in touch from time to time with his wife on Facebook.
“[The] transmittal shall be repeated by plaintiff’s attorney to defendant once a
week for three consecutive weeks or until acknowledged by the defendant,” the judge
ordered. “Additionally, after the initial transmittal, plaintiff and her attorney are to call
and text message defendant to inform him that the summons for divorce has been
sent to him via Facebook,” he added.
Pakistani children play near the Ravi river in Lahore yesterday.
— AFP
Police place politicians under surveillance
LAGOS: The police in Nigeria have placed certain categories of politicians in central
north Kogi state under surveillance, as part of efforts to ensure peaceful conduct of the
April 11 elections to state assemblies, an officer said on Tuesday.
The move was in response to reports reaching the police that some politicians were
planning to attack the electoral commission’s staff on the day of the elections, Xinhua
news agency cited Shola Adebayo, the state police spokesperson as telling reporters in
Lokoja, the capital city.
He said the police had since closely monitored the activities of politicians with a
view to curtailing their excesses before, during and after the elections.
Adebayo said the state police chief had already held a meeting with leaders of
political parties on the development.
He said they were all advised against embarking on any action that might breach
peace in the state. According to him, the police chief has directed all police formations
in the state to deal decisively with any act of violence, saying that any politician caught
fomenting trouble would have himself to blame.
REGION
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
omandailyobserver
13
Catastrophic situation in Aden, warns Red Cross
TRAPPED: The war in Aden is on every street, in every corner... Many are unable to escape, says International aid agency representative
ADEN: The Red Cross warned on
Tuesday of a “catastrophic” situation in
Yemen’s main southern city Aden, as
loyalist forces battled rebels in the streets
backed by shelling by Saudi-led warships.
The Huthis and their allies made a new
push on a port in the central Mualla
district of the city but were forced back
by militia loyal to President Abedrabbo
Mansour Hadi, witnesses said.
Naval forces of the Saudi-led
coalition, which has carried out nearly
two weeks of air strikes in support of
Hadi’s beleaguered government, shelled
rebel positions across the city, they
added.
Spokeswoman for the International
Committee of the Red Cross in Yemen,
Marie Claire Feghali, said that the
humanitarian situation in all of Yemen
is “very difficult... (with) naval, air and
ground routes cut off.”
She described the situation in Aden
as “catastrophic to say the least.”
“The war in Aden is on every street,
in every corner... Many are unable to
escape,” she said.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said
the situation was “worsening by the day,”
with wounded people unable to get to
hospital because of the fighting.
The MSF medical team in Aden had
“not received large numbers of casualties
over the past few days, not because there
are no wounded people, but due to the
difficulties faced in trying to reach a
hospital,” MSF Yemen representative
Marie-Elisabeth Ingres said.
MSF has a team of 140 local staff and
eight expatriates at a hospital in Aden.
“Our priority is to find a way to send
a supporting medical team,” Ingres said,
adding that a team is waiting in Djibouti
Children ride on the back of a pick-up truck with their luggage as they flee Saudi-led air strikes in Sanaa on Monday. — Reuters
“for a greenlight from the coalition.”
At least 10 people were killed in
fighting in Aden overnight, medical
and security sources said. That was on
top of at least 53 people killed over the
previous 24 hours.
Nationwide, more than 540 people
Iran, Turkey agree need to
stop Yemen war: Rouhani
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan in Tehran on Tuesday. — AFP
TEHRAN: Turkey and Iran agreed
on the need for a political solution to
Yemen’s war, which has raised tensions
between them, Iran’s president said on
Tuesday after talks with his visiting
Turkish counterpart.
The two countries are at odds over
Yemen. Ankara has accused Tehran of
backing Huthi rebels there and, in turn,
being charged with fuelling tensions in
the region.
“We talked about Iraq, Syria,
Palestine... We had a long discussion
about Yemen. We both think war
and bloodshed must stop in this area
immediately and a complete ceasefire
must be established and the strikes must
stop” in Yemen, Iran’s Hassan Rouhani
said during a joint press conference
broadcast by state television.
Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan
made no remarks about Yemen, but
talked at length about bilateral relations
with Iran.
Iran, which supports the Huthi
rebels in Yemen, has condemned air
strikes by an Arab coalition led by Saudi
Arabia and supported by Turkey.
Rouhani said he hoped the two
countries, “with the help of other
countries in the region, help there to be
peace, stability, a broader government
and dialogue” between Yemenis.
“We agree on the fact that instability,
insecurity and war must cease
throughout the region,” he said.
Erdogan, a conservative, denounced
at the end of March what he called Iran’s
will for “domination” in Yemen, calling
on Tehran to “withdraw all its forces
from Yemen, Syria and Iraq.”
Iranian
Foreign
Minister
Mohammed Javad Zarif reacted by
accusing Ankara of fuelling instability
in the Middle East.
Iranian
newspapers
and
conservatives for their part denounced
Erdogan’s “insult” and called for his visit
to be cancelled.
Turkey and Iran are also opposed
on Syria, with Tehran the main regional
ally of President Bashar al Assad and
Ankara supporting the rebellion.
Several ministers accompanied
Erdogan, who is also expected to meet
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei during his one-day visit.
Despite the tensions, the
neighbouring countries want to
strengthen trade to $30 billion in 2015.
Erdogan pointed out that the
balance of trade was unfavourable to
Turkey, since “Iran exports $10 billion
and imports only $4 billion in Turkish
products.”
He also expressed hope for trades
“in the currencies of the two countries”
and not in dollars or euros so they are
not affected by fluctuations of foreign
currencies.
And he asked for a reduction in the
price of gas purchased from Iran.
“The gas we buy from Iran is the
most expensive. If the price drops we
can buy more,” Erdogan said. “That’s
what a friendly country is.”
He also called for expanding air
links to medium-sized cities in Iran, and
for an increase in electricity imports, as
is already the case for several Turkish
provinces. During the visit, eight
documents, particularly in the areas of
transport, customs, industry and health
were also signed. — AFP
have been killed and 1,700 wounded
in fighting in Yemen since March 19,
the World Health Organisation said
on Tuesday. The UN’s children agency
Unicef said at least 74 children had been
confirmed killed since the coalition air
strikes began on March 26, adding that
it believed the real figure to be much
higher. More than 100,000 people
have been displaced by the fighting, the
agency added.
During the night, Saudi-led
warplanes carried out fresh strikes on
the rebel-held Al Anad air base north
of Aden, pro-Hadi General Muthanna
Jawas said.
Further east, Al Qaeda’s Yemen
franchise — seen by the US as the rebel
network’s most dangerous — sought to
tighten its grip on Hadramawt province,
a longtime stronghold.
Residents reported loud explosions
as the rebels attacked a loyalist army
base in the provincial capital Mukalla,
much of which they captured last week.
Observers have warned Al Qaeda
could exploit the fighting between Hadi’s
supporters and opponents to expand its
control following the withdrawal of US
troops overseeing a longstanding drone
war against it.
Pakistan meanwhile said it would
take its time deciding whether to accept
a Saudi request to join the coalition,
which so far consists of of nine Arab
countries. Pakistan’s neighbour Iran —
the main power — has strongly criticised
the coalition’s intervention and rejected
its accusations of arming the rebels.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif told Parliament that his
government was “not in a hurry” to
decide on the Saudi request.
He said that diplomatic efforts were
under way involving Turkey as well as
Iran and Pakistan that he expected to
quickly bear fruit.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, who has expressed support
for the coalition campaign without
providing military forces, held talks in
Tehran on Tuesday.
Iranian
Foreign
Minister
Mohammad Javad Zarif is expected in
Islamabad on Wednesday.
Pakistan faces a tricky dilemma
over intervention in Yemen. It has long
enjoyed close ties with Riyadh and
has benefited hugely from the oil-rich
kingdom’s largesse. But it has called for
a negotiated solution saying it does not
want to take part in any conflict that
would worsen sectarian divisions in the
Muslim world. — AFP
No hurry to join Yemen coalition: Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is “not in a
hurry” to decide whether to join the
Saudi-led coalition against rebels in
Yemen, the prime minister said on
Tuesday, before a round of shuttle
diplomacy involving Iran and Turkey.
Nawaz Sharif told a special
parliamentary debate on Yemen he
thought the diplomatic efforts planned
for the coming days would yield results.
Saudi Arabia has asked its
longstanding ally Pakistan to contribute
planes, ships and ground troops to the
operation against Huthis in Yemen.
But Pakistan has resisted so far,
calling for a diplomatic solution and
saying it does not want to take part in
any conflict that would worsen sectarian
divisions in the Muslim world.
Iran has strongly criticised the
military operation in Yemen by a
coalition on nations. It accuses Saudi
Arabia of sowing instability with its air
campaign. Sharif has said any Pakistani
participation would need the backing
of parliament and convened a special
session to debate the matter.
He told lawmakers on Tuesday that
he did not want to “manipulate you to
get a mandate”.
“Take your time, we are not in a
Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (right) addresses the joint session of parliament in Islamabad. — AFP
hurry, we will take all your good points
and I want the parliament also to say
something about demands of our
friends,” said Sharif, who was sheltered
by Saudi Arabia when overthrown in
a 1999 military coup. Sharif met his
Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu
in Ankara on Friday and said afterwards
both countries wanted a peaceful
resolution to the Yemen crisis.
More talks involving Turkey, Iran
and Pakistan are planned in the coming
days, with Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan meeting the leadership
in Tehran. Sharif told parliament
he expected these diplomatic efforts
quickly to bear fruit.
“We are actually waiting for an
answer, which I expect will arrive by
tomorrow,” Sharif said, adding that
Turkey may send its foreign minister or
convey the message by phone.
“We will see what we can do after
that. We might visit other Muslim
countries together.”
Iranian
Foreign
Minister
Mohammad Javad Zarif is due in
Islamabad on Wednesday to discuss the
situation. On Tuesday the Pakistan Navy
evacuated another 146 of its citizens
from Yemen, along with 36 foreign
nationals. Hundreds more Pakistanis
have been whisked out of Yemen in the
past two weeks for their own safety.
Pakistan faces a tricky dilemma
over intervention in Yemen. It has long
enjoyed military ties with Riyadh and
has benefited hugely from the oil-rich
kingdom’s largesse over the years.
Like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan is
majority on one faction of Muslim, but
20 per cent of its population belong to
another faction and the government
is wary of fanning sectarian discord at
home. — AFP
Mass graves of IS victims found in Tikrit
BAGHDAD: Iraqi security forces said
on Tuesday that since recapturing the
city of Tikrit last week they had found
14 mass graves, thought to contain the
bodies of the worst massacre perpetrated
by the IS group. Officials, who declined
to be named, said the bodies included
soldiers captured by the militants after
fleeing from a military base near the city
during IS’s lightning offensive in June
last year.
The victims had been thrown at
random into the graves in the grounds
of former ruler Saddam Hussein’s palace
complex on the banks of the Tigris river,
the officials said.
The IS group claimed at the time to
have executed 1,700 soldiers who had
surrendered to it after fleeing nearby
Camp Speicher. It said 800 troops had
been “pardoned.”
Photographs published by the group
showed large groups of young men
being rounded up, driven in the backs
of trucks to fields, and then made to
lie on the ground in rows as gunmen
apparently opened fire on them.
An Iraqi fighter and member of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation, prays at a burial site believed to hold victims of a June massacre in
which hundreds of army cadets were executed by IS group, in Tikrit. The Speicher massacre — named after the nearby base
from which recruits were abducted — stoked widespread anger against IS and helped rally support to battle hardliners. — AFP
A video later released showed other
men being hustled to the riverside one by
one, beaten, shot in the head and thrown
in the water. The camp from which the
mostly young military trainees fled was
never overrun by IS.
Human Rights Watch said in
September last year that testimony
from a survivor and satellite imagery
confirmed the execution of 560 to 770
men, all apparently captured soldiers, at
the palace complex.
The killings were the worst of
numerous atrocities during a rapid
offensive that saw the IS group seize
much of northern and western Iraq as
security forces collapsed.
The massacre led to repeated
demands from the victims’ families for
the government to establish the fate
of their sons. Militias, who played the
leading role in the recent operation to
recapture Tikrit, had called for revenge
for the slain soldiers. — dpa
14
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EUROPE
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
Blair joins election fray, warns over EU referendum
LONDON: Former prime minister
Tony Blair plunged into Britain’s general
election fray on Tuesday, sounding a
warning about the dangers of the country
leaving the EU.
In a rare intervention in domestic
politics, Blair claimed Prime Minister
David Cameron’s planned referendum on
European Union membership threatens
the British economy.
Blair headed the centre-left Labour
Party from 1994 to 2007, leading them to
three general election victories.
In June 2007, he stepped down as
prime minister and resigned from British
politics. He will not run in the May 7
election and is backing Labour leader Ed
Miliband.
But Miliband has distanced himself
from the Blair era, and many in the
Labour party see the former prime
minister as a liability due to unpopularity
over Britain’s role in the invasion of Iraq.
Blair’s statement came as centre-right
Conservative leader Cameron pledged
to renegotiate Britain’s relationship
with the EU and then hold an in-or-out
referendum on the outcome by the end
of 2017.
The possibility of leaving the EU
would create job insecurity and leave a
“pall of unpredictability hanging over the
British economy”, Blair said in his former
Sedgefield constituency in northeast
Leaving Europe would
create job insecurity
and leave a ‘pall of
unpredictability hanging
over the UK economy’
England.
“Leaving Europe would leave Britain
diminished in the world, do significant
damage to our economy and, less
obviously but just as important to our
future, would go against the very qualities
and ambitions that mark us out still as a
great global nation.
“A decision to leave Europe would say
a lot about us and none of it good.”
He claimed Cameron’s plan was a
“concession” to the right of his party, a
“manoeuvre” to win back voters from the
anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP)
and “a sop to the rampant anti-Europe
feeling of parts of the media.
United Kingdom Indenpence Party leader Nigel Farage poses for a selfie with some girls during an election campaign event in Dudley. Right: British Prime Minister
David Cameron and his wife Samantha prepare to eat breakfast during a visit to financial company Scottish Widows in Edinburgh.
— Reuters
Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, British Conservative Party politician and member of Parliament, Priti Patel, and Scotland’s First Minister Nicola
Sturgeon speak during an election campaign events in London and Scotland yesterday. — AFP/Reuters
Russian nuke submarine catches fire
The Andromeda trawler with crew of the wrecked Dalniy Vostok fishing vessel
onboard is seen at the port of Korsakov in Russia’s Sakhalin region yesterday.
A Russian trawler sank in the Sea of Okhotsk off Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka
peninsula on April 2, killing at least 56 of the 132 crew, the emergencies ministry
said.
— Reuters
unloaded at the start of repairs a few
years ago,” the source said.
The news agency reports said
the fire had started during welding,
causing insulation materials to catch
fire. A similar blaze in 2011 nearly led
to a nuclear disaster as a blaze engulfed
a nuclear-powered submarine carrying
atomic weapons, a leading Russian
magazine reported months after the
blaze, contradicting official assurances
that it was not armed. — Reuters
Blasts hit Ukrainian city of Kharkiv
KHARIV: Two bomb attacks early on
Tuesday shook Ukraine’s second largest
city Kharkiv, causing some damage
but no casualties in the governmentcontrolled town near the Russian border
and the separatist-held east.
The Kharkiv prosecutor’s office said
a probe was under way for a “terrorist
attack” after a loud explosion in the city
centre, which knocked out windows at
a nearby university and set car alarms
screeching.
The blast damaged a monument
flying the national flag but failed to
knock the flag off the pole, said a
spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s
office. In the past months the city of 1.4
million has been the scene of a string of
bombings against military or strategic
targets.
A Russian woman “suspected of
organising explosions”, including the
attack on the monument, was detained
and homemade explosive devices as
well as military equipment were found
at her home, the Ukrainian security
service said.
It described her as being an official
of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk
People’s Republic” opposed to the Kiev
government, “who was coordinating
sabotage units in the Kharkiv region.”
The second morning blast occurred
on a railway line as a freight train
the important thing is what we share in
common,” he said.
“I want Labour, under Ed’s leadership,
to be the government of our country on
May 8. I believe we can and will do it.”
During a campaign visit to Belfast,
Cameron said Blair wanted to ignore the
will of the people.
“I think Tony Blair is wrong. I want
changes in Europe but then, unlike Tony
Blair, I will trust the people in an in-out
referendum,” he said.
Polling experts predict a hung
parliament. The latest BBC poll tracker
puts the Conservatives on 34 per cent,
Labour on 33 per cent and right-wing
UKIP on 13 per cent.
— AFP
Horsemeat trader gets
two-and-a-half years jail
CAMPAIGNING IN FULL SWING ACROSS UK
MOSCOW: A nuclear submarine
caught fire in a shipyard in Russia’s
northern province of Arkhangelsk on
Tuesday but there were no weapons
on board, Russian news agencies
reported.
The Emergencies Ministry declined
comment on the reports of the fire at
the Zvyozdochka shipyard, where the
agencies said the 155-metre-long (just
over 500 feet) 949 Antei submarine
was being repaired.
There was no word of any casualties.
“There is a fire on the submarine.
We are fighting the fire now,” a shipyard
source told Interfax news agency.
RIA quoted a spokesperson at
the shipyard as saying there were no
weapons on board the submarine.
A source told TASS news agency
the submarine’s nuclear reactor had
been shut down prior to the blaze.
“The active zone of the reactor was
“It is a completely unacceptable
gamble with our nation’s future.”
Blair set the issue in the strategic
context of an aggressive Russia and the
economic rise of China and India.
“Do we really think this is the time
in which to put into play our very
membership of the European Union,
the largest commercial market and most
developed political union in the world?”
he asked.
The 61-year-old Middle East peace
envoy was questioned about his backing
for Miliband and claimed “100 per
cent” support. “There’s always been
disagreement within the Labour Party,
different people with different views... but
was passing, damaging the tracks but
causing no injuries or severe disruption
to traffic, interior ministry officials said.
The early morning blasts came
weeks after four people died when a
bomb tore through a pro-government
“Dignity March” marking the one-year
overthrow of the former pro-Kremlin
president, Viktor Yanukovych, on
February 23.
Kharkiv is a major industrial centre
with a large university population and is
the capital of an area bordering the proRussian separatist regions of Donetsk
and Lugansk, where a year of fighting
between insurgents and the army has
left more than 6,000 people dead.
CRASH AFFECT
Doctors urge
more tests
for pilots
BERLIN: German aviation industry
doctors said on Tuesday that pilots
should undergo more extensive
medical checks in the wake of the
Germanwings crash in the French
Alps that killed 150 people.
In response to prosecutors’
allegations that co-pilot Andreas
Lubitz deliberately crashed the
Duesseldorf-bound
Germanwings
plane on March 24 on a day that he was
supposed to be off sick, the head of the
German Pilots’ Doctors Association
urged more thorough examinations.
“We are calling for more frequent
and comprehensive laboratory tests
for pilots,” the association’s chief
Hans-Werner Teichmueller told Welt
newspaper.
“We need to see results that can
also show traces of psychotropic drugs
and narcotics.”
The annual physical required of
pilots only includes a test of urine,
haemoglobin levels and in some cases
blood sugar.
If a standard blood test is ordered,
only indirect evidence of excessive
alcohol consumption can be identified
and no evidence of drug use,
according to Welt. Teichmueller said
that key data on the liver, kidneys and
cholesterol levels were also absent
from a typical medical file kept on
pilots. In the immediate aftermath of
the catastrophe, the association’s vicepresident, Uwe Beiderwellen, had said
that he opposed routine psychological
tests for pilots.
— AFP
THE HAGUE: A Dutch court on
Tuesday jailed wholesaler Willy Selten
for two-and-half years for selling
horsemeat passed off as beef during
Europe’s massive 2013 meat scandal.
“As boss of two companies he
(Selten) was guilty of forging invoices,
labels and written declarations and
using these forged documents to trade
meat,” the court in Den Bosch said in
its judgement.
Selten, 45, was arrested in May
2013 for allegedly selling 300 tonnes of
horsemeat labelled as beef, during one
of Europe’s biggest ever food scandals.
Dutch prosecutors — who asked for
a five-year-sentence — suspected Selten
of major involvement in the consumer
scandal, which prompted recalls of
meat products from Ireland to Greece.
Of 167 samples taken by Dutch
authorities from Selten’s meat supplies
in February 2013, 35 tested positive for
horse DNA, the court said.
“All these products were sold as pure
beef,” it added.
Selten’s businesses processed at least
336 tonnes of horsemeat between 2011
and 2012 although no horsemeat was
mentioned on the books, the court said.
The sentence was based on the fact
that Selten misled butchers that he
supplied and, ultimately, consumers.
“Butchers had problems and their
reputations were damaged,” the court
said, adding that because Selten also
traded internationally, he had damaged
the Dutch meat industry’s image.
“He saved money by buying cheaper
horsemeat, mixed it with beef fat and
sold it as more expensive beef,” the
court said.
Selten’s businesses are now bankrupt
and the administrator has laid a claim of
11 million euros ($12 million) against
him, the court said.
Selten’s lawyer did not return phone
calls on Tuesday.
At the end of his trial last month,
an emotional Selten protested his
innocence, saying “mistakes were made
in our bookkeeping”.
“I am not the big horsemeat swindler
they’re all looking for.
I
was
careless
with
my
administration, but not intentionally,”
he said in March.
The scandal erupted in Ireland and
Britain in January 2013, when it was
found that frozen burgers supplied to
several supermarkets, including the
Tesco chain, contained horse DNA.
Meatballs in Ikea stores, sausages
in Russia and frozen burgers in Britain
were pulled from the shelves by the
millions as a result.
Dutch food and consumer watchdog
NVWA arrested Selten on charges of
“false accounting and fraud” after an
extensive probe.
The NVWA then asked hundreds of
companies across Europe supplied by
Selten — who sourced the horsemeat
from Ireland and Britain — to check
their products.
In April 2013, Selten failed to
quash a massive order by the NVWA
recalling 50,000 tonnes of potentially
contaminated meat that had passed
through his plant.
Thousands of DNA tests on
European beef products after the
scandal revealed extensive food fraud
across the European Union, with almost
one in 20 meals marked as beef likely to
be tainted with horsemeat.
— AFP
40pc flights scrapped
over French airspace
Air-traffic controllers at the Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport’s control tower in
Roissy-en-France, northern Paris.
— AFP
PARIS: Air traffic controllers in
France were poised to go on strike
on Wednesday, likely leading to
cancellation of some 40 per cent of
flights in French airspace.
“Disruption is expected over the
whole country,” said the DGAC civil
aviation authority, which requested
companies to scrap 40 per cent of
flights as a preventative measure.
The main air traffic controllers’
union, the SNCTA, has also urged
industrial action on April 16-18 and
April 29 to May 2.
