Observer & Busness 12 Feb 2011 - Oman Observer

Pure honey 

stalls a 

big draw 

— Features 

Saturday, February 12, 2011/Rabee al Awal 8, 1432 AH 

www.omanobserver.om editor@omanobserver.om 

Dhuhr 12.26 pm 

Asr 03.40 pm 

Maghrib 06.05 pm 

Isha 07.17 pm 

Fajr 05.26 am 

Max Min 

Muscat 28 18 

Seeb 28 18 

Sohar 30 18 

Salalah 27 21 

Islands row unresolved 

THE crisis talks between Russia and Japan over four 

Pacific islands ended in acrimonious failure yesterday 

when Tokyo reaffirmed its claim on the chain and 

Moscow accused its neighbour of extreme behaviour. 

The two-hour meeting between Russian Foreign 

Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Japanese counterpart 

Seiji Maehara was marked by an icy atmosphere. 

Inflation falls by 3.3pc; 

poultry prices stabilise 

MUSCAT — The inflation index 

decreased by 3.4 per cent 

in 2009 to 3.3 per cent in 2010 

while it rose from 3.7 per cent 

in November 2010 to 4.2 per 

cent in December of the same 

year as compared to the same 

month last year. 

Statistical report issued by 

the National Economy Ministry 

pointed out that foodstuff, 

drinks and tobacco price index, 

(accounting for 30 per 

cent of spending) witnessed 

a rise during December 2010 

by (1 per cent) as compared 

to November during the same 

year as a result of rise in prices 

of vegetables by (6.9 per cent), 

fisheries and sea products (2.9 

per cent), oil and fats (1.3 per 

cent), sugar products and hon- 

ey (0.9 per cent). 

Prices of grains and products, 

fruits, tea and coffee also 

rose by (0.3 per cent). Milk 

products, nuts and non-alcoholic 

drinks also rose by (0.1 

per cent). 

Prices of cereals group, 

tobacco products and eggs declined 

by (0.1 per cent) while 

prices of spices and salt also 

fell by (0.2 per cent), whereas 

prices of meat, poultry and 

other products stabilised. 

Personal commodities and 

other services rose by (1.9 per 

cent), textiles and readymade 

garments and shoes rose by 

(1.5 per cent), house rentals, 

electricity, water and fuel rose 

by (0.2 per cent). 

Transportation and com- 

munications services also rose 

by (0.1 per cent). 

Educational and health 

services, furniture and household 

items, culture and recreational 

prices stabilised during 

December. 

The consumer prices general 

index rose in all governorates 

and regions during 

the month of December 2010 

as compared to November the 

same year. 

The price index stood at 

0.9 per cent in Al Batinah region, 

0.8 per cent in the Governorate 

of Dhofar and Al 

Dhahirah region, 0.7 per cent 

in the regions of Al Dakhiliyah 

and Al Sharqiyah and 0.6 per 

cent in the Governorate of 

Muscat. — ONA 

MSM value at RO 11 billion 

 

MUSCAT — The market value of Muscat 

Securities Market (MSM) regained its RO 11 

billion strength in dealings last week after a 

slump caused two weeks before by a sharp decline 

in share prices due to the turmoil in Egypt 

sparked on January 25. 

By the end of last week, the aggregate 

of companies capital, multiplied by share 

price, stood at RO 11,011,000 as against RO 

10,957,000 in the preceding week, a gain worth 

Foreigners convicted for 

collecting precious stones 

MUSCAT — Various verdicts 

were issued against criminals 

by the courts concerned in different 

cases recently. 

The Court of First Instance 

in Adam issued a verdict on 

February 6 convicting foreigners 

for collecting precious 

stones from different parts of 

the Sultanate without licence 

or authorisation. The sentences 

included six months 

jail terms and RO 100 fines 

to be paid by the suspects and 

ordered them deported after 

serving the jail terms. 

The suspects were caught 

red-handed in the Wilayat of 

Adam following a report to 

the police station there. The 

suspects said they started their 

illegal venture in 2003 after 

consulting the Internet. The 

first suspect said he collected 

20 to 40 precious stones, exported 

them to his country and 

sold them for a total sum of a 

$100,000. 

Meanwhile, the Criminal 

Court in Sohar issued a verdict 

on January 9 awarding 

five-year jail term to two men 

charged with breaking into a 

shop in the wilayat. 

MUSCAT — Eleven people 

died and 117 others were injured 

in 123 road accidents in 

the Sultanate last week. 

Statistics released by the 

Royal Oman Police (ROP) 

Directorate-General of Traffic 

said that the accidents took 

place between January 29 and 

February 4. 

One of the accidents involved 

the overturning of a 

water tanker along Muscat 

By A Staff Reporter 

MUSCAT — As part of its 

continuous effort to provide 

unparalleled services on 

board its ferries, National Ferries 

Company (NFC) recently 

launched the first phase of its 

shipboard roaming and Internet 

service on board its ferry, 

Shinas. The service is planned 

to be rolled out gradually 

across the rest of the fleet in 

the near future. 

This latest initiative provides 

customers with ease of 

RO 534 million. 

MSM witnessed relative stability last week 

upon the rising of share prices of 30 companies 

which balanced the recession of share prices 

of others in the same week. MSM main index 

managed to rise by 58 points due to gains 

achieved by some companies led by Al Nahda 

Services whose share rose by 5.2 per cent. 

In the meantime, local investors continued 

to absorb a foreign wave of selling and to own 

85 per cent of the whole selling transactions 

against 67 instances of selling. 

Sohar Criminal Court also 

awarded five-year prison term 

on the same day to a man 

broke into a citizen’s house 

in Sohar and stole valuables 

from the house. 

In Muscat, the Criminal 

Court issued a verdict convicting 

a man to two-and-ahalf 

years jail term for faking 

official documents and misusing 

his position in a public 

profession in favour of certain 

parties. 

The sentence, issued on 

February 8, 2011, was made in 

response to a report To P3 

11 die in 123 accidents 

Expressway. The vehicle, on 

its way from Qurum roundabout 

to Muscat International 

Airport, suddenly hit the side 

fence near the slaughterhouse 

in Bausher, going out of 

control and resting in a fatal 

standstill. 

The ROP said that Muscat 

Expressway has been designed 

in accordance with international 

criteria to ease the 

flow of traffic. To page 3 

GSM roaming and Net 

services onboard Shinas 

communications using mobile 

phone and Internet service access 

throughout the voyage 

from Muscat to Khasab. This 

latest service was made possible 

through close co-ordination 

and collaboration with 

Oman Telecommunications 

Company (Omantel). 

Despite initial technical 

issues encountered by the 

project team from both organisations, 

in trying to apply the 

latest communication technologies 

to suit the required 

marine To page 3 

Russian population is falling — P 04 

Manila and Maoists agree truce — P 05 

New Pakistan cabinet unveiled — P 08 

Ukraine’s Iron Lady is unfazed — P 12 

9 

13 

20 

Momentum with Australia 

AUSTRALIA may not start as strong World Cup 

favourites but the momentum is with them after their 

recent one-day success against England, skipper Ricky 

Ponting said yesterday. “At the moment we’re in good 

shape. We’ve got some really good confidence and a 

bit of momentum around our team,” Ponting said. “Our 

lead-up really couldn’t be much better.” 

EGYPTIANS gather in front of an army tank in Cairo yesterday. See pages 6 and 7 

Mubarak quits as president 

Rumours of unstable weather false 

Mobile e-polling units in 8 wilayats 

 

MUSCAT — The Ministry of Interior has valued 

the good turnout by citizens who co-operated 

with its teams by having the mobile electronic 

polling system installed in their identity 

cards. The system, the first of its kind to be 

used in elections, serves a safety valve against 

the repletion of voting. It is initiated as a precautionary 

measure to ensure the accuracy of 

Majlis Ash’shura Seventh Term Election process 

due to be held in October this year. 

Government and private institutions and 

MUSCAT — Oil exporters are 

expected to see visible growth 

in fiscal and external balances 

during the current fiscal year 

with prices continuing to make 

higher highs despite fears of 

supply disruption through the 

Suez Canal. 

The bounce back seen in 

oil prices has aided in stronger 

WASHINGTON — Light-emitting diodes 

(LeDs) marketed as environment-friendly and 

safe actually contain lead, arsenic and a dozen 

other hazardous substances, research shows. 

“LeDs are touted as the next generation 

of lighting...We have to be vigilant about the 

toxicity hazards of those marketed as replacements,” 

said Oladele Ogunseitan, professor of 

population health at the University of California-Irvine 

who led the study. 

He and his colleagues found that low-inten- 

economic recovery in the Gulf 

Co-operation Council region 

from the lows seen in 2009. 

Overall external current account 

surplus is expected to 

increase to about $150 billion 

in the first half of 2011. 

According to statistics 

by the Ministry of National 

Economy, Oman’s total oil 

individual citizens wishing to exercise their 

suffrage rights continue to visit electoral team 

venues. The mobile units entrusted with the 

electronic installation begin a new tour today 

by visiting eight wilayats for five days, shuttling 

between walis offices and other establishments, 

including Omani Women’s Associations, 

schools and administrative centres. 

The units will be available in the wilayats 

of Al Musanaa, Mad’ha, Al Kamil W’al Wafi, 

Shinas, Thamrait, Sadah, Hasik and Salalah. 

Another tour will begin in other wilayats 

with effect from February 25. 

Oil price hike helps fiscal growth 

production rose remarkably 

by 6.4 per cent in 2010. 

The statistics also pointed 

out that the Sultanate’s total 

oil exports recorded a 

remarkable increase in 2010 

by 10.6 per cent to hit 268.7 

million barrels as compared 

to 242.9 million barrels in 

2009. See page 22 

Green LED products dangerous 

sity red lights contained up to eight times the 

quantity of lead allowed under California law, 

but in general, high-intensity, brighter bulbs 

had more contaminants than lower ones, the 

journal Environmental Science and Technology 

reports. 

“We find the low-intensity red LeDs exhibit 

significant cancer and non-cancer potentials 

due to the high content of arsenic and lead,” the 

team wrote, referring to the holiday lights, according 

to a California-Irvine release. — IANS 

By Kabeer Yousuf 

MUSCAT — The Director-General 

of Meteorology and Air Navigation 

(DGMAN) of the Sultanate of Oman 

has refuted rumours of an imminent 

unpleasant weather calling it ‘baseless 

and unfounded, aiming to generate 

confusion among the public.’ 

It also urged people to stay cautious 

against such false propagators and to 

inform the authorities concerned if 

such false SMS circulate again. 

There have been rumours being circulated 

among the public of unpleasant 

weather looming on the Sultanate 

and to be alert against a possible rain 

and waterlogging yesterday. 

Meanwhile, the DGMAN sources 

informed that the skies would be 

Beware of junk food! 

FRIES, burgers, fizzy drinks, 

candy… the 

dream list is 

infinite. These 

supposedly 

“good stuff” 

is also known 

as junk food. Details, P27 

partly cloudy over Musandam Governorate, 

Al Batinah region and Al 

Hajar mountains and adjoining areas 

with chances of isolated rain to extend 

to Muscat Governorate and Al 

Sharqiyah region. But above the rest 

of the Sultanate, skies would be clear 

to partly cloudy with chances of early 

morning fog over Al Sharqiyah and Al 

Wusta regions. 

Easterly to southeasterly light to 

moderate winds will blow over most 

of the Sultanate and will be occasionally 

fresh. State of the sea would be 

moderate along most of the Omani 

coasts with maximum wave height of 

2 metres and surface visibility would 

be good. Gradual weather stabilisation 

beginning from tomorrow with 

chances of dust rinsing wind. 

Omanisation plan 

THE Omanisation plan is one 

of key indicators 

on which 

the Manpower 

Ministry relies 

on workforce 

actually 

needed. Details, P26 

VISITORS continue to throng the venues of Muscat 

Festival, abuzz with activities reflecting the typical 

nature of everyday life and traditions. See page 2

Information Ministry at 

Casablanca Book Fair 

CASABLANCA — The Ministry of Information will take 

part in the Casablanca International Book Fair in Morocco 

from February 11 to 20. 

Oman’s pavilion will exhibit the latest and the most prominent 

publications of the ministry focusing on documentaries 

and digital materials highlighting the achievements of the different 

sectors in the Sultanate.— ONA 

2 OMAN 

OMAN DAILY Observer 

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2011 

Muscat Festival portrays everyday life, traditions 

MUSCAT — Visitors continue to throng the venues of Muscat Festival, abuzz with activities and programmes reflecting the typical nature of everyday life and traditions. 

Visitors with a flair for handicrafts, Omani foods, bike racing or traditions of other countries like China and Syria are all upbeat about the exhibits. 

Food Festival offers unique culinary treat 

By Hasan Kamoonpuri 

MUSCAT — The ongoing 

Oman Food Festival (February 

5-15) at Qurum Natural 

Park, showcasing live 

Omani cooking and international 

cuisine, is a huge 

draw for food enthusiasts. 

In addition to the delicious 

traditional Omani 

food, the festival served 

yesterday Italian food 

which was much liked by 

people. 

Indian food will be 


MUSCAT — Professor 

Ruud Schotting, who holds 

the Sultan Qaboos Chair in 

Quantitative Water Management 

at the Utrecht University 

in the Netherlands, is 

currently visiting the Sultanate 

together with 25 Dutch 

Geology Master students 

from the university’s Faculty 

of Geosciences. 

The students are enrolled 

in Prof Schotting’s courses in 

hydrological and mathematical 

subjects at Utrecht University. 

During his lectures, 

the Sultan Qaboos Chair in 

Water Management often refers 

to Oman as a case-study; 

this triggered the interest of 

many geology students who 

indicated they would like to 

explore the rich and diverse 

nature of the country and 

meet the Omani people as 

well. 

For the students the visit 

comes as a practical, educational 

experience while at the 

same time increases their cultural 

awareness. 

“The purpose of the visit 

is to study the geography and 

industry in Oman and also 

to discover how Omanis live 

and learn more about their 

culture, history and religion,” 

Prof Schotting said. 

The future geologists will 

go on field trips to, among 

others, Jabrin, Misfah, Al 

Hamra, Jebel Shams, Al Wahaiba 

Sands and the Turtle 

Beach in Ras al Hadd. “I love 

how Muscat is situated between 

the mountains and sea; 

I wish we had these Hajar 

Mountains in our relatively 

‘flat’ country”, says one of 

served today. Since Indian 

food is popular across different 

communities and 

the Sultanate has a large 

Indian community, a big 

visitor turnout is expected 

today at the food festival. 

The Oman Food Festival, 

organised for the first 

time in Muscat Festival, is 

featuring traditional Omani 

cuisine daily from 7 pm 

to 10 pm, Omani takeaway 

food from 6 pm to 10 pm, 

Majli Cafe from 4 pm to 10 

pm and show kitchen from 

Dutch students on 

geological tour 

the students upon arrival. 

During their stay, the students 

also visit companies 

that make use of the expertise 

of geologists; such as, Petroleum 

Development Oman, 

Shell Technology Oman and 

the Port of Sohar. Another 

benefit is the exposure to another 

culture; almost all of the 

students had never travelled 

to the Arab world before. 

“Prior to this visit, I was 

not really sure what to expect 

because of what I read in the 

media about what is happening 

in the Middle East in 

general, but as soon as I arrived 

in Oman, I immediately 

felt safe here, even safer than 

in Utrecht,” said 22-year old 

Luke, a third-year Dutch Geology 

student . 

The student visit is supported 

by Shell, the Netherlands 

Embassy in Oman, the 

Lutfia Rabbani Foundation (a 

private, non-profit organisation 

which seeks to promote 

co-operation and understanding 

between Europe and the 

Arab world through education, 

dialogue and cultural 

exchange) and the Ministry 

of Higher Education in 

Oman. 

Student exchange visits 

may lead to a further exchange 

of knowledge while 

during the Academic Chairs 

Symposium held last year, 

the Ministry underlined that 

all Sultan Qaboos Chairs are 

a part of Oman’s wider mission 

to play a constructive 

role in the dialogue among 

civilisations, to enrich cultural 

exchange and to develop 

enduring ties of friendship 

and collaboration around the 

globe. 

7 pm to 9 pm. 

About 58 students and 

five chefs from the Oman 

Tourism College are participating 

in the food festival. 

The food festival is a 

good opportunity to see 

live cooking daily and to 

discuss with the participants 

about the various 

aspects of the traditional 

Omani food. 

A kitchen show providing 

live cookery demonstrations 

is much liked by 

the visitors. 

Featuring a whole 

range of mouth-watering 

Omani cuisine prepared 

by students as 

well as top chefs, the 

food festival has added a 

unique sparkle to Muscat 

Festival’s Qurum Natural 

Park venue. 

Popular Omani dishes 

include shuwa meat, 

which is cooked slowly in 

an underground clay oven, 

mutton harees, oven baked 

chicken marinated with 

herbs, slow roasted beef 

marinated with Omani 

spices, kingfish simmered 

in coconut and vegetarian 

dish, are a big hit at the 

festival. 

The food courts and 

restaurants have been 

designed according to 

traditional Omani architecture, 

where visitors are 

welcomed in a hospitable 

environment to enjoy the 

cuisine and to understand 

Omani heritage and traditions.

PDO supports Al Noor 

Association for the Blind 


MUSCAT — As part of its 

continued support to the community, 

Petroleum Development 

Oman (PDO) will sponsor 

a bus in support of the 

Al Noor Association for the 

Blind. The bus will be used by 

the Al Batinah and Al Dhahira 

branch to cover the transportation 

needs in the two regions. 

The company’s commitment 

was made yesterday at 

a special ceremony held at 

PDO’s Oil and Gas Exhibition 

Centre in Mina al Fahal 

where a Memorandum of 

Understanding was signed by 

Human Resources Director 

Mundhir bin Salim al Barwani 

and Mohammed bin Ismail 

al Balushi, Chairperson 

of Al Noor Association for 

the Blind (Al Batinah and Al 

Dhahirah branch) in the presence 

of Shaikh Hilal bin Said 

al Hajri, Wali of Ibri. 

“This grant from PDO’s 

Social Investment budget is 

aimed at helping people in the 

community,” Mundhir al Barwani 

said. “PDO believes that 

the best way to support communities 

is to work hand-inhand 

with local organisations 

like the Al Noor Association”. 

The Wali of Ibri said, “This 

reflects the continuous efforts 

PDO exerts to support the 

community. We appreciate 

the company’s contributions 

which benefit local people 

and hope this continues for the 

benefit of the society”. 

3 OMAN 



Royal honour is a wonderful salute 

to Simon’s bravery, says family 

By Conrad Prabhu 

MUSCAT — UK national Simon Anthony 

Halstead, whose selfless act of 

bravery was posthumously recognised 

by the Omani government last week, 

was never loathe to helping people in 

distress, according to the father. 

“It was very much in Simon’s nature 

to help anyone in distress,” John Halstead 

said of his 30-year-old son, who 

was swept away in raging floodwaters 

while attempting to rescue an Omani 

stranded in a swollen wadi in Al Amerat 

in December 2009. “He was always 

ready to help people. If he saw anybody 

in difficulty, he would not hesitate to 

help them.” 

Speaking to the Observer, the senior 

Halstead recounted previous instances 

of heroic deeds on his son’s part. “Just 

prior to his coming to Oman when he 

was working in England, Simon was 

driving home one evening when he 

came across a road accident. It so happened 

that a young girl has been hit by 

a car. Simon tried to save her life with 

CPR (mouth to mouth resuscitation), but 

she died unfortunately. He felt very sad 

that he couldn’t save her. A few months 

later, close to where we live in Cheshire 

in the north-west of England, a lady had 

collapsed on the pavement. Simon kept 

her going until the paramedics arrived. 

She survived.” 

But on the fateful night of December 

12, 2009, Simon — an avid mountainclimber 

who loved the outdoors — was 

Omantel revenue grows to RO 417m 


MUSCAT — Oman Telecommunications 

Company 

(Omantel), one of the biggest 

companies listed on the Muscat 

Securities Market, has announced 

that its net profit after 

tax on December 31, 2010 was 

RO 112 million (excluding 

minority interest). 

The company’s revenue has 

grown to RO 417 million from 

RO 412 million in 2009 with 

retail revenues driving growth 

in an increasingly competitive 

domestic market. 

Omantel says that 2010 

was a very successful year for 

the company that saw a significant 

increase in the number 

of total subscribers rising to 

3.329 million — an increase 

of 9.8 per cent which includes 

subscribers in the company’s 

Worldcall Telecommunications 

Limited (WTL) subsidiary. 

Worldcall’s individual 

subscriber base grew by 8.9 

per cent in the past year. 

The company’s mobile 

business — Oman Mobile — 

continued to see major growth 

with the number of customers 

by 14.1 per cent to 2.133 million 

making Oman Mobile the 

fastest growing mobile opera- 

tor in the Sultanate 

during 

last year. Includingresellers, 

the Oman 

Mobile networkcustomers 

increased 

by 18.1 per 

cent to a total 

2.492 million 

at the end of 

December 

2010. 

Omantel 

has been making large scale 

investments in the development 

and enhancement of its 

network and in particular the 

introduction of Next Generation 

Network (NGN) and the 

roll out of 3.5G network. So 

far the company has completed 

the installation of 795 3.5G 

stations across the Sultanate 

continuing to implement the 

latest technology to benefit 

customers. These large scale 

infrastructure investments led 

to an increase in expenses of 

10.7 per cent year on year to 

RO 297.1 million in 2010 from 

RO 268.3 million in 2009. 

Commenting on the results, 

Omantel Chief Executive 

Officer, Dr Amer Awadh 

al Rawas said: “Omantel is 

Aids awareness walk held 


MUSCAT — Following a recent meeting of Wilayat Health 

Committee presided over by the Wali, Shaikh Helal al Habsi, on 

the need to increase awareness among the public, especially the 

youth, a two-km walk was taken out by 200 students of the Sultan 

Qaboos Secondary School. 

The walk started from Sultan Qaboos Secondary School ended 

at Al Wahda Club, and was attended by Deputy Wali Shaikh 

Suliman al Azri and Majlis Ash’shura member Hamed Amer al 

Kasbi. 

The walk ended with a message from Dr Mahmood on how to 

lead a safe lifestyle to prevent infectious diseases and Aids. 

Foreigners convicted for 

collecting precious stones 

From page 1 

filed to Muscat Criminal 

Investigations Department 

on October 21, 2010. The 

department transferred 

the suspect to the Public 

Prosecution after verifying 

the case and proving the 

criminal behaviour of the 

suspect. 

The same court issued 

a sentence on February 

8, 2011 convicting three 

people involved in bribes 

as follows: The first and 

second suspects were 

awarded one year jail term 

each, with RO 500 fines to 

be paid each. 

The third suspects was 

awarded six months jail 

term and ordered to pay RO 

250. The court also ordered 

the deportation of the third 

suspect after serving the jail 

term. 

The first suspect in this 

court case, who was an 

employee of the Ministry of 

Manpower and a member 

of the Inspection Team, 

accepted bribe in return 

for giving back expatriate 

labour cards held by the 

inspection team in a raid 

due to the foreign workers’ 

violation of the labour law. 

The Court of First 

Instance in Samad al Shan 

awarded a three months 

jail term to a student 

for committing physical 

aggression against his 

teacher in the school while 

the later was performing his 

official duty. The teacher 

filed a report against the 

student to Al Mudhaibi 

Police station and presented 

medical proof of the 

aggression. 

happy with 

the results we 

have achieved 

for 2010 that 

have seen 

the company 

make significant 

strides in 

growing subscriber 

base 

and ensuring 

our customers 

benefit from 

the transformation 

that 

Oman Mobile and Omantel 

undertook since 2009. 

“We have continued to 

make significant investments 

in our networks to ensure that 

our consumer and corporate 

customers can benefit from the 

country’s most comprehensive 

network coverage. 

“2010 saw the introduction 

of a series of innovative and 

attractive product offerings 

including Mada Liberty and 

Mada Infinity, Hayyak Liberty, 

pre-paid Blackberry services 

and the introduction of the 

Android smart phone to the 

Sultanate. Omantel will continue 

to work on introducing 

innovative offers to support 

our position as the pioneer integrated 

telecommunications 


MUSCAT — Team Ras al Khaimah takes a 

leg win after a closely fought battle with the 

rest of the fleet. 

All competitors in Sailing Arabia-The 

Tour enjoyed one of the evenly matched 

races of the event with only minutes separating 

them as they crossed through the 

scoring gates. 

The start, off Dabba at the south of 

Musandam, gave the teams another windy 

downwind start with crews shouting instructions 

to each other to get the best start. 

After almost five hours of sailing to the first 

gate, New Caledonia crossed the first scoring 

gate off Fujeirah at 16:45. They were 

followed a minute later by Team Commercial 

Bank Group. 

A small gap had opened up before Renaissance 

crossed ten minutes later, followed 

by Team Ras al Khaimah and The Royal 

Navy of Oman. 

As the teams sailed into the evening 

and another stunning sunset over the jebels 

along the coastline, the fleet prepared themselves 

for a windy night at sea — a stark 

contrast to the previous day of luxury in Six 

Senses Zighy Bay. 

At just after 3 am the committee boat 

got a surprise as the first boat approached 

the last scoring gate, 30 miles from the finish. 

Instead of New Caledonia it was the 

fun-loving crew of Ras al Khaimah who 

emerged first into the race officer’s spotlight. 

Another surprise was only one minute 

behind as the Royal Navy of Oman cheered 

themselves across in second place, less 

than one minute after Ras al Khaimah. A 

ten minute break for Jean-Michel Gandon, 

the race officer, saw his fellow countrymen 

on New Caledonia cross in third place, 

services provider in the Sultanate.” 

Dr Amer noted: “We can be 

proud of these great achievements 

in 2010. In fact, these 

results were made in very 

challenging conditions as the 

company had seen an increase 

in expenses mainly driven by 

depreciation, adverse impact 

on the revenue from the opening 

up of international gateway 

operation and additional 

expenditure resulting from the 

consolidation of our subsidiary 

Worldcall”. 

Omantel reported that its 

net profit after tax (excluding 

minority interest) of year 2010 

was RO 112 million compared 

to the net profit after tax of 

125.2 million of the corresponding 

period of year 2009. 

However, the group’s financials 

for the period ended 

December 31, 2010 are not 

comparable to the previous 

period as the year 2009 results 

included extraordinary income 

from settlement of insurance 

claim impacting the comparability 

of the results of the two 

periods. 

These financial results are 

preliminary and are subject to 

the company’s Board of Directors 

approval. 

match-racing with Team Commercial Bank 

Group who were a matter of seconds behind. 

Renaissance was uncharacteristically 

chasing the fleet, but only with a space of 

two minutes. To see a fleet sailing for 15 

hours through the night with only 13 minutes 

separating them shows the calibre of 

the sailors on the boats and how everyone is 

so evenly matched after almost two weeks 

of racing. 

Soon after a perfect dawn broke over 

the Oman Sea to show the coast near Musannah 

Sports Village, two boats were spotted 

just over the horizon racing towards the 

committee boat. Not until they were closer 

could it be made out that it was Team Ras 

al Khaimah who was leading the group 

and coming in fast with Team Commercial 

Bank Group hot on their heels. Renaissance 

crossed the line a few minutes after with 

Team New Caledonia in the uncharacteristic 

position of following the leaders in. 

An ecstatic Yousuf bin Lahej, crew 

member on Ras al Khaimah, and the only 

Emirati in the fleet, spoke to the press once 

he stepped off the boat and onto the dock, 

JOHN Halstead (right) with son Mark who received the posthumous 

honour on the family’s behalf. 

returning from a trek through Al Amerat’s 

countryside when he came upon a 

clutch of people trapped in an overflowing 

wadi. 

“Apparently, Simon had been climbing 

in the mountains that day, and was 

on his way back when he came to a 

flooded wadi. Some cars and people 

were stranded in the wadi. Simon rescued 

some of the people, and went back 

to rescue a man who was clinging to a 

tree. We understand he tied a rope to a 

bollard and fixed a climbing harness 

around himself and then made his way 

through the wadi. But before he could 

get to the man, something happened. 

The rope had come adrift and my son 

was swept away. His body was found 

11 die in 123 

accidents 

From page 1 

It noted that some drivers 

tend to speed beyond 

the legal limits and that the 

ROP is monitoring the traffic 

and taking immediate action 

against the offenders. 

The ROP is also taking 

legal action against motorists 

who ignore the red 

light at junctions controlled 

by signals. The ROP 

named three such junctions 

where red light jumping is 

more common. They are 

the crossroads of Qurum, Al 

Khuwair, Al Mawaleh and 

Al Khoudh. 

AI’s migration 

put on hold 

MUSCAT — Air India’s 

migration to the new Passenger 

Service System (PSS) 

and common single code AI 

(098) effective from February 

12 has been rescheduled 

due to unavoidable reasons. 

The new date of cutover 

will be notified at a later 

date, Mohit Sain, Air India’s 

Country Manager for Oman 

said in comments to the 

Oman Observer. 

later.” 

Simon’s singularly gallant act was 

not entirely in vain, his father explains. 

“People have told us that he pulled four 

people from their cars, but when he 

went after this person clinging to a tree, 

that was when he was swept away.” 

At the invitation of the Omani government, 

John Halstead, 69 and son 

Mark flew into Muscat last week to 

receive one of the Sultanate’s highest 

civilian honours in recognition of Simon’s 

exemplary deed of courage. The 

nation’s gratitude to the family of the 

plucky youngster, who paid the ultimate 

price for his bravery, was exemplified in 

the conferment of the Oman Civil Order 

(3rd Class) by His Majesty the Sultan. 