They are calling for talks over
working practices and retirement
age, currently set at 59 for air traffic
controllers. The SNCTA union had
originally threatened to go on strike
earlier but scrapped the industrial
action in the wake of the Germanwings
crash that killed 150 people. — AFP
AMERICAS
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
Empty nest
syndrome has
Obama in tears
WASHINGTON: US President Barack
Obama has a lot on his plate, but one
item is causing him considerable stress:
his impending empty nest syndrome.
Sixteen-year-old daughter Malia
hasn’t even finished high school,
but Obama says the thought of her
heading off to college has him crying.
Several times a day, in fact.
“I start tearing up in the middle of
the day and I can’t explain it, why am
I so sad? They’re leaving me,” he told
a laughing crowd at a prayer breakfast
on Tuesday, injecting a fake quiver into
his voice.
Obama appealed for support as he
starts to fret about the oldest of his two
daughters fleeing the coop.
“I want to thank everybody here for
their prayers, which means so much to
me and Michelle, particularly at a time
when my daughters are starting to
grow up and starting to go on college
visits,” he said.
“I need prayer.”
Luckily, Malia’s younger sister
Sasha, 13, won’t start thinking about
college for a few years yet.
Until then, Obama might want
to start thinking about moving to a
college town after he leaves the White
House.
— AFP
15
Rand Paul: I am running for president
CHALLENGE: ‘Defeat the Washington machine. Unleash the American dream’
LOUISVILLE: Sen Rand Paul of
Kentucky entered the campaign for
the 2016 Republican presidential
nomination on Tuesday with a
declaration that he’s running for the
White House to “return our country
to the principles of liberty and limited
government.”
At a splashy kickoff rally, Paul
promised a government restrained by
the Constitution and beholden no more
to special interests.
“I have a message, a message that
is loud and clear and does not mince
words,” he told cheering supporters. “We
have come to take our country back.”
Hours earlier, he prefaced his speech
with a message on his website saying: “I
am running for president.”
Paul is a fierce critic of Washington,
where he is in his first term as a senator
but seldom in line with his party’s
leadership. A banner over the stage
in Louisville proclaimed: “Defeat the
Washington machine. Unleash the
American dream.”
Paul’s challenge now is to convince
Republican primary voters and caucusgoers that his is a vision worthy of the
GOP presidential nomination, a prize
twice denied his father, former Rep
Ron Paul of Texas, who joined him at
Tuesday’s announcement.
Many in the ballroom said they had
been backers of Ron Paul’s presidential
runs. “Rand, I think, encompasses those
same principles (as his father), but he
also realises the pragmatism that is
necessary to bring those principles to
fruition in American politics today,” Eric
Thomas, a 49-year-old financial services
worker from Knoxville, Tennessee, said
at Paul’s event.
Paul begins the 2016 race as just the
second fully declared candidate, behind
Sen Ted Cruz of Texas, but he could face
as many as 20 rivals for the nomination
before the lead-off Iowa caucuses in
February.
Along the way, Paul is likely to
challenge his fellow Republicans’ views
on both foreign and domestic policy,
US Senator Rand Paul and his wife Kelley before formally announcing his candidacy
for president during an event in Louisville, Kentucky, yesterday.
— Reuters
as well as the nuts and bolts of how
campaigns are run. Tech savvy and
youth-focused, Paul is expected to be an
Internet juggernaut that his competitors
will be forced to chase.
GET ON THE PLANE!
Participants launch paper airplanes during Captain Ron Nielsen’s ‘Fearless Flying’ class at Sky Harbor International Airport in
Phoenix, Arizona.
— Reuters
Oldest woman in Peru dies at age 117
LIMA: Filomena Taipe Mendoza,
considered to be the oldest woman in
Peru, has died at age 117 in the southern
town of Pucuto, the development and
social inclusion ministry, or Midis,
announced.
Taipe, who — according to official
figures — was born in 1897, lived
along in a little adobe house in Pucuto,
which is in the Andean province of
Huancavelica, and enjoyed “surprisingly
good health and lucidity for her age”, the
ministry said.
The woman was a widow and the
mother of nine children, whom she
raised alone, maintaining contact with
the three of her children who are still
living. “The residents of Pucuto and
populated centres in the area remember
her walking through the small farms
with her cane, receiving the respectful
and loving greetings of children,
young people and adults whom she
encountered on her way. They, her
neighbours, visited her every day,” Midis
said.
After his speech in Louisville, Paul
planned to answer questions from
voters on his Facebook page and visit
the first four nominating states: New
Hampshire, South Carolina, Iowa and
Nevada. Before his announcement,
he was already selling on his website
iPhone cases branded with his logo,
signed copies of the Constitution and
Rand Paul beer steins.
The online store was a quick way
for Paul to collect contact information
for voters who want the swag but had
not yet considered a direct donation to
the candidate. It’s unclear, though, how
much support Paul can muster in the
Republican mainstream.
Paul is a frequent contrarian against
his party’s orthodoxy, questioning the
size of the US military and proposing
relaxation of some drug laws that
imprison offenders at a high cost to
taxpayers. He also challenges the GOP’s
support for surveillance programmes,
drone policies and sanctions on Iran
and Cuba.
But as the presidential campaign
has come closer, Paul has shifted his
approach somewhat on the complicated
question about how much government
the country actually needs.
Show Nasa there is
no place like home
Jury to decide
Boston
bomber’s fate
BOSTON: Jurors began deliberating
on Tuesday in the trial of Boston
Marathon
bombing
defendant
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, in a case
where the defence has long conceded
his responsibility in hopes of avoiding
the death penalty.
The panel of seven women and five
men is tasked with deciding 30 charges
involving the use of a weapon of mass
destruction resulting in death.
Federal
prosecutor
Aloke
Chakravarty told the jury in Monday’s
closing arguments that Tsarnaev,
then 19, and his older brother
Tamerlan believed they were Islamist
holy warriors “bringing their battle
to Boston.” Defence attorney Judy
Clarke, laying the groundwork for the
sentencing phase that would follow
guilty verdicts, said “there is no excuse
— no one is trying to make one.”
She said Tsarnaev was the willing
follower of his brother, whom she
described as the mastermind and
organiser. “Without Tamerlan, it
would never have happened.”
The double bombing near the finish
line of the race on April 15, 2013, killed
three people and wounded 260.
Four days later, in a huge manhunt
after the brothers were identified as
suspects, a police officer was shot
dead and Tamerlan died in a shootout,
before the seriously wounded
Dzhokhar was finally captured.
Federal Judge George O’Toole
briefly explained to the jury on
Tuesday that each of the 30 counts of
the indictment against Tsarnaev had
its own page in the verdict document.
After being assured that the
jurors had avoided media exposure
to the case, he dismissed them for
deliberations.
Court was dismissed shortly
afterward.
— dpa
omandailyobserver
American claims
crown as world’s
oldest person
Taipe said that the secret of her long
life was “natural food” and she added
that she never ate anything “from cans,
or envelopes” and refused to drink
carbonated beverages.
When she turned 117 last December,
she was feted by her entire community
“who saw in her an example to follow
because of her fortitude and advice
about nutrition that she gave to the
children”, Midis went on to say.
Taipe began receiving benefits under
the government’s Pension 65 assistance
programme in March 2014. — IANS
WASHINGTON: The honour of
being the world’s oldest person has
passed to a 115-year-old American
following the death of a 116-yearold compatriot who held the title for
just five days. Jeralean Talley, who
lives in the Detroit suburb of Inkster,
Michigan, was born in the southern
US state of Georgia on May 23, 1899
— making her exactly 115 years and
320 days old as of Tuesday.
She was declared the world’s
oldest person by the Gerontology
Research Group, which tracks those
it calls “supercentenarians” — senior
citizens who live past the age of 110.
She is also one of only three
people still alive today with
documented proof that they were
born in the 1800s.
— AFP
WASHINGTON: Just like last year’s
global selfie, Nasa is inviting people
across the globe to share pictures and
videos of their favourite places on
Earth using social media — and tag
them #NoPlaceLikeHome — on Earth
Day that falls on April 22.
“At Nasa, we explore lots of planets
and there is a lot to love: the mountains
on Mars, the rings of Saturn, the
99.77-degree axial tilt of Uranus.
But how about a little something for
the home team? It’s Earth Day. Let’s
explore our home planet, too,” the US
space agency said in a statement.
“We want you to share with Nasa
and the world views of your corner of
Earth — your favourite place, whether
it is a local park, your vacation spot
or Mt Everest. Our question to you is
a simple one: What is your favourite
place on Earth?” it added.
“This year, we are opening up the
request to include Vine and Instagram
videos. Just be sure to include the
hashtag #NoPlaceLikeHome — no
matter what social media platform you
are posting on,” Nasa pointed out.
Scientists from Nasa and around
the world have now discovered more
than 1,800 planets beyond our solar
system.
“But so far, we have not found any
that match the complexity of Earth.
And it is this complexity that challenges
Earth scientists as they seek to figure
out how the whole planet works as a
system,” the statement continued.
“In the next two weeks and on Earth
Day, we will be sharing Nasa’s views of
Earth — from our satellites, from our
research aircraft, and even from our
scientists themselves at work in the
field,” it added.
Earth has oceans, forests, deserts,
ice sheets, rain, snow, an atmosphere.
And we have life.
“These are some of the things that
Nasa’s 20 Earth-orbiting missions
observe and measure in our quest to
build the most complete understanding
possible of our dynamic planet,” Nasa
said. One can also get on board now by
using #NoPlaceLikeHome emoji as his
or her profile pic.
Join Facebook or Google+ events
and invite your friends to participate
too.
— IANS
THE INTERNET & HUMAN RIGHTS
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff during the launching ceremony of the National
Pact to Human Rights Violations on the Internet in Brazil, at the Planalto Palace in
Brasilia yesterday.
— Reuters
The fact that children are viewing the videos on a tablet or smartphone screen instead of on a television screen does not make it any less unfair
Consumer groups claim YouTube kids app ‘deceptive’
WASHINGTON: A coalition of
consumer and child advocacy groups
asked US regulators on Tuesday to
investigate Google’s new YouTube app
for children, claiming it inappropriately
delivers too much advertising to young
viewers.
The videos on YouTube Kids
“intermix commercial and other
content in ways that are deceptive and
unfair to children and would not be
permitted to be shown on broadcast
or cable television,” said a letter to the
Federal Trade Commission from nine
organisations.
The mobile app which was
announced in February by Google
includes segments endorsing toys,
candy and other products that appear
to be from “undisclosed relationships”
with the makers of the items, in
violation of standards for truth in
advertising, the letter said.
The letter added these types of
product endorsements mixed with
entertainment would not be allowed on
broadcast television and are especially
unfair because children often lack
the ability to distinguish between
entertainment and advertising.
“This blending of children’s
programming content with advertising
material on television has long been
prohibited because it is unfair and
deceptive to children,” the letter said.
“The fact that children are viewing
the videos on a tablet or smartphone
screen instead of on a television screen
does not make it any less unfair and
deceptive.”
The application is designed as a
simple-to-use stage for age-appropriate
videos, channels and playlists skewed
toward content that promotes literacy,
according to YouTube.
It also boasts parental controls
including a countdown clock to limit
viewing time and the ability to disable
online searches.
YouTube Kids launch partners
included Jim Henson TV, DreamWorks
TV, Mother Goose Club, National
Geographic, Reading Rainbow, and
Talking Tom and Friends.
But the organisations in the
complaint said the app is built around
commercial products. “There is
nothing ‘child friendly’ about an
app that obliterates long-standing
principles designed to protect kids
from commercialism,” said Josh Golin
of the Campaign for a CommercialFree Childhood.
“YouTube Kids’ advertising policy
is incredibly deceptive. To cite just one
example, Google claims it doesn’t accept
food and beverage ads but McDonald’s
actually has its own channel and the
‘content’ includes actual Happy Meal
commercials.”
— AFP
16
PANORAMA
omandailyobserver
A woman takes photographs of a blossoming tree on a sunny spring day in Vienna yesterday. — Reuters
The installation of a dome on a reactor’s building on the construction site of the third
European generation Pressurised Reactor in Flamanville, northwestern France. — AFP
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
This picture shows cars on an elevated road in Shanghai, China. Shanghai is among world’s
most traffic congested cities, according to local media reports. — AFP
A helicopter surveillance footage shows Luke Shambrook, 11, in rugged
terrain three kilometres from the Lake Eildon National Park campsite. An
autistic boy who went missing four days ago at an Australian camping
ground was found alive on Tuesday, with police describing his survival
in the dense forest as a ‘miracle’. — AFP
A construction worker holds a turtle for sale on a street near a construction
site in Beijing yesterday. In China, turtles are raised as pets, as well as food.
WEDNESDAY | APRIL 8, 2015 | JUMADA AL THANIA 18, 1436 AH
P18
P20
P21
Inside
OPAL elects new board at AGM Euro zone business growth up Rostec looks to Africa to boost exports FOLLOW US ON:
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[email protected]
Oman plans revamped power procurement process
ELECTRICITY: Move will allow existing power plants with expiring contracts to compete directly with new project bidders for long-term contracts
CONRAD PRABHU
MUSCAT
April 7: Oman Power and Water
Procurement Company (OPWP),
the nation’s sole procurer of new
electricity generation and water
desalination capacity, says it plans to
adopt a new capacity procurement
process designed to enable existing
power plants with expiring contracts
to compete directly with new project
bidders for long-term contracts.
The move is part of a series of
initiatives launched by the wholly
government-owned utility — part
of The Electricity Holding Company
(Nama Group) — with the aim of
liberalising the sector and opening it
up to competition for the first time.
Announcing the proposed plan
in its 7-Year Statement, detailing its
outlook for power and desalinated
water supply during the 2015-2021
timeframe, OPWP said the latest
initiative will allow for a number
of existing operators to continue to
generate electricity beyond 2020,
when extended supply agreements
clinched with a number of generators
also come to an end.
As many as four existing power
plants, notably Al Kamil, Barka 1,
Wadi Jizzi and Ghubrah, will reach the
end of their current contract terms by
2018. With a view to ensuring there is
adequate generation capacity to meet
escalating electricity demand in the
country, OPWP initiated discussions
last year with the owners of the
power projects in question aimed at
extending the contracts through 2020.
“Extensions are being negotiated
only on a guaranteed capacity basis at
economic commercial terms, and all
plants have completed independent
technical evaluations to confirm the
capacity on offer,” the procurer said.
It added that negotiations for all or
a portion of capacity associated with
expiring contracts are targeted for
completion during the course of this
Samsung
flags 30.5pc
on-year drop
in Q1 profit
SEOUL:
Samsung
Electronics
flagged
on
Tuesday
better-thanexpected profits for the first
quarter, with rising demand
for memory chips helping
offset slumping smartphone
sales. The South Korean
electronics giant — the
world’s top mobile producer
— estimated an operating
profit of 5.9 trillion won
($5.4 billion) for the JanuaryMarch period.
The forecast was down
30.5 per cent from a year
ago, but beat average analyst
expectations of around 5.5
trillion won, and was up 11.5
per cent from the previous
quarter.
Sales would likely reach
47 trillion won, down 12.4
per cent from a year ago,
Samsung said in its quarterly
earnings estimate, which
came days ahead of the
much-anticipated launch of
its latest flagship smartphone,
the Galaxy S6.
Samsung hopes the new
model will re-establish it as
the clear global smartphone
market leader over arch-rival
Apple, which has enjoyed
booming sales of its iPhone 6.
Several market trackers had
Apple and Samsung tied in
worldwide smartphone sales
in the fourth quarter of 2014,
while at least one suggested
Apple had regained the
throne it lost to Samsung
back in 2011.
Samsung has seen profits
sag since late 2013 due to
heightened competition in
the increasingly saturated
smartphone market. — AFP
year.
Total
generation
capacity
contracted to OPWP under Power
Purchase Agreements (PPAs) currently
stands at 6,876 MW, but is projected to
decline to 5,728 MW by 2021 due to
contract expirations. Ghubrah Power
and Desalination Company in Muscat
Governorate already saw a number of
its older generation units fall out of
contract last September, resulting in
a reduction of 213 MW from the total
contracted capacity. An agreement
covering the remaining units at
Ghubrah will expire in March 2018,
resulting in a further reduction of 256
MW if the contract is not renewed.
Likewise, contracts for five gas
turbines at Wadi Jizzi also expired in
September 2014, comprising about
160 MW. Further contract expirations
are also due in September 2017 (33
MW), September 2018 (33 MW) and
March 2020 (101 MW). OPWP is
currently negotiating with the owner
towards potential extensions for some
of these units, the utility said.
A Power Purchase Agreement
covering output from the 280-MW
capacity Al Kamil Power Plant is due
to expire in April 2017, though the
contract may be extended, says OPWP.
A similar offtake agreement with the
owners of Barka 1 is due to expire in
April 2018, which if not renewed will
result in a reduction of 435 MW of
capacity in 2018.
“As of February 2015, none of
the contract extensions have been
finalised, but all are expected to be
resolved within a short time,” said OP
WP.
TO PAGE 20
18
omandailyobserver
OMAN
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
MB Petroleum Services installs OPAL elects new board at AGM
IVMS machines in school buses
Khamis al Hinai, GM, MB Petroleum Services Oman and Abdul Aziz bin Hamed al Dhaghari, Principal, Moosa bin Naseer Boys
School after signing the agreement (picture left).
MUSCAT: As part of its ongoing efforts
to highlight the importance of safe
driving practices in the community,
MB Petroleum Services (MBPS) has
installed In-Vehicle Monitoring System
(IVMS) instruments in school buses
being operated by Moosa Bin Naseer
Boys School. In addition to the IVMS
instruments, drive safe messages were
put up on the exterior of the 12 school
buses to further reiterate prudent
driving habits.
The company has previously
installed IVMS instruments in several
other schools across the capital. This
instrument ably monitors the driving
speed, the intensity of acceleration,
braking, shocks due to the condition
of the roads and the recording of the
intensity of shocks suffered by vehicles.
It also checks the engine status,
duration of parking as well as the
‘engine on’ thereby saving fuel cost. The
IVMS instruments not only monitor
speed & engine status but also records
and keep track of driving behaviour,
thereby ensuring that speed limits and
safe driving practices are adhered to at
all times.
Khamis al Hinai — General Manager,
MBPS Oman, said, “As a corporate,
we are committed to supporting
communities within which we operate.
We have partnered with several schools
in the past in the capital region.
This time, we specifically targeted
a boy’s school as statistics in a media
report revealed that young boys meet
with more accidents due to reckless
driving. We want to inculcate safe
driving habits from a young age so that
when they take on the wheels, they will
emulate the same on the roads. Our
motto is to try and make the roads in
Oman safe!”
Abdul Aziz bin Hamed al Dhaghari,
Principal, Moosa Bin Naseer Boys
School added, “We are extremely happy
to partner with MB Petroleum Services,
who are a shining example of a good
corporate”.
MUSCAT: Oman Society for Petroleum
Services (OPAL), the forum of 400
member companies operating in
Oil and Gas, held Annual General
Meeting at Hormuz Grand Hotel under
the auspices of Salim al Aufi Under
Secretary — Ministry of Oil & Gas.
PDO MD. Raoul Restucci delivered
the Keynote Speech. The event was
attended by the CEOs and the General
Managers of OPAL member companies,
and representatives from the Ministry of
Social Development
Following the announcement of the
legal quorum, the AGM started as per
the agenda to discuss and consider the
reports of the chairman and endorse,
the financial statements for the financial
year ending on December 31, 2015 in
addition to electing new Board to serve
for the next two years
Majid al Toki, OPAL’s Chairman,
started the meeting by welcoming the
members and acknowledging the efforts
of the secretariat on managing last year’s
events and in solving certain issues
within the sector. He indicated that
during the past years OPAL achieved
several milestones and objectives that
OPAL was established for.
He expressed his satisfaction with
the confidence that OPAL has regained
from its stakeholders. During his speech
he shared some views that the Board of
Director would like to see reflected in
the new business plan, and requested
the members for effective participation
and play a proactive role in the planning
and execution process.
The members elected seven of the
twelve candidates who ran for the
election, each to serve a two-year term
according to the constitution.
The process was executed under the
direct supervision of the Ministry of
Social Development, KPMG and Moore
Stephens, OPAL Financial Auditors.
The newly elected Board Directors
are: Aflah al Hadhrami, Vice President
at Occidental of Oman Inc; Dr Amer
al Rawas, Group CEO at Tasneea Oil
& Gas Technology; Haifa al Khaife,
Finance Director at Petroleum
Development Oman; Majid al Toki,
Managing Resident Partner of Trowers
& Hamlins; Mohsin al Hadhrami,
VP & GM Schlumberger Oman;
Mundhir al Barwani, General Manager
at Al Haditha Petroleum Services;
Stephen Thomas, General Manager at
Renaissance Services LLC.
During the meeting, the financial
reports presented by the Treasurer,
Michael Armstrong were considered
and approved.
This was followed by an address by
OPAL’s Chief Executive, Musallam
al Mandhari, who focused on OPAL’s
2014 performance and the future plans
stressing on the strong need to change
the way OPAL operate to meet the
challenges of the future and providing
value for its members in addition to
creating alignment between operator’s
and contractors’ needs.
McDonald’s launches
full transparency with
‘Your Right to Know’
LIJU CHERIAN
DUBAI
April 7: McDonald’s Arabia on Monday launched a new
and interactive digital platform called ‘Your Right to Know’
(YRTK) at the Al Nojoom Ballroom, Shangri-La Hotel,
Dubai. This initiative is the first of its kind in the Gulf region
and further demonstrates McDonald’s leadership in the
quick-service restaurant industry.
The new programme sets a precedent for the food and
beverage industry and demonstrates McDonald’s ongoing
commitment to transparency. It is inviting people across the
region to ask any questions that they have about the brand
and its food specifically in the GCC.
Yousif Abdulghani, Vice President and International
Relationship Partner, McDonald’s Middle East Development
Company, who addressed the press conference said:
“Transparency is key to every business, particularly in today’s
world, where consumers demand more information and
transparency to allow them to make informed decisions”.
Based on this, Yousif said, YRTK comes as a continuation
of this transparency journey. “It is also an ideal tool to
foster an open dialogue with consumers, and demonstrates
McDonald’s pride in the food we serve to our customers in
the GCC every day,” he added. McDonald’s had launched the
Open Door programme in 2005 which allowed customers
to enter McDonald’s kitchen and witness the high quality
and hygiene standards adopted. Later in 2013, it launched
Nutrition Labelling where McDonald’s was the first
restaurant in the sector to publish nutritional information
on its packaging to help customers choose food that fits with
their lifestyles. This includes a breakdown of calories, fat,
sodium, protein and carbohydrates in each product.
Yousif also pointed out that McDonald’s Arabia takes its
business seriously, and is committed to being open about its
practices and products so that people can make informed
food choices. “Today, we offer them a trusted source to find
out exactly what’s on their tray at McDonald’s,” he said.
Dr Habib M’Nasria, Quality Systems Director, at
McDonald’s Middle East Development Company, said
McDonald’s follows some of the most stringent standards
in food safety and quality. “We get our vegetables from
farms that follow the best agricultural practices. These farms
are closely monitored and their procedures are audited by
internal and external experts,” he mentioned.
Earlier, before the conference began, the invitees were
shown a video of McDonald’s transparency journey.
Later the guests also witnessed the ‘Farm to Tray’ journey
showing how McDonald sources its ingredients from its
trusted suppliers for fresh vegetables and how its meets the
strictest halal and quality standards. It also showed how
they maintain and monitor food safety norms all across the
distribution chain.
Among the others who took part in the panel discussion
included Mohammed Abbas, Vice President, Fresh Goods,
at Del Monte, Saudi Arabia and Sami Adra, Key Account
Manager, GCC at Keystone Foods.
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
BUSINESS ALERT
Ford F-150 honoured at
Edmunds.com Awards
MUSCAT: Ford Motor Company is indeed
going a long way in manufacturing vehicles
that are much beyond the ordinary. Over the years the Company has collaborated
with several experts across industries to bring exceptional in-car experiences to
Ford vehicles. They include collaborations with companies like Microsoft, the
developers of the renowned SYNC® technology.
Around the world Ford products are making an indelible mark on customers
with all they have to offer. No wonder then that at various award functions,
Ford always makes its way to the top. Recently at the Edmunds.com ‘2015 Most
Popular awards’, Ford F-150 was honoured for being among the most researched
vehicles in their respective categories on the website over a 10-month period.
The awards are determined based on the number of unique visitors to
Edmunds.com researching a vehicle’s inventory, model detail, reviews, and build
and price pages from January 1, 2014 to October 31,2014.
Thanks to a powerful engine line-up and rock-solid chassis, the Ford F-150
delivers excellent ride and handling dynamics for a full-size truck. Its reputation
for low cabin noise at high speeds has almost become a trademark of the F-150.
In Oman, Ford vehicles are brought to you by Arabian Car Marketing Co
LLC. For more information, please log on to www.fordoman.com
Sharia Supervisory Board meeting
AL Hilal Islamic Banking, the
Islamic window of ahlibank,
that is a leading bank in the
Sultanate, held recently the
ninth meeting of its Sharia
Supervisory Board on April 2,
2015 at its head office located
in Wattayah.
The meeting was chaired by
Dr Fareed Hadi, and included
board members Dr Mohammed Ibrahim Tahir and Dr Abdul Rauf al Tubi; as
well as the Management of Al Hilal Islamic Banking Services.
During the meeting, the Board provided necessary guidelines for Al
Hilal Islamic Corporate banking, SME and Retail banking. The Board also
reviewed Sharia audit reports of the last quarter of 2014 and gave its opinion.
The Sharia Board appreciated the work done by Sharia Audit and Compliance
and the performance of Al Hilal Islamic banking services for stringent Sharia
Compliance.
The CEO of ahlibank, Lloyd Maddock, met the Sharia Supervisory Board
during its meeting and gave an overview of the developments in Al Hilal Islamic
banking to the Board members. The CEO highlighted the progress and the
success of Al Hilal Islamic banking in a short time span and appreciated the
services of Sharia Supervisory Board.
OMAN
Bank Sohar sponsors sea festival 2015
IN promoting Oman’s rich Maritime
history and culture as well as
encouraging local investment, Bank
Sohar recently sponsored the third
edition of the Taqah Traditional Sea
Festival. The event that took place from
March 26 to April 4, 2015 held near
Taqah Customs Office, in the Al Fardha
area, Salalah. Representing Bank Sohar
at the opening event was Amur Said al
Amri, Chief Manager Salalah Branch.
The Taqah festival was aimed at empowering Omani youth to showcase
their talent and skill and providing an encouraging environment in which to
display their creativity. Moreover, the festival opened the doors for investment
opportunities for citizens whilst positioning the Wilayat of Taqah as a prime
tourist destination. The festival played host to several displays of Omani heritage
at both; the heritage village and the maritime village, in addition to others that
covered various educational, sports and entertainment aspects of traditional
Omani culture. Additionally, the festival included consumer exhibitions, fun
rides and several games, in addition to contests for children and kids theatre.
Bank Sohar has always demonstrated a commitment towards supporting
events and initiatives that bring the country’s rich cultural heritage and touristic
potential for in to the limelight both locally and worldwide. The bank also
actively promotes and supports local investments by providing SME with all
the support they require together with unique financial services that not only
facilitates easy approval systems with a high delegation of authority, but also
offers attractive interest rates and easy terms and conditions.
Range of offers with Bridgestone
TYRE major Bridgestone and its sole
distributor in the Sultanate, Towell
Auto Centre (TAC), kick starts the
summer with a range of offers from
Tyre Care Plus & First Stop outlets
and also through authorised dealer
points. Commencing from the April
1, the offer is valid until May 31, 2015.
Cash purchase of 04 tyres of
PSR, 4WD and LVR tyres entitles a
customer to Scratch & Win exciting
rewards. To top it all there is Grand draw which enables a lucky winner for a
Mazda6 2.0L AT comfort. With the purchase of 04 tyres of PSR, 4WD or LVR
every customer gets a chance to scratch and win FREE Tyres or FREE Oil change.
FREE Oil change coupons are redeemable until September 30, 2015.
All above customers are eligible for the Grand prize through raffle draw
which will conducted at Bridgestone Truck Tyre centre, Ghala on June 7, 2015
and the lucky winner will get hands on the fabulous Mazda6 2.0L on June 14,
omandailyobserver
19
2015 at the same place as the draw.
Towell Auto Centre (TAC) has wide network of Tyre Care Plus outlets for
Bridgestone Tyres located at Barka, Musannah, Jaalan Bani Bu Ali, Ibra, Sinaw,
Ibri, Nizwa, Karsha, Samayil, Sohar, Saham, Buraimi, Sur, Salalah, and in the
capital at Al Khoudh, Bausher, Ghala, Ghubrah, Maabela, Rusayl and Wadi
Kabir. Bridgestone Truck Tyre Centre is located Ghala and Fleet points are
located at Duqm, Fahud, Karsha, Nimr and Salalah. First Stop stores are located
in Seeb & Amerat. Customers can choose from an extensive range of tyres and
avail the best in terms of service, quality care and expertise from well trained
Professionals and Service Engineers.”
Nameer Island villas at Saraya
Bandar Jissah now on sale
SARAYA Bandar Jissah,
the luxurious Integrated
Tourism Complex (ITC)
is rapidly taking shape on
the shores of the stunning
Bandar Jissah bay in
Muscat. Recently voted
the World’s Best Mixed
Use Development at the
International Property
Awards, the company
today announced the
long-awaited release of the exclusive Nameer Island villas, of which only 33
will be available for sale. Located at the very heart of the Saraya Bandar Jissah
development, the signature Island villas surrounded by iconic lagoon offer
a modern contemporary design and represent the very best in lifestyle living,
located only a stone’s throw from the pristine beachfront.
Commenting on the launch of sales for the Nameer Island, Roger Beaumont,
Sales Manager for Saraya Bandar Jissah, noted, “As progress at Saraya Bandar
Jissah continues at pace, we’re proud to release the Nameer island of our
residential properties to the market. The villas on Nameer Island are available in
3 and 4 bedroom configurations, and have been eagerly awaited by buyers who
seek the lagoon front aspect and stunning views of the Al Hajar mountain range,
as well as the exclusive privacy offered to residents within the island. We’ve been
heartened by the market response for properties within the Zaha residential
zone, which were the first to come to market, and we’re sure that interest in the
exclusive lagoon villas will see the 33 properties reserved in a quick fashion. The
real point of difference with Nameer Island is that every one of properties has a
direct view over the lagoon.”
Surrounded on all sides by the iconic lagoon, the Island offer privacy and
family friendly park areas dedicated exclusively for Nameer residents. Each villa
is delivered complete with a stunning infinity pool overlooking the lagoon, while
a generous open-plan design spans nearly 500 sq. metres of living space over 2
floors, providing an easy indoor-outdoor flow, ideal for entertaining guests and
relaxed family living.
20
omandailyobserver
OMAN/INTERNATIONAL
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
Bank Muscat and ITA showcase
SME start-ups in ICT sector
CMA seeks related party
opinion on Insurance
Brokers’ Regulation
MUSCAT: The ‘Omani Start-ups &
Technology’ exhibition featuring SME
start-ups in the field of Information
Communication Technology (ICT),
jointly hosted by Bank Muscat and the
Information Technology Authority’s
Sas Programme, got off to a rousing
start at the bank’s head office yesterday
(Tuesday) under the auspices of Dr
Salim al Ruzaiki, Chief Executive
Officer of the Information Technology
Authority.
Aimed at supporting Omani
youth and promoting entrepreneurial
initiatives, the initiative to host the
exhibition stems from the bank’s
to
complement
commitment
government efforts in strengthening
the role of SMEs, particularly the
knowledge-based sector, in the
economic development of Oman.
The exhibition showcased SME
start-ups in the field of information
communication technology (ICT),
including gaming, animation, graphic
design, geographic information systems
(GIS), online payment platform using
telecom prepaid cards, 3D design, social
media and mobile development etc.
The exhibition created a platform
for the participants to interact with
industry experts and prospective
clients in promoting their products and
services.
Dr Salim al Ruzaiki congratulated the
bank for hosting the exhibition which,
he said, would provide a boost for SMEs
in the ICT sector.
MUSCAT:
The Capital Market
Authority (CMA) has finalised the draft
Regulation for Insurance Brokers as
part of its endeavour to review the laws
and regulation regulating the insurance
industry to upgrade the profession and
protect the interest of the participants
and policyholders.
CMA circulated the draft regulation
to all insurance brokers and companies
operating in the Sultanate as well as
law firms for their technical and legal
opinion for a common understanding
on the regulation of insurance brokerage
firms prior to issuing the regulation.
The amendments cover a number
of issues such as the ceiling of the
capital required for establishment of the
company. They also address the issue
of post payment of insurance premium
and direct transfer to the insurance
companies further to changes on
Dr Al Ruzaiki added: “Under the
guidance of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos,
the government is making concerted
efforts to encourage an entrepreneurial
culture in the Sultanate and attract
youth to embark on self-employment
initiatives.
ITA is proud to initiate the Sas
Programme wherein enterprising
youth pursuing ICT initiatives are given
training and support for development.
The ICT sector offers bright prospects
for youth to embark on SME business
ventures complementing knowledgebased industries in Oman.”
The
Information
Technology
Authority’s Sas Programme aims to
set up a national technology business
entrepreneurship for the Sultanate
in coordination and collaboration
with
government
and
non-
government stakeholders to encourage
entrepreneurship and the development
of IT and IT related small and medium
businesses.
Ilham al Hamaid, AGM - SME Credit,
Marketing & Regional Corporates, said:
“Bank Muscat is proud to join hands with
ITA to host the ICT start-up exhibition.
The synergy between the bank and ITA
will help achieve a benchmark for SME
initiatives in the ICT sector in Oman.
Bank Muscat has initiated a series
of unique programmes benefiting
SMEs in Oman and is committed
to meeting all their requirements.
The business environment in Oman
offers tremendous opportunities and
challenges for the SME sector.”
The enterprising youth who
participated in the exhibition exuded
determination to follow their business
GAC rewards Mitsubishi employees
MUSCAT:
General
Automotive
Company (GAC), the exclusive dealers
for Mitsubishi in Oman, recently
organised a special award ceremony to
recognise the efforts of GAC employees
in making the 2014 ‘Team Pajero
Adventure’ a stellar success.
This award ceremony was a part of
the ‘Mitsubishi Heartbeat’ Initiative.
Launched in April 2014, the specially
developed
GAC
Transformation
Campaign to developed and recognise
the efforts put in by every single one
of GAC’s employees and also provide
an equal platform on which to prove
themselves. This award recognises the
hard work put in by a dedicated team
that led to the successful completion
of six rounds of the ‘Team Pajero
Adventure’.
The award ceremony was held at
the 360 degree restaurant with Mark
Tomlinson, Group General Manager
of The Zubair Automotive Group,
presenting certificates of recognition
and awards to each of the 12 Team
Pajero Crew Members who organised
and participated in the six trips and
whose efforts directly contributed
towards their successful completion last
month.
Titled ‘Team Pajero Adventure’, the
annual desert adventure gives drivers
the unique opportunity to experience
the Rimal al Sharqiya (Wahiba Sands)
in the highly capable Mitsubishi Pajero.
For 2014, the Team Pajero Desert
Adventure was initially split into three
separate groups over three weekends, the
first of which took place from December
12 to 13 with the participation of over
250 people and 55 Pajeros. The second
trip took place from December 19 to 20
and saw the participation of 260 people
in 56 Pajeros. The final trip of 2014 took
place in the last weekend of December
saw the participation of 270 people and
60 Pajeros.
Because of the popularity of the
event, GAC decided to conduct two
more trips in January and one in
February 2015. The two trips in January,
which took place on January 9 and 21,
collectively saw the participation of over
400 people and over 110 Pajeros; and
the third and final trip on February 13
saw a further 55 Pajeros and 260 people
undertake the trip. In total, over 1,530
people in over 336 Pajeros visited the
Wahiba sands as part of the Team Pajero
Desert Adventure in six batches over the
past three months.
TNT supervisory, management boards support deal
FedEx to buy TNT for $4.8 bn
to expand Europe deliveries
AMSTERDAM: FedEx Corp is seeking
to buy Dutch package delivery firm
TNT Express for an agreed 4.4 billion
euros ($4.8 billion), aiming to succeed
where United Parcel Service failed two
years ago when its bid was blocked by
competition regulators.
FedEx and TNT said on Tuesday they
did not expect significant opposition
from regulators. Unlike FedEx, UPS
already had a strong European network
when it bid for TNT. FedEx will offer
8 euros in cash per ordinary TNT
share, in a deal that would give the US
firm access to TNT’s European road
network and TNT access to FedEx’s
global distribution platform. The bid
is 33 per cent above TNT’s last closing
price in Amsterdam.
TNT shares leapt more than 30 per
cent in early Tuesday trading towards
the offer price. “FedEx has laid on the
table an attractive offer price,” said ABN
Amro analyst Maarten Bakker, who has
a “hold” rating on TNT shares. “With
FedEx having always been the most
logical predator of TNT Express, we
see the chances of a competing offer as
slim.” The deal has been unanimously
recommended by TNT’s supervisory
board.
TNT’s largest shareholder, PostNL,
said it would tender its 14.7 per cent
stake to FedEx. PostNL shares rose 17
per cent in Amsterdam. FedEx’s offer
is below the 9.50 euro per share bid for
TNT from UPS, which was blocked by
European regulators.
UPS is fighting that decision
in court, but it is unclear when a
ruling will follow. That decision was
damaging for TNT, which had been
counting on adopting much of UPS’s
logistics backbone. So TNT embarked
on a restructuring programme,
cutting costs, selling operations and
investing in its road network in a bid to
hold on to customers in a weak
European market for business package
deliveries.
TNT, which has been losing market
share to competitors, warned in
February it expected tough trading to
continue in its main western European
markets. FedEx’s decision to bid now
follows a 17 per cent drop in TNT
shares over the past year, versus a 21
per cent rise in the benchmark Dutch
AEX index.
— Reuters
dreams in the field of information
communication technology (ICT),
which offers bright prospects in light
of the country moving towards a digital
society.
Almuatasim al Hinai, CEO of
North Systems, made a presentation
highlighting the company’s experience.
North Systems was established in 2011
with a specific mission to provide
outstanding solutions in the domain of
geographic information systems (GIS)
in the Sultanate with exemplary and
professional customer services, support
and training.
Services
provided
include
enterprise GIS systems planning
and development, web mapping
applications development, mobile
mapping applications development and
GIS training services.
BIZ BRIEF
Viacom to cut
jobs in major
reorganisation
NEW YORK: Media-entertainment
giant Viacom said it plans unspecified
“workforce reductions” as part of a wideranging reorganisation to help boost
its financial performance in the face of
increasing competition.
Viacom, which owns Paramount
studios in Hollywood and a range
of television channels including
MTV and Comedy Central, said in a
statement it was unveiling a “strategic
realignment, including initiatives
designed to promote greater crossbrand collaboration, focus on new
growth areas, and improve operational
efficiency and financial performance.”
“This strategic realignment, which
is largely completed, will allow us to
sharpen our focus on driving long-term
growth in a rapidly changing industry,”
Chief Executive Philippe Dauman said in
a statement.
“We will transition rapidly into the
future, generate substantial cost savings
and continue to increase our investment
in original programming to bring our
audiences great content in new and
ground breaking ways.”
Viacom will set aside $785 million for
the reorganisation to cover the costs of
job cuts and writing down the value of
“underperforming” assets. The company
declined to elaborate on the number
of cuts or provide other details. These
changes will result in annualised savings
of some $350 million, the statement
said. The move comes with Viacom
and other traditional media companies
pressured by the growth of Internetbased television from companies such
as Netflix and Amazon, which could
lead to declining viewership for its cable
channels.
Viacom is reorganising three of
its domestic network groups into
two new organisations, in a shift to
realign sales, marketing, creative and
support functions. The company is
also reallocating resources “to expand
its capabilities in critical business areas
including data analysis, technology
development and consumer insights,
reflecting the rapidly changing media
marketplace, shifting consumer
behaviour and evolving measurement
practices.” — AFP
certain financial obligations required
for licensing insurance brokers and
specification of the rates required for
carrying out the business. The changes
also include the facilities and processes
which could encourage insurance
brokers to expand geographically in the
various parts of the Sultanate as well as
Omanisation of the profession.
The amendments also included the
events of suspension of the broker. CMA
has posted the draft amendments on
its website: www.cma.gov.om for easy
access. CMA is concerned to regulate
the business of insurance brokerage
for being one of the pillars of the
industry which provides employment
opportunities for the young graduates
of accounting, business, marketing and
other economic sciences in addition
to professional marketing of insurance
products.
Euro zone business growth up
LONDON: Euro zone business activity
accelerated in March at its fastest pace
for nearly a year as customers took
advantage of ongoing price discounting
to place new orders at a rate not seen
since mid-2011, a survey found. The
upbeat survey will provide welcome
news for the European Central
Bank just weeks after it embarked
on a trillion-euro asset-purchase
programme to try and spur growth and
inflation.
Markit’s final March Composite
Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI),
seen as a good indicator of growth,
stood at 54.0, a touch below the
preliminary estimate of 54.1 but well
ahead of February’s 53.3. A reading
above 50 implies growth.
“The PMIs are indicating somewhat
sluggish GDP growth of 0.3 percent for
the first quarter.
— Reuters
Taiwan’s HTC posts first quarter profit
TAIPEI: Taiwanese smartphone maker
HTC on Tuesday posted weaker-thanexpected results for the first three months
of 2015, while still managing to notch
up a fourth successive quarterly profit.
HTC was once the star of the intensely
competitive smartphone sector, but has
seen its fortunes collapse in recent years
as Samsung, Apple and strong Chinese
brands like Lenovo and Huawei have
surged ahead.
HTC said net profit came in at T$360
million ($11.6 million) in January-March,
a stark improvement from a net loss of
T$1.88 billion in the same period last
year. Revenue rose 25 per cent to T$41.52
billion from last year, when it hit a fiveyear low of Tw$33.1 billion, the company
said in a brief statement.
However, both net profit and revenue
fell compared to the previous quarter
— HTC had posted T$470 million net
profit and T$47.87 billion revenue in
October-December. “HTC’s first quarter
performance was pretty weak,” said Jeff
Pu, analyst at Yuanta Securities Investment
Consulting.
“It only reported T$20 million in
operating profit, which showed that its
core business was not improving,” he said.
The week-long delay in the launch
of the new HTC One M9 smartphone in
Taiwan, pushed back from the original
mid-March date due to a software
upgrade, had not helped matters, said Pu.
And even after the launch, demand
had been disappointing, he said. “There
is no significant difference in M9’s design,
appearance and functions, so the demand
has not been strong,” he said. — AFP
A worker fixes the wiring above traffic lights in Long Beach, California. Labour
Department data recently showed the economy generated a disappointing
126,000 net new jobs in March, half of what was expected and the worst
month since December 2013. — AFP
Revamped power procurement process
FROM PAGE 17
“Currently, it is expected that the
majority of the Ghubrah units, for
which contracts expired in 2014, may
be extended from 2016 to 2018, and
that two further units expiring in
early 2018 may be extended through
the summer of that year. It appears
unlikely that the contracts for Wadi
Jizzi units 3-8 would be extended
beyond 2018. The contract extensions
for Al Kamil and Barka I are expected
although commercial negotiations
are still in progress,” it explained.
These efforts come against a
backdrop
of
robust
electricity
demand growth, says OPWP. Peak
electricity demand within the Main
Interconnected System (MIS), which
covers much of the northern half of the
Sultanate, is expected to grow at about
9 per cent per year, from 5,122 MW in
2014 to 9,530 MW in 2021. In Dhofar,
peak demand is expected to grow at 10
per cent per year, from 439 MW in 2014
to 839 MW in 2021.
“Energy consumption is expected
to grow from about 25 terawatt-hours
(TWh) in 2014 to 47 TWh in 2021, also
an average annual increase of 9 per cent
(corresponding to growth in average
demand from 2,852 MW to 5,373 MW).
Increasing personal income, housing
starts, and continuing government
investment in infrastructure projects
are major contributors to continued
high growth in electricity demand,” the
utility added.
PERSPECTIVE
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
omandailyobserver
21
INDUSTRY
Russia’s Rostec looks to Africa to boost exports
R
ussia is pursuing costly
state oil and platinum
projects in Africa
despite an economic
crisis at home, hoping
they will bolster sales,
including of arms, for businesses hit by
Western sanctions over the conflict in
Ukraine.
Moscow has mostly focused on
building ties with Asia since the US and
European Union sanctions came into
force last year, but the Africa deals signal
a desire to rebuild what was a big market
for its weapons and technology during
the Soviet era.
The drive by government-owned
industrial giant Rostec, which includes
Russia’s monopoly arms exporter in
its vast portfolio, is complicated by the
economic slowdown, which has strained
government finances and forced firms to
seek state support.
Lower commodity prices mean nongovernment Russian investors in Africa
in the early 2000s have mostly pulled out,
but Rostec says it is on track to build a $4
billion oil refinery in Uganda and a $3
billion platinum project in Zimbabwe.