MUSCAT — Sohar University 

hosted the first ever Road 

Show Event of UITP (the 

International Association of 

Public Transport) in the Middle 

East on February 9. 

The Faculty of Business 

of Sohar University organised 

the event under the auspices 

of Salem bin Nasser al 

Maskri, Secretary-General of 

Council for Higher Education, 

Oman. Dr Abood al Sawafi, 

Vice-Chancellor of Sohar 

University, opened the event 

by welcoming all the guests 

who came from all over the 

world. 

The first session was 

Sailing Arabia: Ras al Khaimah 

triumphs keenly contested session 

chaired by three presenters. Dr 

Abdulaziz al Ohaly, KSA Deputy 

Minister and UTIP MENA 

Chairman discussed the future 

of public transport in the Middle 

East. Mohammed Obaid al 

Mulla, Member of RTA Board 

of Directors, CEO, Chairman 

Local Host Committee, Dubai, 

spoke about Dubai public 

transport showcase and UTIP 

59th world congress update. 

Dr Rakesh Belwal, Associate 

Professor spoke about TRC’s 

research grant on public transport. 

Prof Stephen Hill, Dean 

of the Faculty of Business, 

spoke about MENA academic 

network development. 

The session was chaired by 

Prof Stephen Hill, Ahmed al 

The Royal honour, reflecting the 

government’s profound admiration for 

Simon’s selfless act, was bestowed by 

Sayyid Ali bin Hamoud al Busaidy, 

Minister of the Diwan of the Royal 

Court. Also present at the ceremony 

were Lt Gen Malik bin Sulaiman al 

Maamari, Inspector General of Police 

and Customs, and British Ambassador 

Dr Noel Joseph Guckian. 

Simon’s brother, Mark, a UK-based 

IT manager, received the honour on 

the family’s behalf. “I wanted Mark 

to receive the award because he was 

Simon’s brother. They were both very, 

very close,” the father remarked. 

Both father and son are deeply gratified 

by the Royal gesture. “We see the 

award as a wonderful salute to Simon’s 

bravery. Nothing can ever change 

things, but it makes it a lot better for us 

— we feel so comfortable that Simon 

did something that’s so recognised by 

the government here. It’s such a wonderful 

gesture from the government. 

We’re so grateful for it,” the older Halstead, 

a retired engineer, said. 

In fact, it was Simon’s great passion 

for the outdoors that brought him 

to the Sultanate, says his father. “Simon 

always wanted work in the outdoors. He 

always had a hankering for the countryside. 

He loved climbing and outdoor 

sports. After obtaining a degree in Adventure 

Tourism Management from a 

British university, he came to Oman. He 

was here for a year and a half when the 

tragedy occurred.” 

Sohar University conducts 

road show event with UITP 

‘We are all really, really happy with the win 

here into Musannah. It was a long and tactical 

race that tested all our skills but it was 

our skipper who made the right call at the 

right time and that gave us the first place. 

‘We were quite a bit behind the leaders 

but we chose an inshore course when the 

other boats stuck a little further offshore 

where there was less wind. When we came 

together again we were just in the lead from 

Team Commercial Bank Group and it was a 

very close duel with them to the finish line. 

Ras al Khaimah skipper, Mark Fielberg, 

credited the win to a good rest the 

night before, "In the last leg we won a prize 

of a night’s stay in Six Senses Zighy Bay 

for the whole team and it was a very pleasant 

stay, I reckon it helped us all relax bit 

more if they carry on to look after us every 

night next year during the tour I’m sure we 

can win every leg. We are a new team and 

don’t have much time together on the boat 

so we have been pushing hard all the way 

but only now do we feel settled as a team 

so we’re looking forward to the next leg 

and next year." 

From page 1 

application, both companies 

managed to overcome teething 

challenges and were able 

to successfully put in place a 

workable system on board. 

As a result, passengers onboard 

NFC’s Shinas ferry will 

be able to stay in touch with 

friends, families, colleagues 

and businesses with ease, be 

it through e-mail and Internet 

services, SMS messages 

or mobile roaming services 

throughout the voyage. 

NFC Chairman Mehdi al 

Abduwani commented, “We 

are extremely pleased to announce 

such a great service 

to our passengers. From now 

onwards, we can ensure passengers 

travelling on our ferry 

Shinas seamless communication 

with their families, 

friends and even businesses. 

This unique service will also 

be provided across the rest of 

Ansari, Mowasalat Business 

Development Director and 

UTIP MENA Vice Chairman, 

and Abdullah Saleh al Naser, 

UTIP Head of MENA office, 

Dubai. 

Primarily targeted at youth, 

the event brought policy-makers, 

researchers, and other 

stakeholders together to speak 

on how to boost public transportation 

in the Middle East 

and North Africa (MENA) 

region. 

Prominent speakers from 

Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman and 

other GCC countries took part 

in this event to share their expertise 

for tackling the issues 

related with the use of public 

transportation in the region. 

GSM roaming and Net 

services onboard Shinas 

the NFC fleet in the near future.” 

Al Abduwani further 

added, “We will keep working 

on further innovative and 

value add services to ensure 

that our shipboard customers’ 

expectations are met or 

surpassed every time they 

travel or cruise aboard our 

ferries. The collaboration and 

co-operation with Omantel 

have reaped benefits for both 

organisations, while extending 

quality added services to 

customers on both sides.” 

This provision of mobile 

communications and Internet 

services on board NFC ferries 

represents the latest in a 

series of value added services 

provided by National Ferries. 

These initiatives will further 

consolidate its position as a 

top-class maritime transport 

services provider in the region.

EU’s poorest regions catching up: commissioner 

FRANKFURT — Europe’s poorest regions 

are catching up despite the financial 

crisis, EU Commissioner for Regional 

Policy Johannes Hahn of Austria said 

yesterday in an interview. 

He singled out Poland and Spain for 

particularly effective use of EU funds. 

By 2014, the number of regions where 

economic output is less than 75 per cent 

of the European Union average will fall to 

68 from 84 at present, Hahn told the German 

business daily Handelsblatt. — AFP 

4 EUROPE 



Merkel saves face, 

delays welfare vote 

BERLIN — German Chancellor 

Angela Merkel’s centreright 

coalition will return to 

the negotiating table in the 

hopes of striking a deal with 

the opposition over changes to 

welfare reforms. 

State leaders in the Bundesrat, 

the upper house of 

parliament, said yesterday a 

mediation committee would 

try again to find a compromise 

to allow the measure to 

pass the upper house. It has already 

passed the lower house, 

or Bundestag. 

Merkel’s centre-right coalition 

needs opposition backing 

for the measure because it 

lost control of the Bundesrat 

last year. Talks on the welfare 

reform with the opposition 

collapsed on Wednesday after 

seven weeks of negotiations. 

A defeat in the upper house, 

the chamber representing the 

16 federal states, would have 

been a setback to Merkel a 

week before the first of seven 

state elections this year in 

which her Christian Democrats 

are facing heavy losses. 

Merkel’s coalition at first 

wanted to try to persuade at 

least one state in the upper 

Government 

postpones 

forest sell-off 

LONDON — The controversial 

sale of 15 per cent 

of Britain’s publicly owned 

forests is being put on hold 

while the government looks 

again at issues like public 

access and biodiversity. 

A spokesman for the environment 

department confirmed 

ministers had decided 

to postpone the sale. 

“We just want to make 

sure that all the protections 

we have talked about are 

in place before they go on 

the market,” the spokesman 

said. 

The government has said 

it would sell off 15 per cent 

of the forest estate over the 

next four years in the hope of 

raising 100 million pounds, 

as it seeks to cut a record 

budget deficit. 

The announcement refers 

to the 15 per cent of English 

woodland already earmarked 

for the sale in last October’s 

spending review and is separate 

from a continuing consultation 

over the remaining 

85 per cent of public forests, 

the spokesman added. 

A consultation into a proposed 

sale of large swathes 

of historic woodland has 

drawn public and political 

criticism, with environment 

groups fearing a sale would 

damage nature and restrict 

public access. 

Under the government’s 

proposals, “heritage forests”, 

such as the New Forest 

and the Forest of Dean 

which make up about 25 per 

cent of the estate, will be 

managed by charities, while 

commercial forests will be 

sold in 150-year leases to the 

private sector. — Reuters 

GENEVA — Alcohol causes 

nearly 4 per cent of deaths 

worldwide, more than Aids, 

tuberculosis or violence, the 

World Health Organisation 

warned yesterday. 

Rising incomes have triggered 

more drinking in heavily 

populated countries in Africa 

and Asia, including India and 

South Africa, and binge drinking 

is a problem in many developed 

countries, the United 

Nations agency said. 

Yet alcohol control policies 

are weak and remain a low 

priority for most governments 

despite drinking’s heavy toll 

on society from road accidents, 

violence, disease, child 

neglect and job absenteeism, 

it said. 

Approximately 2.5 million 

people die each year from alcohol 

related causes, the WHO 

said in its “Global Status Report 

on Alcohol and Health.” 

“The harmful use of alcohol 

is especially fatal for younger 

age groups and alcohol is the 

house to break ranks. 

The state premiers in the 

Bundesrat said they hoped the 

mediation committee would 

reach an agreement that could 

be voted on at the next parliamentary 

committee meeting 

on March 18 — or perhaps 

even earlier at an extraordinary 

Bundesrat meeting. 

The dispute is over a relatively 

small issue — how to 

reform the welfare system 

known as “Hartz IV” to com- 

MOSCOW — Russia’s ageing 

population could plummet 

by more than 20 million in the 

next 40 years, the Standard & 

Poor’s ratings agency predicted 

in a survey of global demographic 

trends yesterday. 

The population is projected 

to fall to 116 million by 2050, 

from 140 million in 2010, due 

to a low birth rate, the agency 

said, warning that an increasing 

proportion of older people 

would put huge pressure on 

government spending. 

“S&P promises Russia a 

poverty-stricken old age,” 

news website Gazeta.ru headlined 

a story on the report. 

President Dmitry 

Medvedev in December called 

world’s leading risk factor for 

death among males aged 15- 

59,” the report found. 

In Russia and the Commonwealth 

of Independent 

States (CIS), every fifth death 

is due to harmful drinking, the 

highest rate. 

Binge drinking, which often 

leads to risky behaviour, 

is now prevalent in Brazil, 

Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia, 

South Africa and Ukraine, and 

rising elsewhere, according to 

the WHO. 

“Worldwide, about 11 per 

cent of drinkers have weekly 

heavy episodic drinking occasions, 

with men outnumbering 

women by four to one. Men 

consistently engage in hazardous 

drinking at much higher 

levels than women in all regions,” 

the report said. 

Health ministers from the 

WHO’s 193 member states 

agreed last May to try to 

curb binge drinking and other 

growing forms of excessive alcohol 

use through higher taxes 

ply with a constitutional court 

ruling. But it turned into a battle 

between Merkel versus the 

resurgent centre-left opposition. 

Merkel’s government wants 

to raise welfare payments for 

4.7 million jobless and underemployed 

people to 364 euros 

a month. The SPD and Greens 

want a more generous increase 

in benefits than the five euros 

a month the government proposes. 

— Reuters 

Russia’s falling population a 

“serious threat.” He has tried 

to tempt Russians to give birth 

with cash payments to mothers 

and tax allowances for 

large families. 

In its report, S&P predicted 

that the working-age population, 

calculated as those under 

65, would fall to 60 per cent of 

the total by 2050, down from 

last year’s 72 per cent. 

By the end of the period 

studied, the government will 

have to spend 25.5 per cent 

of Gross Domestic Product on 

age-related expenses unless 

it carries out reforms, it said, 

with debt levels possibly rising 

to 585 per cent of GDP. 

“Further reforms are need- 

on alcoholic drinks and tighter 

marketing restrictions. 

Alcohol is a causal factor in 

60 types of diseases and injuries, 

according to WHO’s first 

report on alcohol since 2004. 

Its consumption has been 

linked to cirrhosis of the liver, 

epilepsy, poisonings, road 

traffic accidents, violence, and 

several types of cancer, including 

cancers of the colorectum, 

breast, larynx and liver. 

“Six or seven years ago we 

didn’t have strong evidence of 

a causal relationship between 

drinking and breast cancer. 

Now we do,” Vladimir Poznyak, 

head of WHO’s substance 

abuse unit who co-ordinated 

the report, said. 

Alcohol consumption rates 

vary greatly, from high levels 

in developed countries, to the 

lowest in North Africa, sub- 

Saharan Africa, and southern 

Asia. 

Home-made or illegally 

produced alcohol — falling 

outside governmental con- 

‘Hungary 

making effort 

on media law’ 

BRUSSELS — Hungary is 

making every effort to ensure 

its controversial media law 

complies with EU rules but 

it is too early to say if proposed 

amendments meet all 

EU concerns, the European 

Commission said yesterday. 

Hungary, which holds 

the rotating presidency of 

the European Union, drew 

sharp rebukes from France, 

Britain and Germany after 

enacting the media law late 

last year. They cited concerns 

over respect for media 

freedom and EU regulations 

on broadcasting. 

The EU executive said 

it received a letter from the 

Hungarian government on 

Thursday detailing proposed 

amendments. “There’s every 

indication that the Hungarian 

authorities are making 

every effort, as they said they 

would, to ensure that their 

law does comply with EU 

law,” Commission spokesman 

Jonathan Todd said. 

He said the proposed 

amendments addressed the 

three issues raised by the 

Commission, but added that 

lawyers would have to determine 

if the changes would 

bring Hungary into full and 

complete compliance with 

EU law. 

Russia to lose 20 million 

people by 2050: study 

ed to put Russian public finances 

on a more sustainable 

path,” the report said. 

The country’s population 

fell 6.4 million between 1991 

and 2009. The federal statistics 

agency has predicted that 

the population could fall to 

less than 127 million by 2031, 

in a worst-case scenario. 

At the moment, Russia has 

a low retirement age of 60 for 

men and 55 for women, but 

many continue to work because 

of the small size of state 

pensions, which the S&P report 

said average around $100 

per month. 

Russian men have a life 

expectancy of just 63, with 

women on 75. — AFP 

GERMAN President Christian Wulff (right) is welcomed by Portuguese Prime Minister 

Jose Socrates upon his arrival at Sao Bento Palace in Lisbon yesterday. — AFP 

Alcohol kills more than Aids or TB 

trols and tax nets — accounts 

for nearly 30 per cent of total 

worldwide adult consumption. 

Some is toxic. 

In France and other European 

countries with high levels 

of adult per capita consumption, 

heavy episodic drinking 

is rather low, suggesting more 

regular but moderate drinking 

patterns. 

One of the most effective 

ways to curb drinking, especially 

among young people, is 

to raise taxes, the report said. 

Setting age limits for buying 

and consuming alcohol, and 

regulating alcohol levels in 

drivers, also reduce abuse if 

enforced. 

Some countries restrict 

marketing of alcoholic beverages 

or on the industry’s sponsorship 

of sporting events. 

“Yet not enough countries 

use these and other effective 

policy options to prevent death, 

disease and injury attributable 

to alcohol consumption,” the 

WHO said. — Reuters

Manila, Maoists agree 

on truce before talks 

MANILA — Philippine 

government and Maoists 

have agreed to observe 

a seven-day ceasefire as 

formal peace negotiations 

resume this week in Oslo 

to end violece that began 

in the 1960s. 

Since 1986, there have 

been stop-start talks to 

find a political solution to 

one of the world's longest-running 

Communist 

struggles. 

The talks, brokered by 

Norway, had been stalled 

since 2004 after the Maoists 

were placed on terrorist 

blacklists by Washington and some Western 

European states. 

There was also a ceasefire over Christmas. 

"Our most optimistic projection is that this 

process can be completed in 18 months, and 

peace achievable in three years if both sides are 

focused and sincere in finally ending senseless 

violence," Alexander Padilla (pictured), the 

head of the government's five-member peace 

panel, told reporters. 

Active in 69 of 80 

provinces across the country, 

mostly in poor but 

resource-rich rural areas, 

the 4,000-member New 

People's Army, armed 

wing of the Communist 

Party of the Philippines, 

has been fighting to overthrow 

the government. 

The conflict has killed 

40,000 people and discouraged 

investment in 

resource-rich rural areas 

due to rebel attacks and 

extortion. 

The Maoists want to 

ban mining activity, distribute agricultural land 

to farmers and nationalise industries. Manila is 

unlikely to accede to their demand, but it wants 

to pursue talks to prevent violence. 

Manila has been negotiating separately with 

another group to end four decades of separatist 

rebellion that has killed 120,000 people and 

displaced 2 million. Peace talks for that conflict 

resumed this week. — Reuters 

5 

THE PHILIPPINES/SUBCONTINENT 



3 Japanese arrested 

over fake dollar bills 

MANILA — Three Japanese men and a Philippine woman 

were arrested in the Philippines for allegedly using fake 

dollar bills to buy gold chips, a police spokeswoman said 

yesterday. 

Police recovered 14 counterfeit $100 bills from the suspects 

after they were arrested on Thursday in the Manila 

suburb of Pasay, according to Chief Inspector Jenny Tecson. 

Tecson said a Philippine businessman complained to 

police that he received fake bills as payment for gold chips 

he sold to the suspects worth 2.5 million pesos ($57,000) 

a few hours earlier. The suspects would be charged with 

fraud, Tecson added. 

Quake strikes off Philippines 

MANILA — A 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck under the 

Celebes Sea between the Philippines and Indonesia, the US 

Geological Survey said early yesterday. 

The quake hit late on Thursday local time, 330 km from 

the town of General Santos on the Philippine island of 

Mindanao, and roughly the same distance from Manado 

on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. It was 512 km deep, 

the USGS said. It came two minutes after a 6.5-magnitude 

quake a few kms away and at a similar depth. 

The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, based in Hawaii, 

did not issue a tsunami warning following the earthquakes. 

The area is part of the Pacific's so-called "Ring 

of Fire", a zone of frequent tectonic activity where earthquakes 

and volcanic eruptions are common. — Agencies 

Afghanistan faces 

prospect of drought 

KABUL — Afghanistan could 

face a serious drought this 

year that would make millions 

of poor go hungry and fuel instability 

as foreign troops seek 

to reverse surging violence in 

the battle against the Taliban. 

Low rainfall early in the 

wet season will likely threaten 

Afghanistan's irrigated 

harvest, US forecasts show, 

which with a surge in global 

grain prices could be devastating 

for a nation already ranked 

as having the world's worst 

food security. 

US officials are concerned 

drought, which could be averted 

if rain and snow fall heavily 

in coming weeks, could 

further destabilise Afghanistan 

as Washington races to prove 

it can turn back Taliban before 

an initial withdrawal in July. 

"Many Afghans live right 

on the edge of starvation and 

without necessary water there 

will be communities that will 

be on the move, seeking pasture 

and agricultural work in 

other areas," a senior US defence 

official said. 

"That has potential to put 

pressure on society... While 

who sends the rain has nothing 

to do with your politics, 

the Taliban can say the government 

is not providing for 

(them)," he said. Afghanistan's 

population is about 30 million. 

Afghanistan needs about 

5.2 million tonnes of wheat, 

the staple crop, a year. This 

year, the agriculture minister 

says the country will need to 

import, or receive donations, 

to cover about a fifth of that 

amount. 

Once an important regional 

producer of raisins and other 

fruit, Afghanistan watched its 

vineyards become minefields 

during years of war between 

warlords, Mujahideen and Soviet 

invaders. — Reuters 

A RELATIVE of late former military chief Angelo Reyes 

holds a picture of him as Reyes’ body is transferred at 

Aguinaldo military camp in Quezon city yesterday. Reyes, 

who was facing allegations of graft, shot himself dead on 

Tuesday shortly before he had been due to face lawmakers 

investigating a case of multi-million dollar corruption in 

the Philippine armed forces. — Reuters 

Dhaka court orders trial 

in flogged girl’s death 

DHAKA — A court here 

has ordered reopening of the 

case of a teenage girl who 

was abused and then flogged 

to death under an edict last 

month, directing action 

against police and hospital 

staff for concealing facts and 

preparing false reports. 

"Did some genie kill 

Hena?" the high court bench 

of Justice A H M Shamsuddin 

Chowdhury Manik and Justice 

Sheikh Mohammed Zakir 

Hossain asked of the medical 

officer who maintained that 

she was "completely healthy" 

when discharged from the 

hospital. 

Hena, daughter of a landless 

labourer abused by a 

neighbour, fell unconscious 

after receiving about 80 of the 

100 lashes. Hena died a day 

after she was discharged from 

the hospital. 

As the medical officer read 

out details of injury marks on 

Hena, those present in the 

court were shocked and some 

shouted expletives and raised 

slogans in the court, the Daily 

Star reported yesterday. 

Besides reopening the 

case, the court asked the district 

police authorities to report 

on the role of the policemen 

who had failed to catch 

the culprit and prevent Hena's 

public flogging. 

Idris Ali Sheikh, who organised 

the order and supervised 

the flogging, was arrested 

as he appeared in response 

to the court summons. 

The court directed the 

Health Ministry to probe how 

the doctors at the hospital in 

Shariatpur district prepared an 

initial autopsy, that claimed 

there were no injury marks on 

Hena's body. — IANS 

New Nepal PM sidesteps 

first foreign trip row 

KATHMANDU — Adroitly 

sidestepping the row dogging 

the first foreign trips of Nepal's 

prime ministers, new Premier 

Jhala Nath Khanal said his first 

destination abroad would be 

neither India nor China. 

The 61-year-old communist 

leader, who was sworn in 

last Sunday after winning the 

prime ministerial election with 

the surprise backing of the 

Maoist party, told the media 

that his first trip abroad would 

be to Cambodia on the invitation 

of the International Conference 

of Asian Political Parties 

(ICAPP), an organisation 

with its secretariat in Seoul. 

Last week, ICAPP announced 

that it had sent a threemember 

delegation to Nepal to 

invite the republic's top political 

leaders to participate in a 

"peace consultation on Nepal" 

to be held in Phnom Penh. 

It said the chiefs of Nepal's 

three major political parties 

had said they would be free 

to attend the conference in the 

fourth week of February. 

Traditionally, Nepal's new 

prime ministers used to visit India 

first with the subcontinent 

being the Himalayan republic's 

largest trade partner and the 

most influential neighbour. 

In 2008, when the former 

Maoists came to power for the 

first time, their chief Pushpa 

Kamal Dahal Prachanda chose 

to break away from the tradition 

by making China his first 

port of call. 

Though Prachanda said it 

was an informal visit mainly 

to attend the conclusion of the 

2008 Olympic Games hosted 

by Beijing, he now attributes 

the fall of his government in 

2009 due to India's anger at being 

bypassed. 

Prachanda was succeeded 

by communist leader Madhav 

Kumar Nepal, who avoided 

ruffling Beijing's feathers by 

first heading for an unusual 

destination — Cairo. 

The 15th Summit of the 

Non-Aligned Movement in the 

Egyptian capital in 2010 gave 

Nepal the opportunity to sidestep 

the controversy. 

But a row is certain to follow 

Khanal even if he heads 

for Cambodia. 

Still unable to name a full 

cabinet and failing to even allocate 

portfolios to the three 

ministers in the cabinet, Khanal 

may not be able to take time off 

for a junket anytime soon. 

The Maoists, his former allies, 

refused to join his government 

over a power-sharing row 

and now have warned that they 

could withdraw support. Nor 

has the prime minister been 

able to rope in any other party 

in his cabinet. 

Khanal said his government 

would strive to promulgate a 

new constitution and address 

corruption. — IANS

6 EGYPT 



PROTESTERS celebrate inside Tahrir Square after the announcement of president Hosni Mubarak’s resignation yesterday. — REUTERS/AFP 

‘Historic moment of change’ 

CAIRO — Friday, February 

11, is already being 

hailed as a historic day in 

the history of the Middle 

East, following the resignation 

of Hosni Mubarak after 

nearly 30 years as Egyptian 

president. 

More than 1 million 

people gathered in Cairo's 

central Tahrir Square to 

celebrate after 18 days of 

anti-government protests, 

which left at least 300 dead, 

according to the United Nations. 

Leaders around the 

world, from Germany to 

Lebanon, characterised Mubarak's 

departure as a "historic 

moment of change". 

With the Egyptian army 

now in charge, protesters 

chanted "the army and 

the people, are one hand 

united." People danced, 

cheered, sang and waved 

flags as the celebratory 

sound of gunfire, car horns, 

and ululations rang throughout 

Egypt. 

Despite the cheers and 

excitement, people were 

anxiously waiting to see if 

the military would promise 

to hand over power to 

a civilian-led government 

soon. 

"If the military officially 

states its support for a transition 

to democracy, removal 

of emergency law, and 

new parliamentary elections, 

we'll go home," said 

Tarek Shalaby, who has 

been camped out in Tahrir 

square for past two weeks. 

"If the military only 

vaguely states that they will 

meet our demands, I will 

stay in Tahrir," he added. 

Echoing his statement 

was Yasser Gomaa, a government 

employee from 

the town of Kafr al Sheikh, 

who has been protesting in 

front of parliament for the 

past several days. 

"Military rule is refused. 

We will accept the military 

to oversee, not to control, 

and for a limited time. The 

head of Egypt's constitutional 

court should preside 

over the elections," said 

Gomaa. 

What people are calling 

for now is for free, fair and 

transparent parliamentary 

elections to be followed by 

presidential vote. 

The Muslim Brotherhood, 

Egypt's largest opposition 

group, also called 

on the military to hand over 

power to a civilian-led government 

soon. 

"We call for a safe and 

stable transition of power to 

a civilian-led government 

with a constitution higher 

than that of a corrupt government," 

Rashad Bayoumi, 

EGYPTIANS nationwide flood streets in celebration . -- AFP 

PROTESTERS celebrate outside the Presidential Palace in Cairo. — AFP 

Tantawi salutes people near presidential palace 

CAIRO — Egyptian Defence Minister 

Mohamed Hussein Tantawi saluted people 

yesterday in front of the presidential 

palace in Cairo, where they were celebrating 

after president Hosni Mubarak 

stepped down. 

Tantawi is also the head of the Higher 

Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces, 

which now runs the affairs of the country. 

Thousands of Egyptians were protesting 

near the palace, in east Cairo’s district 

of Heliopolis, earlier yesterday calling on 

Mubarak to step down immediately. 

While he usually keeps a low profile, 

Tantawi last week made a highly 

publicised visit to central Cairo’s Tahrir 

Square, where tens of thousands of anti- 

Mubarak protesters had gathered, to inspect 

conditions. 

After the protests that began on January 

25, Tantawi was also appointed deputy 

prime minister, while retaining his 

defence portfolio. 

EGYPTIANS all over the country flooded the streets in celebration at the news that Mubarak had stepped down. 

Suez Canal 

stays open 

CAIRO — Egyptian Minister 

of Finance Samir Radwan 

yesterday said that the 

Suez Canal is functioning 

normally. 

“It is not touched. It will 

remain open. It is functioning 

very very smoothly,” the 

finance minister said. 

The canal, a major shipping 

route linking the Mediterranean 

Sea with the Red 

Sea, is a key source of revenue 

for Egypt. 

Workers at companies 

in the canal zone have been 

on strike since last week for 

more pay. — dpa 

Tantawi, who fought in wars against 

Israel, is also seen as “committed to preventing 

another one,” according to US 

sources. 

He believes that one of the Egyptian 

military’s key role is to protect constitutional 

legitimacy and internal stability. 

He held various command posts and 

was assigned as military attache to Pakistan. 

Tantawi was the first Egyptian to get 

the title of field marshal — given to him 

by Mubarak. 

assistant secretary-general 

of the Muslim Brotherhood, 

said. 

Egyptians are hoping 

that free elections will 

bring new candidates and 

fresh ideas to the forefront. 

The removal of Mubarak 

was just the first in a list of 

demands set forth by protesters, 

who launched nationwide 

demonstrations on 

January 25. 

"Egypt always delivers 

great minds, but the authorities 

suppressed everyone 

so that there would be 

no one better than them or 

an alternate to them," said 

Gomaa. 

Thousands of Egyptians 

who had assembled in front 

of both the state-run television 

and radio building as 

well as in front of the president's 

residence waved the 

Egyptian flag and cheered 

at the news of Mubarak's 

resignation. 

Mubarak and his family 

left their Cairo residence 

in the suburb of Heliopolis 

by helicopter yesterday, arriving 

later at the Red Sea 

resort of Sharm el Sheikh, 

the television channel Al 

Arabiya said. 

To many of the protesters 

who had defiantly stood 

their ground, Mubarak's 

resignation goes hand-inhand 

with ending a daily 

struggle with poverty. 

"I make 30 pounds a 

day ($5). By the end of the 

month I can't save anything. 

I just don't have anything to 

save," said Reda Abdelaziz 

Mansi, who hails from a 

village just outside the city 

of Tanta. 

"We didn't want Mubarak. 

I want to see an honest 

man in power," he said as 

he joined protesters outside 

parliament. — dpa 

CAIRO — Egypt's higher military council 

yesterday said it would announce measures 

for a transitional phase after president Hosni 

Mubarak stepped down and handed power to 

the armed forces. 

In a statement, titled "Communique No 

3", it praised Mubarak for stepping down "in 

the interests of the nation" and said it "salutes 

the martyrs" who lost their lives in the 

unrest. 

"We know the extent of the gravity and 

PROTESTER shouts slogans in Cairo. — AFP 

Army to announce ‘transition’ measures 

Protesters to finally go home 

CAIRO — Egyptian protesters who have been camping out for 18 days in central Cairo's Tahrir 

Square said they will go home after the celebrations following the resignation of president 

Hosni Mubarak yesterday. 

"We can finally go home!" cried Mohammed Ibrahim, 38, a protest organiser. "We have been 

here for 18 days waiting for him to leave and we did it." 