The conglomerate, which controls
hundreds of firms ranging from arms
exporter Rosoboronexport to the world’s
top titanium producer VSMPO-Avisma,
sees the projects as a door-opener in
Africa, particularly to its fast-growing
arms market.
“Apart from proceeds from the
project itself, building the crude oil
refinery (in Uganda) opens markets for
products of all Rostec’s companies and
Russian companies as a whole,” Rostec
said in a statement to Reuters.
The company and its chief executive,
Sergei Chemezov, an ally of President
Vladimir Putin, face sanctions over
Russia’s annexation of the Crimea
region and Western accusations, which
Moscow denies, of supplying separatists
with weapons and troops.
RT Global Resources, a 100 per
cent owned Rostec subsidiary, won the
contract to build and operate the refinery
in February, raising concerns among
some Ugandan opposition lawmakers
about the selection of a company closely
linked to Russian arms exports.
Uganda and Zimbabwe are not legally
obliged to comply with the sanctions
against Russia and both already have
strained relations with the West.
Rostec said the project was launched
in 2013, well before the introduction of
sanctions, and remained interesting in
economic terms despite them.
The first stage of the Uganda project
will require $2 billion and the second
$1.7 billion, with the peak of investments
expected in 2018-19, it said.
Rostec did not comment in detail on
its involvement in the platinum-mining
project in Zimbabwe.
Russian
development
bank
Vnesheconombank (VEB), which is
expected to provide finance for the
project and is also under sanctions, only
said a cooperation agreement had been
signed by partners in the project.
When the platinum deal was signed
in September, Zimbabwe’s defence
minister, Sydney Sekeramayi, said the
southern African country was looking at
possible weapons purchases from Russia
as well.
While geopolitical rivalry with the
The drive by governmentowned industrial giant
Rostec, which includes
Russia’s monopoly arms
exporter in its vast portfolio,
is complicated by the
economic slowdown, which
has strained government
finances and forced firms to
seek state support.
West may play a role, Rostec may be
inspired by China, which has spent years
pouring investment and loans into the
continent to help meet its demand for
natural resources, although for Russia,
markets are the key. Rostec says it is
interested in working with African
countries that want to develop their
defence sector.
Moscow was an active supplier of
weapons to Africa before the collapse of
the Soviet Union, when it lost the bulk of
its market share.
It is now the world’s second-largest
arms exporter behind the United States
but sales to Africa make up a relatively
small fraction of its total sales volume.
“Many countries on the African
continent are traditional partners
of Russia in military and technical
cooperation, quite familiar with the
quality of Russian weapons,” Rostec said.
Soviet weapons still used in Africa
and requiring repairs could also support
EMPLOYMENT
China scrambles to fill job vacancies
amid crackdown on corruption
T
he new brick wall
around the old inner
city of Datong in
Shanxi province, which
served as a Chinese
capital under three
separate dynasties, has a gap waiting
to be filled. Construction appears
to have halted while inside the walls
international brand stores are boarded
up and outside, luxury apartments stand
mostly unoccupied or half-built.
Other projects have also slowed to
a crawl as the new leadership of the
resource-rich province scrambles to fill
nearly 300 posts left vacant by an anticorruption drive directed from Beijing.
Last year, 15,450 officials were punished
for corruption in Shanxi, of which
seven were from the senior provincial
leadership. The coal-producing province
has been on the frontline of China’s
campaign against corruption since last
year, according to the official Xinhua
news agency.
There were nearly 300 vacancies in
the provincial administration due to
the campaign, including three city party
chiefs and 13 county heads, according
to Wang Rulin, secretary of the Shanxi
Committee of the Communist Party of
China (CPC). Wang told state media
last month that several senior positions
have been filled so far, but the process
has “not been easy” since candidates are
falling under corruption probes as well.
“Shanxi has organised various
methods to select qualified people.
We contacted 622 people directly and
created a list,” Wang said.
“However, one leading candidate was
investigated within half a month. And
another candidate ranked at the very
front and who promised [he or she]
was clean, was also investigated within
a month.” The widespread corruption in
Shanxi has even inspired former deputy
governor of the province, Zhang Ming,
to write a novel based on his colleagues’
struggles to resist bribes from the
powerful coal lobby.
“When large sums of money and
belongings pile up in front of your eyes,
would you be able to understand that
demand for Russian arms, it added.
In 2013-2014, Rosoboronexport
signed more than 20 contracts worth
more than $1.7 billion with sub-Saharan
African countries, and Rostec said it
intended to increase shipments to Africa
in the coming years.
Currently only 2 per cent of military
products supplied to African countries
come from Rosoboronexport, Rostec
said on its website in September.
Rosoboronexport is already working
SECURITY
Destructive hacking
attempts target
critical infrastructure
H
Employees work at a walling material factory in Jiaozuo, Henan province. — Reuters
this is a crime, that it is trampling on the
law?” Zhang said in an interview with
Beijing News. He said he was probably
only able to resist temptation because
he was in charge of industries like
education, science, culture and sports.
“Human nature is very fragile and
weak,” Zhang said.
It is not only Shanxi that is facing
official shortages from the ongoing anticorruption drive. Launched in 2012,
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “tigers
and flies” anti-graft campaign has lasted
longer and struck at a more senior level
than many analysts expected.
Last year alone, the Central
Commission for Discipline Inspection
carried out investigations of 71,748
officials and has imposed penalties
on 23,646 of them so far, according
to statistics posted on the watchdog’s
website.
Top officials detained since last year
include Ling Jihua, former aide to retired
president Hu Jintao; Su Rong, former
vice chairman of the Chinese People’s
Political Consultative Conference,
China’s top political advisory body;
and Jiang Jiemin, former head of the
Chinese President Xi’s anticorruption crackdown has
made headlines around
the world, but it has also
created a headache for
provincial authorities having
to fill thousands of suddenly
vacated posts.
state-owned Assets Supervision and
Administration Commission.
China’s ex-security chief, Zhou
Yongkang, the biggest “tiger” netted
in the campaign so far, was officially
charged with bribery, abuse of power
and intentional disclosure of state
secrets last week.
With the campaign showing no signs
of waning, not only are officials trying
to lie low to avoid catching the attention
of disciplinary authorities, fewer people
in China are interested in joining their
ranks.
“Government jobs are no longer
attractive,” said Wu Qiang, professor of
politics at Beijing’s Tsinghua University.
‘‘With the anti-corruption campaign
going on the risk of a government job is
higher while ‘off the books’ income will
be lower.”
Meanwhile,
“those
currently
working as officials have less desire for
promotions and want to attract less
attention. Government work is coming
to a standstill as employees try to figure
out how to buck the trend [without]
getting into trouble,” Wu said.
In a country of over 1.3 billion people
only 900,000 people turned up for the
annual civil servants exam in November,
the lowest number of candidates since
2010. They were competing for 22,200
vacancies in government agencies.
Salaries for civil service jobs in China
are very low — in line with Communist
principles of serving the people — with
basic monthly salaries for lower-level
officials ranging from 2,000 to 4,000
yuan ($325 to $650), Even after a pay
raise earlier this year for civil servants,
President Xi official salary is only
11,385 yuan ($1,850) each month.
— dpa
with Angola, Nigeria, Mozambique,
Namibia, Tanzania and Equatorial
Guinea and is also looking to develop
cooperation with Kenya, Rwanda,
Djibouti and Ethiopia, Rostec said.
Konstantin Makiyenko, deputy head
of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies
and Technologies (CAST), a Moscowbased security and defence think-tank,
said Russian firms were interested in
increasing exports to Africa because the
region’s weapons market was growing at
a very fast pace.
“Civil projects have always aided
weapons exports, that’s why Rostec,
which covers both civil and defence
sectors, may well act as a link between
civil projects and weapons sales,”
Makiyenko added.
Russia exported $15 billion of
weapons in 2014 and has an order book
worth $40 billion for weapons over the
next 3-4 years, with the biggest buyers
from India, China, the Middle East and
Latin America.
— Reuters
acking attacks that destroy rather than steal data or that
manipulate equipment are far more prevalent than widely
believed, according to a survey of critical infrastructure
organisations throughout North and South America.
The poll by the Organization of American States, to be released on
Tuesday, found that 40 per cent of respondents had battled attempts to
shut down their computer networks, 44 per cent had dealt with bids to
delete files and 54 per cent had encountered “attempts to manipulate” their
equipment through a control system.
Those figures, provided exclusively to Reuters ahead of the official
release, are all the more remarkable because only 60 per cent of the
575 respondents said they had detected any attempts to steal data, long
considered the predominant hacking goal.
By far the best known destructive hacking attack on US soil was the
electronic assault last year on Sony Corp’s Sony Pictures Entertainment,
which wiped data from the Hollywood fixture’s machines and rendered
some of its internal networks inoperable. The outcry over that breach,
joined by President Barack Obama, heightened the perception that such
destruction was an unusual extreme, albeit one that has been anticipated
for years.
Destruction of data presents little technical challenge compared with
penetrating a network, so the infrequency of publicised incidents has often
been ascribed to a lack
of motive for attackers.
Now that hacking tools
are being spread more
widely, however, more
criminals, activists, spies
and business rivals are
experimenting with such
methods.
“Everyone
got
outraged over Sony, but
far more vulnerable are these services we depend on day to day,” said Adam
Blackwell, secretary of multidimensional security at the Washington, DCbased group of 35 nations. The survey went to companies and agencies
in crucial sectors as defined by the OAS members. Almost a third of the
respondents were public entities, with communications, security and
finance being the most heavily represented industries.
The questions did not delve into detail, leaving the amount of typical
losses from breaches and the motivations of suspected attackers as matters
for speculation. The survey-takers were not asked whether the attempted
hacks succeeded, and some attacks could have been carried off without
their knowledge. The survey did allow anonymous participants to provide
a narrative of key events if they chose, although those will not be published.
Blackwell said that one story of destruction involved a financial
institution. Hackers stole money from accounts and then deleted records
to make it difficult to reconstruct which customers were entitled to what
funds. “That was a really important component” of the attack, Blackwell
said. In another case, thieves manipulated equipment in order to divert
— Reuters
resources from a company in the petroleum industry.
22
LEISURE
omandailyobserver
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
Online Editor’s Choice
CARTOONS
4
ADAM @ HOME
by Brian Basset
7
8
10
13
14
15
16
17
19
CALVIN AND HOBBES
21
23
24
26
27
29
by Bill Watterson
32
33
34
35
36
GARFIELD
DOWN
1 Sam’s broken up, on the quiet, by
the accident (5)
2 Four out of fifty can make dough
(5)
3 Accompanied by the amusing
fellow at the hotel (4)
4 The crime of a hard-hearted young
fellow (5)
5 Deeply impressed by the publicity
we’re in (4)
6 Possibly another decapitated
creature (6)
9 Mail man given a job (6)
11 Wash up for a pal (3)
12 Maybe slip round the job centre
and mess things up (5)
by Jim Davis
STONE SOUP
CRYPTIC PUZZLE
ACROSS
A peach product from the native
American (6)
One whose heady creations make a
pit worker just about sick? (8)
Maybe asparagus can kill! (6)
Soft sentimental stuff about snow?
(5)
An overhead for a US gangster (4)
Keep talking no end, hard and soft
(4)
Criticises for being saucy? (4)
The coercive part is finished (3)
He comes in from Arabia (4)
The black stuff at the Turk’s Head is
sharp and acid (4)
Bird providing army victuals? (9)
Demand to see everything (4)
An exceptionally good ring (4)
Fight a bigheaded beefy type (3)
The one in the North Atlantic (4)
The vocal performance of jazzy
cats (4)
One only four-sevenths buoyant?
(4)
Confusingly, read about a north
African town (5)
Do they hold Court near
Hammersmith? (6)
Convenient source of food, but not
really a ‘plus’? (8)
Floor of a shop closing early (6)
9
11
12
13
15
16
18
20
21
22
23
25
28
30
31
32
33
CR O SSW O R D
YESTERDAY’S CRYPTIC
SOLUTIONS
13
15
16
18
23
25
28
30
31
32
33
Safety cover for a nut (4,3)
Canine friend? (3)
As dug up in Oregon? (3)
It’s suitable for overcoats when
there’s a thaw ahead (6)
A name came up (5)
As sent from the heart of
Axminster? (3)
Physically suited to the part of
Falstaff, perhaps? (3)
Colour of a horse for an officer (6)
Insular fellow? (3)
Quick way to get the hay out (5)
Many people gloat a lot (5)
Is she thankful for any change? (5)
A big-headed rower, the beast! (4)
Pulled in a well-earned reward (4)
4
7
8
10
EASY PUZZLE
ACROSS
Assemble (6)
Passenger plane (8)
Musical pieces (6)
Ship’s room (5)
20
21
22
13
14
15
16
17
19
21
23
24
26
27
29
32
33
34
35
36
Dry (4)
Paradise (4)
Assistant (4)
Wager (3)
Young deer (4)
Among (4)
Demoted (9)
Filth (4)
Table (4)
Container (3)
Pitcher (4)
Sharp (4)
Minerals (4)
Inclination (5)
Small case (6)
Moisture (8)
Channel island (6)
1
2
3
4
5
6
DOWN
Fiasco (5)
Clan (5)
Manner (4)
Avarice (5)
Genuine (4)
Levelled (6)
ACROSS: 1, Tapped 7, Exercise 8,
Kit-E 10, PLA-CID 11, Ampere 14,
Ten 16, Polar(is) 17, E-yes 19, Melee
21, N.-one-T. 22, Cobra 23, Moss 26,
Strut 28, Rat 29, Thorax 30, Jester 31,
U-P.T.O. 32, W-heel-ing 33, Scream.
DOWN: 1, Temple 2, Prices 3, Deed 4, Crumpet 5, Pixel 6, Weber 8,
Kate 9, Tin 12, Poe(-try) 13, Races 15,
Henry 18, Youth 19, Mob 20, Lea 21,
Not-ably 22, Cur 23, Master (stream)
24, Otto 25, Stream 26, Stowe 27,
Rome-o 28, Rep. 30, Jugs.
YESTERDAY’S EASY SOLUTIONS
ACROSS: 1, Sacred 7, Impacted 8,
Scan 10, Octave 11, Tirade 14, Ape
16, Taper 17, Eggs 19, Cheat 21,
Moral 22, Motor 23, Star 26, Risen
28, For 29, Hectic 30, Saline 31, Edam
32, Narcotic 33, Teemed.
DOWN: 1, Strobe 2, Recaps 3, Dine
4, Capital 5, Strap 6, Adder 8, Stag 9,
Ave 12, Rat 13, Delta 15, Throb 18,
Genie 19, Cot 20, Ear 21, Monitor 22,
Met 23, Solace 24, Trim 25, Reeled
26, Rhino 27, Score 28, Fad 30, Sect.
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:
A personal
matter, which
has caused you
a lot of trouble
lately, will be
solved in the
coming year
without loss of
self-respect or
damage of other
people’s pride.
A puzzling
financial aspect
may occur in
your desire to
keep abreast
of the changing
money market
and agreements
may have to be
re-negotiated.
Handles (6)
Bother (3)
Deduce (5)
Unmarried people (7)
Wonder (3)
Offer (3)
Changes (6)
Type of element (5)
Equipment (3)
Atmosphere (3)
Injury (6)
Tear (3)
Feeble (5)
Cringe (5)
Thick (5)
Lubricants (4)
Drinks daintily (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
ARIES
TAURUS
GEMINI
CANCER
LEO
VIRGO
March 21April 20
April 21May 20
May 21June 21
June 22July 21
July 22August 21
August 22September 22
Warn a careless youngster that negligence can cause as much arm as
deliberate damage, and try to make
him adopt a more responsible attitude.
A temporary misunderstanding
must not be allowed to spoil an
otherwise important relationship.
Make an effort to find the cause
and a cure.
If you cannot afford to leave your job
at the moment, you must avoid complaining about the conditions. The
time will soon be right for looking
for another job.
A close friendship could develop
with a person born under ARIES
but be very careful not to strike a
false note by saying the wrong thing
at the first meeting.
The improvement in health of a
member of the family will give you
grounds for hope of an early recovery.
You must make sure he does not try to
resume his normal life too soon.
An unfriendly act by a person you
trusted may break up a relationship that has meant a great deal to
you. Try to find out why he acted
that way.
LIBRA
SCORPIO
SAGITTARIUS
CAPRICORN
AQUARIUS
PISCES
September 23October 22
October 23November 21
November 22December 21
December 22January 20
January 21February 19
February 20March 20
By apologising too profusely
for a slight indiscretion you
were guilty of, you will give
it an importance it hardly deserves.
An unexpected demand on
your financial resources may
require you to review the
plans you have made for the
future.
Co-operation with your partner will bind you more closely
together than if you each place
too much reliance on your individual efforts.
An occasional lapse from
your rather stringent diet
could not do any harm just as
long as you don’t make a habit
of it.
An unexpected invitation will
solve your problem of how to
spend the weekend. It may
mean a visit to a town some
miles away.
If you want to master a task
which you haven’t done
before don’t put it off any
longer and keep at it until it is
finished.
CLASSIFIEDS
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2 0 1 5
omandailyobserver
23
Situation Vacant
URGENTLY required
IT Teacher male or
female for a school in
Oman. 24696254,
24491912,
99547714.
·····
WANTED Professional
Trainer for soft skills.
Send your CV to eetco@
yahoo.com
·····
REQUIRED (M/F)
waiters and a captain
with Gulf experience.
If in Oman, local NOC
required. Contact
95339249.
·····
1. WANTED an
experienced Window
Tint and body paint
protection installer to
work for a well known
brand.
2. Wanted an
experienced Manager
and Marketing
employee to work for
a well known window
tinting business.
3. Wanted an
experienced Engineer to
manage a new elevator
installation
and maintenance
business. Call:
93332224. e-mail:
abdullah.alhinai86@
gmail.com.
Situation Wanted
MANAGEMENT
professional, results oreinted with strategic
thinking, integrity.
11 years Oman
experience. Excellent
track record in EPC/
Media/ Services/
Health Care handling
admin, operations,
Credit, management,
international
procurement, etc.
Immediate, release.
Contact: 98179887.
·····
INDIAN male, 27
years, Electronics
& Instrumentation
Engineer, with 5
years experience
in Oman on visit
visa seeks suitable
placement. Contact:
95483064, e-mail:
nishanthkarottu@
hotmail.com.
Situation Wanted
BANGLADESHI male,
25 years old, 4 years
experience in Muscat,
Oman, having Omani
driving licence, 2 years
and 5 months driving
experience in Oman seeks
placement as driver.
Fluent in Arabic and
English. 94116029.
INDIAN male, 26 years,
Accountant, MBA,
BCom with computer
application, 2 years
experience, currently
working in Oman.
Contact: 94282980.
e-mail: shirasvelliyath@
gmail.com
·····
INDIAN male, 29
years Civil Engineer
diploma holder, 4 years
experience in Oman, 2
years in road division,
looking for placement,
NOC available.
93298395.
·····
INDIAN male, 32, MBA
with 9 years of marketing
HSE, 10 years in Oman
experience in Qatar
logistic operation with
valid Qatar licence is an
D/L.92825053.
advantage now in visit
visa, seeking suitable
HOUSEMAID with release · · · · ·
letter.99648654.
INDIAN female MBA (HR) placement. 93011814.
having 3 years experience E-mail: shajusr@yahoo.
·····
com.
in retail admin. looking
INDIAN female, MCA, 3
for a job (family visa).
years teaching experience 96140588/ 99214913. · · · · ·
in IT. Seeking immediate
MSc, 4+ years experience
placement in Teachining · · · · ·
from France and India in
in IT or in Management
INSTRUMENTATION
Hardware, Networking,
like customer service
engineer, Indian male,
Image Processing,
30 years having 5-6
executive, front desk
Statistical analysis, Data
years experience in EPC
HR/Admin executive.
projects currently on visit Mining. On family visit till
95887051. E-mail:
visa, looking for a suitable June 19. 98898781,
ashwininakod@gmail.
[email protected].
placement.99027974.
com
·····
·····
·····
AN Iraqi electrical
engineer experienced
in construction works
and factory maintenance
and third party
inspector looking for
suitable replacement.
98959043.
·····
FEMALE with B.Tech
Ƭȋϐ‹ƒ…‡ƒ†
marketing) one and half
years experience as Bank
‘ˆϐ‹…‡”‹†‹ƒǤ‡‡•
suitable opportunities in
reputed organisations.
98157892/ 91358676.
E-mail: manooprocky@
gmail.com.
·····
INDIAN male, 24 years,
graduate in Bsc Botany,
Diploma in information
technology, 2 years
experience as logistics
assistant in India, seeking
for a suitable job now
in Oman on visit visa.
96068692/ 94193100.
·····
Situation Wanted
·····
INDIAN male, 4 years
experience in Accounts.
Currently on visit visa.
94516185.
·····
HARDWARE and
Networking
Technician with
6 years experience,
familiar with
Security System and
Cabling. seeks suitable
placement. Contact:
96365220
·····
SRI Lankan housemaid,
looking for job.
93623629.
INDIAN male, 9+
years experience in
hard core Sales and
Customer Service,
having driving licence
from Dubai and Oman.
Looking for better
opportunity in Oman.
Experience in various
industries, shipping,
banking, (PPE), safety
products. Preffering for
Sales, Documentation
and Operations,
Customer Services.
Contact: 97132606.
remmiejoseph78@
gmail.com
·····
·····
FEMALE, 27 years,
‘ǡˆϐ‹…‡ǡš…‡Žǡ
and Tally. 3 years work
experience in an auditing
ϐ‹”ǡ•‡‡‹‰•—‹–ƒ„Ž‡
placement. Contact
94298075. e-mail:
nisha_mohanj@yahoo.
co.in
ACCOUNTANT, a well
experienced Indian
male, M Com, having
more than 20 years experience in accounting
ϐ‹‡Ž†„‘–Š†‹ƒƒ†
looking for a job as an
accountant or accounts
manager in Oman. Presently in India and ready
to join immediately.
99087175
·····
27 YEARS Indian
male, diploma in Civil
Engineering, 6 years
experience, 3 years in
GCC as a site engineer.
Now on visiting visa,
seek suitable placement.
Contact 96626725,
e-mail: bineshv6@gmail.
com.
·····
PHARMACIST with
MoH licence, 6 years
experience, seeks job.
93878153.
·····
Ȉ ƒ”•ˆ‘”•ƒŽ‡
Ȉ ‘””‡–
Ȉ ‘„ƒ’’Ž‹…ƒ–‹‘
Ȉ Šƒ”‹‰”‡•‹†‡…‡
Ȉ ”ƒ•’‘”–…ƒ”•
Ȉ ‡ƒŽ•–ƒ–‡ȋ•ƒŽ‡Ǧ
”‡–Ǧ‹˜‡•–‡–•
·····
IT Professional,
25 years, Sri Lankan,
Ǥ‡…ŠǦϐ‹ƒŽǡǡ
MCP, CCNA, Linux
having 4 years
experience including
MNC, looking for suitable
position. (Visit visa).