The protesters who occupied the square have no central organisation to direct them, but several 

who spoke said they would spend the night in the square to celebrate their victory before 

packing up and heading home. 

CAIRO’S streets exploded in joy after Mubarak stepped down. — AFP 

seriousness of this issue and the demands of 

the people to initiate radical changes," the 

statement said. 

"The higher military council is studying 

this issue to achieve the hopes of our great 

people". 

"The council will issue a statement outlining 

the steps and procedures and directives 

that will be taken, confirming at the same 

time that there is no alternative to the legitimacy 

acceptable to the people," it added.

Reactions from 

around the world 

EGYPTIAN President Hosni Mubarak stepped down yesterday 

after 18 days of mass protests against his rule. 

Here is some reactions from around the world: 

* UNITED STATES 

US Vice-President Joe Biden said the change of 

power in Egypt was a “pivotal” moment in history for that 

country and the Middle East. The transition in Egypt must 

be one of “irreversible” change, he said. 

* EUROPEAN UNION 

“The EU respects President Mubarak’s decision today. 

By standing down, he has listened to the voices of 

the Egyptian people and has opened the way to faster and 

deeper reforms,” EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton 

said. 

“It is important now that the dialogue is accelerated 

leading to a broad-based government which will respect 

the aspirations of, and deliver stability for, the Egyptian 

people.” “The future of Egypt rightly remains in the hands 

of the Egyptian people. The EU stands ready to help in any 

way it can.” 

* GAZA 

“The resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak 

is the beginning of the victory of the Egyptian revolution,” 

said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. 

“Such a victory was the result of the sacrifices and the 

steadfastness of the Egyptian people,” he said. 

“We call upon the new Egyptian leadership to take an 

immediate decision to lift the blockade of Gaza and open 

Rafah (border) crossing permanently to allow people’s free 

movement and in order for the reconstruction process of 

Gaza to begin,” Abu Zuhri said. 

* BRITAIN 

“Egypt now has a really precious moment of opportunity 

to have a government that can bring the country together. 

As a friend of Egypt and the Egyptian people we 

stand ready to help in any way we can,” said British Prime 

Minister David Cameron. 

“We believe it must be a government that starts to put 

in place the building blocks of a truly open, free and democratic 

society,” he told BBC television. 

“What has happened today should only be the first step. 

Those who now run Egypt have a duty to reflect the wishes 

of the Egyptian people and in particular there really must 

be a move to civilian and democratic rule as part of this important 

transition to an open, democratic and free Egypt,” 

he added. 

* GERMANY 

“Today is a day of great joy,” German Chancellor Angela 

Merkel told a news conference. “We are all witness to 

an historic change. I share the joy of the people of Egypt, 

with the millions of people on the streets of Egypt.” 

* ARAB LEAGUE 

“I look forward to the future to build a national consensus 

in the coming period. There is a big chance now and 

a window has opened after this white revolution and after 

the president’s concession,” the Egyptian secretary-general 

of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, Al Arabiya television. 

Asked if he was interested in being president, he said: 

“This is not the time to talk about that ... As an Egyptian 

citizen, I am proud to serve my country with all the others 

at this stage, to build a consensus of opinion.” 

* QATAR 

“This is a positive, important step towards the Egyptian 

people’s aspirations of achieving democracy and reform 

and a life of dignity,” said a statement from the Emir’s 

royal council said. 

* UAE 

“The UAE, which has closely monitored developments 

in Egypt, confirms its confidence in the ability of the 

Supreme Council of the Armed Forces in running the country’s 

affairs in these delicate circumstances in such a way 

that would realise aspirations and hopes of the Egyptian 

people,” the statement from the Emirates News Agency 

said. 

* INDIA 

“We welcome the decision of President Mubarak 

to step down in deference to the wishes of the people of 

Egypt. We also welcome the commitment of the Supreme 

Council of the Armed Forces to ensure a peaceful transition 

of power in a timebound manner to establish and open 

and democratic framework of governance,” Indian Foreign 

Minister S M Krishna said. 

* SPAIN 

“Mubarak’s exit will facilitate a quicker transition 

to democracy and thus allow the people of Egypt to fulfill 

their legitimate aspirations,” Spanish Foreign Minister 

Trinidad Jimenez said. 

Oil slips after Egypt crisis 

LONDON — World oil prices slid last week, reassured by 

Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak ouster yesterday after a 

violent uprising that helped send the crude market to recent 

two-year peaks. 

Cairo’s streets exploded in joy as Mubarak stepped 

down after three decades of autocratic rule and handed 

power to military commanders. 

In reaction, oil dipped on receding concerns over possible 

disruption to crude supplies through the strategic Suez 

Canal, analysts said. “Initial reaction will be good for risk 

assets — and this has seen oil, gold and silver slide and equities 

rise,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson. 

“The key test will be how the military fills the vacuum 

created by this action, and the effect this has on risk appetite 

going forward.” Commodities were also hit last week 

by worries over Chinese demand, after the nation’s central 

bank raised interest rates for the third time in four months 

as authorities fight to tame inflation. — Agencies 

7 EGYPT 



Resignation hailed as victory for people power 

PARIS — World leaders 

yesterday hailed the toppling 

of Egyptian president Hosni 

Mubarak as a historic victory 

for people power, paving the 

way for democracy, amid 

scenes of jubilation. 

As Mubarak’s threedecade-long 

rule ended, a day 

after he enraged protesters by 

refusing to stand down, messages 

of congratulation to the 

Egyptian people flooded in. 

In the first US reaction to 

the tumultuous events, Vice 

President Joe Biden spoke 

of a “historic day” for the 

people of Egypt and said Mubarak’s 

departure must lead 

to a negotiated path towards 

democracy. 

But Biden also warned of 

RAFAH — Gaza’s lone 

gateway to freedom has been 

closed for two weeks, with 

the ongoing turmoil in Egypt 

keeping thousands from leaving 

the enclave and hundreds 

more from coming home. 

Until a fortnight ago, the 

Rafah border crossing had 

been a busy transit point with 

up to 500 Palestinians a day 

crossing into Egypt and a 

similar number coming back, 

many of them travelling for 

urgent medical treatment. 

But a few days after mass 

protests brought Egypt grinding 

to a halt, the Egyptian 

troops guarding the Rafah 

crossing fled after coming under 

attack by demonstrators, 

forcing Gaza’s Hamas rulers 

to keep their side of the frontier 

closed. 

“It’s the blockade all over 

again. Thousands of people 

are trapped,” said crossing 

head Ghazi Hamad, referring 

to the Israeli siege which for 

nearly five years has kept 

Gaza’s population of 1.5 million 

people trapped in the 

“delicate and fateful” days 

ahead and said the ouster of 

Mubarak was a “pivotal moment” 

in the Middle East. 

US President Barack 

Obama made a televised statement 

later, but Wall Street 

reacted to the news from 

Egypt almost immediately, 

rebounding from earlier slight 

losses to solid gains. 

German Chancellor Angela 

Merkel said the move marked 

a “historic change”, adding 

that she expected the “future 

Egyptian government to continue 

to keep the peace in the 

Middle East, in that the agreements 

made with Israel are 

respected and Israel’s security 

is guaranteed.” 

EU foreign policy chief 

coastal enclave. 

“The situation is terrible. 

Gaza has become one big 

prison again,” he said in this 

sprawling city which straddles 

the southern border with 

Egypt. 

The normally bustling Palestinian 

side of the terminal is 

deserted, save for a handful 

of police and a fleet of empty 

buses standing idle in a nearby 

car park. 

On the Egyptian side, the 

silhouettes of two hooded 

soldiers could be seen on a 

rooftop. Egyptian police and 

border guards abandoned 

their posts after an attack on 

their headquarters by Bedouin 

demonstrators on January 29. 

The clashes, which could be 

heard on the Gazan side of the 

border, left three dead. 

“Normally we have 400 

to 500 travellers crossing into 

Egypt every day and about the 

same number coming back,” 

explained Hamad, saying his 

big concern was that the closure 

would create “a humanitarian 

crisis.” 

Catherine Ashton judged that 

the 82-year-old strongman 

had “listened to the voices 

of the Egyptian people” who 

have staged more than two 

weeks of massive protests for 

his departure. 

“It is important now that 

the dialogue is accelerated 

leading to a broad-based government 

which will respect 

the aspirations of, and deliver 

stability for, the Egyptian 

people,” Ashton said in a 

statement. 

In fellow north African 

country Tunisia, whose own 

“Jasmine Revolution” spurred 

on the Egyptian revolt, people 

danced in the street and blared 

their horns. 

“It’s wonderful! Two dicta- 

Gaza struggles as gateway 

to Egypt stays shut 

Although Hamad has been 

in daily contact with the Egyptian 

security services about 

reopening the border, so far it 

has made little difference. 

And every day, he faces a 

barrage of phone calls from 

hundreds of Palestinians who 

are stuck in Egypt and have 

been unable to get home since 

January 30. 

Most travelled to Egypt for 

medical reasons, for operations 

or other treatment, but 

among them are also students 

and people visiting family living 

there. 

On top of the problems 

caused by the border closure, 

Egypt’s immigration services 

said on Wednesday they had 

been ordered not to allow Palestinians 

to enter the country, 

although there was no immediate 

explanation as to why. 

It is not only the human 

traffic which has been hit by 

the crisis in Egypt — trade 

through the cross-border 

smuggling tunnels has also 

largely ground to a halt. 

— AFP 

LUXOR — Wandering unharried in the 

Egyptian temple of Luxor and photographing 

the towering colonnades of Karnak 

without being jostled may be a dream 

come true for tourists. 

But it is a nightmare for traders losing 

their precious livelihood. 

The hotels are empty, souks deserted 

and tour guides idle. Luxor has been but 

a shadow of its former self since the uprising 

against the rule of President Hosni 

Mubarak started on January 25. 

“Normally, this car park is full of minibuses,” 

laments Ebrahim Moses at the 

entrance of the Luxor Temple, a marvels 

of ancient Egyptian architecture and a big 

tourist draw, under the eye of a sleeping 

guard slumped in his chair. 

“Economically, it’s serious. Travel 

agents aren’t working, no one is selling 

anything,” whispers Moses, for 60 years 

a tour guide. 

“Let’s hope the dictator and the tourists 

come back,” he said, taking a pull on 

his Cleopatra cigarette. 

Luxor is normally full at this time of 

year, but the popular movement against 

Mubarak’s regime and the violence across 

tors have fallen in less than 

a month,” said 23-year-old 

student Nourredine, referring 

to January’s ouster of Tunisian 

strongman Zine el Abidine 

ben Ali 

Qatar, called the power 

change a “positive and important 

step towards achieving 

the aspirations of the Egyptian 

people for democracy, reform, 

and a decent life,” according 

to a statement carried by the 

state news agency QNA. 

Reactions came from all 

quarters of the Islamic world. 

Iran described Egyptian 

protesters as having achieved 

a “great victory.” 

“The conquest by the 

will of the great Egyptian 

nation over the resistance and 

End of 

an era 

CAIRO — An era came to 

end yesterday as Egyptian 

President Mubarak stepped 

down after nearly 30 years 

in power, handing over the 

reins of government to the 

armed forces. 

Mubarak left it to his 

deputy, Vice-President Omar 

Suleiman, to announce the 

surprise resignation, in a 

terse statement read out on 

national television. 

“After these difficult 

times in the country, President 

Mohamed Hosni Mubarak 

decided he is leaving 

office and appointed the 

High Council of the Armed 

Forces to run the affairs the 

country,” Suleiman said. 

The High Council later 

issued a communique, saying 

it was studying the issues 

of leading the country 

and would announce details 

at a later date. 

The military paid tribute 

to the 82-year-old Mubarak 

for his services to Egypt, and 

also saluted those killed during 

the protests that led to his 

downfall. — dpa 

persistence of officials who 

were dependent on the world 

powers is a great victory,” 

foreign ministry spokesman 

Ramin Mehmanparast told 

Iran’s Arabic-language Al 

Alam television. 

From the Gaza Strip, 

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu 

Zuhri likewise praised the 

“the start of the victory of 

the Egyptian revolution” and 

celebrations erupted across 

the territory. 

For its part, Turkey tapped 

the Internet that has powered 

the Egyptian revolt, with 

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu 

twittering hopes that 

Mubarak’s departure would 

produce a new “system” meeting 

the demands of ordinary 

Luxor, a tourist ghost town amid uprising 

the country have scared off tourists from 

around the world. 

National carrier Egyptair has reduced 

its connecting flights from Cairo to Luxor 

to a minimum, and no charter flights are 

landing at the airport. 

Along the Nile, dozens of cruise ships 

are moored with no tourists to take along 

the timeless river. 

Not since the 1997 murder of 62 tourists 

by an Islamist group has Luxor been 

so deserted. That drought lasted “a few 

months,” recalls Moses. 

Alone in the ruins of the temple with 

only a few Egyptians, Mary Jo Wolszon’s 

family are thrilled. 

“This is the best time to visit this 

place,” said Wolszon, who came from 

Minnesota with her husband to visit her 

Cairo-based daughter. 

“I had no fear” in the capital, despite 

the large anti-regime demonstrations. As 

for Luxor, “it’s magnificent”, and “we 

are the only ones in the hotel, “ she said, 

watching her grandchildren admire the 

hieroglyphs. 

A short way into the souk, the stallholders 

drink tea and play chess to pass 

Egyptians. 

Israel offered a more cautious 

reaction to Mubarak’s 

departure, with a government 

official describing the moment 

as “too important to draw immediate 

conclusions about the 

outcome.” 

“We hope that the transition 

to democracy, for Egypt 

and for its neighbours, will be 

done smoothly,” the official 

said, speaking on condition of 

anonymity. 

But the official also 

stressed the need to preserve 

the 1979 peace treaty between 

Israel and Egypt, which was 

signed two years before Mubarak 

came to power. 

— AFP 

AN opposition supporter flashes the victory sign in front of the presidential palace in Cairo. Right: A soldier stands guard in front of the state TV building on the Corniche in Cairo. 

Tourism still dried up 

GIZA — Forlorn are the caravansaries 

and bazaars at the 

Pyramids of Giza. 

Dozens of horses, lined up 

along a wall, munch leisurely 

on grass and bales of hay. 

A young camel wallows in 

the dust, oblivious to its surroundings. 

In the few shops 

and cafes that are open, workers 

wield fly swatters against 

pesky insects. 

Mainly they are killing 

time. The pyramids, closed to 

tourists after anti-government 

unrest broke out on January 

25 in Egypt, reopened on 

Wednesday. But hardly any 

tourists have returned in the 

first days. “You’re my second 

customer today,” remarks 

Mohammed, a tour guide, as 

he helps a correspondent onto 

a horse. 

The midday winter sun 

shines softly. Earlier on 

Thursday, Mohammed says, 

he showed a Briton around. 

There was an American the 

day before. 

A bypath leads from Mohammed’s 

stable to the pyramids. 

A tourist police officer 

is delighted to see the rare 

visitor, whom a security official 

searches for weapons. 

The route passes an empty, 

light-brown patch of sand — 

the parking area for tour buses 

— then over gently undulating 

dunes. Ahead loom one of the 

Seven Wonders of the Ancient 

World. Thick clouds cast eerie 

shadows on the pyramids, in a 

spectacle courtesy of weather 

conditions in late winter. 

Here and there in the distance 

appears a camel with a 

tourist on its back. 

Three Japanese women, 

led on horseback, approach. 

Three high- spirited young 

Saudis gallop past over stones 

and desert sand. In all, just a 

few tourists dot the vast expanse. 

— dpa 

Correct decision: Zuma 

CAPE TOWN — South Africa President Jacob Zuma said 

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had “thought like a leader” 

and made the right choice to step down from power yesterday. 

“Our wish was that the Egyptian problem must be resolved 

peacefully, the transition must be peaceful,” said Zuma in a 

South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) television 

news report. 

“We therefore thank him for having thought like a leader, 

to place the interests of Egypt above his own, and taken the 

correct decision to leave.” 

South Africa hoped that who had been calling for Mubarak’s 

departure will be in a position to “pick up the situation 

and build a government that will be based on the will of the 

people,” Zuma added. 

A free, proud nation: El Baradei 

DOHA — Top opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei yesterday 

called Egypt “a free and proud nation” after president 

Hosni Mubarak’s resignation and handing over of powers to 

the military. 

“Egypt today is a free and proud nation. God bless,” the 

former head of UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic 

Energy Agency wrote on Internet microblogging site Twitter. 

Earlier, in an interview in English with Al Jazeera television, 

he said: “We have got our life back.” 

“My message to the Egyptian people is that you have 

gained your liberty... Let’s make the best use of it and God 

bless you.” 

HISTORIC: Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Hizbullah congratulated 

Egyptians on their “historic victory” following president Hosni 

Mubarak’s decision to step down, as car horns blared and fireworks 

went off in Beirut. 

“Hizbullah congratulates the great people of Egypt on this 

historic and honourable victory which is a direct result of their 

pioneering revolution,” read a statement released. — Agencies 

the time between customers. The stalls 

are filled with crystal pyramids, papyrus 

and other pharaonic trinkets. But in the 

long shady lane bathed in a heavy scent 

of spices, there is not a single tourist with 

whom to haggle. 

“I’m ready to drop my prices,” says 

Pascal Mahouid, who owns a gift shop. 

“It’s been fifteen days since we had any 

business. It’s hard.” 

“What they’re doing is all well and 

good — it’s good for our children,” he 

said of the protesters on Tahrir Square in 

Cairo, the epicentre of the revolt. “But 

here we do not want to demonstrate, it 

scares away tourists.” 

On the road leading to the temple of 

Karnak, one of the most famous sites in 

the Pharaonic era, an army tank stands 

guard. 

Several hundred people demonstrated 

in Luxor against the government, but no 

serious incidents marred the gathering, 

according to witnesses. 

Only the broken windows of the public 

library, sponsored by Suzanne Mubarak, 

wife of the president, openly reflect the 

local discontent. — AFP

NEWS IN BRIEF 

Violence as strike shuts 

down Pakistan airline 

POLICE baton charged Pakistan 

International Airlines (PIA) employees 

yesterday, detaining 20 of them, 

following violent protests as all of the 

carrier’s flights remained grounded for a 

second day. 

Staff have been on picket lines since 

Tuesday, resulting in the cancellation 

of around 400 flights, the stranding of 

60,000 passengers and causing losses 

of around $22 million for the airline, 

which is on the brink of bankruptcy. The 

government’s efforts to mediate an end 

to industrial action have so far failed to 

resolve the dispute. 

“The police baton charged protestors 

and detained 20 of them after they 

violently attacked our officials on being 

asked to clear entry and exit points at the 

airport,” police official Mohsin Ali said. 

Local TV footage showed policemen 

beating the protestors at Karachi airport 

with batons and putting them into police 

vehicles. PIA spokesman Mashhood 

Tajwar spokesman described the incident 

as “unfortunate” but added “the continued 

protest was also affecting businesses 

of other airlines and the airport itself”. 

Employees are furious at management 

plans to farm out lucrative European and 

US routes to Turkish Airlines in order to 

avert bankruptcy. 

Indian delegates arrive 

for celebrations of Faiz 

A 16-member delegation from India 

arrived here through Wagah border to 

participate in the centennial celebrations 

of Faiz Ahmad Faiz. 

The delegation, led by Illa Arun, 

included Shama Zaidi, Rajendra Gupta, 

Asghar Wajahat, Attul Tiwari, Monica 

Wahi, Ubaid Siddiqui, SM Satyo and 

others. Saleema Hashmi and Moneeza 

Hashmi, daughters of late Faiz Ahmad 

Faiz, welcomed the delegation at the 

Wagah border. 

Talking to the media, TV actor and 

singer Illa Arun said she had come to 

Pakistan with open arms and was amazed 

to see the warm welcome by Pakistanis 

on her arrival. 

She said that actors, singers and 

players of India and Pakistan were doing 

their job to promote peace and harmony 

between the two neighbouring countries. 

She said Pakistani singers Rashman, 

Mehdi Hassan, Ghulam Ali and Rahat 

Ali Khan were renowned across the 

border. 

Gilani’s son heads 

for a rough ride 

ABDUL Qadir Gilani, son of Pakistan 

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, 

may be headed for a rough ride as the 

Supreme Court has asked the Federal 

Investigation Agency (FIA) sleuths to 

inquire from him about the sources of 

his wealth used for importing a luxury 

bullet-proof vehicle from the Gulf. 

The court even wanted to learn the 

details of tax paid by the prime minister’s 

son. 

Qadir Gilani’s rather lavish lifestyle 

had come under scrutiny while the 

court had been seized with the Haj 

corruption case and was admonishing the 

investigating agency for not investigating 

Qadir’s alleged involvement with one of 

the main accused in the case. 

Pakistan Business Council 

urges trade with India 

THE Pakistan Business Council (PBC) 

has strongly urged the government to 

open up trade and business with India, 

and stressed on increasing regional 

commerce as Pakistan’s traditional 

export markets have shown little growth 

in recent times. 

Addressing a press conference, PBC 

representatives welcomed the ongoing 

dialogue between political parties on 

economic reforms. “Gone are the days 

when trade with India has been a risk to 

our security. By opening trade with India, 

we will access a middle class 10 times 

larger than ours,” said a representative. 

The PBC also urged the policymakers 

to finalise their economic reforms agenda 

and begin its implementation. They, 

however, expressed concern over the 

prevailing economic situation. 

Car sales jump by 74pc 

during first month of 211 

SALE of locally produced cars in 

Pakistan during January 2011 rose by 74 

per cent as compared to December 2010 

amid the government’s dilly-dallying 

for 60 days (from December 8 till first 

week of February 2011) in taking a final 

decision in age limit of used cars. 

A total of 12,934 cars (800cc to 

1,300cc and above) were sold in January 

2011 as compared to 7,446 units in 

December 2010. Many buyers of 800- 

1,000cc used cars also held up their plans 

to buy used cars after media reports 

that most of the used cars parked at 

the Karachi Port were of higher engine 

power. 

The improved car sales in January 

2011 were also triggered by usually 

slow sales in December 2010 as most 

of the buyers opted to purchase cars in 

January for change of registration year. 

— Agencies 

8 PAKISTAN 



PARAMILITARY soldiers stand guard in front of the entrance gate of Benazir Bhutto 

International Airport during an airlines strike in Islamabad yesterday. — AFP 

Police reject man’s 

self-defence claim 

LAHORE — Pakistani police yesterday rejected 

the self-defence claim of a US official 

who shot dead two men in broad daylight, accusing 

him of cold-blooded murder as a court 

extended his remand. 

In a move likely to further inflame ties 

with Washington, which says the man has 

diplomatic immunity and should be released 

immediately, a judge in the eastern city of 

Lahore ordered Raymond Davis be held in 

prison for 14 days. 

On January 27 he shot two Pakistani men 

and after his arrest told police he acted in selfdefence 

because he feared they were trying to 

rob him. 

The US consulate general in Lahore sent a 

vehicle to recover Davis, but it ran over and 

killed a third Pakistani man, before fleeing 

the scene. 

US lawmakers have threatened to cut payments 

to Pakistan, the beneficiary of $7.5 

billion of aid and $ 2 billion in military aid, 

and Washington has warned that high-level 

dialogue is at risk unless Davis is freed. 

ABC News claimed US National Security 

Adviser Tom Donilon had threatened to 

expel Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington, 

shut US consulates and cancel a forthcoming 

visit by the Pakistani president if Davis is not 

released. 

However the US Embassy and the Pakistani 

Ambassador, Husain Haqqani, denied 

the report. Haqqani said: “At no stage has any 

threat been made to me by any US official at 

any level and our dialogue continues.” 

The weak and unpopular Pakistani government 

is under enormous pressure at home 

to see Davis go on trial, in a country awash 

with anti-American sentiment. 

About 500 protesters yesterday demanded 

that Davis be hanged. 

“It has been proved that Raymond Davis 

committed murder,” Lahore city police chief 

Aslam Tareen told a news conference, although 

he gave no motive. 

“It was cold-blooded murder. Eye witnesses 

have told police that he directly shot 

at them and he kept shooting even when one 

was running away. It was an intentional murder,” 

Tareen said. 

He said there were no fingerprints on the 

triggers of the pistols found on the bodies of 

the two men and that tests showed the bullets 

were still in the weapons’ magazines, and not 

the chambers. 

“His plea has been rejected by police investigators,” 

Tareen said, speaking in English. 

“He gave no chance to them to survive. That 

is why we consider it was not self-defence. 

We have proof it was not self-defence.” 

Demonstrating outside the Lahore headquarters 

of Pakistan’s main Islamic party, 

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), protesters yesterday 

shouted “Hang Davis,” “US terrorism in Pakistan 

unacceptable” and “Friends of America 

are traitors”. — AFP 

KARACHI — Pakistan has received 

$6.12 billion remittances during 

July-January 2010/11, showing 

an increase of 17.7 per cent against 

$5.198 billion over the corresponding 

period last year, the State Bank 

of Pakistan (SBP) has said. 

Analysts attributed the rise in remittances 

to the attractive rate of returns 

on investment in government 

securities and deposits with other 

financial institutions. 

They said that the continuous 

flow of remittances helped the local 

currency strengthen against the 

dollar and reach a record level of 

foreign exchange reserves. 

The rupee in the inter-bank foreign 

currency market reached 10month 

high of 85.13 to a dollar. 

Similarly, foreign exchange reserves 

by the end of January hit a historic 

high of $17.386 billion. 

The central bank, however, attributed 

the rise in remittances to 

Pakistan Remittance Initiative (PRI) 

Govt finalises plan for ‘mini budget’ 

ISLAMABAD — The Pakistan 

government has firmed 

up a Rs 580-600 billion plan 

for restructuring of consolidated 

budget 2010-11, envisaging 

levy of new taxes, 

drastic cuts in development 

programmes — both at federal 

and provincial levels — 

and an upward adjustment in 

power tariff with effect from 

March 1. 

According to the informed 

sources, the provincial governments 

had been told that 

they would be given about 

Rs 100 billion less from Rs 

300 billion additional transfers 

under the 7th National 

Finance Commission award 

during the current fiscal to 

meet higher security expen- 

KARACHI — Suspected fighters blew up 

railway tracks at four sites in Pakistan’s 

Sindh province yesterday disrupting train 

services, officials said. 

Two people were injured when two small 

bombs damaged the tracks near the Baloch 

Colony Bridge in Karachi. No casualty was, 

however, reported in the explosions in Hyderabad, 

Nawabshah and Mehrabpur districts. 

The explosions appeared to be co-ordinated 

attacks, police and railway officials said. 

“Two low-intensity bombs planted on 

both the railway tracks went off outside Ka- 

jointly undertaken by the central 

bank, Ministry of Finance and the 

Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis. 

“This initiative has started to 

materialise and remittances through 

formal channels are showing considerable 

growth,” the SBP said in 

a statement. 

According to the SBP data, the 

inflow of remittances in the July- 

January 2011 period from the United 

Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the 

United States, Gulf Co-operation 

Council (GCC) countries, including 

Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and 

Oman, the UK and the EU countries 

amounted to $1,437.05 million, 

$1,353.40 million, $1,145.71 million, 

$721.47 million, $669.70 million 

and $195.66 million, respectively, 

against $1,180.24 million, 

$999.41 million, $1,061.89 million, 

$737.72 million, $550.35 million 

and $157.93 million, respectively, 

in the July-January 2010 period. 

Remittances received from Nor- 

ditures and debt servicing 

cost. 

The provinces were also 

asked to cut their development 

programmes by Rs 111 

billion and current expenditures 

by Rs 20 billion. 

The sources said the federal 

government had made 

up its mind to save about Rs 

164 billion from the budgeted 

allocations by bringing 

down the federal development 

programme from Rs 

280 billion to Rs 140 billion 

and making Rs 24 billion cut 

in non-development current 

expenditures. 

The government plans to 

save about Rs 32 billion from 

flood-related expenditures 

that have been originally en- 

Record rise in remittances during 

first seven months of fiscal year 

way, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, 

Japan and other countries during 

the first seven months of the current 

fiscal year amounted to $594.98 

million against $509.55 million during 

the same period last year. 

The monthly average remittances 

for the July-January period 

come out to $874.00 million against 

$742.58 million during the corresponding 

period last year, registering 

an increase of 17.70 per cent, 

the SBP said. 

In January, $826.57 million was 

sent home by overseas Pakistanis, 

up by 23.76 per cent or $158.67 

million against $667.90 million received 

during the same month last 

year. 

Remittances received from 

Norway, Switzerland, Australia, 

Canada, Japan and other countries 

during January amounted to $76.29 

million against $54.61 million received 

in the same month last year. 

— Internews 

ISLAMABAD — The Pakistani 

government yesterday 

introduced a new, smaller cabinet 

as part of deal with the opposition 

to lower government 

expenditure and combat corruption. 

The reduced cabinet was inducted 

after ministers resigned 

en masse on Wednesday to 

clear the way for an austerity 

drive demanded by the opposition. 

President Asif Ali Zardari 

administered the oath to 21 

ministers and one deputy minister, 

replacing the 62 previous 

ministers and deputies. 

The new cabinet includes 

several of his key loyalists, 

such as Interior Minister Rehman 

Malik and the Law Minister 

Babar Awan. 

The portfolios will be announced 

later, according to 

visaged at Rs 72 billion. 

The sources said the government 

had spent Rs 40 billion 

on the flood-related recovery 

programme — Rs 32 

billion on account of Watan 

Cards and Rs 8 billion on account 

of agricultural support. 

About Rs 31 billion would 

be generated by imposing 10 

per cent flood surcharge on 

income tax and increasing 

the federal excise duty on 

imports from one per cent to 

two per cent. 