Contact: 93354526.
e-mail: jamsith.pc@
gmail.com
·····
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]
Tourism
ARE you looking for a
voyage with your
family on a legacyboat, including
buffet? Only with RO
15/-. For more info@
alainaintourism.
com 92808636.
·····
For Sale
USED portacabin (5
Nos) for sale.
Interested parties may
contact Mr Arif on
GSM No 99259157/
92332088 at NTS
Ghala Camp for
inspection. Sealed
offers should be
submitted on or
before 17.03.2015.
·····
BICYCLE stocks clarance
sales to be brands of
bicycles in Sohar.
99416824.
·····
2 PRIME Movers
Man 2008 with 40
ton pertrol tank
each working at the
moment in Al Maha.
Price RO 35,000,000
each. 97000155 or
92688692.
·····
23, 886 sq mtrs
agriculture land with
water well in Al Salwa,
Barka, RO 260,000,000.
99333479 or
95215360.
·····
·····
WANTED Sales
Manager, for a leading
Interior Fitout and
Furniture Supply
Company in Oman.
Experience:
7+ years, preferably in
Oman. Salary:
negotiable.
Preference for Omani
nationals. Interested
candidates may please
forward their resume to
e-mail id: recruitment.
[email protected]
·····
URGENTLY required
Accountant/Accounts
Executive with 7 to 10
years experience. Send
the CV to hr-gdm@
outlook.com
·····
VACANCY — Light
driver (1), Heavy driver
(1), and a diploma holder
in Civil Engineering.
Interested in the
vacancies may call .
97299373.
·····
NEW International
School in Oman begins
in Sept 2015. The
announced vacancies
are as follows: 1.
Principal, 2, Early Years
& Foundation Stage and
Cambridge Primary
Teachers (Homeroom
and Co-teachers), 3.
Operational Manager,
4. Parents Relationship
Manager, 5. Admission
Manager. Please submit
a resume/CV and open
letters of references to:
[email protected]
[email protected].
kw or contact us on:
0069555789779/
0096894665998.
EGYPTIAN Chemist
with 6 years experience
‹†›‡‹‰ϐ‹‡Ž†Š‹‰ŠŽ›
…‡”–‹ϐ‹…ƒ–‡†‹•…‹‡…‡
chemistry and
physics department.
Contact: 98832095,
00201114640946.
e-mail: zoomaman88@
gmail.com
3 FLOOR building in
Muttrah behind police,
generating income
of RO 18,000,000
annually, neat and
well maintained.
Built on 197 sq m
land. 2 tailor shops
‘‰”‘—†ϐŽ‘‘”ƒ†͸
ϐŽƒ–•ǡʹ͹ͲǡͲͲͲǡͲͲͲǤ
99333479 or
95215360.
FILIPINA Housemaid,
with release required
for a family in Medinat
Al Alam. 24704994,
99238012.
·····
·····
·····
·····
·····
REQUIRED
Salesman cum
Hardware Engineer
for Computer
Shop at Ruwi with
minimum 2 years
experience. E-mail:
strns1@gmail.
com 98825805/
98825806.
·····
REQUIRED Salesman
ˆ‘”‘‹Žϐ‹‡Ž†•…‘’ƒ›ǡ
must have experience
‘‘‹Žϐ‹‡Ž†•ƒ††”‹˜‹‰
licence. Contact:
alkhatwa2009@hotmail.
com
·····
REQUIRED family driver
with valid Omani driving
licence. Accommodation
will be provided.
92230282.
·····
REQUIRED Public
‡Žƒ–‹‘ˆϐ‹…‡” with
7 years experience.
95955041.
·····
CIVIL Engineer min 4
yrs experience. Send CV:
[email protected]
99194949.
·····
SYRIAN Mashavi Cook
and Moroccan Lady
Cook for Qurum Beach
Hotel.24704994 or
99238012.
·····
WANTED: 1. A/C
Mechanic; 2. Electrician
plumber; 3. Computer
headwear Tec.
Contact No. 99447257/
97014234 mansur75@
hotmail.co.uk.
·····
WE need HSE personal,
Salesman and Electrical
Supervisor with Omani
Driving licence. Apply to:
grandmuscat@yahoo.
com Contact No: 00968
95714746.
·····
SALESPERSON with
‘—–†‘‘”Ȁϐ‹‡Ž†‡š’‡”‹‡…‡ǡ
minimum 5 years
in building material
industry, having valid
Omani driving licence.
Contact 99467248,
99232901
·····
SALES Manager of
Medical device, GCC
experience driving
licence, preferably
pharmaceutical based.
Biomedical Technician
with sales experience
in medical diveices,
GCC experience,
driving licence. Contact
24520056. E-mail:
info@khalidmedicalsupplies.
com
·····
CLASSIFIED
SECTION
RUWI
: 24785668
Behind
Royal
Oman
Police
Adjacent to
Dhofar
Building,
Ruwi
Ȉ
Ȉ
Ȉ
Ȉ
Ȉ
Ȉ
ƒ”•ˆ‘”•ƒŽ‡
‘””‡–
‘„ƒ’’Ž‹…ƒ–‹‘
Šƒ”‹‰”‡•‹†‡…‡
”ƒ•’‘”–…ƒ”•
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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]
WEDNESDAY l APRIL 8, 2015 l JUMADA AL THANIA 18, 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]
Rent a Car
AHAD 2000 for rent car.
93203481, 93204595.
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Car for Sale
BMW 745i, 2002, silver
with black, very good
condition, good price.
99328280.
Supply
of
Pesticides,
Gel (Cockroaches),
Public Health
chemicals,
Agriculture
chemicals,
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baits
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other insect
repellent from
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E-mail: [email protected]
P. O. Box: 565, Wadi Kabir,
Postal Code: 117,
SULTANATE OF OMAN
If you would like to know
more about
Islam, please call:
Tel : 99425598, 96050000,
99353988, 99253818,
99341395, 99379133, For
ladies: 99415818, 99321360,
99730723
Or visit: www.islamfact.com
Good News
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Sale and Buy
OFFICE & Household
furniture and
electronics items.
99834373,
97102699.
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For Sale/Rent
CAR FOR SALE
As-is-where-is the condition.
Vehicles can be inspected from
Sunday 3.30pm and 6.00pm at
OIG Head Office Building, Wattayah.
Telephone toll free 80076900.
Interested parties may submit quotation
in a Sealed envelope with payment of
RO 50 which will be reimbursed.
Reimbursed conditions apply.
Investment
FREE INFORMATION
ABOUT ISLAM
FOR back or neck pain/
discomfort due to injury,
illness, stress or
computer overuse; let
us help you restore your
body & get you back on
track. For more
information contact our
coordinators at:
22094265.
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INVESTOR required.
New project under
process. Gourmet
sweet brand. Call:
91131398.
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EXPATRIATE partner
(Omani partner is
already available)
required to establish
a LLC Company
(Expatriate investors’
LLC Company). Please
contact on 99332510.
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LOOKING for an
investor for a fullequipped existing
medical complex as
soon as possible in
Wilayat of Haima,
Governorate of Al
Wusta. 92212557,
99242249.
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VILLAS for sale/
rents WADI
KABIR/AL
KHUWAIR),
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DOES your family
member require full
time Medical help?
Dedicated to chronic
care and physical
rehabilitation from
injury or illness;
Rochester Wellness
offers specialised
medical recovery
services. For more
information contact
our coordinators at
22094265.
SANDOS of Babel
Transport Trading
And Contacting
(recommendation),
announces that
it is intending to
convert its name
to Line Spectrum
International L.L.C.
(recommendation).
Beneficiaries should
be informed of the
changes.
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Lost
MOHAMMED Younis
has lost Bangladeshi
passport No
AC0144920. Finder
please handover to
ROP.
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AYURVEDIC
Treatment, Yoga
Massage &
slimming. Web
address: www.
siddhayur.com
92504980/
24475280.
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AUTO REPAIR
CENTRE
Available on UNBEATABLE prices
GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!!
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al-haditha
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CCTV & IT solution
CCTV, Time
Attendance, LAN,
Wan, DSL, PABX
Exchange installation,
Laptop, Printers and
Copiers repairing.
Contact 99161542,
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RO 11.000 only
HP
All Cartridges also available
on UNBEATABLE prices
AII HP, Epson, Canon,
Lexmark, Samsung
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(ROP approved Grade A Workshop)
COMPUTER SUPPLIES
Guest House
Ruwi: 24792-792
[email protected]
QURUM BEACH
HOTEL24564070.
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GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!!
For Rent
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NEW 2 BHK flat with
split A/C Ground floor
behind Khimjimart
Darsait. RO 400. One
BHK at Ruwi Opp police
station RO 300. Details
Tel Office. 24790449 or
email: infoajest@gmail.
com
1 BEDROOM, 2
bedroom +
showroom, 18
November road, Al
Athaiba.
999565364,
99617786.
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VILLA in Al
Ansab consists
of 6 bedrooms, 6
toilets and a large
kitchen is for rent.
99363504.
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300 sqmts available in
Wadi Kabir. Suitable for
workshop or warehouse.
96001855.
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BEDROOM furniture
villa at Maabela 5. For
more details pls call
99382752.
1 B/R available in Rex
Road, Ruwi.
99889590.
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LIVING room & utilities
in Al Hail, 3 bedrooms,
sitting room
92817777.
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ǧfloor house
behind German
University of Technology
in Halban is offered for
rent. The house contains
4 bedrooms, living
room, a kitchen and 3
toilets.91239119.
ͳǤ AC maintenance
and servicing.
ʹǤFridge, washing
machine and dish
washer repairing.
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cleaning services. ͶǤ
Electrical, plumbing
and carpentry
work 97014234,
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24504281.
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MAINTENANCE: 1.
A/C Maintenance &
Servicing; 2. Fridge,
Washing Machine
& Dish washer
repairing; 3. Painting
& cleaning services; 4.
Electrical & Plumbing
Carpentry work.
Contact: 99447257,
97014234, 24504281.
·····
FLATS for rent 1 BHK in
Al Khuwair 33.
99800494.
A FLAT for rent, 2
bedrooms, 2 bathrooms,
1 sitting room, kitchen
for RO 350. Location: At
Al Ghubrah North, near
to Al Ghubrah Health
Centre. 92277043/
95347854.
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A 1,500 M2 commercialresidential plot is
offered for rent or
investment in Al
Maabela. Interested,
please call 95646045.
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2 BEDROOM flat in Al
Ghubra near Oman Oil
18 November Street, RO
330 monthly.
99333479 or
95215360.
·····
Telephone: 24595951/1414, Fax: 24597979.
Manpower
FRIENDS
MANPOWER: Filipino
housemaids and all
kinds of workers.
24489268 Tel:/Fax:
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·····
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To communicate
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villas for paint
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and installation of
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building management
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completion.
Our services include
typing all forms related
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renewal of visas, all
services related to
Ministry of Commerce &
Industry, e.g., reservation
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amendment of activities
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services related to Royal
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Adjacent to Gulf Transport
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GSM: 99231500
/96777170/ 95959838
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Khalfan al Hadi (33
years of experience in
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·····
Reputed engineering
consultancy firm in
Muscat looking for
following placement:
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(Female)
2. Autocad Technician
(Omani female)
3. Civil Engineer min 5
years experience
having driving
licence
4. Electrical Engineer
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— With a host of
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e-mail: [email protected]
Mohammed al Rashdi: 99841230 [email protected]
DIRECT: 24649595 — FAX : 24649590
WEDNESDAY | APRIL 8, 2015 | JUMADA AL THANIA 18, 1436 AH
P26
P27
P28
Inside
Djokovic out to make the most of the moment City deja vu leaves Pellegrini exposed Mcllroy in fine form for Augusta Masters FOLLOW US ON:
www.omanobserver.om
[email protected]
Al Harthy’s front running pace unrewarded
MUSCAT: Oman Racing Team driver
Ahmad al Harthy departed Oulton Park
in Cheshire yesterday evening, Monday,
April 6, maintaining a positive mood
despite a difficult start to the Avon Tyres
British GT Championship season.
Although finishing in the pointspaying top 10 during round one of the
2015 campaign, despite some on-track
contact along the way, the Aston Martin
V12 Vantage GT3 racer and new teammate Daniel Lloyd were prevented from
enjoying an improved result in round
two after being forced to retire.
Beginning the second of Oulton’s
two 60-minute races from eighth on
the grid, Lloyd took the first stint and
although slipping to ninth the British
driver comfortably maintained the
placing throughout the first 15 laps
before moving back into the top eight.
Following the mid-race driver
change, Ahmad ventured out onto
the track and instantly reeled in the
competition ahead. Running in seventh
place after all of the mandatory pitstops stops concluded, the Muscat racer
swarmed all over the back of Gary
Eastwood’s Ferrari searching for a way
past.
As the duo headed through Old Hall
on lap 26, navigating a backmarker from
the GT4 Class, the Ferrari unexpectedly
braked after the exit and Ahmad had
nowhere to go. Leading to contact and
significant damage, retirement to the
pits was inevitable.
“Everything was looking good”,
reflected Ahmad, “We were up into P7,
I was catching the cars in front really
quickly and our Aston felt mega, really
fast and handling well. I caught them
but as we went through Turn One, the
Ahli Bank overcome Bank Dhofar in thriller
were the standout bowlers.
In reply, chasing a required run rate
of 9.4 runs per over, Ahli Bank started
with a bang with Issa al Balushi (38 runs,
15 balls) leading the way. Ahli Bank did
lose two quick wickets hereafter, but
Syed Imran (39 runs, 26 balls) kept the
chase intact. At 124 runs for 6 wickets
down and staring at defeat in the 13th
over, it was left to skipper Maaz Siddiqui
(32 runs, 17 balls) and Muhammad
Ramzan (36 runs, 24 balls) to finish off
the match in the 19th over without any
further damage. For Bank Dhofar the
standout bowlers were Harikrishnan
(2/41) and Kather Meeran (2/44).
Syed Imran, who hit 39 runs (4x4,
1x6) and took 3 wickets for his effort,
was declared the Man of the Match.
MUSCAT: In the third game played at
the Amerat grounds on Saturday, Ahli
Bank defeated Bank Dhofar by 4 wickets
thanks to an all round performance by
Syed Imran who hit a quick fire 39 runs
and claimed 3 crucial wickets off his
bowling.
Bank Dhofar, who won the toss and
chose to bat first, got off to an exciting
start thanks to a 37 run cameo from
opening batsman Kather Meeran (37
runs, 16 balls) and Ranganathan (40
runs, 34 balls). On the fall of the opening
wickets, skipper Harikrishnan (33 runs,
19 balls) and Sparsh Aggarwal (28 runs,
18 balls) kept the scoreboard ticking.
Bank Dhofar continued to pile on the
runs to reach a creditable 188 runs for
the loss of 7 wickets at the end of 20
overs. For Ahli Bank, Syed Imran (3/14)
and Omani player Issa al Balushi (1/25)
BRIEF SCORES
BANK DHOFAR: 188/7 in 20
overs (Ranganathan40, Kather37,
Harikrishnan33; S Imran 3/14, Issa A
1/25, Partha S 1/32) lost to Ahli Bank
191/6 in 19 overs(S Imran 39, Issa A
38, Ramzan 36; Harikrishnan 2/41,
Kather M 2/44, Satish K 1/24).
POINTS: Ahli Bank(2), Bank Dhofar
(0)
Ferrari in front smacked on the brakes
very hard after the exit for no reason
at all. I had no time to react, and the
damage ended our race — nothing I
could do.
“It’s a very frustrating way to end
the weekend but we know we’re quick,
we have a quick car and we’ll go to the
next round aiming to be back where we
should be. We wanted more points from
this weekend for sure, but there are a lot
of positives to take away from Oulton.
We’re always positive!”
In the earlier race, the Oman Air,
Oman Ministry of Sports Affairs,
Ooredoo, National Bank of Oman and
Al Hashar Group-backed racer started
off at the wheel of the No 2 Aston Martin
from sixth place on the grid.
Almost immediately moving into
the top five, due to a rival coming to
grief on the first lap, following a Safety
Car period the action resumed and
Ahmad remained in the fierce battle
for the podium as part of an eight car
train building up behind second placed
Eastwood’s Ferrari.
On lap nine, Ahmad moved into
fourth place following an excursion for
the McLaren of Andrew Watson and the
podium edged ever closer for the Omani
as he pressurised the similar Aston
Martin of Andrew Howard.
With 35 minutes of the one-hour
race remaining, Ahmad took third after
a battle with Howard but the latter’s spin
also triggered the Safety Car once more.
Serving his mandatory driver-change
stop as soon as the pit window opened,
team-mate Lloyd took over and rejoined
in 16th position.
The Safety Car headed into the
pits with around 15 minutes to go and
when racing got back under way Lloyd
managed to claw his way back up the
order into the top 10 to secure the duo’s
first championship point of the season.
Round three of the Avon Tyres
British GT Championship, featuring the
first two-hour race of the UK season,
will take place over the weekend 2nd/3rd
May. Before then, Ahmad and the Oman
Racing Team will begin their dovetailed
Blancpain Endurance Series campaign
next weekend, 11th/12th April, at
Monza in Italy.
BOC cricket team earns laurels
MUSCAT: The cricket team representing
Bosher Olympic Centre (BOC) Cricket
successfully completed a 13-day tour of
Goa (India) after participating in the U-14
Invitation Cricket Tournament played
at four different venues in this popular
holiday destination.
A total of 13 matches were played
during March 19 - 31 with Regional
Cricket Centres on lush green grounds
and natural turf wickets. In addition
to providing the tourists with ample
exposure to the game, the BOC team also
had the opportunity to play against top
performers from the Goa region.
The best performers from all the
participating teams were honoured with
BOC/Goa medals and certificates. Man of
the Series was bagged by Vikram Nabira
who captained most of the matches for
BOC on the tour. The other cricketers from
BOC to get the Man of the Match awards
were Shreya Dhuri, Prathamesh Kumble,
HariKeshav Pramod, Santosh Narayanan,
Harith Raghuram, Sanin Fahad and
Shreyas Raghavan.
The rally will attract most of the local drivers non-professional drivers and some international drivers and will start on April 11
Omani Rally drivers in Ras Al Khaimah Rally
MUSCAT: Seven of Omani rally drivers
will participate in UAE when they join their
colleagues from Emirates to take part in Ras
Al Khaimah rally, which will take place in
this weekend.
The Rally which is one of Emirates local
rally rounds will be attracting most of local
drivers nonprofessional drivers accept
Shaikh Abdullah al Qasimi and some other
drivers and been attended in last Sharjah
rally by Mohamed bin Sulayem will start on
Saturday 11 April near the twin tour in Ras
Al Khaimah and will finish from the same
point.
As per the drivers comments the rally
have split difference in the training from
Omani Rallies, as the track is mostly sandy
and having more dusts but the drivers are
optimistic in ending with good results after
finishing the rally.
Khalid al Manji and his co-driver Saif al
Siari will be the first who will join the rally
as he has did well in last Sharjah rally after
being top 2nd place in group N, meanwhile
Faisal al Rashidi and His co-driver Waleed al
Rashidi will be attending the rally with good
pace after gaining third position in group N
in last Sharjah rally.
Humaid al Waili will be the new name
in Ras Al Khaimah Rally, as he will join the
other two Oman Champions in this rally
adding to that Jerrah al Tooqi the young
driver and the son of Hamood al Tooqi will
participate in the Rally with the X name Elyas
al Zadjali who will return to rally’s through
Ras Al Khaimah Rally. Zakariya al Amri and
Captain Said al Manji has both registered to
join this rally but Zakariya is facing a small
problem in the car to be ready fully to enter
the rally, meanwhile facing vacation problem
with his work place. Many hopes by Omani
driver in this rally to end with good results
and top three positions in this important
rally for the local champions.
26
SPORT
omandailyobserver
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
IPL: Having flattered to deceive on all the past seven editions with the ignominy of finishing at the bottom of the standings last year
Bolstered Daredevils look to buck IPL trend
NEW DELHI: Delhi Daredevils’
desparation to reverse their Indian
Premier League (IPL) woes forced
them to employ a convenient solution
— playing the “money card” — at the
auctions to infuse some enthusiasm
in a camp saddled with deflating prior
performances.
Having flattered to deceive on all the
past seven editions with the ignominy of
finishing at the bottom of the standings
last year, they cherry-picked out-offavour batsman Yuvraj Singh from the
bidding, shelling out an astronomical
Rs.16 crore.
The wisdom of buying a fading
star may be wrapped in time but it has
been successful in lifting the miasma
surrounding the team’s fate. And it is
on the success of this strategy that their
IPL8 fortunes rest.
Yuvraj’s IPL career mirrors that of
his current team. The star southpaw
has always been a “sought after” player
by the franchises for his natural striking
ability.
His marketability quotient is also
kept in mind by the franchises while
bidding as his glamorous presence
helps his teams attract sponsors. Royal
Challengers Bangalore kept all these
factors in mind when they bought him
for a whopping Rs.14 crore in 2014
only to release him the following year.
Daredevils have taken that gamble this
time around.
The big-moneyed acquisition came
on the insistence of coach Gary Kirsten
— with whom he has worked during
his tenure as the Indian team coach
- to bring a sense of familiarity in the
dressing room.
Kirsten has admitted of being
caught “off-guard” during his first
season in charge of an IPL team last
year. A wisened Kirsten has banked on
acquaintance within his ranks this time,
naming fellow South African Jean Paul
Duminy as the skipper.
The Protean influence in the team is
well established with batsman Quinton
de Kock, leg-spinner Imran Tahir and
all-rounder Albie Morkel adding might
to the Kirsten-Duminy stewardship.
Daredevils retained only 11 players
from their bitter last campaign and have
overhauled the side, naming their third
new skipper in as many editions.
The chop-and-change policy may
not have brought the desired results but
the team think-tank is willing to stick to
them, atleast for another season. But it is
their inability to create and hold onto a
core of players that may hurt them again.
Apart from Yuvraj, they have
welcomed old warhorses Zaheer Khan
and Sri Lankan Angelo Mathews to
compliment the youth of dashing
Australians Marcus Stoinis and Travis
Head. Stonis and Head impressed in last
year’s Big Bash League and may well be
the surprise package of the competition.
Djokovic out to make most of his moment
MIAMI: Novak Djokovic, entering the
141st week of his career at number one
in the world and fresh off a milestone
fifth Miami Masters title, just wants to
keep up the pace as long as he can.
“I’m trying to enjoy the moment
and also utilize this time of my career.
I’m feeling confident and physically
fit,” Djokovic said Sunday after a gritty
three-set triumph over Andy Murray in
the Miami final.
“I’m trying to use that. That’s what
I’m thinking about right now,” added
the 27-year-old Serb, who goes into the
European claycourt season highlighted
by the French Open having won the
three biggest tournaments of the first
quarter of the year: the Australian Open
and both the Indian Wells and Miami
Masters.
“I am aware that this cannot go
forever,” Djokovic said. “There is going
to be eventually a change of generations,
some players that are going to start
playing better and be stronger.
“But until that time comes, I’m going
to try to stay as long as I can on the top
and fight for the biggest titles.”
With 4,000 points separating him
from Federer at number two in the
world, Djokovic is poised to finish at
number one in the world for the fourth
time in five years.
His 22nd ATP Masters victory is just
one short of Roger Federer’s 23 on a list
led by Rafael Nadal’s 27.
Djokovic became the first player to
sweep the back-to-back titles at Indian
Wells and Miami for a third time.
It’s the kind of achievement that he
says fuels his ambition.
“Of course I do pay attention of that,”
he said. “Any kind of achievement that
Novak Djokovic poses for a champion’s portrait with the Butch Buchholz Trophy after his match against Any Murray (not
pictured) in the men’s singles final on day fourteen of the Miami Open at Crandon Park Tennis Center.
— USA Today Sports
goes into history books I’m hugely proud
of and I appreciate it very much, because
I work hard for it and I do cherish it.”
Djokovic’s victory in Melbourne was
his eighth Grand Slam triumph and
his first since becoming a father and
husband last year.
He says having a family had added
a new dimension to his successes on
court.
CALMNESS AND SELF-BELIEF
A rigorous fitness regime allows him
to play at a high level tournament after
tournament, while coach Boris Becker
has helped him hone his mental game.
He needed all of his physical reserves
in punishing heat and humidity against
Murray.
But after a second-set dip in his
energy level he roared back for a 7-6
(7/3), 4-6, 6-0 triumph -- his seventh
straight win against the Scot.
“I managed to, again, rely on the
energy supply that I have in my legs and
my fitness to basically hold on and make
it all the way through the match (to) play
the third set the way I have played, like I
haven’t really been exhausted too much
even though we played over two and a
half hours.”
But fitness isn’t everything, Djokovic
said, especially on the game’s biggest
stages.
“Obviously tennis is an individual
and very complex sport,” he said.
“It requires a right balance between
the physical preparation and mental
strength and emotional, I would say,
calmness and self-belief. — AFP
Indian leggie Amit Mishra, a
consistent performer in the tournament,
can also be another important inclusion
alongside Tahir. A strengthened pace
attack with India’s premier seamer
Mohammed Shami leading the charge
will improve their new-ball aspirations.
Their fast-bowling attack suffered
heavily due to lack of depth last year.
It will be imperative for them to
identify their best XI and hope that
things fall into place straight away in
their first match against Chennai Super
Kings away on April 9.
The team does possess a fair amount
of pedigree but it is the transformation
of promise to performance, particularly
of Yuvraj, that may define Daredevils’
AFC
IPL latest IPL adventure.
The squad: Indians: Yuvraju Singh, Manoj Tiwary,
Kedar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Mayank Agarwal,
Mohammed Shami, Jayant Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem,
Jaydev Unadkat, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Dominic
Joseph Muthuswamy, Shreyas Iyer, C.M. Gautam,
K.K. Jiyaz, Kona Srikar Bharat,
Foreigners: Jean Paul Duminy, Quinton de Kock,
Imran Tahir, Nathan Coultier-Niel, Angelo Mathews,
Gurinder Sandhu, Albie Morkel, Travis Head, Marcus
Stoinis.
Team Schedule-Home matches: vs Rajasthan Royals
(April 12), Kolkata Knight Riders (April 20), Mumbai
Indians (April 23), Royal Challengers Bangalore (April
26), KXIP (May 1), Sunrisers Hyderabad (May 9), CSK
(May 12)
Away matches: vs Chennai Super Kings (April 9),
Kings Xi Punjab (April 15), Sunrisers Hyderabad (April
18), KKR (May 7), Rajasthan Royals (May 3), Mumbai
Indians (May 5), RCB (May 17)
IPL Record: 2008-semi-finalist; 2009: semi-finalist;
2010: fifth, 2011: 10th, 2012: third; 2013: ninth;
2014: eighth.
LEAGUE
Takasaki stunner puts
brakes on Guangzhou
TOKYO: Substitute Hiroyuki Takasaki
scored with the last touch of the game
as Kashima Antlers put Guangzhou
Evergrande’s AFC Champions League
title bid on hold with a 2-1 win on
Tuesday.
Takasaki nodded home a 93rdminute free-kick to hand the struggling
Japanese side a lifeline and inflict a
first Asian defeat on Fabio Cannavaro’s
Guangzhou.
Winless Kashima had been facing
possible elimination, while a fourth
straight victory would have put wealthy
Guangzhou into the last 16 as they bid
for their second Asian title.
But Takasaki’s glancing header from
Gaku Shibasaki’s free-kick stunned
the Chinese champions and left home
fans weeping tears of joy at a rocking
Kashima stadium.
Also in Group H, title-holders
Western Sydney Wanderers were lucky
to escape with a 1-1 draw against FC
Seoul after a late goal-line controversy.
Wanderers ‘keeper Ante Covic did
brilliantly to parry a goal-bound volley
in injury time but as he landed, he
appeared to drag the loose ball over the
line.
Goal-line technology has been
introduced to the English Premier
League and the World Cup but it is
not yet used in Asia’s premier club
competition.
Go Yo-Han had cancelled out Kerem
Bulut’s opener and despite a late penalty
shout from Tomi Juric, Wanderers
coach Tony Popovic cut a relieved figure
after the game.
“You have to take your chances at
this level, and in the end it was a bit
scary, it could have gone either way,”
said Popovic.
“In the end we’re still second (in
the group) and we move on to the next
game.”
The results leave Guangzhou top
of Group H on nine points, four clear
of the Wanderers and FC Seoul, with
Kashima still alive on three and with
two more rounds of games to go.
Six-goal hero Ricardo Goulart led
Guangzhou to three wins in a row but
the Brazilian left his scoring boots at
home as Kashima went ahead through
an early Yasushi Endo penalty.
It wasn’t until the 75th minute
that Brazilian forward Elkeson put
Guangzhou level with a sweeping, leftfooted volley from a chipped cross
delivered by Gao Lin.
But Kashima showed the greater
endeavour and composure and
Takasaki, introduced in the 77th
minute, seized his chance as he directed
his header past goalkeeper Li Shuai.
Elsewhere Gamba Osaka beat
Thailand’s Buriram United 2-1 to leave
Group F finely poised heading into the
final two rounds of pool matches. —
AFP
Mosley said in an interview teams had to be told clearly that Formula One has “a real problem” unless the money is divided more equally
Formula One teams must talk on money deal: Mosley
BERLIN: Former international motorsport federation chief
Max Mosley believes Formula One teams need to reach
consensus on a fairer distribution of earnings to ensure the
sport’s survival.
In a telephone interview with dpa, Mosley said teams had
to be told clearly that Formula One has “a real problem” unless
the money is divided more equally.
“The only way to deal with it is to get everybody to agree,”
Mosley said.
“You can sit all the teams down and say look collectively
we’ve got a massive problem because some of you have got
enough money but most of you haven’t and if we go on like
this Formula One is going to collapse, so I am inviting you all
to agree to a change.
“But they would have to all agree. You can’t do it without
unanimity unfortunately. I think that could be done but it
needs people to make very clear to them that there is a real
problem.”
Mosley, who presided over FIFA from 1993 until 2009,
unsuccessfully tried to introduce a budget cap towards the
end of his office and said all the teams bar Ferrari agreed at the
time. Rows over revenue distribution led to a crisis towards
the end of last season when Lotus, Force India and Sauber
demanded a bigger share of income, while Marussia and
Caterham went into administration.
Mosley said Formula One, which now has an estimated
overall turnover of 1.7 billion dollars, had changed enormously
since he first entered motorsport as a racing driver in the 1960s,
competing at club car and European Formula Two level.
The sport is far safer thanks to technological advances and
improved track security, but a F1 team now employs between
700 and 1,000 people whereas an outfit like Tyrrell could win
world championships (three drivers’ in 1969, 1971 and 1973;
one constructors’ in 1971) employing around 20 people.
The March team, which Mosley helped found in 1969, had
a budget of 113,000 pounds in its first year, he recalled. Now a
team needed hundreds of millions.
“Of course the technology is amazing but a great deal of it is
concealed so the public don’t actually see - 90 per cent, 95 per
cent of what goes on is not visible to an outsider and even kept
secret within the teams,” Mosley said.
“So it’s changed enormously — whether it’s changed for the
better; I think it’s gone too far.
“I think it was good that it should become more
sophisticated, more technical and so on but at a certain point
there should have been a restriction on how much you can
spend, and indeed I’ve tried to bring that in at the end of my
time at the FIA but I didn’t succeed.”
Mosley said the revenue from F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone
“should be divided equally among the teams.” The teams should
not be allowed to spend significantly more, with successful
teams able to increase their earnings through sponsorship. At
present the richer teams are receiving a far greater share of
revenues and are able to win better sponsorship deals.
“At least half the teams simply can’t compete because they
haven’t got enough money, and that to me is wrong,” Mosley
said.
“You obviously wouldn’t allow one team to run a bigger
engine than another team and yet if one team has got five
times as much money the effect is exactly the same as if they
had a bigger engine. It’s not fair from the sporting point of
view.”
The right balance also needed to be struck between
the business of Formula One, as run by Ecclestone, and
Max Mosley
motorsport, as governed by the FIA, Mosley said.
“If everything is in one pair of hands than I think you have
a problem,” he said.
“I don’t know what’s in the arrangements which have been
made but my understanding is that Bernie together with the
teams can outvote the FIA.
“I might be wrong about that and shouldn’t really speculate
but I get the impression the FIA is not perhaps in a strong a
position as it used to be.”
Mosley, who will be 75 on April 13, stood down as FIA chief
at the end of his term in 2009, making way for Frenchman and
former Ferrari motorsport head Jean Todt.
The decision was taken long before the 2008 News of the
World’s stories about his sex life.
Mosley successfully sued the now defunct Sunday
newspaper which had claimed a public interest in publishing
because of alleged Nazi connotations. Mosley, the youngest
son of British 1930s fascist leader Oswald Mosley, said this was
shown to be unfounded.
“They invented this Nazi thing which was a complete lie,”
he said. “When it got to court it fell to pieces.”
Mosley said few people would have been in a position to
sue the newspaper and that was also a reason he would have
no hesitation in doing the same again.
“I felt the conduct of the newspaper was so outrageous that
it had to be done...and I thought if I don’t do it, it will be 10,
15 years where they can continue to behave outrageously and
expose people who can’t defend themselves.”
The News of the World was closed down by owner Ruport
Murdoch in July 2011 following revelations it was involved in
phone hacking.
“It was a criminal enterprise there and happily it has been
shut down,” Mosley said.
Mosley is meanwhile continuing his efforts to get Google to
prevent its search engines providing links to images used for
the News of the World stories.
“The thing is one has to make one’s mind up, these things
take a very long time but you get there in the end,” he said.
“One just has to be relentless and yes I am (fighting Google),
and I am relentless.” — dpa
SPORT
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
omandailyobserver
27
EPL: City plundered 102 goals as they streaked past a faltering Liverpool in last season’s title race but Monday’s loss left their defence in pieces
Man City deja vu leaves Pellegrini exposed
LONDON: Manchester City supporters
who have seen their team’s Premier
League title challenge disintegrate
before their eyes in recent weeks could
be forgiven a nagging feeling of deja vu.
City plundered 102 goals as they
streaked past a faltering Liverpool in last
season’s title race, but Monday’s 2-1 loss
at Crystal Palace left their defence of the
trophy in pieces.
Nine points behind leaders Chelsea
having played a game more, Manuel
Pellegrini’s side need a minor miracle
to retain the title and now face a fight to
avoid a place in next season’s Champions
League play-off round.
The club’s previous title triumph, in
2012, was followed by a similar slump.
Having snatched the crown from
Manchester United’s grasp on the final
day of the 2011-12 campaign, City
stagnated and finished the following
season 11 points adrift of their derby
rivals in second place.
Manager Roberto Mancini paid the
price with his job, sacked two days after
a shock defeat by Wigan Athletic in the
FA Cup final, and a similar fate may lie
in store for Pellegrini.
Heralded as the antithesis to the
spiky and combative Mancini, the
urbane Chilean steered the club to a
league and League Cup double in his
first season.
But Pellegrini’s position now appears
under serious threat, with British
bookmakers offering odds of 2/7 that
he will no longer be at the helm on the
opening day of next season.
Former United manager Alex
Ferguson accused City of slackening
off after their 2012 league success in his
autobiography and it is a charge that his
former captain Gary Neville repeated on
Monday.
“They have got a mentality problem,
there is no doubt about that. This team
cannot sustain success, and I think that
is a terrible thing to have levelled at you,”
said Neville, now a television pundit.
“When you win championships, you
have got to be able to come back again
with hunger and they do not. They get to
the top of the mountain and drop off it.”
TRANSFER SHORTCOMINGS
The club’s failure to reach the
Champions League quarter-finals also
counts against Pellegrini, even if there
was no disgrace in succumbing to the
genius of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi as
City did in the last 16.
But while Pellegrini is expected to
carry the can for City’s failure to kick
on, fingers are also being pointed at
figures higher up in the Etihad Stadium
hierarchy.
It is CEO Ferran Soriano and director
of football Txiki Begiristain who are
responsible for the club’s transfer activity,
not Pellegrini, and the club’s closeseason dealings left much to be desired.
Despite Financial Fair Play restrictions,
City splurged £32 million ($47.6
million, 43.8 million euros) on Eliaquim
Mangala, but the French centre-back has
been unable to hold down a first-team
place.
Fernando, Bacary Sagna and Willy
Caballero have added little beyond
squad depth and it says much that it was
36-year-old Frank Lampard, supposedly
on the brink of semi-retirement in
Major League Soccer, who had made
the biggest impact by the time Wilfried
Bony arrived from Swansea City in a £25
million deal in January.
“I think it is so poor from those at the
top of the club,” said former Liverpool
defender Jamie Carragher, Neville’s
fellow pundit on Sky Sports. “It is
mismanagement from them.”
Compounding
matters,
City’s
stalwarts have struggled to recapture the
heights of last season.
Manchester City’s Fernandinho (left) jumps to win a header during the English Premier League match against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in south London.
While Joe Hart has impressed, Sergio and captain Vincent Kompany appears them and on Sunday the champions
face a potentially chastening trip to Old
Aguero has scored only three league to be in terminal decline.
goals in 2015, the influence of Yaya
Arsenal and United have both Trafford.
With a seven-point advantage over
Toure and David Silva has diminished exploited City’s difficulties to surge past
Rodgers wants Cup glory to erase Premier pain
BLACKBURN, UNITED KINGDOM:
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers
is looking to avoid an FA Cup upset at
Blackburn on Wednesday as his side
try to ease the disappointment of their
fading challenge for a place in the
Champions League.
A run of eight wins from nine
Premier League games up to the middle
of March had put Liverpool in a strong
position to secure a top four finish.
But successive defeats against
Manchester United and Arsenal either
side of the international break have left
Liverpool in fifth place, well adrift of the
top four.
Rodgers’s team were out-played in
both games and their sudden downturn
in fortunes has been compounded by
suspensions to Emre Can, who was
sent off in last Saturday’s crushing 4-1
loss at Arsenal, as well as captain Steven
Gerrard and defender Martin Skrtel.
The fall-out from Raheem Sterling’s
decision to halt contract negotiations
has also proved a distraction.
Yet Rodgers is still hoping to finish
the season on a high by bringing
silverware back to Anfield for the first
time since Liverpool won the League
Cup in 2012.
If the Reds can see off Championship
club Blackburn in their quarter-final
replay at Ewood Park, they will be
through to a semi-final against Aston
Villa at Wembley later this month.
But Rodgers won’t underestimate
Gary Bowyer’s team, who have already
knocked out top-flight sides Swansea
and Stoke this season.
“There’s no doubt there is
disappointment at losing those games
‘There’s no doubt there is
disappointment at losing
those games having put
ourselves in a great position.
We’d worked very hard
to get ourselves into the
position we were in before
the United game’
FA CUP
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.
having put ourselves in a great position.
We’d worked very hard to get ourselves
into the position we were in before the
Manchester United game,” Rodgers said.
“We’re honest enough as a group
to focus and analyse that we did not
perform well enough, and when you
don’t against top-quality squads then
unfortunately you can lose. But it’s gone
now. We need to focus on doing the very
best we can.
“The group is very committed to
winning this trophy, but in order to do
that you have to qualify and we know
Blackburn will be a difficult game for us.
“It’s something we want to do as
— Reuters
a group. We’ve made steady progress
over a couple of seasons and arrived in
a Champions League place last year and
nearly won the league.
“A trophy this season will mark
another step forward for us. Of course,
it’s a difficult game for us but getting to
a final and winning a trophy is what we
want.
“We made that a real strong objective
for us this season, to do well in the cups,
and this is an opportunity to get to
another semi-final.”
MAKE AMENDS
Like Rodgers, Liverpool’s Brazil
midfielder Philippe Coutinho stressed
the need to make amends by going
all the way in the FA Cup, with either
Arsenal or Reading waiting as potential
final opponents.
“Winning the cup would save our
season. It is very important for us to
have that as an objective,” Coutinho said.
Blackburn held Liverpool to a 0-0
draw in the first meeting at Anfield last
month.
Rovers famously won the Premier
League title at Anfield 20 years ago and
after recent troubled times, including
relegation in 2012 and the imposition
of a transfer embargo due to financial
issues, manager Bowyer is delighted to
be giving the club’s supporters another
glimpse of glory.
“I am really pleased for them
more than anybody else to have that
opportunity to bring Liverpool back
to Ewood Park and get Ewood Park
rocking and remind us of the Premier
League days,” Bowyer said.
“It will bring back fond memories, it’s
where everybody wants to be, and this
will be a little taster for us.
“You’ve only got to look at our home
form against Premier League teams in
the FA Cup and we’ve done particularly
well.” — AFP
FIFA
— AFP
Liverpool, a top-four place does not
appear to be in jeopardy, but a fourthplace finish would represent another
damning fall from grace. — AFP
RACISM
Blatter wants tougher
punishment for racism
CAIRO: FIFA president Sepp Blatter
called for tougher punishment for teams
and associations found guilty of racism
and discrimination on Tuesday and said
monetary sanctions were increasingly
ineffective.
Statutes allowed for stiffer sanctions
which now had to be implemented as
the battle against ‘the scourge of racism
and discrimination is not being won’,
he told the Confederation of African
Football congress.
“We have to punish not only
through fines and stadium closures
but we have to use our rules to suspend
teams, to take away their points or even
to relegate them if racism continues,”
Blatter said.
Blatter reminded African countries
of extensive financial support to the
continent’s football associations from
world football’s governing body as he
opened the congress in a Cairo hotel on
Tuesday.
Blatter, who is expected to get
extensive support from the continent’s
54 countries when he stands for reelection next month, said FIFA had
spent some $700 million on various
programmes across Africa.
“We should maybe spend more to
prepare a better future for the children,”
he added, mirroring the promises of
his three rivals in the FIFA election for
more financial assistance for member
‘We have to punish not only
through fines and stadium
closures but we have to use
our rules to suspend teams,
to take away their points
or even to relegate them if
racism continues’
countries.
Blatter was met with a warm ovation
from the African delegates in contrast to
having to sit through stinging criticism
when he attended the UEFA congress in
Vienna last month.
Tuesday’s CAF congress was also
attended by Prince Ali bin Al Hussein
of Jordan, Dutch Football Association
President Michael van Praag and
former Portugal international Luis Figo,
who are all standing against Blatter, but
they were not permitted to address the
assembly.
CAF president Issa Hayatou, who
last year pledged his members’ support
to Blatter’s bid for another term in office,
repeated his call for Africa to back the
incumbent.
“He has been a faithful partner and
in Africa we acknowledge our friends
and offer them that they deserve,” added
Hayatou.
— Reuters
Giants Bayern Munich ready for ‘ballsy’ battle against Bayer Leverkusen for a place in the German Cup semifinals
Berlin: Thomas Mueller says holders Bayern Munich must show some ‘balls’ at Bayer
Leverkusen on Wednesday when two giants of German football clash for a place in
the German Cup’s semifinals.
With the Munich giants ten points clear in the Bundesliga and fourth-placed
Bayer on course for a Champions League place next season, the clash at Leverkusen’s
BayArena is the stand-out tie of the quarter-finals.
“You need to have some balls for that, it’s the cup quarter-finals, there is definitely
a bit of spice in this one,” said Germany forward Mueller in his own unique style.
Leverkusen warmed up with a 4-0 rout of Hamburg at home last Saturday while
Bayern ground out a 1-0 win at Borussia Dortmund with an untypically defensive
display.
Bayern have a lengthy injury list with wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery,
plus left-back David Alaba out of the cup quarter-final with long-term ailments.
Defensive midfielder and Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger is also out after
limping off against Dortmund with an ankle injury.
“He is definitely not going to play,” insisted Bayern coach Pep Guardiola on
Tuesday. But Bayern remain the team to beat, according to Leverkusen’s former striker
Stefan Kiessling, as Leverkusen bid to repeat their 2009 last eight win over Bayern
when Kiessling scored in a 4-2 home win.
Leverkusen went on to lose 1-0 to Werder Bremen in the 2009 final and since then
Bayern have won the cup three more times.
They are the record holders by winning the cup 17 times since the competition
began in 1953.
“Whoever wants to win the German Cup has to beat Bayern as some point,” said
the 31-year-old Kiessling.
“We have them now in the quarter-finals, we had them at home a few years ago at
the same stage and we beat them to reach the final. — AFP
28
omandailyobserver
SPORT
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
THE MASTERS: Former World No 1 Tiger Woods has also confirmed his participation after taking a break from competitive golf recently
McIlroy looks in fine form to complete career slam
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA: Northern
Ireland’s Rory McIlroy is the favourite to
slip on the famous green jacket awarded
to the winner of the Masters on Sunday
and complete a career Grand Slam of all
four majors in doing so.
McIlroy may have put his infamous
final-day Augusta meltdown from
2011 behind him but will still have
to overcome stiff competition from
defending two-time champion Bubba
Watson and a host of others to triumph.
Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth and
Patrick Reed will all give home fans
reason for cheer while Jason Day and
2013 champion Adam Scott lead the
Australian charge. Swede Henrik
Stenson could be the pick from
continental Europe.