The government has requested 

the main opposition 

party, Pakistan Muslim 

League-Nawaz, to help restore 

petroleum levy on oil 

products to generate Rs 30 

billion in the remaining four 

POLICE survey the site of a railway line destroyed in an explosion in Karachi yesterday. 

Blasts damage rail tracks in Sindh 

New cabinet unveiled, 

many ministers retained 

rachi early morning, causing damage to the 

tracks,” senior police officer Chaudhry Asad 

said, adding that train services were suspended 

and repair work had begun. 

About 30 minutes later two more blasts 

damaged railway tracks near Hussainabad 

area in Hyderabad, Pakistan Railways official 

Aftab Memon said. 

Two additional blasts on tracks were reported 

between Nawaz Dahri and Sarhari 

Railway Stations in Nawabshah district and 

another two in Mehrabpur area, he said, adding: 

“All these blasts were similar in nature.” 

— Internews 

KARACHI — The Pakistani 

advertising industry is expected 

to grow by a whopping 

20 per cent in 2011, which is 

higher than the global average, 

said Pakistan Advertisers 

Society (PAS) Chairman Aly 

Mustansir. 

The PAS chairman said 

the local advertising industry 

had spent Rs 28 billion in 

2010, which marked a 460 

per cent rise in expenditure 

as compared to 10 years ago, 

when the industry used to 

allot a mere Rs 4-5 billion for 

advertisements. 

This also includes both 

print and electronic media, 

according to the Society. 

The Pakistan Advertisers 

Society announced the launch 

of their first Advertising 

Awards 2011 to be held in 

May, Mustansir said. 

“As the media expands 

state broadcaster Pakistan Television 

(PTV), which broadcast 

the ceremony live. 

Conspicuous absences from 

the new line-up include former 

foreign minister Shah Mahmood 

Qureshi, information 

minister Qamar Zaman Kaira 

and minister for water and 

power Raja Parvaiz Ashraf. 

Government sources said 

Qureshi was offered a lowprofile 

ministry in an apparent 

move by the Prime Minister 

Yusuf Raza Gilani to reduce 

his influence, but refused. 

Gilani and Qureshi have 

historically been rivals, despite 

both hailing from Multan city 

in the province of Punjab, and 

both being members of the ruling 

Pakistan Peoples Party. 

Qureshi was also a favourite 

for the position of prime 

minister after 2008 elections, 

months of the current fiscal. 

On top of that, it plans to 

generate about Rs 8 billion 

by withdrawing sales tax exemptions 

currently available 

to several sectors, including 

fertilisers, pesticides and 

pharmaceutical, through statutory 

regulatory orders. 

The sources said the Pakistan 

Railways and Pakistan 

International Airlines had 

together demanded a capital 

injection of about Rs 49 billion, 

but the government had 

decided to restrict these injections 

to about Rs 30 billion. 

The power sector had 

sought Rs 250 billion in 

subsidies, including previous 

year’s carryover burden 

of about Rs 145 billion. The 

and more channels and newspapers 

get introduced, the 

reach of advertisements also 

widens,” he said. 

Mustansir said the highest 

rise in advertisements 

had been from the telecom 

industry. 

“Fifty per cent of the gross 

domestic product (GDP) will 

shrink if advertisements are 

stopped so their importance 

in the economy cannot be 

ignored,” he opined. 

The PAS chairman said in 

the past five to seven years, 

advertising has become so 

important that corporate firms 

have separate media planning 

departments to deal with 

them. 

Asked whether PAS 

acts as a watchdog for the 

advertisements before they 

are aired, Mustansir said they 

have considered doing that 

but was passed over by Zardari, 

also co-chairman of the 

party, in favour of Gilani. 

The decision to dissolve 

the cabinet was taken after 

the main opposition party Pakistan 

Muslim League-Nawaz 

demanded that the government 

reduce non-development expenditure 

by cutting its size. 

The move was also widely 

interpreted as a conciliatory 

gesture by the government, 

which wields only a slight majority. 

By giving into some opposition 

demands, the Pakistan 

People’s Party is said to 

be hoping to avert attempts 

to destabilise the government 

further. The country’s feeble 

economy was battered by devastating 

floods last year that 

inflicted nearly $10 billion in 

damage. — dpa 

government has so far provided 

about Rs 95 billion to it 

and plans to freeze it at about 

Rs 120 billion. 

The sources said the power 

tariff would be increased 

through withdrawal of crosssubsidies. 

With all these measures, 

the government expects to restrict 

the consolidated fiscal 

deficit to about 5.4 per cent 

or even lower. 

The government recently 

informed political parties that 

business as usual could lead 

the fiscal deficit to about eight 

per cent of GDP or about Rs 

1.37 trillion and sought their 

support for drastic corrective 

measures to meet international 

obligations. — Internews 

PM happy over resumption 

of dialogue with India 

ISLAMABAD — Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has 

expressed his satisfaction over the important decision taken by 

Pakistan and India to resume full spectrum of dialogue. 

“Secretary Foreign Affairs has submitted report on dialogue 

between Pakistan and India at Thimphu and I am satisfied with 

this development. It is the result of my negotiations with Dr 

Manmohan Singh,” he said. 

In a brief interaction with the media after a meeting with 

Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, who presented him a report 

on his meeting with his Indian counterpart at Thimphu, the 

prime minister said this decision is exactly according to the 

spirit of understanding arrived at during his interaction with Dr 

Manmohan Singh at Thimphu. 

“I value this development and pay my compliments and 

good wishes to Dr Manmohan Singh,” he added. 

Prime Minister Gilani approved the outcome of the Pakistan-India 

foreign secretary-level talks and said this constituted 

a culmination of the efforts made by him along with Prime 

Minister Dr Manmohan Singh during the last few months and 

most notably during Saarc Summit at Thimphu in April last 

year. 

Unemployment on the rise 

ISLAMABAD — The unemployment rose in Pakistan to 3.05 

million that mainly concentrated in rural areas and in womenfolk 

in fiscal year 2009-10 as against 2.93 million in the preceding 

year. 

Ironically, it happened at a time when the Pakistan People’s 

Party (PPP) government was in office that had won the elections 

on the manifesto of providing “Roti, Kapra Aur Makan” 

(food, clothing and shelter). 

The unemployment ratio stood at 5.6 per cent during 2009- 

10, says the Labour Force Survey (LFS) released by the Statistics 

Division. A copy of the LFS 2009-10 was presented to 

Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani during the ceremony 

on Population Census 2011. — Internews 

Advertising industry expects 

20 per cent growth this year 

but haven’t got the resources 

to do so as yet. 

“We are also very much 

aware that many organisations 

in the Middle East and 

other countries follow such 

practices and we are also 

studying them, but we haven’t 

got anything in the pipeline,” 

he stated. 

He, however, said that 

PAS does keep a look out for 

advertisements that might be 

misleading or unethical, and 

then issues them a warning 

or asks the firm running the 

advertisement to discontinue 

them with aid. 

Mustansir said PAS takes 

ethical practices within the 

industry very seriously and 

one of their main objectives 

is to see that as the industry 

expands, ethical practices are 

not compromised. 

— Internews

China online drive 

targets kidnappers 

BEIJING — China’s government 

has ordered a renewed 

crackdown on child abductions 

after an online effort to 

reunite parents with their lost 

children spotlighted the festering 

problem. 

In a notice issued late on 

Thursday, the Public Security 

Ministry said it ordered police 

nationwide to step up efforts 

to “resolutely prevent such 

crimes from occurring”. 

Earlier this week, a Chinese 

microblog account made 

waves by successfully helping 

a young father find his sixyear-old 

son, who was kidnapped 

three years earlier. At 

least six other children have 

been similarly rescued, reports 

said. 

The microblog, set up on 

leading portal Sina.com by a 

professor known for championing 

the rights of China’s 

huge underclass, encourages 

people to snap pictures of 

child beggars and orphans and 

upload them to the site. 

Chinese microblogging 

services allow users to send 

140-character messages similar 

to those seen on Twitter. 

Unlike Twitter, however, 

microblog users in China also 

can embed photos in a posting. 

The episode has underlined 

the rapidly growing power of 

the online community to influence 

government actions 

in areas such as abductions, a 

problem that state media say is 

linked to China’s “one-child” 

Vietnam to 

stockpile 1m 

tonnes of rice 

HANOI — Vietnam, the 

world’s second-largest rice 

exporter, plans to stockpile 1 

million tonnes of rice to help 

sustain the market for farmers 

amid low prices, authorities 

said yesterday. 

Truong Thanh Phong, 

chairman of Vietnam Food 

Association said the plan 

was agreed between the association 

and its members. 

Exporters have not been 

eager to buy rice from farmers 

because they have signed 

few contracts with importers, 

so the price of rice has 

been low as farmers in the 

Mekong Delta begin harvesting. 

Under the association’s 

plan, exporters would begin 

buying and the price would 

increase. 

Those companies are to 

offer prices that would allow 

farmers to make a profit of at 

least 30 per cent, Phong said. 

Vietnam’s biggest rice 

importer, the Philippines, 

has not signed any contracts 

with Vietnam this year. 

However, the country, which 

has imported 1.5 million 

to 2 million tonnes of Vietnamese 

rice in recent years, 

was expected to again buy at 

least 1.5 million tonnes this 

year, the association said. 

Instead of focusing its 

exports on the Philippines, 

Vietnam has signed contracts 

with Indonesia and 

Bangladesh, which allowed 

Vietnam to export 485,000 

tonnes of rice in January, up 

36 per cent from the same 

month last year, the association 

said. — dpa 

policy. 

The traditional preference 

for a male heir to carry on the 

family name remains strong in 

China, and the population-control 

policy has contributed to 

kidnappings by families desperate 

for boys, reports say. 

The police ministry ordered 

law-enforcement officials 

around the country to work 

closely with other government 

agencies in a “concerted and 

multi-pronged approach to 

step up the crackdown and rescue 

work, and protect the legal 

rights and interests of minors”. 

It also told police to obtain 

DNA samples of young beggars 

on the street whose origins 

were unknown and enter them 

into a nationwide database. 

Hopeful parents of missing 

children have seized on the microblog, 

which had more than 

200,000 followers as of yesterday 

— up from 150,000 just a 

day before. 

The account was set up in 

late January by Yu Jianrong, 

a professor of rural development, 

and a frequent critic of 

government indifference to the 

needs of China’s huge working 

class and rural farmers. 

Abductions and human 

trafficking have become serious 

public concerns after a 

string of revelations, including 

a shocking 2007 scandal 

in which thousands were 

forced into slave labour in 

brick yards and mines across 

the nation. — AFP 

9ASIA 



THAI nationalists ‘Yellow Shirts’ protest outside the Government House in Bangkok yesterday. Thousands of protesters gathered in 

downtown Bangkok in protest of the government’s handling of a deadly border dispute with neighbouring Cambodia. — AFP 

Thai constitution amendments smooth way to polls 

BANGKOK — Thailand’s parliament yesterday 

approved constitutional amendments that 

the prime minister had set as a condition for 

early elections, as protesters gathered in Bangkok 

to demand his resignation. 

The legislation, approved by 347 to 37 votes, 

includes a switch to a single-seat constituency 

system from multiple seats, and an increase in 

the number of lawmakers elected through party-list 

proportional representation. 

Under the new system, there will be 375 

constituency-based members of parliament and 

125 from party lists. 

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has said the 

amendments to the charter — introduced fol- 

HIGH school students who defected from North Korea take a photograph before their 

graduation ceremony at the Hangyeore Middle and High School in Anseong, about 80 

km south of Seoul, yesterday. Forty-three students graduated from the school, which 

was built to educate North Korean teen defectors, five days before their former leader 

Kim Jong-Il’s birthday. They will go on to college or find employment. — Reuters 

Seoul investigates scam 

over anti-aircraft guns 

SEOUL — South Korea’s defence 

ministry is investigating 

a US arms dealer and its local 

agency for supplying substandard 

parts for anti-aircraft 

guns safeguarding Seoul’s 

skies, news reports said yesterday. 

The investigation followed 

complaints by the army that 

some of the Oerlikon 35 mm 

twin cannons had defective 

barrels, Yonhap news agency 

said. 

Out of the 72 barrels on 36 

Oerlikons deployed to guard 

key sites including the presidential 

office, 49 turned out to 

be sub-standard, Yonhap and 

Hankook Ilbo newspaper said. 

The barrels tend to crack 

when the guns are fired, the 

reports said, adding the army 

is now replacing them with locally 

developed barrels. 

A defence ministry spokesman 

said police were investigating 

the “arms provision 

fraud” case but declined to 

give details. 

The reports said a US 

dealer signed a contract in 

1998 with South Korea’s arms 

procurement agency to import 

barrels for the anti-aircraft 

guns by 2003. 

Malaysia charges 7 Somalis 

for piracy in Asian first 

KUALA LUMPUR — A Malaysian court yesterday 

charged seven suspected Somali pirates 

for firing at Malaysian forces in a raid, under 

laws that carry the death penalty. 

Malaysia became the first nation in Asia to 

lay charges against suspected Somali pirates, 

as part of growing legal moves around the 

world to deal with the piracy crisis off lawless 

Somalia which has surged in recent years. 

Three of the accused brought to Malaysian 

court yesterday are just 15 years old and if 

found guilty would not face death penalty. 

Looking calm, the young men dressed in 

orange jump suits and with their hands cuffed 

behind their backs were brought under heavy 

security into a packed courtroom. 

They were charged with firing at members 

of the Malaysian armed forces while committing 

a robbery, with the intention to cause death 

or injury, in the January 20 raid. They did not 

enter a plea. 

The seven have been held on remand in 

Malaysia since January 31, when they arrived 

on board the tanker MT Bunga Laurel, which 

was seized by pirates along with its crew of 23 

on January 20. 

On the historic decision to charge the pirates, 

prosecutor Mohamad Abazafree Mohamad 

Abbas said Malaysia had the jurisdiction 

to put the pirates on trial since the their alleged 

actions had threatened the security of Malaysians. 

The attorney-general, the government’s 

top lawyer, was empowered to lay charges 

under Malaysian laws against anyone that “affects 

the security of Malaysia” and “against the 

citizens of Malaysia,” he said. 

“By virtue of this, we have jurisdiction to 

try them,” Abazafree said, adding that the prosecution 

was confident that it had a strong case. 

“The fact we charge them, I believe we 

have a good case,” he told reporters. 

The MT Bunga Laurel was bound for Singapore 

with a cargo of lubricating oil worth more 

than $10 million when raiders armed with AK- 

47 assault rifles boarded and took control of 

the ship. — AFP 

However, its South Korean 

agency allegedly arranged for 

an unqualified local firm to 

make sub-standard gun barrels, 

ship them to Hong Kong 

and import them back to the 

country as apparently authentic 

products. 

The scam earned millions 

of dollars, Yonhap and Hankook 

Ilbo newspaper said. 

“The investigation will also 

look into allegations of bribery 

involving local procurement 

officials,” an unidentified defence 

ministry official was 

quoted as saying. — AFP 

lowing a 2006 coup and approved in a referendum 

the following year — are necessary before 

parliament can be dissolved for snap polls. 

Abhisit said on Wednesday he would call a 

vote in the first half of this year if there was no 

fresh political violence. 

The British-born, Oxford-educated head of 

the establishment Democrat Party, who came 

to power in 2008 through a parliamentary vote, 

must call an election by the end of this year, 

when his term finishes. 

Mass protests in April and May of last year 

by the “Red Shirt” movement, which is broadly 

loyal to fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, 

left 90 people dead in street clashes be- 

tween demonstrators and the army. 

The Reds, who where campaigning for immediate 

elections, have held a series of peaceful 

one-day rallies in the capital in recent weeks. 

Rival “Yellow Shirt” nationalist activists 

meanwhile have been rallying near Government 

House calling for Abhisit to step down 

over his handling of a deadly border dispute 

with Cambodia. 

Several thousand Yellows gathered in Bangkok 

yesterday, easily outnumbered by police 

officers. 

The cabinet on Tuesday agreed to invoke the 

Internal Security Act in Bangkok to cope with 

renewed political rallies in the capital. — AFP 

Russia, Japan fail to 

quell islands row 

MOSCOW — The crisis talks between 

Russia and Japan over four 

Pacific islands ended in acrimonious 

failure yesterday when Tokyo reaffirmed 

its claim on the chain and Moscow 

accused its neighbour of extreme 

behaviour. 

The two-hour meeting between 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov 

and his Japanese counterpart 

Seiji Maehara was marked by an icy 

atmosphere and indications of an increasingly 

tense stalemate in the Kuril 

Islands dispute. 

Japan slapped down a Russian 

proposal to form a joint commission 

to help resolve the crisis and the two 

diplomats notably failed to discuss a 

mooted visit to Moscow by Japanese 

Prime Minister Nato Kan. 

“We could not bridge our differences,” 

the Japanese foreign minister 

said flatly after talks that included 

a brief but unscheduled one-on-one 

meeting with Lavrov. 

The difficult talks opened with the 

two delegations staring coldly at each 

other from opposite sides of a long 

table and Lavrov telling Maehara in a 

stern voice that he found Japan’s recent 

actions unacceptable. 

“To be honest, I expected to receive 

you in Moscow against a better backdrop,” 

a stern-looking Lavrov said as 

he opened the talks. 

“Your visit comes against the background 

of a series of completely unacceptable 

actions,” he added. 

The meeting followed a tense week 

in which the Japanese prime minister 

called Russian President Dmitry 

Medvedev’s November visit to the 

islands an “unforgivable outrage” and 

a bullet was mailed to Moscow’s Embassy 

in Tokyo. 

Medvedev has responded by calling 

the Kurils an “inseparable” part of 

Russia and vowing to strengthen the 

archipelago’s defences. 

Yesterday’s negotiations not only 

failed to make any headway but also 

suggested that the two sides were running 

out of ideas about how to overcome 

their dispute. 

They ended with the two diplomats 

sitting side-by-side in a frosty joint 

press conference in which Maehara 

wore a stony expression and Lavrov 

read through a list of complaints 

against Japan. 

“When radical positions are 

adopted in Japan..., and this happens 

sometimes, and they are shared by the 

leaders of the country, then of course 

any kind of dialogue has no chance,” 

Lavrov said. 

Maehara responded that the islands 

— known in Japan as the Northern 

Territories — were his country’s historic 

territory. 

“The Northern Territories are ageold 

Japanese territory,” he said. “This 

can be said from the point of view of 

history, and from the point of view 

taken on the international level,” he 

said. 

Maehara had not been invited to 

see either Medvedev or Prime Minister 

Vladimir Putin. 

The decades-long impasse has prevented 

the signature of a formal peace 

treaty and kept Japanese investments 

to a minimum in Russia’s under-developed 

Far East. 

Russia yesterday suggested forming 

a “historical commission” that 

could rule on which country ultimately 

owned the chain. 

But Maehara quickly responded 

that he did not think that such a commission 

would be “very useful.” 

The two sides had used previous 

meetings to gloss over the dispute and 

focus on more immediate trade relations 

in the Pacific region. — AFP 

PEOPLE watch smoke billowing from Shinmoedake peak, a mountain in the Kirishima volcanic range 

between Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures, in southern Japan yesterday. — Reuters 

NEWS IN BRIEF 

UN mission to probe 

N Korea food needs 

UN food agencies have begun a mission 

to North Korea to assess the food 

security situation after a particularly 

harsh winter and amid a sharp rise in 

global food prices, UN officials said. 

The mission comes after a visit by 

the World Food Programme (WFP) and 

the Food and Agriculture Organisation 

(FAO) last year that found that an 

estimated five million people in the 

secretive state face food shortages in 

2011. 

“We have a joint food assessment 

mission with the FAO which started 

yesterday and is to continue until March 

6,” said Greg Barrow, a spokesman for 

the WFP. 

A UN official said the mission could 

lead to the launch of a WFP emergency 

operation in April to help millions of 

people at risk of hunger, including 

children and mountain region residents. 

Seoul court rejects suit 

against Lehman Bros 

A SEOUL court yesterday ruled in 

favour of Lehman Brothers International 

Europe in a damages suit filed by a South 

Korean firm to recoup lost investments in 

LBIE’s collapsed Dutch subsidiary. 

Korea Investment and Securities went 

to court last year seeking $314 million 

it lost investing in credit derivatives 

sold by the Dutch unit Lehman Brothers 

Treasury (LBT), which went bankrupt 

in 2008, at the beginning of the global 

financial crisis. The Korean firm claimed 

LBIE had an obligation to pay the soured 

debts. It said LBT was merely a paper 

company working for LBIE and LBIE 

was the real issuer of the derivatives. 

The court rejected the appeal saying 

it was “difficult to see LBIE as LBT’s 

parent company exercising complete 

control over LBT”. 

Japan emperor diagnosed 

with arteriosclerosis 

JAPAN’S emperor was diagnosed with 

arteriosclerosis, but his condition was not 

life threatening, officials said yesterday. 

Emperor Akihito would receive 

medication, but he would be able to 

continue his official duties, the Imperial 

Household Agency said. 

The 77-year-old emperor underwent 

a coronary artery test after symptoms 

of cardiac ischemia, a condition caused 

by an insufficient supply of blood to the 

heart, were detected in late January. 

The emperor underwent an operation 

for prostate cancer in 2003. 

Akihito, the nation’s 125th emperor, 

acceded to the throne after the death of 

his father Hirohito in 1989. 

Aids activist sentenced 

to one year in prison 

CHINA sentenced an Aids activist to one 

year in prison yesterday after convicting 

him of “intentional destruction of 

property” during a row at a hospital, his 

lawyer said. 

Tian Xi, 23, said he planned to 

appeal against the sentence by the 

Xincai County People’s Court in the 

central province of Henan, lawyer Liang 

Xiaojun said. 

“His health is still weak but his spirit 

is good,” Liang said after seeing Tian at 

the court. Tian needs daily medication 

after he contracted Aids from an infected 

blood transfusion following an accident 

when he was 10 years old. 

Fears for man who 

filmed mob attack 

AN Indonesian man who risked his life 

to film a mob brutally lynching members 

of his sect is in grave danger and has 

gone into hiding, rights activists said. 

The harrowing video of Sunday’s 

attack shocked the nation and graphically 

illustrated rising levels of intolerance and 

violence. 

“There was a warning from the 

national police detective that if the 

man appears in public, his life could 

be in danger,” National Human Rights 

Commission deputy chairman Joseph Adi 

Prasetyo said. 

The commission cancelled a press 

conference with the man, identified only 

as a civil servant called Arif, due to the 

unspecified threats. Arif was seen being 

led away to secure location wearing dark 

sunglasses. 

HK trio get life for 

gangland murder 

THREE Hong Kong triad members have 

been jailed for life for the grisly murder 

of a crime boss who was rammed by a 

vehicle and then hacked to death outside 

a luxury hotel, a court said yesterday. 

A spokeswoman for the High Court 

confirmed the verdict and said two other 

triad members were acquitted. 

The court heard the brutal August 

2009 murder was revenge for the victim 

smashing a gangster’s face with a bottle 

during a brawl. 

A jury convicted Lee Wan-kong, Lo 

Chin-wang and Lee Chun-kong — all 

members of the Wo Shing Wo triad — of 

killing the 41-year-old boss of the rival 

Sun Yee On triad, Lee Tai-lung.

NEWS IN BRIEF 

‘Resumption of talks a 

conscious decision’ 

INDIA yesterday said its move to resume 

talks with Pakistan on all outstanding 

issues was a “conscious decision” but 

made it clear that it expected Islamabad 

to take steps to bring to justice the 

perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai 

carnage. 

“It is a conscious decision that was 

made,” Krishna, who touched down in 

New York on Thursday on a two-day 

visit, said. 

“We will have to sort out all the 

outstanding issues between our two 

countries,” said Krishna. 

“We are hopeful the talks between the 

foreign secretaries will go in a direction 

that is positive and pave the way for a 

bigger meeting (between the foreign 

ministers) whenever that will be,” he 

stressed. 

Delhi doctors remove 7 kg 

tumour from woman 

AN ovarian tumour weighing 7 kg was 

successfully removed by doctors in a 

city hospital in a four-hour long surgery, 

hospital officials said yesterday. 

The 45-year-old woman was 

admitted to the Action Cancer Hospital 

in Paschim Vihar area of west Delhi Jan 

27 following complaints of abdominal 

distension and the doctors detected the 7 

kg, 10-inch tumour. 

“A team of doctors headed by S 

K Das, senior consultant of Gynae- 

Oncology, performed the surgery” the 

official said. 

“The surgery was done without a 

break and the patient was discharged six 

days later,” Das said. 

Goa’s 4-day carnival to 

begin on March 5 

GOA’S four-day carnival fiesta, which 

will see thousands taking to the streets 

to the tune of music, will kick off March 

5, Panaji Mayor Carolina Po announced 

yesterday. 

Po said a committee had been set up 

to organise the festival. 

“Preparations are in full swing. 

Various cultural programmes are being 

chalked out. The famous King Momo’s 

Parade will be held March 5 in Panaji 

with great pomp and fervour,” Po said. 

The festival, which involves a 

public celebration in the form of long 

continuous parades of gaily coloured 

floats, with dancers, is led by King 

Momo or king of the carnival. 

‘West Bengal govt not 

delaying Darjeeling talks’ 

WEST Bengal Governor M K 

Narayanan yesterday backed the state 

government saying it was not responsible 

for delaying the dialogue process in the 

Darjeeling hills. 

Asked if the government was 

deliberately delaying the process, 

Narayanan said: “It’s certainly not the 

case. There are issues but I don’t think 

the state government can be accused of 

delaying the process.” 

Describing as “bad” the situation in 

the Darjeeling Hills, made up of subdivisions 

Darjeeling, Kalimpong and 

Kurseong, Narayanan said the talks have 

to go on between the state government, 

the central government and the Gorkha 

Janamukti Morcha (GJM). 

CBI arrests Suresh 

Kalmadi aide in Pune 

THE Central Bureau of Investigation 

(CBI) yesterday arrested Shekhar 

Deorukhkar, officer on special duty to 

then Commonwealth Games (CWG) 

Organising Committee chairman Suresh 

Kalmadi, officials said. 

“He has been arrested today (Friday) 

afternoon from Pune and would be taken 

to a CBI special court and we will bring 

him to Delhi by tomorrow (Saturday) on 

transit remand,” CBI Deputy Inspector 

General Vinita Thakur said. 

The October 3-14 Commonwealth 

Games held last year in New Delhi 

were clouded by allegations of financial 

irregularities and corruption. 

The government sacked Suresh 

Kalmadi and Games organising 

Committee secretary general Lalit 

Bhanot on January 24 from their posts 

following the allegations. 

Sensitisation training in 

judicial academies soon 

IN an effort to sensitise the judiciary, the 

women and child development ministry 

is working with the law ministry to 

introduce a gender sensitisation training 

module in judicial academies soon. 

Talking about the initiative, 

Sangeeta Verma, economic advisor 

to the women and child development 

ministry said: “Gender sensitisation of 

the judiciary is very important for speedy 

and effective trial of cases where a 

woman has been a victim of violence and 

harassment”. 

“Therefore, we are working with 

the law ministry to introduce a gender 

sensitisation training module in the 

judicial academies. Something similar 

is being thought for in police training 

schools,” she added. — IANS 

By Ashraf Padanna 

KOCHI — Prime Minister Dr 

Manmohan Singh yesterday said 

the Rs 62.5 billion international 

container transshipment terminal 

in this Kerala port city would turn 

the region into a major investment 

hub for the Gulf region. 

Dedicating the first phase 

of the project to the nation on 

the premises of the port developed 

by the Dubai Ports 

World on a 33-year concession, 

he said it would be an enduring 

symbol of the close ties 

India wishes to build with its 

extended neighbours in West 

Asia, particularly the United Arab 

Emirates. 

“I take this opportunity to 

extend a very warm welcome to 

our honoured guests from UAE,” 

he said welcoming deputy chairman 

of Dubai Executive Council 

and chairman of the Dubai World 

Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum 

and UAE Minister of Foreign 

Trade Shaikha Lubna bint 

Khalid Al Qasimi. 

The UAE is the top Gulf trading 

partner of India representing 

about 60 percent of India’s exports 

to Gulf Cooperation Council 

(GCC) countries and the total 

trade is estimated at $43 billion in 

2009-10. The ICTT is one of the 

first and major UAE investments 

in India. 

“This flagship project symbolises 

the keen interest of the 

UAE in investing in India and 

in promoting stronger business 

and people-to-people relationship 

between our two countries. 

Kerala with its huge diaspora of 

skilled and enterprising workers, 

engineers, doctors and other 

professionals is ideally suited to 

become the gateway for these investments,” 

Shaikh Ahmed said. 

10 INDIA 



POLICE detain Bashir Ahmad Bhat, a senior leader of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation 

Front (JKLF), during a protest march in Srinagar yesterday. — Reuters 

Kashmir sees separatist shutdown 

SRINAGAR — Markets, banks and 

businesses were closed yesterday in 

Kashmir during a shutdown called 

to mark the anniversary of the death 

of a separatist leader. 

The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation 

Front (JKLF) made the strike 

call in memory of its founder Mohammad 

Maqbool Bhat, who was 

hanged in a New Delhi jail in 1984. 

Bhat was given the death sentence 

after being found guilty of 

killing an Indian intelligence official 

and conspiring to murder an 

Indian diplomat. 

Government troops erected barricades 

and placed barbed wire on 

key roads in Srinagar to prevent ral- 

lies and protests. 