Former world number one and fourtimes Masters champion Tiger Woods
has also confirmed his participation after
taking a break from competitive golf
since early February to piece together
his shaky game.
“I’m playing in the Masters. It’s
obviously very important to me, and
I want to be there,” Woods said. “I’ve
worked a lot on my game and I’m looking
forward to competing. I’m excited to get
to Augusta and I appreciate everyone’s
support.” But even in Woods’ presence
from Thursday onwards, all eyes will at
first be on McIlroy as he aims to become
just the sixth player to win a modern
slam of all four majors aged only 25.
“If I was to look back as a 60-year-old
at my career and had not won a green
jacket I would be very disappointed,”
McIlroy told the BBC in an interview.
“It is the only one left and it is a course
I feel I can do well at.
I feel I could win multiple times,
but getting that first one is the most
important thing.
“Winning all four majors means
you are a complete player. I can achieve
something special.”
McIlroy could have already joined the
elite group of Woods, Gene Sarazen, Ben
Hogan, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus in
winning all four titles were it not for a
disastrous Augusta Sunday in 2011 when
he blew a four-shot lead by shooting 80.
That delayed his maiden major by a
matter of months as he recovered to win
the US Open that year and he has since
added two PGA Championships (2012,
2014) and the 2014 Open.
“I learned so much about myself and
what I needed to do the next time I got
into that position,” McIlroy said.
“It was a huge learning curve for me
and I needed it, and thankfully I have
been able to move on to bigger and
better things.”
With Woods unlikely to challenge
competitively, the US interest at the
top of the leaderboard could come
from reigning champion Watson who
expects to perform better than when he
defended his title in 2013.
“In 2013 I was a newcomer,” Watson
said. “I was still trying to find my feet. I
was still trying to figure out, somehow,
I’m Masters champion.’’
“Media attention is different because
you’re defending champ. It’s just a lot of
things went on and I’m not making that
as an excuse in my bad play, but I still
made the cut.”
Spieth, the 21-year-old world number
six who burst onto the Masters scene
with a second-placed debut in 2014
is considered by many a champion in
waiting while Fowler finished in the top
five of every major last year.
And the feisty Reed is looking to build
on a tenacious Ryder Cup performance
from last September, when he took three
points out of four, to make his first big
impact on a major.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland tosses golf balls onto the second green during his practice round ahead of the 2015 Masters at the Augusta National Golf Course in
Augusta, Georgia on April 6. — Reuters
World number two Stenson could
make history by becoming the first
Swedish man to win a major but must
put frustration from the recent Arnold
Palmer Invitational behind him — he
seemed to lose concentration after being
put on the clock for slow play in the
closing holes and let a lead slip.
Winner in 2013, Scott will hope to
challenge after a disappointing time in
Tiger excites with superb practice round
AUGUSTA, UNITED STATES: Tiger
Woods thrilled Masters fans with a
strong practice round on Monday
at Augusta National, solid chips and
approach shots signalling a return to
form by the 14-time major champion.
Woods, who missed last year’s
Masters due to back surgery, excited
spectators with a late-afternoon practice
round alongside long-time pal Mark
O’Meara.
“I felt good and it was nice to get out
here,” Woods said. “But the course was a
little bit faster than when we played last
week.”
Woods, who has sunk to 111th in the
world rankings, made his first public
shotmaking display since withdrawing
from Torrey Pines after only 11 holes in
February with back issues and a woeful
short game.
“The last two months has been a
process for me but I’m in a good place
now,” Woods said. “It’s progression. I
felt like I had to get my game into a spot
where I could compete to win a golf
tournament and it is finally there.”
Woods arrived by plane on Monday
afternoon from Florida and went
directly to Augusta National’s practice
chipping area, where he hit about 70
shots with no sign of the prior horrid
form, and driving range, where he spent
slightly under an hour.
During the workout, comfortablelooking Woods appeared to be listening
to music, dancing at times, and was
smiling and relaxed, sharing hugs with
former swing coach Sean Foley, past
British Open winner Darren Clarke and
O’Meara.
“It was good to catch up with Mark
again,” Woods said. “We text each other
all the time, so it felt like old times out
there. I miss him.”
Woods’ casual manner and successful
shotmaking harkened back to the form
that made Woods a four-time Masters
winner, his most recent green jacket
victory coming 10 years ago.
He has not won a major title since the
2008 US Open as he chases the record
18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus.
His manner was a sharp contrast to
recent struggles in a 13-month span
where he has managed only three 72hole finishes.
After sending his first tee shot well
Tiger Woods of the US takes two clubs as he works on his chips shot onto the first green during his practice round ahead of the
2015 Masters at the Augusta National Golf Course in Augusta, Georgia.
— Reuters
left into pine trees near the adjacent
ninth fairway, Woods blasted over the
trees to five feet from the cup for a birdie
and practiced his chipping on the hole
as well.
“My chipping is fine and today
was good as I wanted to test out some
wedges,” Woods said. “That was why I
was chipping a little bit more.”
Woods put his approach at the par-5
second 30 feet from the cup but missed
an eagle putt. At the third he chipped
within inches of the cup. At the par-3
fourth his stopped his tee shot 10 feet
from the cup.
At the seventh Woods put his
approach three feet from the cup. At
nine, he chipped to 20 feet and sank the
long par putt.
“Don’t ever underestimate Tiger
Woods,” O’Meara said. “I saw some
good signs out there.”
World number one Rory McIlroy,
who would complete a career Grand
Slam and win his third major in a row
‘I felt good and it was nice to
get out here. But the course
was a little bit faster than
when we played last week.
The last two months has
been a process for me but
I’m in a good place now’
by capturing his first green jacket on
Sunday, practiced on Monday alongside
two amateur debutantes, reigning
British Amateur champion Bradley Neil
of Scotland and American Byron Meth,
the US Public Links champion.
RIVALS WATCH TIGER TOO
But as excited as people are about
McIlroy’s run at history, curiosity over
Woods stole the show on Monday.
“There’s always a buzz when he’s
in the field,” Sweden’s second-ranked
Henrik Stenson said. “It’s good to see
him back in action and see where his
game is at.”
“We want him back. We need him
back,” said American Brandt Snedeker.
“He brings a lot of drama. I would love
to see him in it on Sunday.”
Australia’s fifth-ranked Jason Day
hopes to stay under the radar with the
most attention on McIlroy, US star
Jordan Spieth and especially Woods.
“Everyone’s excited and interested to
see how he performs this week, what the
state of the game is for him, because he’s
such a huge part of golf,” Day said.
Reigning US Open champion Martin
Kaymer of Germany, who has endured a
comeback of his own, said Woods must
have a mental fight as well as a physical
one with all the attention on his game.
“Mentally, it must be quite exhausting
and we know how important the mental
part is in golf,” Kaymer said.
“Hopefully he’s strong enough, he has
people to talk to, and he finds a way to
compete as good as he can. Because we
all know when he’s around, somehow it
does make us play better, as well. — AFP
the 2014 majors while compatriot Day is
looking for his first major victory.
At the other end of the scoreboard,
the seven amateur competitors —
Corey Conners, Matias Dominguez,
Scott Harvey, Byron Meth, Antonio
Murdaca, Bradley Neil and Gunn Yang
— are more likely to be targeting the
weekend cut than worrying about their
measurements for a green jacket. — dpa
AUGUSTA MASTERS
Lahiri eager for
Masters debut
AUGUSTA, UNITED STATES:
Anirban Lahiri knows that being the
new face of Indian golf means the
pressure he will feel on Thursday when
he makes his Masters debut will be all
the more severe.
The 27-year-old from Bangalore
qualified for the year’s first major on
the back of four tournament wins in the
last year, including two co-sanctioned
European Tour wins at the Malaysian
Open and Indian Open.
He is currently the Asian number
one and is 34th in the world rankings,
a position that ensures him of his first
start at an Augusta National course he
had only ever seen on television before
last weekend.
Enough to unsettle the hardiest
of souls, but Lahiri believes that the
progress he has made over the last two
years will stand him in good stead.
“I think over the last 24 months my
game has improved in various levels,”
he said after playing the course for the
second time on Monday. “Technically
speaking, I think I’ve had a very
mild graph going upwards, nothing
meteoric, I would say.
“But we have tried to improve on
most parameters, including my driving,
which has become a lot more accurate
Anirban Lahiri
than it used to be, and I think my
mental side.
“The biggest change has become in
believing that I can compete and beat a
lot of the world-class players.”
Lahiri will become just the third
Indian golfer to play in the Masters
after Jeev Milka Singh in 2007, 2008
and 2009 and Arjun Atwal in 2001.
Singh’s tie for 25th in 2008 remains the
benchmark.
Lahiri has played in two British
Opens and one PGA Championship,
but the Masters is an altogether different
challenge that has seen him seek advice
from many quarters.
Singh and Atwal were obvious
sounding boards and during his short
time in Augusta he has had a 15-minute
chat with three-time winner Nick Faldo
and played nine holes in practice with
another former green jacket winner
Vijay Singh.
His short-term ambitions though
remain modest — “just to go out there
and enjoy myself ” — but in the long
term he is aiming high both for himself
and his cricket-loving country. “It’s
obviously very exciting back home.
There’s going to be a lot of people up
through the night watching the Masters
coverage this year,” he said. — AFP
ENTERTAINMENT
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
Gervais to premiere
film on fake news
‘THE SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT’ WILL BE THE FIRST FILM THAT
GERVAIS, BEST KNOWN FOR THE ORIGINAL BRITISH VERSION OF THE
HIT TELEVISION SITCOM, ‘THE OFFICE’ HAS DIRECTED SINCE HIS 2010
COMEDY ‘CEMETERY JUNCTION’
Ricky Gervais and Jane Fallon arrive on the red carpet of The Weinstein Company and Netflix Golden Globes in Beverly Hills
KIDMAN A
CRITICISED
OVER AD
ctress Nicole Kidman is facing
ire from flight attendants over
her new role as the face of Etihad
Airways. Kidman, who has served as the
UN Goodwill Ambassador for women
since 2006, recently began appearing in
an ad campaign for the airlines, which
is owned by the United Arab Emirates,
reports hollywoodreporter.com.
In a statement, the Association of
Professional Flight Attendants (APFA)
has criticised Kidman for her association
with the company, citing alleged reports
that Etihad has been unfair to its
employees.
“We urge you, on behalf of the women
omandailyobserver
N
etflix said it will debut in 2016 a new
feature movie by British comedian Ricky
Gervais about a radio reporter who files
fake news about a far-away war from the
comfort of a Manhattan hideout.
‘Special Correspondents,’ starring
Australian actor Eric Bana, is the latest in a growing stable
of original productions being rolled out by the online video
streaming service.
“It’s the kind of great grown-up comedy that studios rarely
make anymore, one that’s perfect for Netflix members around
the world,” said Netflix content chief Ted Sarandos.
Sarandos described the film, written and directed by
Gervais, as “classic Ricky Gervais; smart social satire with
heart,” in a Netflix statement that gave no specific release date.
Showbiz trade journal ‘Variety’ reported in October
‘Special Correspondents’ would be a remake of a 2009
French comedy, ‘Envoyes Tres Speciaux,’ by director Frederic
Auburtin.
It will be the first film that Gervais, best known for the
original British version of the hit television sitcom, ‘The Office’
has directed since his 2010 comedy ‘Cemetery Junction.’
Netflix’s ever-expanding roster of original output stretches
from the political drama ‘House of Cards’ to children’s shows
and documentaries to be co-produced with Hollywood
A-lister Leonardo DiCaprio.
‘Furious 7’ races to the top: The latest ‘Fast and Furious’
instalment roared to pole position in the North American
box office this weekend, easily overtaking last week’s winner
‘Home’ for the top spot, according to industry data on
Monday.
‘Furious 7,’ the seventh in the street-racing and stunt-filled
franchise, pulled in a whopping $147.2 million on its opening
weekend, according to figures from box office tracker
Exhibitor Relations.
The film features the late Paul Walker, who was killed in an
unrelated car crash in November 2013 while the film was still
in production.
“Going well beyond a pitch-perfect marketing campaign
and a great release date, the enthusiastic and devoted fan
base came out in droves to support the franchise and the late
Paul Walker — and the results are staggering,” senior media
analyst Paul Dergarabedian, of the box office tracker Rentrak,
said in a statement.
In second place was animated children’s film ‘Home,’ about
an unpopular space alien forced to flee his own kind. It earned
$27 million.
Pulling in $13.1 million and scoring third place was buddy
comedy ‘Get Hard,’ about a prison-bound white investment
banker (Will Ferrell) who hires a black car washer (Kevin
Hart) for lessons on surviving the slammer.
Disney’s live action ‘Cinderella’ remake worked its magic
to stay in fourth place, earning $10.2 million, with ‘Downton
Abbey’ star Lily James as the enchanted princess and Cate
Blanchett as her wicked stepmother.
Dystopian action thriller ‘Insurgent,’ the second big-screen
instalment based on Veronica Roth’s best-selling ‘Divergent’
book series, fell to fifth with $10.1 million.
Indie horror flick ‘It Follows,’ took sixth place and $2.5
million in ticket sales.
‘Woman in Gold,’ which tells the true story of an elderly
Holocaust survivor trying to get her Nazi-looted artwork
back from the Austrian government, debuted in seventh
position with a $2.1 million haul.
Eighth went to British spy spoof ‘Kingsman: The Secret
Service’ starring Colin Firth, with just $1.8 million.
Religious drama ‘Do You Believe’ took ninth place with
$1.5 million. Rounding out the top 10 was sequel ‘The Second
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,’ featuring Judi Dench, Maggie
Smith and Richard Gere, which earned $1.1 million. — AFP
and girls that you spoke of so eloquently
(on International Women’s Day), not to
play a part in promoting Etihad Airways,
a company that imposes unfair labour
practices on its female employees,” the
statement read.
“The APFA, a union that represents
25,000 flight attendants, including nearly
19,000 female crew members, has long
been a leading voice on the issue of
discriminatory labour practices in our
industry. We would gladly welcome your
voice to our effort,” the statement read
further.
Kidman’s representative did not
respond to a request for comment.
GALA NITE
Hrithik, Anushka
rehearse amid showers
for IPL opening
B
ollywood actors Hrithik Roshan and Anushka
Sharma (pictured) arrived in Kolkata, ahead of
their much-awaited performance at the Indian
Premier League (IPL) inaugural, and dived straight
into rehearsals despite thundershowers.
Hrithik, Anushka and Shahid Kapoor are set to
enthral spectators at the gala opening ceremony at the
Salt Lake Stadium.
However, according to the Met Office forecast, rain
and thunderstorms
could play spoilsport
at the event.
Notwithstanding
the downpour on
Monday
evening,
the duo were spotted
practising
their
moves with a troupe
of
background
dancers for the
two-hour-long
programme
on
Tuesday.
Some of the
dancers, which included foreigners, were attired in
hooded jackets for protection from the rain.
The stadium was covered in a haze of blue light and
was abuzz with activity as the two showed up.
A thunderstorm on Sunday affected Kolkata Knight
Riders’ practice at the Eden Gardens which turned
soggy.
The Knight Riders’ cricketers had to be content
with a workout at the Pankaj Gupta indoor stadium
located within the Eden Gardens premises.
KKR, the defending champions, and the rest of
the league teams will participate in the grand opening
show.
Apart from Hrithik, Anushka and Shahid, other
tinsel town celebrities roped in for the inaugural
include actor-director Farhan Akhtar who will belt out
songs with his band.
Actor Saif Ali Khan, Indian cricketing legend
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi’s son, will host the show
and introduce the cricketers and stars.
For Hrithik, it was a rather nostalgic trip.
The star son’s first live act after his stellar debut in
father Rakesh Roshan’s ‘Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai’, was at
the same venue in Kolkata.
“Going 2 b nostalgic. Happy 2 return 2 where I
started. Salt lake stadium. my 1st stage. the date April
7. See you all at @IPL Opening Nite,” the actor tweeted
earlier.
Spotted in trendy casuals, Hrithik was soon
surrounded by fans and shutterbugs upon his arrival
at the airport here.
Anushka landed in the city with her beau, cricketer
Virat Kohli. — IANS
TINSELTOWN
Swift’s b’day surprise
for school friend
S
inger Taylor Swift gave her
friend from high school Abigail
the “most magically memorable
night” by planning a surprise
performance of a special guest at her
25th birthday party. Swift organised
a surprise performance from Chris
Carrabba, the lead singer and guitarist
of Dashboard Confessional, Abigail’s
all-time favourite band since high
school in Nashville, reports dailymail.
co.uk. The ‘Shake it off ’ hitmaker
documented the surprise on photosharing website Instagram in three
separate videos. She can be seen
standing on a raised platform with
the birthday girl, among a large group
of guests, as she makes a special
announcement.
“One thing that I think is really
important that you know, if you don’t
already know this — a lot of you
probably know this — her favourite
all time band in high school and still is
Dashboard Confessional,” Swift said.
In the second video, she adds: “I’m
just asking a random question. Do
we have anyone here named Chris
Carrabba? Is there a Chris Carrabba?
Is there?”
Shrieks and cheers erupt as
Carrabba, 39, reveals himself. The
third video sees Swift, Abigail, and the
party guests singing along passionately
as Carrabba sings and strums his
guitar.
Nora Fatehi set to
sizzle in ‘Kick 2’
A
29
fter landing an opportunity to groove for a special
song in S S Rajamoulia’s magnum opus ‘Baahubali’,
model-turned-actress Nora Fatehi will next feature
in an item song in Telugu action-comedy ‘Kick 2’.
“Nora has been signed on for an item song in ‘Kick 2’.
The song will be shot soon in a specially erected set in
Hyderabad,” a source from the film’s unit said.
‘Kick 2’, a sequel to the 2012 blockbuster,
is being directed by Surender Reddy.
The crew recently returned from
Switzerland after shooting some
songs. Also starring Ravi Teja,
Rakul Preet Singh, Ravi Kishan
and Kabir Duhan Singh, the
film is gearing up for release
in May. ‘Kick 2’ is said to
be the story of son of Ravi
Teja from the first part.
— IANS
30
LIFESTYLE
omandailyobserver
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
BIMAL SAIGAL
[email protected]
Rainy rues
B
Dried out corn stalks are seen at sunset on a farm near Oakland City, Indiana. — AFP
CORN HUSKS a good
source of renewable fuel
THE PROCESS OF
BREAKING DOWN CORN
HUSKS AND STALKS INTO
HYDROGEN AND CARBON
DIOXIDE CAN USE BOTH
SUGARS GLUCOSE AND
XYLOSE AT THE SAME
TIME, NOT ONE AFTER
THE OTHER
S
cientists have said they have
found a way to use discarded
corn husks and stalks to make
cheap hydrogen fuel that doesn’t
pollute the environment like
fossil fuels.
The advances by a team at Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University
save time and money while producing a
zero-emissions fuel that could speed up
the movement towards hydrogen-powered
vehicles, said the report in the ‘Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences’, a peerreviewed US journal.
“We have demonstrated the most
important step towards a hydrogen economy
— producing distributed and affordable green
hydrogen from local biomass resources,” said
study co-author Percival Zhang, a professor
in the Department of Biological Systems
Engineering at Virginia Tech.
The study was led by Joe Rollin, a former
doctoral student of Zhang’s at Virginia Tech.
BREAKTHROUGH
Cardiac muscles can be regenerated
Together they co-founded a start-up company
called Cell-free Bioinnovations.
The process builds on previous research
using xylose, “the most abundant simple
plant pentose sugar, to produce hydrogen
yields that previously were attainable only in
theory,” said the ‘PNAS’ report.
Other hydrogen fuel production methods
rely on highly processed sugars, but the
Virginia Tech team used corn husks and
stalks, which are known as dirty biomass, to
cut costs and make the fuel easier to produce
locally.
Rollin found that process of breaking
down corn husks and stalks into hydrogen
and carbon dioxide can use both sugars
glucose and xylose at the same time, not one
after the other.
That discovery means it is possible to
speed up the rate at which hydrogen is
released, while decreasing the area of the
facility needed to produce it to the size of a
gas station.
“We believe this exciting technology has
the potential to enable the widespread use of
hydrogen fuel cell vehicles around the world
and displace fossil fuels,” Rollin said.
Experts said it is hard to know how much
the new approach might cost. Funding so far
has been provided by the Shell GameChanger
initiative and the National Science
Foundation.
But Lonnie Ingram, Director of the
Florida Centre for Renewable Chemicals and
Fuels at the University of Florida, who was
not involved with the study, said the work
“represents a revolutionary approach that
offers many new advantages’’.
“These researchers have certainly
broadened the scope of our thinking about
metabolism and how it plays into the future of
alternative energy production,” Ingram said.
Researchers say they have the necessary
cash to scale up their findings to a
demonstration-level, which is the next step of
the project. — AFP
WORKING OUT
Vigorous exercise helps people live longer
V
A
group of scientists
has
reactivated
cell
growth
in
the cardiac muscles of a
mouse through hormone
stimulation, opening the
possibility of new treatments
following cardiac arrest, Efe
news agency reported citing a
study published on Tuesday.
“What the research team
has been able to do is boost
heart muscle cell numbers
by as much as 45 per cent
after a heart attack,” said
Richard Harvey of the
University of New South
Wales and the Victor Chang
Cardiac Research Institute in
Australia.
Harvey claims the team’s
success is an important step
towards repairing damaged
hearts, since heart cells do
not self-regenerate, unlike
human blood cells, skin and
hair.
“Cell division in the heart
virtually comes to a standstill
shortly after birth, which
means the heart can’t fully
regenerate if it is damaged
later in life,” Harvey said
in a statement released
by the University of New
South Wales. Other studies
previously conducted in this
field showed heart cells being
regenerated but only at trivial
levels, he added.
The scientists focused on
the heart’s signalling system
and the intervention of the
neuregulin hormone. — IANS
igorous exercise, the kind that
makes you sweat, get red in the
face and breathe hard, may be
better than moderate exercise when it
comes to living longer, researchers have
said.
According to a study by Australian
researchers based on more than 200,000
adults over age 45, and is published in
the ‘Journal of the American Medical
Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine’.
The study participants were followed
for more than six years.
Those who did jogging, aerobics or
competitive tennis — vigorous exercise
for 30 per cent of their weekly workouts
— had a mortality rate that was nine
to 13 per cent lower than those who
did moderate exercise, like swimming,
social tennis or household chores.
“The benefits of vigorous activity
applied to men and women of all ages,
and were independent of the total
amount of time spent being active,” said
lead author Klaus Gebel from James
Cook University’s Centre for Chronic
Disease Prevention.
“The results indicate that whether or
not you are obese, and whether or not
you have heart disease or diabetes, if
you can manage some vigorous activity
it could offer significant benefits for
longevity.”
Currently, the World Health
Organization urges adults to do at least
150 minutes of moderate activity or 75
minutes of vigorous activity per week.