Five JKLF activists were also 

detained by police while trying to 

organise a protest march in the city, 

officials said. Restrictions were in 

force in other towns in the Kashmir 

Valley, where shops and private offices 

shut down and public transport 

was not running. — dpa 

Pawar regrets nephew 

Ajit’s media gag remark 

KOLHAPUR (Maharashtra) — 

Nearly a week after Maharashtra 

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar 

suggested a gag on the media, 

his uncle and union Agriculture 

Minister Sharad Pawar yesterday 

expressed “regrets” over the remarks. 

“Any leader of the Nationalist 

Congress Party (NCP) does such a 

thing, the party will not endorse it. It 

is not the party’s policy,” Pawar told 

reporters during his two-day trip to 

western Maharashtra. 

He suggested the formation of a 

committee comprising senior mediapersons 

like Kumar Ketkar and 

Arun Sadhu to examine the entire 

episode. 

“If any wrong has been done, 

then we shall apologise,” Sharad 

Pawar said. 

The media in Mumbai responded 

shortly thereafter by agreeing to 

bury the hatchet vis-à-vis the Pa- 

BANGALORE — The growing list of billionaires 

in India is an enticing prospect for executive jet 

makers seeking to recover from a slump in demand 

caused by the global financial crisis. 

Prominent among exhibitors at the ongoing 

Aero India 2011 air show in Bangalore were 

manufacturers such as US-based Gulfstream 

and Brazil’s Embraer — both hoping to seduce 

corporate high-flyers with their luxury private 

planes. 

The global private jet market had a hard landing 

in 2008-09, with jet prices plunging by up to 30 per 

cent and actual flying time falling by an estimated 

40 per cent. 

But India’s fast-growing economy minted 17 

new billionaires in 2010, driving the total to a 

wars and lifted the state-wide ban 

on covering the events of both Chief 

Minister Prithviraj Chavan and his 

deputy Ajit Pawar. 

The Patrakar Halla Virodhi Kruti 

Samiti boycotted Chavan’s weekly 

media briefing on Thursday. 

“We are ending the ban after 

Sharad Pawar’s regrets. However, 

we shall still hold the state-wide 

agitation on February 15 (Tuesday), 

seeking enactment of suitable laws 

to protect mediapersons from all 

types of attacks,” an office-bearer 

for the Samiti said. 

The media ban on Ajit Pawar 

became an embarrassment for the 

NCP, especially since it was followed 

by Sharad Pawar’s own outburst 

against the media Thursday in 

Satara. 

“When the onion prices shot up, 

I was blamed. Now, when the onion 

rates have plummetted, I am being 

held responsible. I must be careful 

now with the media,” Sharad Pawar 

said. 

Pune mediapersons boycotted 

the function attended by Ajit Pawar 

and held in honour of Bharat Ratna 

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, who passed 

away in Pune last month. 

Assembled journalists, sporting 

black ribbons, downed their pens 

while the electronic media switched 

off their television cameras when 

Ajit Pawar came on the dais to 

speak. 

Last week, at a function in Nanded, 

Ajit Pawar attacked the media 

and alleged it was reporting untruths 

and half-truths. He suggested a gag 

on those indulging in such journalism 

and caning of such scribes. 

A media delegation has met 

Governor K Sankaranarayanan, 

protesting Ajit Pawar’s 

remarks and demanding enactment 

of laws to prevent attacks on the 

media. — IANS 

record 69, according to Forbes magazine’s list of 

the world’s wealthiest individuals. 

The country’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, reportedly 

gifted his wife a $60 million Airbus, complete 

with entertainment cabins and showers, for 

her birthday in 2007. 

Jose Eduardo Costas, vice president of Asia 

sales for Embraer, said the Brazilian firm had a host 

of orders lined up. 

“A private jet is not a Ferrari or a luxury boat. 

It’s a business tool and the market here realises 

that,” he said. 

“Five of our aircraft are already with the government 

and four with private companies, and in the 

next three years we will be making 30 deliveries 

of our jets.” 

PM opens Kochi container trans-shipment terminal 

The DP World built the terminal 

at a cost of around Rs 16 

billion with an annual capacity to 

handle up to one million TEUs 

(twenty foot equivalent units) of 

cargo in the first phase. The federal 

government invested another 

Rs 17 billion to provide road and 

rail connectivity. 

“It is noteworthy that the construction 

of this terminal is the 

centrepiece of a comprehensive 

plan to develop Kochi as an economic 

and logistical hub of our 

TRS party to move 

no-confidence motion 

Challenges TDP to support the move 

HYDERABAD — The Telangana 

Rashtra Samiti (TRS) 

yesterday decided to move a 

no-confidence motion against 

the Congress government in 

Andhra Pradesh during the 

budget session of the state assembly, 

beginning on February 

17. 

TRS chief K Chandrasekhara 

Rao (pictured) 

said the TRS legislature party 

took the decision to table the 

motion and challenged the 

main opposition Telugu Desam 

Party (TDP) to support it. 

Reacting sharply to statements 

by TDP leaders that 

TRS is a branch office of the 

Congress, Rao said the noconfidence 

motion will prove 

“who is branch of Congress”. 

“TDP, which has colluded 

with Congress, is not coming 

forward with no-trust motion 

despite being in a position to 

do so. If they (TDP) have sincerity 

and the guts, let them 

support our motion. This will 

Court rejects 

Maudany’s 

bail plea 

BANGALORE — The Karnataka 

High Court yesterday 

rejected the bail plea of Abdul 

Nasir Maudany, leader 

of the Kerala-based People’s 

Democractic Party and an 

accused in the Banglaore 

blasts case. 

Maudany has been in a 

Bangalore jail since August 

17 last year after his arrest in 

Kerala. 

Justice V Jagannathan 

accepted the state government’s 

plea that it was not 

safe to grant bail to Maudany 

as he was “involved 

in terror activities and most 

witnesses in the case are being 

threatened”. 

The blasts in 2008 killed 

a woman and injured 15 

people. Justice Jagannathan 

said Maudany was free to 

approach the Supreme Court 

with his bail application. 

Gulfstream said there were 17 of its aircraft in 

India by the end of last year, up from just five in 

2001, adding that 12 of them were large-cabin models 

including the G550, which has a range of 12,000 

km. 

“We see great long-term potential in 

the Indian market as infrastructure for 

business aviation expands and government officials 

focus more on this segment,” said Roger Sperry, 

Gulfstream’s senior vice-president for international 

sales. 

According to figures from aviation data firm Jet- 

Net, new business jet deliveries to the wider Asia- 

Pacific region grew from 7.0 per cent of the world 

market in 2007 to 12 percent in 2009. 

JetNet cited India as having the second-largest 

region,” the prime minister said. 

“The absence of a global hub 

port and the lack of transhipment 

facilities had put our trade 

at a disadvantage. Today about 60 

per cent of India’s export and import 

containers are transshipped 

through ports like Singapore and 

Colombo. This trans-shipment 

through ports outside our country 

involves an additional expenditure 

of $300 per container and an 

extra 7-10 days of transit time,” 

he added. 

expose them,” the TRS chief 

told reporters. 

KCR, as Rao is popularly 

known, claimed that his party 

has the requisite strength to 

move the no-confidence motion. 

“Even one member is 

enough to move it,” he said. 

The MP said the TDP leaders, 

who failed to make their 

party chief N Chandrababu 

Naidu write a letter to the 

Srikrishna Committee supporting 

the demand for separate 

statehood to Telangana, 

SC seeks status of 

Afzal mercy plea 

NEW DELHI — The Supreme 

Court yesterday enquired 

about the status of the 

mercy petition of Afzal Guru, 

on death row for his role in 

the 2001 parliament attack. 

The apex court bench of 

Justice Aftab Alam and Justice 

R M Lodha also issued 

notice to the central and Delhi 

governments on a petition 

by Guru seeking his transfer 

from Tihar Jail to a prison in 

Srinagar. 

The court, at the outset, 

enquired about the status of 

the mercy petition. 

The court was told that it 

was pending. At this, the court 

enquired if Afzal Guru or his 

family has got any intimation 

from the government on his 

mercy petition. 

The apex court was told 

that there was no intimation. 

Appearing for the petitioner, 

senior counsel V C Ma- 

He pointed out that the terminal 

will enable exporters access 

to mainline container vessels 

calling at “one of the most well 

located ports in the country. The 

International Trans-shipment 

Terminal in Vallarpadam is thus 

a long awaited milestone in the 

development of our country’s logistics 

infrastructure”. 

Praising Kerala’s visual beauty 

and talent, he said the state already 

leads the country in many 

important social indicators of development 

and wondered why the 

rich human potential, geographical 

location and resources cannot 

be exploited to build Kerala into a 

front ranking industrial state. 

“Kerala should become the 

model for other states to emulate 

and follow,” he said. “Kochi is 

well on its way to becoming an 

important and attractive investment 

destination not only in Kerala 

but for our region as a whole. 

I visualise in the future, the emergence 

of several port based services 

industries in its proximity. I 

also visualise the emergence of 

processing centres that will take 

advantage of the reliable and economical 

logistics to be provided 

by this terminal”. 

Considered to be a milestone 

in India’s maritime business, the 

ICTT was developed with fa- 

were terming TRS as branch 

office of the ruling party. 

After the recent merger 

of Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) 

with Congress, some TDP 

leaders from Telangana had 

predicted that TRS would 

also merge with Congress and 

even termed it as a branch of 

the ruling party. 

TRS has 11 legislators in 

the 294-member assembly 

while TDP has 90 members. 

The no-trust motion will 

be significant as the camp of 

former MP Y S Jaganmohan 

Reddy claims to have support 

of two dozen Congress legislators. 

However, the ruling party 

is confident of defeating the 

no-trust motion as PRP, which 

has 18 legislators, merged 

with it last week. It is also sure 

of getting support from the 

seven-member Majlis-e-Ittehadul 

Muslimeen (MIM). 

Before PRP’s merger, Congress 

had 155 legislators. 

hajan told the court that under 

the rules, a convict should be 

lodged in a jail at the place 

of his residence. He told the 

court that Afzal Guru’s 90year 

old mother, 11-year-old 

son and his wife have to travel 

repeatedly from Srinagar to 

Delhi to meet him. 

Mahajan pleaded that the 

court ask the central government 

to respond to the petition. 

Mahajan told the court that 

the family members of Guru 

incur expenses whenever they 

come to Delhi to meet him. He 

sought the court’s direction to 

the government to reimburse 

their boarding-lodging expenses 

during their visits to 

Delhi to meet Guru. 

Guru was found guilty of 

plotting the December 13, 

2001 parliament attack and 

sentenced to death in 2002. 

— IANS 

Private executive jet makers target country’s super-rich people 

fleet in the region, with 143 business aircraft of all 

sorts — a sign of the country’s growing presence in 

the top-end luxury goods market. 

Cessna Aircraft Co set up shop four years ago 

in Bangalore and industry experts say the Kansasbased 

manufacturer leads its private jet competitors 

in India. 

“India is important to Cessna and the expanding 

economy should soon support a robust business 

aircraft fleet and infrastructure,” said Cessna’s vice 

president for international sales, Trevor Esling. 

He declined to give details of orders the company 

has on hand or the number of planes delivered, 

but said: “By 2025 I would expect India to be in the 

top 10 individual countries for business jet ownership 

outside the United States.” — AFP 

cilities for handling mother container 

ships of 8000 plus TEUs 

capacities and is a state-of-the-art 

terminal with modern cargo handling 

equipment and related super-structures 

with a 1800-metre 

gantry to have an annual throughput 

of three million TEUs in the 

final phase. 

Defence Minister A K Antony, 

Shipping Minister G K Vasan, 

Surface Transport Minister C P 

Joshi, Overseas Indian Affairs 

Minister Vayalar Ravi, Governor 

R S Gavai and Chief Minister V 

S Achuthanandan were among 

the dignitaries who attended the 

function. 

OEL Dubai carrying 400 containers 

became the first vessel to 

berth at the terminal yesterday. 

She was received by Shipping 

Minister G K Vasan, Secretary, 

(Shipping) Mohandas, Port Trust 

Chairman N Ramachandran and 

Mohamed Sharaf, Chief Executive 

Officer, DP World, Dubai, 

Anil Wats, Chief Operating Officer, 

DP World, Dubai Capt. Anil 

Singh, Regional Director, DP 

World, India, K K Krishnadas, 

CEO, India Gateway Terminals 

Private Limited (IGTPL), the 

Indian arm of the DP World and 

other senior officers were present 

at the terminal while berthing the 

first vessel.

MYANMAR pro-democracy activists during a protest in New Delhi yesterday. Burmese 

pro-democracy supporters held a demonstration against the alleged detention of 

34 freedom fighters in Indian jails for the past 13 years. — AFP 

Not returning to Congress, 

says Purno Sangma 

SHILLONG — Nationalist 

Congress Party (NCP) leader 

and former Lok Sabha speaker 

Purno Sangma yesterday said 

he would not return to the 

Congress on political compulsions. 

“I am the monarch of what 

I shall be,” Purno said about 

his political future after some 

of his trusted aides quit the 

NCP and joined the Congress 

Thursday. 

“If others are fools, you 

cannot help it. I cannot be one 

of them,” Purno said about the 

activists’ party switch over. 

Political observers say, 

Purno is stunned by the current 

defection of his party men. 

The defectors include 

Sangma’s most trusted confidants 

Purno K Sangma, 

former chief executive mem- 

ber of Garo Hills Autonomous 

District Council, and Edmund 

K Sangma. They are brothersin-law 

of the former Lok Sabha 

speaker. 

“E K Sangma and Purno 

K Sangma are my very close 

relatives of my family. They 

are the cousins of my wife. 

I could not believe that they 

would cause any problem in 

the (social) family,” Sangma 

said. 

The NCP leader, however, 

accused the Congress for the 

current political instability in 

the state. He said that continuous 

infighting within the Congress 

was depriving the state 

of any development. 

“Whatever is happening in 

the state is shameful. Meghalaya 

has no respect for rule of 

the law. The state is function- 

Jnanpith Award 

presented to ONV 

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM — 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 

yesterday handed over the prestigious 

Jnanpith Award to O N V Kurup 

(pictured) here. 

“This award has established itself 

as the most prestigious literary 

award. 

The works of great authors from 

all languages in our country should 

be made available to all through 

translations,” Manmohan Singh said 

in his address at the Government Women’s College here. 

The 79-year-old poet was named for the award for the year 

2007. 

O N V, as he is popularly known in Kerala and literary circles, 

is the fifth Malayalee writer and the second poet from 

Kerala after late G Sankara Kurup to be named for Jnanpith. 

The other awardees from Kerala were S K Pottekad, Thakazhi 

Siva Sankara Pillai and M T Vasudevan Nair. 

O N V was also named for the Padma Shri in 1998 and 

Padma Vibhushan in 2011. 

Speaking at the function, the poet said: “Anyone who writes 

in any Indian language is an Indian poet and I am more happy 

that my language has got this award. I am honoured that this 

has come through me.” — IANS 

ing completely undemocratically,” 

he said. 

A jubilant Chief Minister 

Mukul Sangma said: “They 

(NCP defectors) have taken 

the right decision to join the 

Congress party and I believe 

they would be able to serve 

the people of the state better.” 

Hinting that more NCP 

members would be joining the 

Congress party in the near future, 

Mukul said, “It is a question 

of like-minded people 

having faith and principle in 

the Congress ideology to join. 

It would happen in the near 

future.” 

However, he made it clear 

that the Congress party has 

not discussed Purno Sangma’s 

return to the Congress party. 

— IANS 

‘ Renewable 

energy is next 

big thing’ 

MUMBAI — Renewable 

energy is set to be the next 

big technology industry, 

with the potential to 

transform the trillion dollar 

energy industry across 

the world, a World Bank 

report said yesterday. 

“Investing in renewable 

energy would enable 

India to develop globally 

competitive industries and 

technologies that can provide 

new opportunities for 

growth,” said Inger Andersen, 

Vice-President of 

World Bank. 

Developing indigenous 

renewable energy sources 

which have low marginal 

cost of generation are 

more economically viable 

in the long run and play an 

important role in increasing 

India’s energy security 

by diversifying supply and 

reducing import dependence, 

says the report. 

Locke terms US trade mission 

to India a ‘resounding success’ 

MUMBAI — Describing it as 

“a resounding success”, US 

Commerce Secretary Gary 

Locke concluded here yesterday 

a six-day trade mission 

that took him to New Delhi, 

Bangalore and Mumbai. 

“This trade mission was a 

resounding success. For some 

companies on our trip, ‘success’ 

was an initial meeting or 

consultation with Indian government 

or business leaders 

that will lead to deals down 

the road,” he said. 

“For others, success was 

more immediate with some 

companies leaving India on 

the cusp of making multimillion 

dollar sales. Either way, 

these companies have made 

important inroads into one of 

the most promising high-technology 

markets in the world,” 

Locke said in his departure 

remarks. 

He said the mission provided 

the US delegation access 

to key Indian public and 

private sector decision makers 

and explore opportunities 

to enter or expand their presence 

in this emerging market. 

Yesterday morning, the 

second day of his visit to the 

country’s commercial capital, 

Locke met the executive 

committee of the US-India 

Importers Council, an initiative 

that supports Indian companies 

importing goods and 

services from the US. 

The mission of the Council 

is to advance President Barack 

Obama’s National Export Initiative 

and to support the efforts 

of Indian companies that 

import products from the US, 

an official said. 

With economic growth estimates 

of about 9.7 per cent 

in 2010, India is a key market 

for the Obama administration’s 

National Export Initiative 

which aims to double US 

exports in five years. 

Later, Locke met S Banerjee, 

secretary in the Department 

of Atomic Energy, and 

S K Jain, chairman of the 

Nuclear Power Corp of India, 

to discuss various aspects of 

the US-India civil nuclear cooperation. 

The meeting was also attended 

by US civil nuclear 

companies. 

“The US is committed to 

greater bilateral commercial 

collaboration and developing 

a strategic partnership with 

India, as evidenced by the 

steps we have take to expand 

defence and high-technology 

trade and implementing 

the export control reforms,” 

Locke pointed out. — IANS 

11 INDIA 



Apex court concerned 

over telephone tapping 

NEW DELHI — What if the Indian 

Army chief’s telephone was 

tapped by a foreign country? The 

Supreme Court yesterday posed 

this question while voicing serious 

concern over the possibility 

of telephones of key government 

functionaries getting tapped on the 

basis of forged documents. 

“Suppose there is an influential 

person who manages to get a letter 

on the interception of the telephone 

of an important person and get the 

call directed to an undesirable person. 

What will be the consequence 

of such an interception?” asked 

Justice G S Singhvi and Justice 

Asok Kumar Ganguly. 

Pointing to a worst case scenario, 

the court observed: “If a person 

gets the number of the Chief of 

Army Staff and gives it to a terrorist 

organisation and with the help of 

a service provider diverts the call to 

a foreign country and gets all information, 

then what will happen?” 

The observations came in the 

wake of the hearing of an application 

by the Centre for Public 

Interest Litigation (CPIL) seeking 

vacation of the court’s 2006 order 

restraining the media from publishing 

former Samajwadi Party leader 

Amar Singh’s tapes based on unauthorised 

interception of his telephones 

— on the strength of forged 

documents. 

The court expressed amazement 

that officials of a service operator 

could allow the interception of the 

telephones on the basis of letters 

that were full of glaring spelling 

and grammatical mistakes. 

The court wondered if officials 

who had dealt with genuine communications 

from Delhi Police and 

Delhi government could distinguish 

between genuine and fake 

communications. 

Apparently piqued over the 

court’s observation implying that 

even the central government was 

in league with others, Additional 

Solicitor General Indira Jaisingh 

told the court that she represented 

the Union of India and was present 

in the court to answer any query by 

the court. 

She objected to the government 

being branded as being in league 

with others. 

Appearing for CPIL, senior 

counsel Prashant Bhushan urged 

the court to vacate its order restraining 

the media from publishing 

the Amar Singh tapes. 

He said the tapes largely concerned 

influence peddling in the 

governance of the country that had 

a direct bearing on the lives of people. 

He said the restrain order was 

against the constitutional rights of 

the people to the right to information. 

He referred to the judgment of 

the apex court and of the federal 

court of America which said that 

national interest and democracy 

could only be strengthened by informed 

citizenry. — IANS 

A DAMAGED passenger bus after an accident at Gandhinagar in Gujarat yesterday. At least 

two people died and 13 others were injured after the passenger bus they were travelling in collided 

with a truck, police said yesterday. — Reuters 

No party wants strong judiciary, 

complains Supreme Court 

NEW DELHI — In a dig at every 

political party, the Supreme Court 

yesterday said that “no government 

wants judiciary to be strong”, and 

cited the paltry allocation of 0.76 

per cent of the national budget for 

the judicial functioning to buttress 

its point. 

Justice G S Singhvi and Justice 

Asok Kumar Ganguly said that 

unless the country had sufficient 

number of courts, “it will take 

four years or more for framing of 

the charges after the filing of the 

charge-sheet and still longer for the 

conclusion of trial”. 

The court said that committee 

after committee was being set up 

to look into the judicial functioning 

but without result. Judge Ganguly 

clarified that the opinion expressed 

by him were personal. 

Referring to the 50 per cent vacancies 

in the courts all over the 

country at all levels, the court said 

the situation may improve if the 

central government raises budget- 

ary allocation. 

But there would still be a shortage 

of good judicial officers to man 

them, the judges said. 

The court noted that it did not 

have enough manpower to man the 

judicial infrastructure. 

“Adjournments have become 

a cancer at all levels” of judicial 

functioning, Justice Singhvi said, 

expressing the court’s anguish over 

the state of affairs in the judiciary. 

The judges moaned that the system 

had become “sick”. 

In a clear demonstration of its 

anxiety to set things right, the court 

said that a stage might come when it 

would have to issue directions to set 

the house in order. 

“We have to issue the direction. 

It may appear unusual but it has to 

be done,” Justice Singhvi said. 

The concerns expressed by the 

court were in continuation of similar 

remarks expressed during the 

last hearing on February 9 when the 

court reminded the Solicitor Gener- 

al Gopal Subramanium of the vision 

document which talked of setting 

up of 15,000 courts to wipe out the 

backlog of cases. 

Saying “Mr Solicitor General, 

we don’t want to embarrass you,” 

the judges reminded him that he 

was one of the authors of the vision 

document that was released with 

great fanfare in October 2009. 

The observations came in the 

wake of the submission by Subramanium 

on the trial of four accused 

in tapping former Samajwadi Party 

leader Amar Singh’s telephones on 

the basis of fabricated authorisation 

letters from police and Delhi government’s 

Home Department. 

The dig came after it was told 

that it took four years to frame 

charges in the Amar Singh case. 

The court is hearing an application 

by the Centre for Public Interest 

Litigation (CPIL) seeking vacation 

of the court’s 2006 order restraining 

the media from publishing Amar 

Singh tapes. — IANS 

US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke (left) wearing a traditional ‘Nehru cap’ during a meeting with 

‘dabbawallahs’ — Mumbai’s famous army of lunchbox delivery men — in Mumbai yesterday. — AFP 

NEWS IN BRIEF 

Mizoram govt campaigns 

for ‘smoking free’ state 

IN a state where more than half of 

the population smokes, the Mizoram 

government yesterday intensified its 

efforts to make the state a “smokingfree” 

zone. 

Mizoram Chief Minister Lal 

Thanhawla said: “The state is slowly 

moving towards becoming a smokingfree 

state.” 

According to state government 

records, Mizoram topped the country 

eight years ago in the consumption of 

tobacco. 

“The state government is giving 

its all out support to the anti-tobacco 

organisations and activists to strictly 

enforce the Control of Tobacco Products 

Act in the state,” the chief Minister 

said after distributing prizes of songwriting 

competition against tobacco 

consumption. 

Court serves notice to 

Orissa on pulses scam 

THE Orissa High court yesterday issued 

notice to the state government, seeking 

its response within ten days, on the 

alleged scam involving the purchase of 

pulses for the mid-day meal scheme and 

the supplementary nutrition programme, 

a lawyer said. 

The court in Cuttack issued the notice 

in response to a public interest litigation 

filed by lawyer and social activist Dilip 

Mohapatra on February 3. 

Chief Justice V Gopal Gouda and 

Justice B N Mohapatra asked the 

government to submit its response within 

ten days, Ashok Mohanty, state advocate 

general, said. 

Two people arrested 

for killing peacocks 

TWO poachers, who had killed two 

peacocks in Ghaziabad, were caught by 

alert farmers yesterday and handed over 

to police, officials said. 

Two men, carrying a sack, were 

passing along a field on the Kuchesar 

Road near Chaupala in Hapur area when 

they were stopped by farmers, who 

suspected the two had stolen potatoes, 

and searched them. 

When the farmers asked the duo to 

open the sack, carcasses of a male and 

female peacock were discovered. 

On seeing this, hundreds of farmers 

working in the field rushed to the spot 

and called the police. 

‘Public-private model is 

needed to build houses’ 

WITH growing urbanisation, there is a 

need for public-private partnerships to 

provide affordable housing to the poor, 

an official said yesterday. 

“Along with the public authorities, 

private players need to come together 

towards providing affordable housing 

with basic amenities,” union Urban 

Development Secretary Navin Kumar 

said yesterday at ‘Sustainable Citycon 

2011’ — a conference on opportunities 

and challenges of urbanisation. 

Between 1991 and 2001, the urban 

population grew by 2.7 per cent annually, 

with the process of urbanisation in 

the country marked by increased 

concentration in comparatively larger 

cities, he said. 

Tirupati temple deposits 

1,175 kg gold with SBI 

INDIA’S richest temple yesterday 

deposited 1,175 kg gold with the State 

Bank of India (SBI) to convert the 

“dead assets” into income earning 

sources. 

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams 

(TTD), which manages the temple’s 

affairs, had last year deposited 1,075 kg 

gold with the SBI. 

TTD officials said the move would 

not only convert the “idle gold” into a 

perennial source of income but would 

also provide security to its assets. 

The TTD Specified Authority 

Chairman J Satyanarayana handed over 

the gold deposits to SBI Hyderabad 

Circle General Manager T S Krishna 

Swamy. The bank official said TTD 

was the highest depositor of gold 

among religious institutions in the 

country. 

Nod for 66 MW hydel 

project in Himachal 

A 66 MW hydropower project being 

developed by the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam 

Limited (SJVNL) in Himachal Pradesh’s 

Hamirpur district has got the nod from 

the central government, a company 

official said yesterday. 

The Dhaulasidh hydroelectric project 

has got the pre-environment clearance 

from the environment and forests 

ministry and would be commissioned by 

2015, project head Sushil Mahajan said 

at a Bharat Nirman public information 

campaign organised at Dehra town in 

Kangra district. 

He said the project, to be constructed 

with an outlay of Rs 4.95 billion, would 

not displace anyone. 

“It would partly affect 41 households 

that have been compensated by the 

company,” he added. — IANS

China’s might 

COMMENTARY By Jonathan Power 

WHY the worry about China’s growing military 

power? It is still miniscule compared with the US 

which spends as much as all the other countries in 

the world combined. Look at a graph of expenditure and you 

will see the US still climbing and almost reaching the top of 

the page while China is at the bottom, hugging the lower axis, 

with a rather small turn up the last few years. 

The worry over China’s home-made Stealth bomber, its 

building of two aircraft carriers and more destroyers, its deployment 

of more submarines have become in some quarters 

emotionally charged. Yet it’s peanuts compared with US power, 

just about good enough to give Taiwan some worry and 

not much more. 

In October 1964, China exploded its first nuclear weapon. 

Then China went on to build a small, unsophisticated 

and highly vulnerable nuclear armoury. For more than three 

decades its modernisation of the force was slow and gradual. 

China believed that even if it was subject to a massive attack 

at least one of its rockets would get off the ground and devastate 

Los Angeles or Moscow. 

This is all that Mao Zedong wanted, and after him Deng 

Xiaoping. Both thought there were better things to do with 

China’s money. Both viewed nuclear weapons as tools for deterring 

an attack and countering coercion, nothing more. Mao 

famously described America’s nuclear weapons as “paper tigers”. 

Even after the two died this remained China’s strategy. 

Only in the mid 1990s did China seek a second strike ability 

which would make it able to withstand an attack and retaliate 

with all its force. It is building rockets that can be moved 

by lorry along the road or railway, making them very hard 

to detect. It is building a nuclear-powered submarine force 

armed with nuclear missiles. 

Some scholars, senior military officers and congressmen 

are arguing that China is moving towards a war-fighting strategy. 

Others point to the challenge that these new forces may 

pose to crisis stability. Most experts believe China’s doctrine 

still remains minimum deterrence. 

How many nuclear weapons are in China’s arsenal? The 

best estimates suggest that a decade after China exploded its 

first nuclear bomb it had 75 nuclear warheads and tens of gravity 

bombs able to be loaded on its bombers. Another decade 

later, after its confrontation with the Soviet Union effectively 

ended, it had around 150 but with only 40 intercontinental 

ballistic missiles. Today it has less — perhaps 120. 

Between 1964 and 1996 (the year it signed the Comprehensive 

Test Ban Treaty — which the US has still not ratified) 

China conducted only 45 nuclear tests, less than 3 per cent of 

the number of tests carried out by the Soviet Union and the 

US. It also says it adheres to the doctrine of “no-first-use” 

unlike the US. 

Moreover, the experts say that China does not have plans 

to significantly expand its nuclear arsenal. It prefers to update 

its ageing rockets which are based on missile technology 

developed in the 1960s and 70s. Gradually it is replacing its 

liquid-fuelled missiles with solid-fuel ones. Solid-fuel rockets 

increase reliability by eliminating the dangerous process 

of fuelling rockets and enhance survivability in case a fuelstorage 

is destroyed in an attack. 

In more than two decades China has not substantially 

changed its nuclear strategy or its force structure. Chinese 

leaders, unlike America’s and Russia’s, have never equated 

the size of their arsenals with China’s national power or prestige. 

By Peter Apps 

HIJACKING oil tankers and 

using captured merchant vessels 

with hostage crews as giant 

motherships, Somali pirates have 

grown bolder, far outpacing a loosely 

co-ordinated global response. Somali 

pirates seized their second oil tanker 

in two days last week, capturing a 

Greek ship carrying Kuwaiti oil to 

the United States after taking an Italian 

oil vessel. 

“The piracy situation is now spinning 

out of control,” said Joe Angelo, 

managing director of industry association 

INTERTANKO. “If piracy in 

the Indian Ocean is left unabated, it 

will strangle... crucial shipping lanes 

with the potential to severely disrupt 

oil flows to the US and the rest of the 

world.” 

Shippers say they may have to 

send ships around Africa at greater 

cost to minimise the risk — but the 

12 

ANALYSIS/OPINION 



World naval buildup failing to stop ship hijacks 

By Nick Tattersall 

NIGERIA’S ruling party may 

be in little doubt that President 

Goodluck Jonathan will 

win April elections, but it faces a 

tougher battle to maintain a strong 

parliamentary majority and wide 

control of local government. 

The People’s Democratic Party 

(PDP) candidate has won every presidential 

race in Africa’s most populous 

nation since military rule ended 

in 1999. History looks set to repeat 

itself after Jonathan’s decisive victory 

in last month’s primaries. 

But many analysts say the PDP, 

which has dominated Nigerian politics 

for more than a decade, could 

lose ground in parliamentary polls 

on April 2 and in state governorship 

polls on April 16, a week either side 

of the presidential vote. 

Opposition to Jonathan — the first 

head of state from the southern Niger 

growing area of pirate operations 

makes avoiding them altogether 

but impossible. Attacks have been 

growing exponentially since 2007 

as young Somalis in small skiffs 

with AK-47s and rocket propelled 

grenades took to the water is to seek 

their fortunes. 

Their first targets were local 

dhows and cargo ships, often UN 

World Food Programme ships delivering 

food to stem the humanitarian 

crisis fed by Somalia’s ongoing instability. 

But despite a growing presence 

from international navies, they 

have since pushed further into the 

Indian Ocean, rendering the entire 

region a “war risk zone” in the eyes 

of insurers. 

“The situation is only going to 

worsen,” says John Drake, a senior 

risk consultant for London-based 

security firm AKE. “With rising ransoms, 

pirates are able to hire more 

men, bribe more officials and wait 

Delta oil region — could manifest itself 

in the outcome of regional polls 

in the north, while the opposition is 

seen extending its control in southwestern 

states around Lagos. 

“The PDP is the only party with 

a truly national footprint so their 

candidate should win the presidential 

elections fairly easily, if opposition 

parties cannot agree a working 

coalition and joint presidential candidate,” 

said Kayode Akindele of 

Lagos-based consultancy Greengate 

Strategic Partners. 

“The real competition could be at 

the sub-presidential level ... At the 

state and national assembly levels the 

opposition parties can leverage off 

their respective regional strengths.” 

Nigeria’s president needs both the 

support of state governors and parliament 

to push through reforms and 

govern with a strong mandate. A poor 

regional showing by the PDP could 

weaken Jonathan’s hand in the next 

longer periods to negotiate.” 

The threat to key supply routes 

has prompted a host of powers including 

Russia, China, India, Japan 

and others to send warships, working 

loosely alongside Western task forces 

including those of the EU, Nato and 

United States. 

Co-ordination 

Co-ordinated through a secure 

Internet chat room and meetings in 

Bahrain, they share some information 

— but largely pursue their own 

strategies. China, Japan, Russia and 

others concentrate mainly on running 

convoys to protect their own 

national shipping, albeit often with 

other hangers on. 

Western navies tend to string 

their ships along with the most heavily 

used shipping lanes, aiming to 

get helicopters to any attacked ship 

within minutes. The EU force frequently 

has ships tied up escorting 

An unfazed ‘iron lady’ 

Headcount By Anya Tsukanova 

By Sunrita Sen 

MILLIONS of primary schoolteachers and other government 

employees started knocking at doors across 

India last Wednesday in what the Census Department 

claims is the world’s biggest headcount. The massive 

exercise is carried out every 10 years, with this year’s involving 

2.7 million census takers. 

According to the 2001 census India had a population of 

1.02 billion. It is estimated to have grown to at least 1.2 billion. 

The provisional results are due to be announced by the 

end of March by Registrar General and Census Commissioner 

C Chandramouli. 

The census takers have to each knock on 124 to 300 doors 

over the next 20 days to cover the country’s 240 million 

households. They will get paid 6,000 rupees ($132) for the 

task. Teachers are favoured as enumerators — the technical 

term for the head-counters — because they have the easiest 

access to households and get better responses when they ask 

personal questions, regarding for example age and sex. 

For the first time India’s census gives its transgender 

residents the option of “other,” alongside the boxes for male 

and female. The first phase of the 2011 census, counting the 

households, was done between April and September 2010. 

The current phase is the population count. 

The third is a controversial caste census, which is opposed 

by several Indian political parties. While supporters say the 

caste data will help affirmative action programmes, critics 

says it would lead to divisive politics. The caste census is being 

done for the first time since 1931 and is scheduled for 

between June and September 2011. 

The figures involved in the population count are mindboggling. 

With a budget of 22 billion rupees, it is to 

cover all citizens in the country’s 7,742 towns and cities, and 

600,000 villages. Chandramouli said the exercise is very costeffective 

with the expenditure per person coming to just 18 

rupees. 

The enumerators will not just count people but collect information 

on their religion, languages spoken, occupation, 

education, standard of living, and other details. The questions 

in the data sheets include the ownership of mobile phones, 

computers, access to drinking water and Internet and whether 

a person has a bank account. 

The data yielded by the census is compiled, collected, 

sorted and published — a process which has so far taken five 

or six years — and is used by administrators, policymakers, 

corporations, researchers and social scientists. 

While the numbers become part of the public domain, the 

information relating to each individual is kept confidential. “It 

is not even accessible to a court of law,” Chandramouli said. 

Data on members of the migrant population will be collected 

at airports, railways stations, ports and bus terminals on the 

night of February 28. 

A second round of counting is scheduled between March 1 

and 5 to cross-check the data. The omissions rate in the Indian 

census is usually around 1.7 per cent, though it did jump to 

2.3 per cent in 2001, which census officials say was because it 

was digitised for the first time. 

The count in some areas may face difficulties, with Maoists 

controlling areas in West Bengal in the east of the country 

and in the central state of Chhattisgarh, the Business Standard 

newspaper reported citing government officials. 

Some primitive tribes on the Andaman and Nicobar island 

chains are considered too hostile to be counted by going doorto-door. 

But the enumerators have a plan to draw them out into 

the open, where they can be counted from a safe distance. 

SHE faces two probes 

into abuse of power that 

could lead to jail terms 

and describes her political 

nemesis as a “bulldozer” determined 

to run her into the 

ground. 

But Ukraine’s former 

prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, 

the “iron lady” of 

Eastern Europe and the most 

charismatic female politician 

to emerge from the ex-Soviet 

Union, insists that she is not 

scared. 

“All authoritarian governments 

are built on fear. It is 

very important to be able to 

cope with fear,” Tymoshenko 

said in an interview at her 

party headquarters. 

Leaving no doubt over 

her political inspirations, 

her office is adorned with a 

small statue of French martyr 

Joan-of-Arc and a photo of 

Tymoshenko with Margaret 

Thatcher. 

A copy of the former British 

prime minister’s memoirs 

The Downing Street Years lies 

in a glass case. 

But Tymoshenko is go- 

ing to have to draw on all her 

strength and guile in her dogfight 

with pro-Kremlin President 

Viktor Yanukovych, who 

defeated her in presidential 

elections last year that ended 

her stint as prime minister. 

Since Yanukovych’s victory, 

two of her former ministers 

have been jailed and one has 

fled abroad, while prosecutors 

charged her with abuse 

of power and banned her from 

leaving Kiev. 

The judicial authorities insist 

they are probing rampant 

corruption that persisted in 

Ukraine after the 2004 Orange 

Revolution popular uprising 

but Tymoshenko insists 

she and her former team are 

the victims of a political vendetta. 

“I want to show that it is 

possible not to fear this machine, 

this bulldozer,” said 

Tymoshenko, her blond hair 

wrapped up in its trademark 

folksy braid on her head. “I 

am not a monster without 

emotion. I have fear like any 

other person. But you can 

master it.” 

If she is jailed, Tymoshenko 

would be no stranger to 

prison after spending some 

40 days in detention in 2001 

on charges of gas smuggling 

which were later quashed and 

she maintains were trumped 

up by former president Leonid 

Kuchma. 

Accusations 

“They want to have me 

condemned for a certain period 

and eliminate me from 

elections,” she said, referring 

to 2012 parliamentary polls 

where the pro-Western opposition 

hopes to stage a comeback. 

Critics have accused Tymoshenko 

of being no more 

than a political chameleon, 

ready to change her allegiances 

and political stripes at will 

to maintain her support. 

Before the presidential 

elections, her supporters had 

even mulled an alliance with 

the party of Yanukovych before 

failing to agree terms. 

Analysts say a new prison 

term could play into the opposition 

leader’s hands as 

it would boost her political 

standing and reinforce her image 

as a martyr. 

Tymoshenko said that the 

administrative term. Local rivalries 

have been at the root of past electoral 

violence in Nigeria and there has already 

been isolated unrest and controversy 

over candidates’ lists for the 

state votes. 

Sectarian violence 

judiciary and the political authorities 

were no longer separated 

in Ukraine and “everything 

has now merged into 

one big truncheon which is in 

the hands of the president.” 

Tymoshenko was a champion 

of the 2004 Orange 

Revolution which brought the 

pro-Western president Viktor 

Yushchenko to power. 

The hopes fizzled out due 

to a severe economic crisis 

and infighting between Tymoshenko 

and her one-time 

ally Yushchenko. Since coming 

to power last February 

Yanukovych has pursued a 

much more cautious line of 

balancing the EU and Russia. 

The former prime minister 

insisted that she had not lost 

her idealism and pro-Western 

credentials. “I live a dream 

— to see a European Ukraine 

in which people will not be 

scared each time a new president 

appears.” 

Even in opposition and with 

the looming threat of prison, 

the 50-year-old Tymoshenko 

maintains her immaculate image, 

appearing in an array of 

designer dresses and without a 

hair out of place. 

Both the PDP and opposition parties 

have complained that some candidates 

on electoral commission lists 

for state elections are not the ones 

they chose. Some have already gone 

to court. 

Rival supporters have clashed at 

campaign rallies in the Niger Delta. 

Sectarian violence in the central 

“Middle Belt”, partly over local political 

power, has killed hundreds 

since December and a governorship 

candidate in the remote northeast 

was gunned down in an attack by a 

radical sect. 

The European Union, which will 

be sending observers to monitor the 

WFP ships into Somali ports. 

But that leaves precious few warships 

out in the wider Indian Ocean, 

now seen the area of greatest risk. 

There, any ship coming under attack 

is much less likely to get military 

support and pirates face much lower 

risk of interception. 

The EU, other navies and insurers 

advise shipowners to sail fast and install 

basic protection such as barbed 

wire to deter boarding or “citadels”, 

armoured panic rooms in which crew 

can shelter from hijackers. 

An increasing number of ships 

carry private security personnel. 

Some firms have even floated the 

idea of providing their own armed 

vessels escort to ships for cash. 

Naval commanders had expected 

a falloff in attacks from December 

with monsoon waves deterring the 

pirates of small boats. Instead, they 

found themselves facing a new surge 

with pirates for the first time using 

By Daria Sito-Sucic 

FURTHER delays in the 

formation of Bosnia’s 

state and regional governments 

following elections 

last October could seriously 

undermine its fragile economy 

and halt already slow 

progress towards European 

integration. 

The political and economic 

stalemate may also 

threaten the wider Balkans, 

where some of Europe’s 

poorest countries all aspire to 

join the European Union. 

“Privatisations are on 

hold, investments are jeopardised, 

there are no budgets 

for social and development 

projects to be launched,” 

said Bakir Izetbegovic, the 

Muslim member of Bosnia’s 

tripartite presidency, who 

serves alongside a Serb and 

a Croat. “We need to form 

governments as soon as possible 

to emerge from stagnation,” 

Izetbegovic said. 

The presidency is the 

only state institution that 

was formed after the October 

presidential and parliamentary 

election. 

A meeting of moderate 

and nationalist party leaders 

on Thursday again failed to 

find a compromise, continuing 

a limbo in which caretaker 

governments cannot make 

strategic decisions or even 

pass 2011 budgets for state 

and regional institutions. 

“Bosnia is sending a bad 

message to foreign investors,” 

said Serb presidency 

chairman Nebojsa Radmanovic. 

“The several month 

delay in the formation of 

authorities is heating up this 

unstable political situation.” 

Rivalry between Bosnia’s 

two regions — the Serb Republic 

and the Muslim-Croat 

federation, has resulted in an 

ongoing international protectorate 

15 years after the 

1992-95 war ended, with an 

international envoy intervening 

to force co-operation. 

The international community 

had hoped the October 

vote would spur EU-related 

reforms and growth in an 

economy which last year 

barely recovered from recession, 

yet deadlock ensued. 

polls, on Thursday urged politicians 

to “avoid hate speech and violence 

during the electoral campaigns” and 

called on the authorities to bring 

those behind unrest to book. 

“Nigeria is a leader on the continent, 

playing a significant role in 

promoting peace, and in regional 

economic growth and development,” 

said Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba, 

deputy secretary general of the Commonwealth, 

which will also monitor 

the vote. “It is crucial that violence 

must be avoided by all means,” 

she said after a visit to Nigeria this 

week. 

The presidential race, at least, 

looks less controversial since Jonathan 

won the ruling PDP primaries by 

a clear margin. His candidacy interrupts 

a PDP pact that power alternates 

between the north and lsouth 

every two terms and there had been 

fears it could split the PDP or trigger 

a presidential race polarised by 

hijacked merchant ships — including 

giant tankers — as motherships 

to push further into the ocean and act 

as a launching pad for new attacks. 

Naval officers and experts say the 

original crews are forced to sail the 

ships at gunpoint. 

Any approach by foreign military 

aircraft or ships leads to the captured 

crews being paraded on deck and 

threatened with execution if forces 

do not withdraw. 

Navies in the region do occasionally 

intervene, particularly when 

their own flagged ships are attacked. 

South Korean commandos retook a 

captured tanker last month days after 

her hijacked, killing eight pirates. 

Indian forces also took control of 

a fishing boat used as a pirate mothership 

close to the Indian coast. 

But experts say storming moving 

ships is fraught with difficulty and 

danger, and some worry over the legal 

complications. 

Bosnia growth 

deadlocked 

“We have two more or 

less equally strong blocks 

but nobody is able to form 

a stable majority,” said one 

Western diplomat. 

Major challenges 

Bosnia’s two regions 

co-exist uneasily under a 

weak central government. In 

the Serb Republic, Serbs are 

dominant and power is concentrated 

in the ruling SNSD 

party so a new government 

was easily formed. 

But in the federation, 

where Muslim and Croat 

nationalist parties have 

traditionally shared power, 

the situation grew more 

complicated after a multiethnic 

party won the vote 

and formed a coalition with 

smaller Croat parties. 

Two main Bosnian Croat 

parties are blocking the 

formation of parliamentary 

upper houses, insisting on 

inclusion in the ruling majority. 

They are seeking political 

support from neighbouring 

Croatia, but the EU candidate 

country is pre-occupied 

with its own economic crisis 

and accession due in 2013 

and does not want to anger 

Brussels by meddling in 

Bosnia. 

Analysts say more delays 

may hurt Bosnia’s growth, 

which the International Monetary 

Fund expects at 2.2 per 

cent this year. “The failure 

to pass and execute budgets 

at the federation and state 

levels by the end of the first 

quarter... will bring about 

negative growth because of 

cuts in public spending and 

investment,” Raiffeisen Bank 

said in a statement. 

Pensioners threaten spring 

protests unless their payments 

are increased and governments 

in both regions face 

dissatisfied war veterans. 

The banking sector recorded 

the first loss last year since 

foreign banks have become 

dominant in the sector and 

foreign direct investment has 

declined. 

Bosnia’s deadlock in 

reforms needed for EU and 

Nato integration is likely 

to continue as there is no 

government to pass necessary 

laws. 

Nigeria ruling party faces tough regional contests 

regional rivalries. 

But in a political system based on 

patronage, incumbency gives Jonathan 

an unrivalled ability to raise funds 

and curry political favour, as well as 

benefits of office such as the use of 

presidential jets to help with national 

campaigning. 

He kicked off a tour of the country’s 

six main geographic zones last 

Monday in the cassava- and yamfarming 

town of Lafia, east of the 

capital Abuja, and will later go from 

state to state in a bid to ensure a landslide 

victory. 

The PDP currently controls more 

than two thirds of the 36 states, but 

its grip risks loosening. 

Fierce contests are expected in the 

southwestern states of Oyo, where 

an unpopular PDP governor faces a 

strong opposition candidate — and 

Ogun, where there has already been 

controversy over who the PDP candidate 

should be.

Room with a view into KGB secrets 

TALLINN — The stacks of 

metal cases with black knobs 

and dials look like something 

from a 1950s sci-fi movie — 

in fact they were once highly 

secret communications equipment 

used by the feared Soviet 

secret police, the KGB. 

The yellowing batches of 

wiring plans for transmitters 

and receivers alongside the 

dusty plastic telephones are 

all that is left of a once-powerful 

top-secret communications 

hub used by the KGB on 

the 23rd floor of the popular 

high-rise Viru hotel in the Estonian 

capital of Tallinn. 

Though memories are fading 

of life in the former Soviet 

Union the "Viru Hotel and 

the KGB" exhibition revives 

the heydays of the Cold War 

when Soviet tourism agency 

Intourist directed foreigners 

to the Viru so the intelligence 

services could spy on them 

MOSCOW — A group of volunteers 

will today reach a key 

stage in an unprecedented oneand-a-half 

year experiment to 

study the effects of a mission to 

Mars when they "land" on the 

Red Planet's surface. 

Three of the six volunteers 

will "touch down" before moving 

out of their lander for a first 

"space walk" on Monday on 

the Martian surface — all without 

leaving a Moscow research 

centre. 

The landing marks the approximate 

halfway point for the 

experiment in which the participants 

must spend 520 days in 

isolation from the world to test 

how humans would respond to 

the pressures of the long voyage 

to Mars. 

The first steps on Mars 

of the three volunteers from 

Italy, Russia and China will 

be relayed to the flight control 

centre that monitors real space 

missions, as part of an experiment 

organised by the European 

Space Agency and Mos- 

Man caught with rare 

animals at airport 

BANGKOK — Dozens of 

snakes, boxes of spiders and 

one of the world's rarest tortoises 

were among hundreds 

of live animals found in a 

man's airport luggage after a 

shopping spree at a Bangkok 

market, Thai officials said 

yesterday. 

Rivo Cahyono, a 34-yearold 

from Indonesia, was arrested 

trying to board a flight 

from the Thai capital when 

X-rays showed the creatures 

stuffed inside three suitcases, 

said the National Parks, Wildlife 

and Plant Conservation 

department. 

Special compartments in 

the man's bags contained 88 

Indian Star tortoises, a protected 

species, 33 Elongated 

tortoises and one Ploughshare 

— the world's rarest type of 

tortoise, Wildlife trade group 

Traffic said. 

Among the many snakes 

found were two Boa Constrictors 

and 34 Ball Pythons, 

while 18 Baboon Spiders, 

packed individually in plastic 

containers, squirrels, lizards 

and an African Grey Parrot 

were also discovered. 

and sensitive signals were 

transmitted from the Baltics 

to Moscow. 

The hotel has opened its 

once-secret rooms and gathered 

other spy memorabilia 

— left over from its days as 

a flagship hotel for Intourist 

behind the Iron Curtain and a 

Kremlin listening post — for 

the exhibition which started 

this year. 

"All we have here now is 

the room as they left it one 

night in 1991 when Estonia 

was getting close to restoring 

its independence," said Peep 

Ehasalu, spokesman for the 

Viru, now run by Finnish hotel 

chain Sokos. 

The KGB used a "radio 

room" on the 23rd floor to relay 

communications from the 

Soviet embassy in Helsinki, 

70 km across the Baltic sea, 

and had direct links to Moscow. 

cow's institute of biomedical 

problems. 

A team of six men from 

The Thai official who 

made the arrest said Cahyono 

told authorities he had bought 

all the animals from Bangkok's 

Chatuchak Market. 

Traffic said the capital's 

biggest open air market was 

a "major hub for some of the 

world's rarest species" and 

illegal sales continue "every 

weekend on an open basis" 

despite complaints to Thai 

authorities. 

The group's regional director, 

William Schaedla, 

commended the seizure but 

raised concerns about the 

open availability of protected 

animals at Chatuchak, which 

he said was "just down the 

street" from Thai wildlife protection 

offices. "Frankly, the 

situation is totally unacceptable 

in a country that claims to 

be effectively addressing illegal 

wildlife trade," he said. 

The group said sellers at 

the market had openly admitted 

to its staff that many 

animals they sold had been 

illegally obtained and "even 

offer advice on how to smuggle 

them out of the country". 

— AFP 

Europe, Russia and China, has 

been locked since June in a 

mock-up spaceship to test the 

Richness 

preferred 

MANILA — More than half 

of Filipinos would pick a 

partner who is rich but ugly 

rather than someone who 

is good-looking but poor, a 

survey showed yesterday. 

The survey, conducted 

by the Manila-based pollster 

Social Weather Stations, 

showed that 51 per cent of 

Filipinos prefer to have a 

relationship with someone 

rich but ugly. Only 46 per 

cent would rather have lifetime 

partners who are goodlooking 

but poor, it added. 

For Filipino men, looks 

proved to be the more important 

factor in choosing 

a partner, with 52 per cent 

saying they were more 

likely to have relationships 

with someone good-looking 

but poor. Only 46 per cent 

of Filipino men said they 

would choose a life partner 

who is rich but ugly. 

Financial stability was 

a more important choice 

for Filipino women, 57 per 

cent of whom said they were 

more inclined to pick a rich 

but ugly partner. — dpa 

13 

PANORAMA 



Experiencing pressures of long voyage to Mars 

INDIAN Star tortoises found in a plastic container in 

a man’s luggage at a Bangkok airport. — AFP 

There were also about 10 

people working for the KGB 

in rooms 307 and 315. From 

there they tapped guest telephones, 

studied hotel personnel 

files and read the reports 

of the tour guides working 

with foreigners. 

The radio room became 

very busy in 1975, when it 

was used as a hotline relay for 

Soviet leaders between Moscow 

and Helsinki during the 

European Security and Disarmament 

Conference held in 

the Finnish capital. 

Activity increased also in 

1980, when Tallinn was the 

venue for the yachting competition 

for the Olympic Games, 

which was hosted that year by 

the Soviet Union. 

One of the main targets for 

surveillance were visiting relatives 

of Estonians who had 

fled the country. 

— Reuters Life! 

MEMBERS of the Mars500 crew Alexey Sitev of Russia (L), Romain Charles of 

France (3L), Sukhrob Kamolov of Russia (3R), Diego Urbina of Italy (2R), Alexander 

Smoleevskiy of Russia (R), and Wang Yue of China (2L) clasp hands before being 

locked into the Mars500 isolation facility in Moscow in this file photo. — AFP 

psychological effects of an 18month 

round trip in the experiment, 

called Mars-500. 

BERLIN — A cross-eyed 

opossum called Heidi (right), 

Germany's latest animal sensation 

after "Cute Knut" the 

polar bear cub and Paul the 

Octopus, has been hired as a 

tipster for the Oscars, her zoo 


Heidi will appear on 

America's Jimmy Kimmel 

Live! show on ABC and will 

"select" her favoured movie 

from each category in the 

February 27 awards, Leipzig 

Zoo in eastern Germany said. 

"She will not however 

leave Leipzig. The filming 

will be done .. at Leipzig 

Zoo," it said in a statement. 

"We took a long time to 

come to a decision. What was 

important for us was the animal's 

welfare," zoo director 

Joerg Junhold said. 

All the revenues generated 

— no financial details about 

the deal were revealed — will 

go towards animal projects, 

and ABC has said it will make 

a donation to the zoo, the 

statement added. 

It was not immediately 

clear how Heidi will pick the 

film she likes best. Heidi is 

thought to be two and a half 

Venezuelan lawmakers 

exchange punches 

CARACAS — Venezuelan 

lawmakers exchanged punches 

in parliament when a fight 

erupted between members of 

President Hugo Chavez's socialist 

party and rivals, in a 

sign of the Opec member nation's 

political polarization. 

The fighting began after 

Socialist party lawmaker 

Henry Ventura tried to remove 

opposition member 

Alfonso Marquina from the 

speaker's podium. They were 

soon joined by several other 

lawmakers and parliamentary 

employees who shoved and 

punched one another for several 

minutes. 

No one was hurt in the 

melee. It was not clear who 

started the fisticuffs. 

"We came to work in 

peace, like we always do, 

A GIRL with doves painted on her face attends a demonstration to mark the 32nd 

anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Tehran yesterday. — Reuters 

The volunteers aged from 

mid-20s to late 30s, among 

them engineers, doctors and 

a physicist, are crammed into 

a mock-up spaceship just 20 

metres long and less than four 

metres across. 

Phone calls are barred, although 

e-mail and radio communication 

is allowed, with 

a time delay, and the men eat 

the same food in tubes as astronauts. 

Russian Alexander Smoleyevsky, 

Italian Diego Urbina 

and Chinese Wang Yue are the 

three who will land on Mars 

while Romain Charles from 

France and Sukhrob Kamolov 

and Alexey Sitev from Russia 

"remain in orbit" on a different 

module. 

With the world's media 

watching, Smoleyevsky and 

Urbina will don modified Russian 

Orlan spacesuits and exit 

the lander’s airlock on Monday 

for the first of three space 

walks onto a simulated Martian 

surface next to their capsule. 

They are then due to rejoin 

years old, and was abandoned 

outside an animal shelter in 

North Carolina in the United 

States, together with her sister 

Naira, and has been at Leipzig 

Zoo since May. 

The sisters, plus a third 

male opossum called Teddy, 

are being quarantined while 

they acclimatise, and will 

make their public debut on 

July 1, the German zoo says 

on a special Internet page set 

up for Heidi's many fans. 

The zoo believes Heidi's 

eye problem may be to do 

with her diet before she was 

abandoned, or because she is 

overweight, leading to fat deposits 

behind her eyes. Otherwise 

she is completely normal 

their three colleagues who 

stayed "in orbit" around the 

Red Planet on February 27. 

For around a month, the 

crew will carry out scientific 

experiments in an environment 

designed to mimic that 

of Mars. The crew was deemed 

to have entered Mars's orbit on 

February 1. 

The organiser at the European 

Space Agency, Jennifer 

Ngo-Anh, insisted that the virtual 

astronauts take their work 

very seriously. "They will do 

everything as in a real Mars 

mission," she said. 

Their space ship is due to 

take off from Mars on February 

23 and to "land" back on Earth 

in November, ending 520 days 

of isolation. 

The same Moscow institute 

earlier carried out experiments 

on the effects of prolonged 

weightlessness in which volunteers 

spent a week lying in a 

bath. Last year, six volunteers 

simulated spending 105 days in 

a space flight. — AFP 

Cross-eyed opossum to tip Oscars 

and we hope that we are not 

subject to aggression for the 

words we say, like we were 

just now," Foreign Minister 

Nicolas Maduro said. 

The brawl was broadcast 

live on all Venezuela's television 

and radio stations via 

an obligatory link-up system 

used frequently by Chavez to 

air his long speeches to the 

nation. The broadcast was 

pulled abruptly from most 

networks after the violence 

started. 

Venezuelans are deeply 

divided by the leftist president's 

programme to build a 

socialist society in the South 

American country of 28 million 

people. Chavez's popularity 

will be put to the test in 

a 2012 election when he will 

run again. — Reuters 

Some think 

sun spins 

around Earth 

MOSCOW — Does the sun 

revolve around the Earth? 

One in every three Russians 

thinks so, a spokeswoman 

for state pollster VsTIOM 


In a survey released last 

week, 32 per cent of Russians 

believed the Earth 

was the centre of the Solar 

system; 55 per cent that all 

radioactivity is man-made; 

and 29 per cent that the first 

humans lived when dinosaurs 

still roamed the Earth. 

"It's really quite amazing," 

spokeswoman Olga 

Kamenchuk said of the survey 

that polled 1,600 people 

across Russia's regions in 

January, with a 3.4 per cent 

margin of error. 

— Reuters Life! 

and not in pain -- and dieting. 

The marsupial is "liked" 

by around 300,000 people 

on social networking website 

Facebook. Her popularity is 

reminiscent of the success of a 

polar bear called Knut in Berlin, 

who as a cub became an 

global media star and moneyspinner 

in 2007, even featuring 

on the front page of glossy 

magazine Vanity Fair. 

It also recalls Paul the Octopus, 

who from his tank in 

northern Germany, achieved 

nothing short of global fame 

for correctly "predicting" the 

outcome of matches in last 

year's football World Cup. 

Knut is now a less-thancuddly 

strapping and lethal 

adult bear, with animal welfare 

campaigners saying the 

public attention has caused 

him lasting harm. Paul, meanwhile, 

died from natural causes 

last October. 

The tentacled tipster is set 

to be honoured with a 1.8-metre 

statue on top of a football, 

however, in the middle of 

which will be a see-through 

window with the golden urn 

containing Paul's ashes. 