But the current research suggests
that given the choice, people should opt
for some higher intensity exercise if they
can, and if their doctor agrees, the study
authors said.
“Our research indicates that even
small amounts of vigorous activity
could help reduce your risk of early
death,” Gebel said.
“For those with medical conditions,
for older people in general, and for
those who have never done any vigorous
activity or exercise before, it’s always
important to talk to a doctor first.”
A separate study published on
Monday in the journal ‘Circulation’,
a publication of the American Heart
Association, found that sudden cardiac
death during sports activities is rare
among middle aged people who are
physically fit.
Researchers reviewed more than
1,200 cases of sudden cardiac arrest —
when the heart stops beating due to an
electrical disturbance in the organ that
stops vital blood flow — in men and
women aged 35 to 65.
Only five per cent of the cases
involved occurred during exercise such
as running, basketball or biking.
In two-thirds of the cases, patients
had
a
previously
documented
cardiovascular disease or symptoms
before the sudden cardiac arrest. — AFP
uilding up of dark clouds in sky, thundering and
lightning surely bring cheers to the young and
also to those who are still young at heart. While
even most of the animals welcome the seasonal rains
which bring them greenery in their habitat; respite
from soaring temperatures and replenishment of water
bodies for assured supplies of food and water during
days ahead, it is left to the peacock to represent them in
the thanksgiving through the magnificent display and
quivering of its colourful plumage to greet the rains.
A soft drizzling or even a pouring casts a similar
magic spell on romantic heads among us humans as
well, overwhelming us to soak under this bounty of the
nature. Children run out into the open and love to play
in the rains while the elders come out to the balconies
or peep from windows to enjoy the fall of rain. It is also
time for many to enjoy another hot cup of tea or coffee
to the traditional company of pakoras or samosas.
I still cherish the pleasant experience as a young
boy then; enjoying the reading of an interesting book
sitting reclined on the bed against the open window at
our single-storied home in South Delhi while listening
to the gentle tipper-tapper of the rain drops falling on
the thick foliage of plants and trees behind me and the
intermittent caressing of its mild spray on my face.
Having lived in and experienced the heavy monsoon
rains of the northern India and also the devastating
rains of Mumbai, I have ever remained fascinated with
the rains. We missed the charm of rains while on our
first posting to Cairo as it hardly ever rained there. And
then for our last posting, having arrived during the
intensely hot month of June to live in Muscat, it was a
very pleasant surprise for us when it started drizzling in
the month of September as we had ignorantly thought
the place would be hot and dry round the year. Ecstatic,
I rushed outside to the garden to feel the cool rain
drops falling on me; my wife and daughter followed.
Thankfully, we enjoyed several downpours later.
It was the rainy spell the previous weekend that
made me reminisce about the ways we used to enjoy
the rains. But then it was also an unseasonal spell,
unusually heavier for the month of March and bereft
of any enjoyment for the farming community and
the informed ones, as coming a month ahead of the
harvesting time it proved disastrous for the crops.
As per the figures given by the Meteorological
Department head, India as a whole received more
than double the normal rainfall during the month of
March, making it the wettest March since the year
1915; the area weighted average rising to 50 mm
against the normal 24.4 mm. Agricultural experts
have put the damage of Rabi (winter) crops across 35
lakh hectares in Punjab and 25 lakh hectares in the
neighbouring state of Haryana. The unseasonal rains
across Maharashtra have ravaged over 50,000 hectares
of crops and horticultural produce, including mangoes
for which this state in the western part of India is
famous for. The losses have been estimated to be over
1,000 crores of rupees.
Though this scenario appears to be a lose-lose
situation only, but even in general it is known that
someone wins or gains only at cost of another’s loss.
Blessings like rains are not to the contrary. While most
of us get thrilled in anticipation and feel romantic as
clouds of rain build up in the sky, there are many who
get scared by the misery the rain would bring to them.
These are the people who are drenched or deluged
by rain as they are either homeless; slum-dwellers or
residents of the low-lying localities. Most street-hawkers
lose their ware and daily income to rains. Businesses of
all shopkeepers are affected as the number of customers
shrinks. Offices have thin attendance. Daily wagers
who sit on pavements waiting to be contracted for the
day, lose their livelihood to the inclement weather.
Those who cycle or walk to work or school face
hardships as roads also get clogged. Streets get flooded
and become muddy as storm water drains overflow.
Those living in old structures dread the leaking ceilings
and many houses cave in under the onslaught of
incessant rains. Rains as such can be more devastating
during winters. Being drenched and exposed to
elements, children and the weak fall sick. Mobility
gets affected; traffic jams throw city life out of gear as
vehicles stall on the roads or meet with accidents.
I recall, on such a downpour in Muscat last year,
while I was cautioned by the experienced that my
misadventure of wading through a two feet-deep
waterlogging could have cost me my car, our office
Mercedes had actually to be written off as its engine
seized similarly.
So, as the rains bring cheers to us and the radio
stations are quick to air romance with some of the many
melodious songs on the charm of rains like ‘barso re
megha-megha; barso re megha barso,’ soliciting Indra
‘devata’ (lord of rains) to cough up more of showers
from his coffers, some pensive hearts are also touched
in compassion for the apprehensive lot by these words
of pain, which the rain induced in the mind of the
famed English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley:
‘The fitful alternations of the rain,
When the chill wind, languid as the pain
Of its own heavy moisture, here and there
Drives through the gray and beamless atmosphere.’
SPOTLIGHT
W E D N E S DAY
APRIL 8 l 2015
Lensman
Corbijn
toasts 60
with new
expos
Q JAN HENNOP
F
amed for shooting
superstars from Bjork
to U2 in offbeat poses,
Dutch
photographer
Anton
Corbijn
is
himself taking centre
stage with two exhibitions to mark his
60th birthday.
Corbijn has since the mid-70s
forged a close relationship with bands
including the Rolling Stones and
electronic masters Depeche Mode,
shooting and designing many of their
album covers and directing their music
videos.
His close involvement with U2
and Depeche Mode has earned him
the epithet as those bands’ “unseen
member”.
“To me, these exhibitions are a
celebration. It’s the culmination of
four decades of my work,” Corbijn,
also a feature film director, said in an
interview.
From famous musicians like
Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, Nick Cave or
Miles Davis to artist Ai WeiWei and
even a unique series of self-portraits,
Corbijn has dug up a treasure trove that
is now on show at two neighbouring
museums in The Hague.
One entitled simply ‘1-2-3-4’, at
The Museum of Photography, offers
portraits of some of the world’s most
famous rock stars — many selected
from contact sheets kept within
Corbijn’s personal archives and never
shown before in public.
At the Gemeentemuseum next
door, a “more serious” show called
‘Hollands Deep’ traces Corbijn’s work
from a gangly teenager armed with a
small camera at rock concerts in the
early 1970s to the mature master of
portrait photography.
For the first time, the ‘1-2-3-4’
exhibition for instance shows pictures
Corbijn took of the Rolling Stones
prancing around wearing strange
masks, all shot in his trademark
monochrome style.
Another first includes a study
of a youthful Mick Jagger, staring
provocatively into the camera. There
is also a rare photo of U2 front-man
Bono in a bathtub, a colour picture
of the Irish rock band’s four members
with their fathers, and another of them
dressed up as drag queens.
At the Gemeentemuseum, the
pictures are far more personal,
exploring the artist’s own rural and
Dutch Calvinist roots.
‘Hollands Deep’, whose title comes
from the huge estuary south of the
port city of Rotterdam near where
Corbijn grew up, includes selfportraits with the artist dressed as his
musical heroes — Elvis Presley, Jimi
Hendrix, Sid Vicious, Kurt Cobain and
John Lennon, to name a few. All show
his small birthplace of Strijen in the
background.
These shots “combine my obsession
with music with my very religious
parents’ obsession with life after death,”
Corbijn said.
They give a peek into his psyche as
a man who broke away from a deeply
Protestant upbringing to plunge
passionately into the heady world of
rock-and-roll and movie stars.
omandailyobserver
NADA ALI
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Work smarter not harder!
I
“The world of music seemed to be
so much more promising as a world
that held an exciting lifestyle,” he said..
“At home I was always taught that
one should keep a low profile. It took
me years to realise that I actually
always wanted to be somebody. My
work brings me closer to the people
that achieved that.”
Today, the photographer said
he doesn’t reflect much on his own
mortality and plans to keep his 60th
birthday on May 20 “small and private”.
As for the exhibitions, it’s a
celebration, but it’s also about a world
I feel is slipping away from us.
“People don’t do this kind of
photography anymore. I think because
of the Internet people aren’t so curious
anymore to dive into the real world
with a camera and find things out for
themselves,” he said.
These days, Corbijn himself
concentrates on directing movies,
which “takes up almost all of my time”.
His spy thriller ‘A Most Wanted
Man’, starring the late Philip Seymour
Hoffman, was released last September
and his latest film ‘Life’, about the
tragic life of 1950’s star James Dean,
premiered to critical acclaim at the
65th Berlin International Film festival
in February.
Long years of rubbing shoulders
with top world celebrities, however,
has not rubbed off on Corbijn.
“I’m a local boy made good,” he said
with the hint of a smile.
The retrospectives ‘Hollands Deep’
and ‘1-2-3-4’ run until June 21 at The
Hague Museum of Photography and
Gemeentemuseum. — AFP
THE MUSEUM OF
PHOTOGRAPHY,
OFFERS PORTRAITS
OF SOME OF THE
WORLD’S MOST
FAMOUS ROCK
STARS -- MANY
SELECTED FROM
CONTACT SHEETS
KEPT WITHIN DUTCH
PHOTOGRAPHER
ANTON CORBIJN’S
PERSONAL ARCHIVES
AND NEVER SHOWN
BEFORE IN PUBLIC
VINTAGE ART
f you are like me you were raised with the belief that the best way to
get what you want in life is to work hard. If you walk around this world
with your eyes open you will see that the majority of people who work
hard appear to be stuck in a rut and making little progress. I am not against
the idea of working hard but unless there is a clear purpose for the work
which you are doing there is little point in working. In other words before
you work hard you have to work smart. You need to know what you are
trying to achieve and what you need to do to achieve it. Once you have
started to work smarter, you can then apply all of your efforts to your work.
The following are some often overlooked principles which will help you
to work smarter. When you implement them they will make a significant
improvement to your outcomes. Ask why, before how. When people set
themselves objectives they often talk themselves out of these new objectives
by immediately trying to figure out how they are going to achieve them.
When an objective is new the method for its achievement is not important.
Far more important is your reason for wanting to achieve it. When you have
a clear understanding of your reasoning and how achieving this objective
would improve your life, you will be more motivated to find a way to make
it happen. Finding the way will be a lot easier. Knowing what you want to
achieve and why you want to achieve it helps you work smarter.
Also capture every commitment. Time management and personal
effectiveness courses are usually delivered from a top-down perspective.
They teach people about vision, priorities and decision making. Learning
these skills is invaluable. However, they will never be fully effective unless
a bottom-up approach is also taught. It is not enough to have the theory,
you have to be able to put it into practice. If you want to put the theory
into practice you have to have an effective system to capture every single
commitment that you make. Your energy levels are cyclical and limited.
There will be times during the day when you have high energy levels and
you can get a lot of work done, very quickly. There will be other times
when your energy levels drop and every task feels like you are dragging
concrete across the desert. Monitor your energy and then you can work
smarter by arranging your most difficult tasks for periods of high energy
and the easier, more routine, tasks can be performed during periods of
low energy.
Your energy levels can be increased with some work but there will still
be limits. It is essential that you do not take on more work than you have
the energy to complete. Then you can assign your tasks to times where you
have the appropriate energy level to complete them.
Usually laziness is generally viewed as a bad thing. This does not have
to be the case. Being lazy does not mean that you are trying to do nothing.
I would call that attitude idleness. I like to view laziness as trying to find
the easiest way to do something properly. That is a good thing. If you think
of all the inventions which have improved our lives, they all started with
somebody wanting to find an easier way to do something. They used their
laziness to work smarter and to help us work smarter. As long as it is done
in the right spirit, being lazy can be fun and effective. And there is no such
thing as the perfect moment. You will never have all of the knowledge or
skills that you will ever require to do something perfectly. If something
is really important to you, and you would benefit greatly from getting it
done, you need to get going and accept that you will have to learn along
the way. If you take action on your objectives now and learn from your
mistakes; in six months you will be a whole lot closer to getting it done. If
you keep on waiting for the perfect moment you will just be found waiting.
If you really want to do something does it really matter if others
approve? It may be disappointing that they do not approve, but seeking the
approval of others for everything that you do is a major waste of time. If
you are passionate about it and they don’t approve, go do it. As long as you
are not seeking to hurt anybody else there is no reason to deny yourself the
opportunity to improve your life. Good friends and family will come to
understand that you have to do what is right for you. If they don’t then the
problem might lie with their expectations rather than with your behaviour.
Monet sees star rise again at NY auctions
UNIQUE FIND
Motherly care in prehistoric insects
O
il paintings by impressionist master Claude
Monet are expected to be stars of the spring
auction season in New York, where Sotheby’s
believes they could fetch as much as $110 million.
One of the paintings is part of the famous
‘Nymphéas’ (Water Lilies) series the French artist
painted at Giverny. Forecast to sell for an estimated
$30-45 million, this work has been held by a collector
since 1955, and has not been seen in public since 1945.
The six Monet works have been in private
collections; they are expected to generate a lot of
enthusiasm on the auction block at evening sales.
The other works are ‘Le Palais Ducal’ painted in
1908 in Venice; it is expected to fetch $15-20 million;
‘Bassin aux nymphéas, les rosiers’ from $18-25 million;
and ‘Le Chemin d’Epinay, effet de neige’ (1875). It is
expected to sell for $6-8 million.
In addition, ‘La Seine à Vétheuil’ (1901), is expected
to bring in $6-8 million; it has been in private hands
since 1955 and has not been sold at auction.
And ‘Au Val Saint-Nicolas près Dieppe, matin’
(1897), could fetch $3-4 million, the auction house
said.
These six works by the impressionist will be shown
in London April 10-14, before returning to New York
where they will be on view through May 1.
Auctioneers Christie’s, meanwhile, announced on
Monday it would sell a Monet work — ‘Le parlement,
soleil couchant’ — for an expected $35-45 million on
May 11 in New York.
The record for a single Monet was set in June
2008 when Christie’s in London sold ‘Le bassin des
Nymphéas’ for $80.1 million.
“The six works by Monet that we are privileged to
present this May represent exactly what buyers are
seeking at this moment: several of his most famous
31
S
scenes, emerging from prestigious private collections
and completely fresh to the market,” said Simon Shaw
at Sotheby’s.
“We’re undeniably witnessing an exceptional
moment for great works by Monet at Sotheby’s. As new
generations and new markets rediscover the master,
the supply of strong examples remaining in private
hands is shrinking fast. The result is fierce competition
that leads to the results we have witnessed recently at
Sotheby’s.” — AFP
cale insects were caring for their
offspring 100 million years ago
rather than just depositing eggs
to take their chances, a unique find in
South Asia indicates.
Measuring 6 millimetres long, a
female scale insect was found preserved
in a blob of amber unearthed in the
northern Kachin province of Myanmar,
bearing her young around her
abdomen.
Some 60 eggs and freshly hatched
nymphs were encased inside a waxcoated egg sack to protect them from
predators and from drying out, an
international research team headed by
Bonn palaeontologist Torsten Wappler
told eLIFE.
Scales are sucking insects that insert
their tiny, straw-like mouth-parts into
bark, fruit or leaves. The specimen,
from the mid-Cretaceous period, is
the oldest testimony to the concept of
brood care in insects, according to the
University of Bonn.
The scientists named the scale
Wathondara kotejai after the Buddhist
earth goddess Wathondara and Polish
entomologist Jan Koteja. Unlike the
winged male, which would often
land on sticky tree resin and become
trapped, female scales are rarely found
preserved in amber, which is fossilised
resin. The females were flightless and
mostly sat on leaves as they provided
for their young.
In this instance, though, a wet blob
of resin appears to have dropped off
a branch and instantly entombed the
female with her cocoon and eggs.
With time the insect decomposed,
leaving just its outer shell. Wappler’s
team delicately cut the amber down to
a thin layer surrounding the remains,
polished it and then used a microscope
to examine this snapshot of the past.
Lifestyle and reproductive behaviour
were found to be very similar to today’s
species of scale insects, the team
concluded from three-dimensional
high-resolution images: “With brood
care scale insects increase the survival
chances of their offspring,” Wappler
said. — dpa
WEDNESDAY | APRIL 8, 2015 | JUMADA AL THANIA 18, 1436 AH
P29
P30
P31
Inside
Gervais to premiere film on fake news Corn husks a good source of renewable fuel Lensman Corbijn toasts 60 with new expos FOLLOW US ON:
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Q RICHARD INGHAM
T
Canada glaciers to shrink
by 70pc by 2100
THE TEAM USED A COMPUTER MODEL THAT COMBINED FOUR WELL-KNOWN SCENARIOS FOR GLOBAL
WARMING THIS CENTURY, WITH DATA ABOUT THREE GLACIER-COVERED REGIONS AND DYNAMICS
OF ICE MELT. EVEN AT THE LOWEST PROJECTED WARMING, MOST OF THE GLACIERS ARE ESSENTIALLY
DOOMED, ACCORDING TO THEIR FORECAST
he glaciers of western Canada, one of the world’s most
picturesque mountain regions, are likely to largely
melt away over just three generations, scientists have
said.
By 2100, the glaciers of Alberta and British
Columbia are set to shrink by 75 per cent in area
compared to 2005 levels, and by 70 per cent in volume, according to
their predictions.
But in two out of the three regions that were studied, the decline
could be even more dramatic — over 90 per cent.
The loss will hit many sectors, from agriculture, forestry and tourism
to ecosystems and water quality, the investigators warned.
The study, published in the journal ‘Nature Geoscience’, was headed
by Garry Clarke, a professor at the University of British Columbia in
Vancouver.
“The disappearance of the glaciers will be a sad loss for those who
are touched by the beauty of Canada’s mountain landscapes,” Clarke
said.
“When the glaciers have gone, we lose the important services they
provide: a buffer against hot, dry spells in late summer that keeps
headwater streams flowing and cool, and sustains cool-water aquatic
species.”
The team used a computer model that combined four well-known
scenarios for global warming this century, with data about three glaciercovered regions and dynamics of ice melt.
Even at the lowest projected warming, most of the glaciers are
essentially doomed, according to their forecast.
“Few glaciers will remain in the Interior and Rockies regions,
but maritime glaciers, in particular those in northwestern British
Columbia, will survive in a diminished state,” the investigators said.
The study’s four warming scenarios, called Representative
Concentration Pathways (RCP), are those used by the UN’s
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Under RCP 2.6, the lowest scenario, global average temperatures over
this century are likely to rise by 0.3-1.7 0C (0.5-3.1 degrees Fahrenheit).
Under RCP 8.5, the highest scenario, which is based on current trends
in carbon emissions, warming would be in the approximate range of
2.6-4.80C.
For the Interior and Rockies regions, glaciers would lose more than
90 per cent of their volume and area compared to 2005 levels, in all
scenarios except for RCP 2.6. The Coast region, more resistant, would
see 75 per cent area loss and 70 per cent volume loss, with a margin of
error of 10 per cent.
The regions studied by Clarke’s team cover 26,700 square kilometres
— an area almost the size of Belgium and bigger than the glacial
Himalayas, and with an ice volume of 2,980 cubic km.
Climate scientists say they have a good overall view of how glaciers
respond to global warming, but the picture at regional level is far more
prone to error.
One concern is that computer models at this scale are usually based
on very broad assumptions — they presume, for instance, that above a
certain altitude, a glacier will be stable, whereas local topography and
the physics of ice dynamics could mean it is in fact vulnerable.
The new model seeks to overcome this, using 3-D simulation to a
resolution of just 200 metres and taking into account factors that delay
or accelerate glacier melt.
Runoff from the melting ice will peak between 2020 and 2040, the
study said, pointing to another risk.
Mountain glaciers currently contribute about 0.7 millimetres in sea
level rise each year, roughly equivalent to the combined runoff from the
ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica, according to the IPCC.
By 2100, the IPCC says, mountain glaciers could raise sea levels
by 39 centimetres. UN members have set a goal of limiting warming
to 20C over pre-industrial levels, and have set a conference in Paris in
December as the place to seal a pact to achieve this.
The RCP scenarios do not include warming up to the start of the
20th century from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution — about
0.70C.
“Glaciers respond to climate, not weather, and their shrinkage
signals that climate change is real and its consequences are serious,”
said Clarke.
“It is not too late for good behaviour to be rewarded, but the longer
we delay the worse things get.” — AFP
MARINE MAMMALS
Record sea lion strandings reach 2,250 this year
Q STEVE GORMAN
A
record 2,250 sea lions, mostly
pups, have washed up starving and
stranded on Southern California
beaches so far this year, a worsening
phenomenon blamed on warming seas in
the region that have disrupted the marine
mammals’ food supply.
The latest tally, reported on Monday by
the National Marine Fisheries Service, is 20
times the level of strandings averaged for
the same three-month period over the past
decade and twice the number documented
in 2013, the previous worst winter season
recorded for Southern California sea lions.
Scientists believe the animals are suffering
from a scarcity of natural prey that has forced
nursing mothers to venture farther out to sea
for food, leaving their young behind to fend
for themselves for longer periods of time.
The shift in the food chain around the
marine mammals’ principal rookeries
off Southern California is believed to be
triggered by warming waters linked to
unusually weak winds along the West Coast.
Stronger winds normally help pull
nutrient-rich cooler water from the depths
of the Pacific closer to the surface, and with
it larger supplies of sardines, smelt, squid
and other prey for the sea lions, said Michael
Milstein, a spokesman for the Marine
Fisheries Service.
Experts theorise this winter’s mild El
Nino effect, which alters ocean currents and
temperatures, may be compounding the
food shortage for Southern California sea
lions. The same factors appear to driving
adult male sea lions by the thousands into
the Pacific Northwest, where they have been
congregating on docks and jetties to gorge on
an unusual abundance of prey in places like
the mouth of the Columbia River, Milstein
said.
Meanwhile, the surge in Southern
California strandings has inundated marine
mammal rescue centres from Santa Barbara
to San Diego. Rescue teams work to save,
rehabilitate and ultimately return the animals
to the wild.
The weaker winds and rising ocean
temperatures off Southern California have
been occurring since 2013, when an earlier
surge in strandings prompted the agency to
declare an “unusual mortality event.”
Milstein said scientists studying the
phenomenon consider the elevated stranding
numbers during the past three years to be
one continuous trend, even though the
tally so far this year far exceeds anything
previously documented. — Reuters