— AFP 

Floppy discs out, Blu-rays 

in: Greece revises stats 

ATHENS — Greece has thrown out nearly a dozen items 

such as floppy discs, photo film and matches from a list of 

"nearly extinct" goods used until now to calculate inflation, 

the state statistics agency said. 

"Ten old items that no longer represent average household 

purchases or are nearly (or fully) extinct from the market 

have been erased," the Esye agency said in a statement 

this week. The eliminated items include common lightbulbs, 

ladies pullovers and retsina, the traditional resinated wine. 

They were replaced by 26 goods more reflective of modern 

Greek society such as espresso coffee, MP4 and Blu-ray 

players, GPS devices, baby wipes, low-fat cheese, diet 

biscuits, mouthwash, sunblock, hair dye, dental bleaching, 

mastography and postgraduate education fees. 

Greece has been under pressure by the European Union 

to streamline and improve its data-gathering after the 

present government in 2009 revealed that official deficit 

statistics had been under-reported by the previous administration. 

— AFP 

Thief steals car with 

sleeping child in it 

BELGRADE — A startled Serbian thief abandoned the car 

he had just stolen when he realised there was a sleeping child 

inside it, the daily Press reported yesterday. 

The thief jumped into the apparently empty Citroen car, 

which had been left with its motor running in the capital 

Belgrade, and drove off. 

He must have realised that a boy was sleeping in the back 

seat just two kilometres away, hastily parked the car and 

fled, leaving the motor, heater and lights on. 

Witnesses said that the man stopped the car with screeching 

tyres and literally ran from it. The father, who had 

stepped out of the car for a quick errand, meanwhile alerted 

police, who found his car and child just minutes later, the 

report said. 

The boy slept through the entire drama, while his father, 

36, had to receive medical treatment, Press reported. — dpa 

Scientists stumble on 

ancient Timor rock art 

SYDNEY— Scientists hunting for fossils of giant rats in 

East Timor stumbled on unique rock carvings up to 12,000 

years old, Australia's research agency said. 

The experts were digging in Timor's Lene Hara cave, a 

treasure trove of fossils and rock art, when they chanced 

upon a group of stylised human faces etched in the rock. 

"Looking up from the cave floor at a colleague sitting on 

a ledge, my head torch shone on what seemed to be a weathered 

carving," said Ken Aplin of Australia's Commonwealth 

Scientific and Research Organisation (CSIRO). 

"I shone the torch around and saw a whole panel of engraved 

prehistoric human faces on the wall of the cave." 

The face carvings, which include one with a circular 

headdress resembling the sun, are the first of their kind to 

be found in Timor and the only ones from the Pleistocene 

period (ending 12,000 years ago) in the region. 

Other art in the cave has been dated at around 30,000 

years old, while CSIRO last year said it had discovered 

evidence of an extinct species of ancient, giant rats the size 

of small dogs. — AFP 

Candidate Stalin rejected 

MOSCOW — A regional Russian electoral authority has 

rejected a candidate named Stalin, his party, A Just Russia, 

told the news agency Interfax yesterday. 

Dmitry Stalin, no relation to the Soviet ruler who died 

in 1953, was officially barred from elections in the Siberian 

district of Khanty-Manziysk because he had not deposited 

his campaign money in a special fund as stipulated by regulations. 

A Just Russia said it would protest the ruling under the 

slogan "Stalin encourages democracy" and claimed he had 

only been disqualified because of his name. — dpa 

Aussie crocs traumatised 

SYDNEY— A group of ferocious Australian crocodiles were 

so traumatised by a maximum-strength cyclone last week 

that they hid under water and stopped eating, wildlife park 

officials said yesterday. 

Bob Flemming from Townsville's Billabong Sanctuary 

in Australia's northeast said the 12 saltwater crocodiles, 

some more than four metres long, took days to recover from 

Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi. "They were traumatised for a 

couple of days," Flemming told AAP news agency. 

"They stayed underwater for some time and didn't even 

surface for food." However, Flemming said he did not lose 

any animals during Australia's worst storm in nearly a century, 

which remarkably also failed to cause any direct human 

casualties. 

"Lots of trees came down on the aviary and some birds, 

including wedgetail eagles, flew away but they have since 

returned home," he said. — AFP 

THREE rare white lion cubs explore the fresh winter air for the first time ever at the 

Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen, Netherlands, yesterday. Four rare white lion cubs arrived 

in Rhenen 10 weeks ago and are descendants of the white lions, which are only found 

in the Timbavati nature reserve in South Africa, according to the Zoo. The white 

lion is a Kruger lion with a colour gene mutation. — Reuters

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CARGO transfer with 

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URGENTLY 

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holding degree in Civil with 

minimum eight years experience 

in the field of consultancy 

companies. Fluent 

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ANPOWER 

FRIENDS MANPOWER: 

Filipino housemaids and 

all kinds of workers. 

24489268, 

Tel/Fax: 24478153. 

CLASSIFIED SECTION: 

OMAN DAILY Observer SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2011 

S 

REAL ESTATE AGENTS 

TALK TO OUR INTERNATIONAL 

SALES TEAM FOR ALL YOUR REAL 

ESTATE REQUIREMENTS 

24695023 

24695025 

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION, 

ITUATION VACANT 

LOOKING for fulltime 

housemaid with 

release letter. Contact 

99367922. 

PHOTOSHOP 

professional required for 

three months project in 

Salalah. 98509485, 

99419019. 

FEMALE driver 

required for a family in 

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and food, 

labour card, ticket and 

car will be provided. 

99340050. 

ENGINEERING consultancy 

office about to 

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Manager, Engrs & 

draftsmen. Send CV to 

abuaid222@yahoo.co.uk 

REQUIRED urgently for 

physiotherahy centre: 1. 

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in physiotherahy) 

2. Physiotherapist 

(male/female). Contact 

96260037, Fax 

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com 

ENGLISH language 

teacher required 

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rti_1986@yahoo.com 

URGENTLY required 

a nurse or a nurse 

assistant. Contact 

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REQUIRED housemaid. 

Contact 93387962 

REQUIRED Diploma 

Civil Engineer having 

one or two years 

experience. Contact 

92289080. 

SALESMAN with 

driving licence required 

for surgical and 

cosmetics distribution 

company. Contact 

99358995. 

FULL-TIME home 

nurse required (female). 

Contact 99358995. 

Urgently required 

QUANTITY 

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years experience in the 

field of consultancy companies. 

Fluent in English both 

speaking and writing and 

knowledge in using Software, 

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Write immediately: 

P O Box: 2966, 

PC: 211, Salalah, 

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e-mail: almanarah_salalah@ 

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24794286 Ruwi, 

GSM: 99231500 

Landrail Smartcard 

Services 

Dohat Al Adab Street 

Near Used Car 

Showroom 



& Expatriates & 

All documents related 

to Ministry 

of Manpower, 

Immigration, ROP etc 

24487759, Al 

Khuwair, GSM: 

96777170 

Landrail Trading & 

Services Co. 

Near Gulf Transport 

Co, Ruwi 



& Expatriates & All 

documents related to 

Ministry of Manpower, 

Immigration, ROP etc. 

24789117, 

Fax: 24780244 

GSM: 99231500 

Website: www. 

brightplanettrading. 

com, E-mail: 

bptland@gmail. 

com/salim@ 

brightplanettrading.com 

FOR all your household 

maintenance including 

plumbing, electricity, 

painting, laying of 

interlock, marble, ceramic 

etc. 99333479, 

95215360. 

MARBLE 

CRYSTALLISATION, 

restore the original shine 

of your marble 

24792998/99314807. 

A 

NNOUNCEMENT 

AYURVEDIC 

treatment, Yoga 

massage & 

slimming. Contact 

92504980/98354760/ 

24475280/ 24698564. 

www.drsajjay.com 

GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! 

Available on very GOOD prices 

HP F1050 

3 in 1 Printer 

RO 13.500 only 

HP J4500 4 in 1 Printer 


HP S2021 20” LCD Monitor 


Samsung ML 1660 Laser Printer 


AII HP, Eoson, Canon, Lexmark, Samsung 

Cartridges also available. 

COMPUTER SUPPLIES 

Ruwi: 24 792-792 

Sohar: 2684 2420 

GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! 

MARBLE polishing and 

crystallisation building, 

cleaning floor, floor 

polishing, carpet, sofa 

shampooing, pest control, 

anti-termite, shifting, 

maintenance. 

99504275. 

CARPET, sofa 

shampooing, 

GUARANTEED 

CLEANING 

24793614/99314807 

MAINTENANCE: 

1. AC, fridge & washing 

machine servicing & 

repairing. 2. Painting, 

plumbing, electrical 

& carpentry works 

97014234, 24504281 

P.C.O. (PEST 

CONTROL OMAN 

CO. LLC) 

Professionals who 

specialise in all types 

of Pest Control 

Services & Snake 

control and 

Guaranteed Termite 

Control. Also 

available Gel 

treatment for 

Cockroaches. 

Suppliers of UK 

Pesticides Chemicals, 

Snake Repellent, 

Cockroach Gels and 

Peripel treated 

Mosquito Nets. 

24787606, 

24787503, 

Fax: 24787607. 

WALLPAPERS, 

wooden floor, Vinyl 

Floor, Fixing, carpets, 

curtains, sofa, Arabic 

Majlis, All kinds 

of Blainds making, 

upholstery, furniture 

remove and fixing 

clean and polishing, 

Contact Yousuf 

Ali 99834373/ 

97102699. Fax: 

22018293 

LOGISTIC Services 

— Transportation, 

shifting, cargo 

services. All kinds of 

transportation 

available 92118538, 

99332771. 

DIRECT: 24649594 - FAX : 24649590 

e-mail: classified@omandaily.om 

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

al-haditha 

centre 

for vehicles repairing 

High quality maintenance and repairing for 

all kinds of light and heavy vehicles 

(A certified workshop from ROP, Grade A) 

Telephone: 24595951, 95306257. 

SAMA MUSCAT 

REAL ESTATES 

We are doing all kinds of 

mediation 

Sale and purchase of 

lands, villas and buildings 

Renting the flats and villas 

Management and 

maintenance of the 

buildings. 

FOR SALE 

Two storeys villa + 

two apartments 

The villa contains: 

4 bedrooms, living room, two 

kitchens, servant room and 

dining room. 

Each apartment contains: 

3 bedrooms, a living room, 

dining room and a kitchen. 

The area of the land is 907 

square metre. 

24560040, GSM: 98789228, 

Fax: 24560070 

G 

W 

ANTED 

WANTED Male Nurse 

with MOH licence 

to work in Salalah 

with total special salary 

package. Contact 

92444271, Fax 

23294159, e-mail: 

liya159@gmail.com 

A 

F 

UEST HOUSE 

MURAHIB HOTEL 

APARTMENTS 

welcome our valuable 

GUESTS to our 

excellent location, 

AL KHUWAIR, near 

AL ZAWAWI 

MOSQUE, a single 

bedroom, a bedroom 

& majlis, two 

bedrooms & majlis 

24478087, 

Fax: 24482454. 

QURUM BEACH 

HOTEL. 24564070. 

CCOM AVAILABLE 

FULLY furnished room 

in Al Khuwair for expat 

bachelor for one month 

95975937. 

OR RENT/SALE/INVMT 

INDUSTRIAL land for 

investment extended 

for (14 years) in Jufnin 

(Rusayl). 99323957, 

96554668. 

INDUSTRIAL and 

commercial land at Al 

Maabela, Rusayl, Barka, 

Al Amerat and Quriyat. 

95113217, 95490842, 

99323957, 24453352. 

Office space for Rent 

Open 

Office Space 

on the Main Highway 

at Wattayah 

(Opposite Toyota Showroom) 

Contact 

99338220/99263443 

CLASSIFIEDS 

Continued on P-15

S 

15 

CLASSIFIEDS 



Sahara Hotel Apartments 

Rotana Hotel 

We are glad to receive our honourable customers in our new hotel (Rotana Hotel) at our distinguished 

location at Al Khuwair area opposite the Ministries Street next to Al Zawawi 

Mosque. We have Single, Double rooms, suites and Meeting Hall. 

For further information please contact us on the following numbers: For further information please contact us on the following numbers: 

24483888/+968-24487799 /+968-24488117 / fax : 968-24488221 +968-24476000/ 24394444 /99449009 fax: +968- 24476999 

ITUATION WANTED SITUATION WANTED SITUATION WANTED 

INDIAN male, PG in 

Physics, B Ed, IELS 

(5.5) completed, looking 

for suitable placement 

as teacher in secondary 

school. Contact 

95166264, 99101705. 

WELL experienced store 

and logistics manager 

working locally from 2006 

Jan, having international 

experience, seeks 

challenging opportunity. 

Contact 96161831, 

92903739. 

CHIEF accountant, M 

Com, Indian, 45 years, 

having 21 years wide 

experience in accounts, 

audit, tax, banking etc, 

seeks senior position 

in accounts. Contact 

92785207. 

INDIAN female with over 

5 years experience in HR 

functions, seeks suitable 

placement. Contact 

95853529. 

HR generalist with 

experience in nurturing 

Omani Talent is looking 

for a challenging and 

exciting career in a 

dynamic Organisation. 

Contact 97369630. 

ENGLISH speaking Sri 

Lankan housemaid looking 

for full-time or part-time 

job. Contact 92480866. 

CREDIT manager — 

MBA & B Tech, 32 yrs, 

working with a leading 

bank in India, 5.5 yrs 

experience, seeks suitable 

placement. Contact +91- 

9895317327, jobunf@ 

yahoo.com 

PAKISTANI male, 33 yrs, 

experienced driver with 

valid GCC licence, seeks 

suitable placement as 

domestic or official driver. 

Contact 95853704. 

MALE, 25 years, Bachelor 

of Management (Western 

educated), 3 years + administrative 

experience. Tech 

savvy. Good knowledge 

of MS Office applications 

seeks immediate placement. 

Contact 98569053. 

BUSINESS continuity 

planner, male, 25 yrs, 

looking for project 

management, co-ordination 

job, past experience 

in handling projects 

include BCP/DRP, ATM, 

SVS. Contact: e-mail: 

ammarirfan@yahoo.com 

ARAB American female, 

26 years, Business BA, 2 

years experience (USA, 

Oman) placement 

Admin/HR Business 

development release 

available. Contact 

98591626. 

WELL qualified finance 

manager, with over 10 

years of proven expertise 

in managing finance 

and accounts of leading 

companies from various 

backgrounds in Oman, is 

looking for a position in 

similar capacity. Contact 

96341326. 

26, male, Indian, graduate, 

seeks suitable placement 

in office administrator, 

Data Entry, visit visa for 

immediate placement. 

Contact 96248925, e-mail: 

shrinivas.devang@gmail. 

com. 

CHEMICAL Engineer, 

Iraqi nationality having 

experience. (1 year) 

water treatment, (2 

years) oil & gas field, (1 

year) sales & marketing 

of (LPG), Central 

Systems Installation 

& Projects. Contact 

95945927, E-mail: 

Fahadian_Fahadian@ 

yahoo.com. 

NETWORKING 

professional + 3 years 

experience in network, 

system administration, 

structural cabling, 

Cisco switches 

Routers. MSc Telecom 

Engineering, BS 

Computer Engineering, 

CCNA, JNCIA-EX, 

JNCIA-ER, MCSE 

and RHCE. Contact 

98813936/ 92223661 

GENERAL Manager, 

seeks assignment, 20 

years experience in 

Oman. Engineer, can 

turn around business. 

Experience in real estate, 

building materials, 

construction machinery, 

home appliances, 

overseas representation, 

joint venture, sales & 

marketing. Contact 

92618954, e-mail: 

recruitment1234@ 

gmail.com 

YOUNG & energetic 

Indian male, 32 years old 

with more than 7 years 

experience in HR & 

admin, presently working 

for a well established 

construction co, excellent 

in Word, Excel, Foxpro 

& ERP computer system, 

looking for a suitable 

placement. Please contact 


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

Location: OEPPA HEAD OFFICE, Medinat Al Alam, 

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

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

PART-TIME accountant 

upto finalisation, tally 

teaching. E-mail to 

aoneacct@gmail.com 

INDIAN male, 8 years 

experience in Oman, 

having valid driving 

licence, seeks suitable 

job as office assistant and 

store in-charge. Contact 

93530182. 

MALE, 26 years, 

P.G Diploma in 3D 

Animation, more than 

2 years experience as 

animator, proficient in 

Maya software-lighting, 

texturing and inorganic 

modelling (sets & props), 

multi-linguistic 

and good communication 

skills, presently on visit 

visa, seeks suitable 

placement. 98295939, 

email:febin.joshy@gmail. 

com 

INDIAN female College 

Lecturer (IT Computer 

Science, MPhil/MSc 

qualified, with 8 years 

teaching experience in 

reputed university college 

in Oman and India, 

seeks placement. Call 

96170812/92954948. 

CHARTERED accountant, 

Indian female, with 4½ 

years of post qualification 



93291178. 

ACCOUNTANT, 13 yrs 

experience, 7 yrs in Oman 

with knowledge of Tally & 

Oracle, seeks job. Contact 

98075840. 

SOFTWARE Engg, 

MCA, 3 + yrs experience, 

experience in VB, SQL, 

DOT, net, 2 + yrs exp 

in Oman, seeks better 


96268492. e-mail: 

chailyantony@yahoo.co.in 

INDIAN male, MBA 

(marketing) with 3 years 

experience in sales and 

marketing, presently 

on visit visa in Muscat, 

seeks suitable placement. 

Contact 95701738. 

OFFICE boy Gulf experienced, 

fluent in English, 

attending telephone 

calls and front office etc, 


95675143. 

SR Accountant, Indian 

male, 34, with 12 years 

experience (including 6 

years in Oman) working 

in a reputed organisation, 


92353285. 

INDIAN male, graduate, 

holder of FIATA/DGR 

foundation with 5 years 

experience in shipping / 

logistic operations, seeks 

suitable placement 

99284879 

saviorodrigues2002@ 

yahoocom. 

MBA (Marketing) B.Sc. 

(Biochemistry) with 2 

years experience in sales 

and marketing currently 

on a visit visa in Muscat, 

seeks immediate and 


Contact 95701738, 

e-mail: wasimalig04@ 

rediffmail.com. 

ARCHITECT: Young, 

talented, female graduate 

Architect with good 

knowledge of AutoCAD, 

3D Max & Photoshop, 

seeks placement in reputed 

firms. Please contact: 

99242164 /email: 

esses@omantel.net.om 

INDIAN female graduate 

having 9 years experience, 

good computer & 

communication skills, 

seeks suitable placement in 

Administration HR Dept. 

99652943/9934422. 

INDIAN female, 24, B 

Com, experience in travel 

agency accounts, seeks 

placement as an accounts 

assistant, preferably close 

to Wadi Kabir. Contact 


MARKETING executive: 

A well experienced Indian 

male, 42 yrs, having 

driving licence, own car, 

space and familiar with 

Salalah market is ready 

to market your product/ 

service in Salalah on 

part-time/ commission 

basis. 99087175. 

26 YEARS old female on 

family visa, B Com, PG in 

Marketing and Financial 

Services with Canadian 

experience in Banking 

operations. 93363358, 

jeanramacha@gmail.com 

INDIAN male welltrained 

security officer, 

having experience 

in working in Indian 

Embassy and United 

Nations, serving various 

countries. Also having 

experience in International 

Airport, New Delhi as 

an immigration officer. 

Worked for 5 years as 

security officer in 

Jumeriah International 

Dubai (Burj al Arab), 

seeks suitable job. 

Contact 92383771, 

mohan_nair84@yahoo. 

com 

INDIAN Female, M Sc 

Bio-Chemistry, having 

3 years experience in 

the relevant field, seeks 


95785608/ 95463475. 

INDIAN female, MSW, 

having 5 years work 

experience in hospital 

and charitable organisation 

seeks suitable placement in 

Muscat urgently. 

Contact 95372368. 

NETWORK/ 

instrumentation Engr. 

Indian male, B.Tech 4 

years experience in Oman 

(PDO sites), seeks suitable 

placement now on visit 

visa. Contact 92870375. 

e-mail: manojidicula@ 

yahoo.co.in 

ACCOUNTS professional, 

6+ years Oman experience 

in finalisation, finance, 

ERP, Credit control, MIS, 

Banking, seeks senior/ 

managerial post in MNCs/ 

reputed Cos. Release 

available 99283938. 

INDIAN male, having 

driving licence, looking 

for job in sales. Contact 

96447531/99651214. 

MASTERS journalism, 

Mass communication, 

excellent English & 

communication skills, 

very good writing 

abilities, seeks suitable 

communication/Media/ 

Banks/MNCs/reputed Cos. 

Contact 99283938. 

MBA (Marketing), B Sc 

(Bio-chemistry), with 2 

yrs experience in sales 

and marketing, currently 

on a visit visa in Muscat 

seeks immediate and 

suitable placement. Please 

contact 95701738. 

wasimalig04@ 

rediffmail.com 

26 YEARS old Indian 

Mechanical Engineer 

with 3 yrs of experience 

in oil field projects 

related to installation 

and commissioning of 

centrifugal compressors 

with diploma in 

Mechanical Engineering, 

ASNT Level 2 

certification and well 

versed in 

Autocad is looking 

for suitable opening. 

95228261. 

INDIAN male, age 28, 

B Com, 3 years experience 

in networking, presently 

working in Oman in IT 

section, CCNA, MCSE, 

MCSA, MCP, MCTS, 

ISA Firewall, Linux, 

Hardware, seeks 


98427610,royp4u@ 

gmail.com. 

ZAJEL weekly magazine evry saturday along with OMAN DAILY 

for advertising contact 

Mobile 96224397 95181747 

Tel 24649593 Fax 24649590 Email zajeloman@yahoocom 

INSTRUMENT 

Technician. Indian male, 

18 years experience 

in oil field Instrument 

maintenance and 

calibration seeks suitable 

placement in sales or 

Instrumentation and 

Electronics field in 

Muscat, having valid 

Oman D/L. 96377953. 

E-mail: jacobmampara@ 

gmail.com 


MBA (Marketing), 

experienced in sales and 

marketing seeks suitable 


95809231. e-mail: 

mdkazi.mba@gmail.com 

PAKISTANI male 30 yrs. 

Intermediate + computer 

office management 

diploma. 6 yrs office work 

experience as accountant, 

Data Entry and computer 

clerk in Pakistan Army. 

Good knowledge in 

English and Hindi (Urdu). 

Good typing speed in 

English. Release available 

on requirement. Looking 

for good job. 96182450 

zafar8612@gmail.com . 

OMAN experienced 

Indian Executive, having 

ability to sell almost 

anything is looking for a 

good paying sales 

job. Having driving 

licence and good 

educational background 

95043952. 

INDIAN male, BE 

Mechanical (HVAC) 

with 14 years experience, 

Oman experience 4 years, 

having valid D/L, seeks 


96093552/95780203. 

CHARTERED accountant, 

female, Indian, with 4.5 

years of post qualification 


placement. 93291178. 

MECHANICAL 

Engineer, Iraqi male, 20 

years of various MEP 

construction experience, 

MEP co-ordinator and 

Project Management, BSc 

Mechanical Engineering, 

resident in Dubai and has 

UAE driving licence. 

+971 55 2029 100. e-mail: 

sabahna2003@yahoo.com 


experience in 3D Max- 

Interior and exterior 

designing, landscaping 

(Muscat and Dubai), 

highly experienced in 3D 

Max-V RAY, 

Photoshop, Illustrator, 

AutoCad, revit and MS- 

Softwares, seeks suitable 

placement. 97162200, 

97645059. 

F 

OR SALE 

NEW & REFURBISHED 

PORTA-CABINS. 

Srinivas - 99460340. 

LAND at Darsait (400m). 

99323957, 96554668. 

2 RESIDENTIAL lands 

together, one 610 and 

the other 600 sq mtrs, 

in Al Haram on way to 

Barka, RO16,000 each 

99333479 or 95215360. 

967 SQ mtrs residential 

land in Azaiba near 

the sea, RO 22,000 

99333479 or 95215360. 


land in Al Ghubra north 

behind Waleed Pharmacy 

and near to Shell, 

RO330,000 99333479 

or 95215360. 


land in Lansab phase 2, 

RO50,000 99333479 or 

95215360. 


land in Lansab phase 4, 

RO65,000 99333479 or 

95215360. 

3 BEDROOM house in 

Al Khoudh near to Bank 

Muscat with land area of 

450 sq mtrs, RO80,000 

99333479 or 95215360. 

3 RESIDENTIAL plots 

of 950 sq mtrs each 

near to Naseem garden 

roundabout, RO25,000 

each 99333479 or 

95215360. 

6,100 SQ mtrs land about 

1 km from the sea and 

Naseem garden, RO80,000 

99333479 or 95215360. 


land in Mahoot, Hijj 7, 

RO4,000 99333479 or 

95215360. 

TWIN villa in Lansab 

phase 3 near to the 

roundabout, 5 bedrooms, 

3 floors each side, 

RO115,000 each side 

99333479 or 95215360. 

CLASSIFIED 

SECTION 

RUWI: 

24785668

FLIGHT LIGHT SSCHEDULE 

CHEDULE 

ARRIVALS — SATURDAY 

Flight No Aircraft From/Via STA 

WY672 A330 Jeddah 0005 

WY648 B737-8 Kuwait 0005 

TK858 B737-8 Istanbul 0130 

BG021 DC10 Dacca 0135 

PK259 B737-4 Islamabad 0200 

QR170 A320 Doha 0335 

EK866 A330 Dubai 0355 

WY662 B737-8 Doha 0400 

MS930 B737-8 Cairo 0400 

EY384 A320 Abu Dhabi 0400 

GF560 A319 Bahrain 0420 

WY602 B737-7 Dubai-Abu Dhabi 0610 

WY122 A330 Munich 0630 

WY114 A330 Frankfurt 0645 

WY322 B737-8 Karachi 0655 

WY652 B737-8 Bahrain 0700 

FZ043 B737-8 Dubai 0725 

WY202 B737-8 Bombay 0750 

WY902 B737-8 Salalah 0830 

WY262 B737-8 Lucknow 0900 

WY102 A330 London Heathrow 0905 

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WY282 B737-8 Bangalore 0925 

EK862 A330 Dubai 0930 

WY242 B737-8 Delhi 0930 

WY292 B737-8 Calicut 0930 


QR166 A320 Doha 0955 

G9119 A320 Sharjah 1000 

PK191 ATR42 Turbat-Gwadur 1045 

9W530 B737-8 Trivandrum 1045 

WY604 B737-8 Dubai 1055 

IX815 B737-8 Mangalore 1100 

IX543 B737-8 Trivandrum-Cochin 1115 

WY918 ATR42 Khasab 1145 

WY3302 ATR42 Mukhaizna 1230 

GF562 A319 Bahrain 1235 

IX337 B737-8 Calicut 1305 

WY906 B737-8 Salalah 1505 


WY204 B737-7 Bombay 1645 

WY328 B737-8 Islamabad 1715 

FZ045 B737-8 Dubai 1725 

WY3304 ATR42 Mukhaizna 1730 


WY608 B737-8 Dubai 1750 

WY664 B737-8 Bahrain 1800 

WY214 B737-8 Trivandrum 1805 

WY224 B737-8 Cochin 1815 

KQ316 B737-8 Nairobi 1850 

G9117 A320 Sharjah 1855 

WY3906 B737-8 Salalah 1925 

WY254 B737-8 Madras 1955 

WY908 B737-8 Salalah 2000 

WY610 B737-7 Dubai 2045 

IC885 A320 Delhi 2125 

BA073 B777 London Heathrow-Abu Dhabi 2140 

IC923 A319 Madras 2200 


WY628 ATR42 Ras Al Khaima 2210 

WY681 A330 Mali-Colombo 2215 

WY624 B737-7 Al Ain 2220 

WY682 B737-8 Riyadh 2225 

WY402 B737-8 Cairo 2230 


LX242 A330 Zurich-Dubai 2235 

QR168 A320 Doha 2235 

WY636 B737-8 Abu Dhabi 2305 

WY656 B737-8 Bahrain 2305 

WY666 B737-8 Doha 2305 

IC685 A319 Ahmedabad-Bombay 2310 

9W534 B737-8 Cochin 2330 

WY910 B737-8 Salalah 2335 

WY612 B737-8 Dubai 2335 

9W540 B737-8 Bombay 2340 

WY702 B737-8 Daresslam 2355 

QUOTATIONS FOR TODAY 

It is just a scene of mass 

devastation. Larry was a boy 

compared to this. 

— Ross Sorbello, a resident of the stormshattered 

town of Tully, after Cyclone Yasi, the first 

category five storm in nearly a century, hit eastern 

Australia. Cyclone Larry caused huge damage to 

the region in 2006. 

CINEMA 

FILM INFORMATION 

AL BAHJA CINEMA: 

24540856, 24540855. 

AL NASR CINEMA: 

24831358, 24831809 (after 3pm) 

AL SHATTI PLAZA: 

24607360, 24692656 (after 2pm) 

STARS CINEMA: 

24791641, 24792360 

MAJLIS A’SHURA 

ADDRESSES 

Keep in touch with Majlis Ash’shura’s 

news. 

Log on to the Majlis’s website: 

www.shura.om 

and the Majlis’s 

e-mail: info@shura.om 

Or write to the Majlis’s postal address: 

P O Box 981 

Postal Code 111, Muscat 

Tel: 24510344 / 24521427/ 

Fax 24510560 

INFORMATION 

MINISTRY WEBSITES 

Ministry: www.omanet.om 

Oman TV: 

www.oman-tv.gov.om 

Oman Radio: 

www.oman-radio.gov.om 

Omani Centre for Traditional Music: 

www.octm-folk.gov.om 

OMAN RADIO 

6.00 Opening, Royal Anthem, The Holy Quran, Preview of 

Morning Programme, Weather Forecast and Pharmacies on 

Duty; 6.15 Morning Tea; 7.00 News Bulletin; 7.10 Morning 

Tea; 9.00 News Headlines; 9.02 Piano; 10.00 Instrumental 

Music; 11.00 Light Classical Music; 12.00 News Headlines, 

12.02 The Holy Quran; 12.15 Pioneers of Civilization; 12.45 

Slow Mix Music; 01.00 Top 10 (Laxmi) Repeat on Thursday 

5.30; 2.00 Let’s Talk Business — Nisham Repeat of Sat 3.00 

& Sunday 6.00; 2:20 Radio Station Jingles And Programmes; 

2.30 News Bulletin; 2.40 Forts and Castles of Oman — Laxmi 

Repeat of Monday 3.00 & Tuesday 6.00; 3.00 Short Stories 

(Judith) Repeat on Saturday 6.00; 3.20 Radio Station Jingles 

and Programmes; 3.25 Mix Music; 3.30 Women in Focus — 

Nisham Repeat on Tuesday 3.00 & Thursday 6.40; 03.50 

Radio Station Jingles and Programmes; 4.00 News Headlines; 

4.02 Around The World Live; 6.30 News Bulletin; 6.40 Words 

in Action (Judith) Repeat of Sunday 3.00 & Mon 6pm; 7.00 

Night Groove; 8.00 News Headlines; 8.02 Night Groove; 10.00 

News Bulletin; 10.10 Oman in Focus (5 mins) Daily; 10.15 D 

J Rock Special; 11.15 Mix Music; 12.40 News Summary; 

12.45 The Holy Quran; 01.00 National Anthem, Close Down. 

Flight No Aircraft 

DEPARTURES 

To / Via STD 

BA072 B777 Abu Dhabi-London Heathrow 0001 

IC686 A319 Bombay-Ahmedabad 0015 

9W539 B737-8 Bombay 0045 

WY901 B737-8 Salalah 0120 

WY241 B737-8 Delhi 0120 

WY281 B737-8 Bangalore 0125 

WY201 B737-8 Bombay 0125 

WY231 B737-7 Hyderabad 0130 

9W529 B737-8 Trivandrum 0130 

WY261 B737-8 Lucknow 0130 

WY291 B737-8 Calicut 0150 


TK859 B737-8 Istanbul 0220 

WY651 B737-8 Bahrain 0230 

WY661 B737-8 Doha 0235 

WY321 B737-8 Karachi 0250 

BG022 DC10 Chittagong-Dacca 0300 

PK260 B737-4 Islamabad 0300 

EK867 A330 Dubai 0500 

MS931 B737-8 Cairo 0500 


QR171 A320 Doha 0550 

WY603 B737-8 Dubai 0755 


FZ044 B737-8 Dubai 0810 


WY917 ATR42 Khasab 0900 

WY213 B737-8 Trivandrum 1020 

WY823 A330 Kuala Lumpur 1020 

WY381 A330 Mali-Colombo 1030 

WY223 B737-8 Cochin 1040 

G9110 A320 Sharjah 1040 

WY327 B737-8 Islamabad 1045 

EK863 A330 Dubai 1045 


WY203 B737-7 Bombay 1050 

QR167 A320 Doha 1055 

WY905 B737-8 Salalah 1100 


WY811 A330 Bangkok 1130 

PK192 ATR42 Gwadur 1130 

9W533 B737-8 Cochin 1145 

IX816 B737-8 Abu Dhabi-Mangalore 1150 

WY253 B737-8 Madras 1205 

IX542 B737-8 Trivandrum 1215 

WY663 B737-8 Doha-Bahrain 1245 

WY121 A330 Munich 1245 

WY401 B737-8 Cairo 1300 



WY101 A330 London Heathrow 1400 

IX350 B737-8 Calicut 1405 

WY607 B737-8 Dubai 1430 

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WY671 A330 Jeddah 1630 

WY681 B737-8 Riyadh 1715 

WY609 B737-7 Dubai 1745 

FZ046 B737-8 Dubai 1810 


WY647 B737-8 Kuwait 1910 

WY665 B737-8 Doha 1910 

WY655 B737-8 Bahrain 1915 

WY623 B737-7 Al Ain 1920 

WY627 ATR42 Ras Al Khaima 1930 

WY909 B737-8 Salalah 1930 

G9118 A320 Sharjah 1935 

KQ316 B737-8 Dubai 1950 

WY635 B737-8 Abu Dhabi 2000 

WY611 B737-8 Dubai 2030 

IC924 A319 Madras 2300 


IC886 A320 Delhi 2310 


QR169 A320 Doha 2335 

LX243 A330 Dubai-Zurich 2335 

CRYPTIC PUZZLE 

ACROSS 

9 So free the tied up or 

incarcerated (9) 

10 Willing to, which is nice 

(9) 

12 The chap doesn’t have 

complete insurance (4) 

13 Suppress it? The nerve! (6) 

14 Will silver fish be about 

where there’s rubbish? (7) 

15 Don’t allow to contain 

copy writing (9) 

17 Listen to the man and are 

worried (4,2,3) 

18 Let move about, lean on for 

support (7) 

19 An expert player? Well, 

that’s an advantage (6) 

20 Still drink (4) 

23 Advertising, for a doctor, is 

getting into trouble (9) 

25 The damned birds! (3,6) 

26 She’s given the apprentice 

a day off (4) 

27 I’m sorry for being mean to 

the fellow (6) 

29 The spendthrift, a lawbreaker, 

involved the rest in 

(7) 

32 Various Russians caught, 

having infiltrated the plant 

(9) 

34 Is reversed, and covered by 

another silly girl (9) 

35 Bones not broken though 

having fallen, perhaps, 

from an apple tree (7) 

36 Is informed by tips right 

through (6) 

37 Shouts out “Without us? 

Nonsense!” (4) 

38 Means first to give the 

religious denomination (9) 

39 Said to fold the wrapping 

paper and vamoose (9) 

DOWN 

1 A jar containing flowers in 

the kitchen? (8) 

2 Either give the shivers to or 

have no effect on (5,3,4) 

3 People move in close: the 

band enters (8) 

4 Getting the seat does clinch 

it (6) 

5 Try to win later, locked in 

battle (8) 

6 In sea water, a giant 

AQUARIUS 

(January 21- 

February 19) 

Your plans for the evening 

may go sadly awry. Your booking 

could have been altered by the people 

in charge and the evening may be ruined 

for you. 

PISCES 

(February 20-March 20) 

Express your opinion during 

a business discussion, 

and it may be the deciding factor in 

establishing a good reason for your 

early advancement. 

ARIES 

(March 21-April 20) 

Don’t be in too much of a 

hurry to get ahead. This 

can often lead to errors of judgement. 

Ready application to your task will 

bring the results you desire. 

TAURUS 

(April 21-May 20) 

Express your opinion during 

a business discussion, 

and it may be the deciding factor in 

establishing a good reason for your 

early advancement. 

16 

INFORMATION/LEISURE SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2011 

PHARMACIES 

24-HOUR SERVICE 

Al Hashar ph, Ruwi 24783334 

Muscat ph, Ruwi, 24702542 

Al Sarooj, 24695536 

Scientific ph, Qurum, 24566601 

Ruwi, 24702850 

DAY DUTY 

Muscat Ebin Rushed 

24798644 

Ahmed 24541856 

Ibn Sina 24490394 

A Seeb 24420294 

Sur Badr Al Samaa 

25546112 

Buraimi Muscat 25652145 

Ibri Al Zaiyana 25694458 

Nizwa Al Hazfah 25431650 

Salalah Al Mishaal 23295035 

NIGHT DUTY 

Muscat Apollo 24787766 

Al Jabry 24544824 

Muscat 24485740 

Al Badiya 24425024 

Sur Eibn Al Yafai 

25542267 

Buraimi Scientific 25655160 

Ibri Al Aryaf Al Omania 

25691389 

Rustaq Bader Al Jashmi 

26875798 

Barka Muscat 26885372 

Nizwa Muscat 25410235 

Samayil Al Jinan 25351030 

Salalah Al Hashar 23297622 

KHOULA HOSPITAL VISITING HOURS 

Private & Other Wards 

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

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

ICU 

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

Holidays: 16:00-17:00 

Special Care Baby Unit 

Working Days: Parents may visit at any time. 

Weekends & Public Holidays: Parents may visit 

at any time 

CROSSWORD 

floating ship (10) 

7 Don’t lip-read the word 

“rumour” (7) 

8 Goes in and talks about 

teen troubles (10) 

11 “Bit of luck,” you say, 

“finding a thicket” (5) 

16 The bad thing about having 

a tot play with thread (6) 

19 When your number is up, 

drink (3) 

21 Why the worn rug was 

thrown out? (4,8) 

22 She might be easiest to get 

a deduction for (6) 

23 Mum or dad could show 

you one — and did (10) 

24 While away, a tin I threw 

out, containing runner 

beans (2,8) 

25 It’s “The Unfinished 

Melody,” child (3) 

28 Does get upset over the ex: 

it’s very sad (8) 

29 Was holding the reins 

loosely but with vigilance 

(8) 

30 Having the cover broken 

early is tough (8) 

31 How you said “No. It has 

police backing” (7) 

33 To disprove it, be back in 

your old routine (5) 

34 Saves, from frost, half the 

buds (6) 

EASY PUZZLE 

ACROSS 

9 Jewish building (9) 

10 Complicated in design (9) 

12 Darts line (4) 

13 Perspires (6) 

14 Couches (7) 

15 American state (3,6) 

17 Large ape (5-4) 

18 Mean or miserly person (7) 

19 Fractures (6) 

20 Arm or leg (4) 

23 Massacre (9) 

25 Chess term (9) 

26 Dull pain (4) 

27 Wax stick (6) 

29 Cast a spell over (7) 

32 Augments (9) 

34 Blocks up (9) 

35 Sport for women (7) 

36 Takes illegally (6) 

37 Entreaty (4) 

38 Abode or home (9) 

39 Take apart (9) 

DOWN 

1 At the very moment that 

(2,4,2) 

YOUR STARS 

GEMINI 

(May 21-June 21) 

After having made progress 

in one direction, you may 

have the opportunity to 

enlarge your interests in another undertaking. 

Don’t take on more than you 

can manage. 

CANCER 

(June 22-July 21) 

After a lot of constructive 

talk and effort you will 

finally succeed in overcoming 

a superior’s objection to your plan. 

Tread carefully, however, and don’t 

push too hard. 

LEO 

(July 22-August 21) 

Try to understand why 

younger members of the 

family are attracted to 

friends of whom you don’t approve. By 

showing disapproval you will only make 

things worse. 

VIRGO 

(August 22-September 22) 

Confine a money speculation 

to the limits which you can 

comfortably afford. Gambling cannot be 

recommended as a viable alternative to 

hard work. 

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

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

Health Services Department 

Muttrah . . . . . .24797602 

Quriyat . . . . . .24845001 . . . .24845003 

SQH, Salalah .23211555 . . . .23211151 

Police . . . . . . .24603988 . . . .24603980 

Al Nahda. . . . .24831255 . . . .24837800 

Ibn Sina . . . . .24876322 . . . .24877361 

Nizwa . . . . . . .25439361 . . . .25425033 

Al Rustaq . . . .26875055 . . . .26877186 

Sumayil. . . . . .25350055 . . . .25350022 

Izki . . . . . . . . .25340033 . . . .25340033 

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

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

2 In a state of anger (2,3,7) 

3 Albumen (3,5) 

4 Pleasure craft (6) 

5 Diamond, say (8) 

6 Rickety, derelict (10) 

7 Funeral procession (7) 

8 Fair, average (10) 

11 Turn aside (5) 

16 Sufficient (6) 

19 Drinks counter (3) 

21 Incoherent (12) 

22 Kebab spike (6) 

23 Writing materials (10) 

24 Medical operation (10) 

25 Actor’s prompt (3) 

28 Calamity (8) 

29 Unfounded (8) 

30 Kidnapped people (8) 

31 Returns to custody (7) 

33 Quotes (5) 

34 Exaggerate (6) 

WEDNESDAY’S CRYPTIC 

SOLUTIONS 

ACROSS: 4, Did-dle 7, After 

you 8, Barrow 10, C-he-ap 13, 

W-AI-t 14, Hill 15, Fa-I-r 16, 

LID 17, Olaf 19, Gain 21, Foot 

fault 23, To-ff 24, Line 26, 

TA-X 27, Then 29, Chap 32, 

Peas 33, Skate 34, Plea-DS 35, 

Tyne-side 36, Friday. 

DOWN: 1, C-atch 2, Steel 3, 

Grip 4, D-U-bai 5, D-art 6, 

Look in 9, Airgun 11, Hit 12, 

Aloof 13, Wa-ff-les 15, Fat 16, 

L-it 18, L-oft-ed 20, Alec-K 

21, Fox 22, Ain 23, Taller 25, 

Mat 28, Has-t-y 30, Hab-I-t 

31, Peter (Pan) 32, P-aid 33, 

Sh-E-D. 

WEDNESDAY’S EASY 

SOLUTIONS 

ACROSS: 4, Change 7, 

Reproach 8, Ocelot 10, Avian 

13, Draw 14, Tell 15, Beer 

16, Net 17, Tail 19, Amid 21, 

Masterful 23, Harp 24, Toes 

26, Ton 27, Even 29, Iris 32, 

Acid 33, Scope 34, Debits 35, 

Idleness 36, Attest. 

DOWN: 1, Treat 2, Spoil 3, 

Corn 4, Chore 5, Anew 6, 

Groped 9, Carafe 11, Vet 12, 

Altar 13, Deleted 15, Bit 16, Nil 

18, Aspect 20, Music 21, Man 

22, Ron 23, Honest 25, Tip 28, 

Visit 30, Rower 31, Sense 32, 

Aide 33, Stew. 

IF IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY: You will have to try in the coming year to concentrate more on your activities 

instead of delaying decisions until it is too late to achieve the desired effect. Don’t over-spend and then hope 

that you will receive a windfall, and don’t depend on promises made by an unreliable person. 

LIBRA 

(September 23- 

October 22) 

Even though your artistic 

endeavours are not always 

crowned with success, you are progressing 

steadily, and the experience will be 

very useful in the future. 

SCORPIO 

(October 23-November 21) 

A romance which has lasted 

for quite some time but is not 

turning out as you had hoped 

might best be terminated before it is too 

late. 

SAGITTARIUS 

(November 22- 

December 21) 

Unnecessary tasks, which 

can wait, should not be 

undertaken when you are pressed for 

time. Don’t do too much and burden 

yourself with petty little jobs. 

CAPRICORN 

(December 22- 

January 20) 

If you have been uncertain 

about the course of action 

you should take, it may be that a sudden 

inspiration will clearly point the way 

you should go. 

OTHER HOSPITALS 

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 

ACROSS 

2 Gritty (5) 

7 Gemstone (5) 

8 Rings (5) 

10 Walked (5) 

12 Ignited (3) 

13 Pension (5) 

15 Withdrew (7) 

17 Deteriorates (6) 

19 Recline (3) 

20 Attain (7) 

23 Direction (4) 

25 Whirlpool (4) 

26 Idea (7) 

30 Spike (3) 

31 Beat (6) 

34 Flew (7) 

37 Relaxes (5) 

38 Beetle (3) 

39 Demon (5) 

40 Gem (5) 

41 Sheet (5) 

42 Employ (5) 

DOWN 

1 Giver (5) 

2 Cut (5) 

3 Shrub (6) 

FAISAL BIN ALI AL SAID MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24641650 

MUSEUM OF OMANI HERITAGE, 

Tel: 24600946 

CHILDREN’S SCIENCE MUSEUM. 

Tel: 24605368 

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24641374 

NATIONAL MUSEUM, Tel: 24701289 

SULTAN’S ARMED FORCES 

MUSEUM, Tel: 24312646 

CURRENCY MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24796102 

MUSCAT GATE MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24739005. 

OMANI-FRENCH MUSEUM (Bait 

Fransa), Tel: 24736613 

BAIT AL ZUBAIR, Tel: 24736688 

BAIT A’NAMAN, Tel: 24641300 

SOHAR FORT MUSEUM. 

Tel: 26844758 

NAHKAL FORT, Tel: 26781384 

BAIT AL MAKHAM. Tel: 24641300 

BAIT ADAM MUSEUM, QURUM, 

Tel: 24605033, 24605013 

OIL AND GAS EXHIBITION 

CENTRE AND PLANE-TARIUM, 

Tel: 24677834. 

PLANETARIUM, Tel: 24675542. 

AQUARIUM at the Marine Science 

and Fisheries Centre (located next to 

Marina Bandar Rowdha, Sidab). 

SALALAH MUSEUM, Tel: 23294549 

CULTURAL CENTRE, Tel: 23294549. 

SUR MARITIME MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24541466. 

BAIT AL BARANDA, Tel: 24714262. 

QUICK CROSSWORD 

4 Animal (4) 

5 Suppose (7) 

6 Change (5) 

9 Broadcast (3) 

11 Please (7) 

13 Chopped (5) 

14 Cook (5) 

M USEUMS IN OMAN 

16 Link (3) 

18 Cleaned (7) 

21 Borders (5) 

22 Stories (5) 

24 Proposition (7) 

27 Cereal (3) 

28 Excite (6) 

CARTOONS 

ROYAL OMAN POLICE 

EMERGENCY 9 9 9 9 

DG of Passports & Residency, 24569603 

DG of Customs, 24714626 

Traffic offences, 24510227/228 

ROP Public Relations, 24569270 

Consumer Complaints Cell, 24817013 

Muscat Governorate Headquarters, 24560021 

Muscat, 24736611 

Wattayah, 24677990 

Ruwi, 24701099 

Muttrah, 24712211 

Bausher, 24600099 

Al Amerat, 24875999 

Qurayat, 24845555 

A’Seeb, 24420099 

Al-Athaiba, 24521099 

AI-Khodh, 24425012 

Directorate of the University Security, 24513999 

Directorate of Traffic Muscat, 24567898 

Al Batinah Headquarters, 26840096 

Al Rustaq Division, 26875099 

Al Dakhiliyah, 25425099 

Nizwa Division, 25425099 

Samayil Division, 25350099 

Al Sharqiyah Headquarters, 25545070 

Ibra Division, 25570100 

Al Dhahirah Headquarters, 25650099 

Al Buraimi Division, 25650199 

Ibri Division, 25689099 

Al Wusta Headquarters, 23436099 

Haima Division, 23436211 

Special Task Force, 24560088 

Coastguard Headquarters, 24714888 

Dhofar Governorate Headquarters, 23234599 

Salalah Police Station, 23290099 

Thamrait Division, 23279099 

Musandam Governorate Headquarters, 

26730299 

Khasab Division, 26731502 

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

net and 

e-mail: ropnet@omantel.net.om 

29 Remains (5) 

32 Retransmit (5) 

33 Alloy (5) 

35 Moo (3) 

36 Profound (4) 

WEDNESDAY’S 

QUICK SOLUTION 

ACROSS: 2, Visit 7, Taxi 

8, Orbits 9, Maybe 11, 

Sod 13, Rag 15, Leek 16, 

Woe 18, Tell 19, Passion 

20, Pail 22, Rede 23, Central 

25, Need 27, Say 28, 

Barn 30, Gas 31, Lag 33, 

Sells 36, Beetle 37, Heir 

38, Eagle. 

DOWN: 1, Canoe 2, Vim 

3, Sly 4, Toe 5, Ebb 6, 

Steal 10, Boos 11, Sloping 

12, Devices 13, Renewal 

14, Glueing 16, 

Waits 17, Essay 18, Tor 

21, Led 24, Rare 26, Easel 

29, Rapid 32, Ate 33, See 

34, Leg 35, She. 

ADAM @ HOME by Brian Basset 

CALVIN AND HOBBES by Bill Watterson 

GARFIELD by Jim Davis 

STONE SOUP by Jan Eliot

MILAN — Robert Kubica has 

said he must return to Formula 

One this year after a careerthreatening 

rally crash and that 

he will be a better driver when 

he does. 

However the Pole recognised 

that he faced a tougher 

challenge than when he broke 

his arm in a road accident eight 

years ago. 

The Renault driver told 

yesterday's Gazzetta dello 

Sport newspaper in a bedside 

interview at his Italian hospital 

that he could feel the fingers in 

his right hand. 

"I must come back this 

year," he said, recalling another 

incident seven years ago 

when he broke his arm while 

travelling as a passenger in a 

car driven by a friend that was 

hit by a drunk driver. 

"It was the same right arm, 

crushed. But after four days I 

could not feel it as well as now 

and that is a comfort. 

"I want to get back on the 

track stronger than ever," he 

added. "Because after these 

accidents you are not the 

same, you improve. It happened 

to me in 2007, after the 

crash in Canada. I was out for 

a race and when I came back I 

was better. 

"A driver is not just accelerator 

and steering wheel, 

he's something more... I am 

stronger as a driver and mentally 

since 2007. And it will be 

the same this time, when I am 

physically fit." 

Doctors have said it could 

take Kubica a year to recover 

fully from an accident that left 

him with serious hand, arm 

and leg injuries. Renault have 

accepted he will be out for at 

least three months. 

Kubica suffered heavy 

blood loss and was in surgery 

for seven hours on Sunday as 

17 SPORT 



Fenninger gives Austria another gold 

GARMISCH-PARTEN- 

KIRCHEN, Germany — Anna 

Fenninger won the women's 

super combined to give Austria 

their second gold of the 

world skiing championships 

yesterday while favourites 

Maria Riesch and Lindsey 

Vonn continued to battle fitness 

problems. 

Fenninger, 21, had never 

previously won a race at the 

top level, although she has won 

four world titles at junior level. 

In fourth place after the 

downhill leg, the 21-yearold 

charged down the slalom 

course to finish ahead of Slovenia's 

Tina Maze and Swede 

Anja Paerson, who took silver 

and bronze. 

Maze produced the fastest 

slalom with 52.94 seconds but 

had left herself too much to do 

after the downhill leg as she 

missed out on gold again. 

The Slovenian won a silver 

in giant slalom at the last world 

championships two years ago 

PEBBLE BEACH, California 

— Americans Steve Marino 

and D A Points charged into a 

share of the lead in the Pebble 

Beach National Pro-Am on 

Thursday as three-time champion 

Phil Mickelson made an 

erratic start. 

Marino birdied three of 

his last four holes for a sevenunder-par 

65 at Spyglass Hill, 

one of three venues being 

used this week, while Points 

opened with a seven-under 63 

at Monterey Peninsula. 

Germany's Alex Cejka, 

who recorded the first albatross 

of the PGA Tour season 

when he holed out with a 

three-wood from 240 yards at 

the par-five 10th, his opening 

hole, was next best after firing 

a six-under 64 at Monterey. 

World No 4 Mickelson, 

however, mixed three birdies 

with four bogeys, two of them 

in his last five holes, to card a 

one-over 71 at Monterey. 

"It was the best start I've 

ever had," Cejka, who covered 

his first four holes in a sizzling 

Real Madrid 

set to move 

for Fabregas: 

press 

MADRID — Real Madrid 

are preparing a 60-millioneuro 

offer for Arsenal captain 

Cesc Fabregas, a deal 

that could also see the transfer 

of France striker Karim 

Benzema to the Gunners, a 

Spanish sports newspaper 


Fabregas, who has been 

in the sights of Real as well 

as rivals Barcelona for some 

time, is now the Madrid 

club's "number one objective" 

for next season, the 

daily Marca said. 

The 60-million-euro fee 

that the big-spending club is 

proposing is more than that 

offered by Barca for the 23year-old 

midfielder, the paper 

said. The out-of-favour 

Benzema could be transferred 

to the London club as 

part of the deal. 

Arsenal coach Arsene 

Wenger won a battle to stop 

Fabregas joining Barcelona 

last year in the close-season 

even though the Gunners' 

skipper had made it clear he 

wanted to return to the club 

where he started his career. 

"I am a Barca supporter. I 

am a member (of a club) like 

my grandfather, my uncle, 

my cousin... I am Catalan," 

he said last year. 

The Barcelona-based 

sports daily Mundo Deportivo 

said yesterday that despite 

the failure of negotiations 

last year, Fabregas still 

has "a transfer agreement 

with Barca". 

"The two clubs must agree 

on the financial amount of 

the operation," it said. 

The paper added that Fabregas 

is counting on Barca 

coach Pep Guardiola to exert 

pressure on his behalf. 

Fabregas sat out Spain's 

1-0 friendly win over Colombia 

in midweek after 

falling ill with a stomach upset 

following Arsenal's 4-4 

draw with Newcastle last 

weekend. — AFP 

WINNER Anna Fenninger of Austria (centre), Tina Maze of Slovenia (left) and Swede 

Anja Paerson celebrate following the women’s super combined race during the Alpine Ski 

World Championship in Garmisch-Partenkirchen yesterday. — Reuters 

and two silvers at the Vancouver 

Olympics last year. 

Paerson won her 11th world 

championship medal, a total 

which includes seven gold. 

Riesch, the current leader 

of the season-long World Cup 

and double gold medallist in 

Vancouver, was still suffering 

Kubica determined to make swift return to F1 

two teams of surgeons worked 

to save his right hand. 

He was due to undergo 

more hours of surgery to fix 

broken bones. 

from a virus which forced her 

to spend Thursday in bed as 

she finished 11th. 

"I'm disappointed because 

I'm sick, not because of my result," 

said Riesch, bronze medallist 

in Tuesday's super-G. 

"I was still happy to cross 

the finish in front of my home 

public. It's once in your life 

that you get to race the world 

championships at home. Of 

course, I didn't get any downhill 

training so I knew it would 

be hard to get a medal." 

Three-time World Cup winner 

Vonn, Riesch's great rival, 

opted not to ski the slalom as 

she continued to struggle with 

the affects of a training crash 

last week which left her with 

mild concussion. Vonn said 

she had treated the downhill 

leg as a training run after finishing 

12th. 

Elisabeth Goergl, who led 

after the downhill and finished 

fifth, won Austria's first gold in 

Tuesday's super-G. — Reuters 

Marino, Points take charge at Pebble BOSTON — The Los Ange- 

STEVE Marino tees off on the eighth hole on the Spyglass 

Hill Golf Course during first round of the Pebble Beach 

National Pro-Am in Pebble Beach on Thursday. — AFP 

five under, told reporters. "I hit 

a really good drive on 10, and 

I was between a five-wood 

and three-wood. 

"I choked down a little bit 

on the three-wood and hit a really 

good shot down the lefthand 

side. It carried just short 

of the green, bounced up and 

took a break towards the hole. 

"There were like three or 

four marshals up there and 

they started screaming, and 

suddenly it was in the hole. It's 

the first one (albatross) for me. 

I'm very happy." 

TORONTO — Ilya Kovalchuk 

scored with 24 seconds 

remaining in overtime to lift 

the New Jersey Devils to a 

2-1 victory over the Toronto 

Maple Leafs that also earned 

coach Jacques Lemaire his 

600th career win on Thursday. 

With the game headed towards 

a shootout, Kovalchuk 

raced into the Toronto zone 

and blasted a shot past netminder 

James Reimer as the 

Devils continued their surprising 

push for a NHL play-off 

spot. 

"It's nice to get him (Lemaire) 

the win, I think he is 

the best coach in the league," 

Kovalchuk told reporters. "It's 

a pleasure to play for these 

type of coaches. 

"With his experience, he 

knows exactly what he needs 

to tell the guys. He knows the 

right buttons to push for every 

player." 

Dainus Zubrus also scored 

for the Devils, who have just 

one regulation loss in their last 

Marino was delighted with 

his round, despite his failure to 

birdie any of the four par-five 

holes. 

FLAWLESS DISPLAY 

"I played great and made 

a few putts," he said after a 

flawless display highlighted 

by seven birdies in near-perfect 

scoring conditions. "I'm 

real thrilled about it. 

"I got off to a real good 

start. I was hitting fairways 

and lots of greens and gave 

myself a lot of looks on the 

first nine holes. 

Kovalchuk lifts surging Devils 

14 games, going 11-1-2 since 

January 8 to edge up the Eastern 

Conference standings, although 

they remain well outside 

the playoff spots back in 

13th place. 

Nikolai Kulemin grabbed 

Toronto's tally on a setup from 

All-Star forward Phil Kessel, 

whose scoring drought extended 

to 13 games without a goal. 

With the victory, Lemaire 

becomes the eighth coach to 

"And then I kind of hit a 

rough patch for a little bit in 

the middle of the round, but I 

saved (bogey with) some nice 

pars and finished great." 

For Points, the highlight of 

his day was playing alongside 

American actor and comedian 

Bill Murray in the pro-am 

format. "I've wanted to play 

with him for a few years now," 

Points said after carding eight 

birdies and one bogey. "Bill is 

from Illinois and I'm from Illinois 

as well, so we have that 

in common.” 

Among the bigger names 

competing in the sixth event 

of the PGA Tour season, threetime 

Major winner Padraig 

Harrington and former world 

No 1 Vijay Singh opened 

with matching 69s at Pebble 

Beach. 

Davis Love III, playing in 

his 25th consecutive Pebble 

Beach National Pro-Am, carded 

a 70 while fellow American 

Dustin Johnson, champion 

here for the last two years, returned 

a 71. — Reuters 

NEW Jersey Devils’ Ilya Kovalchuk celebrates his game 

winning goal with team-mates Mark Fayne and Henrik 

Tallinder during the overtime of their NHL game against the 

Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto on Thursday. — Reuters 

record 600 career NHL wins, 

a milestone he thought was beyond 

him until coming out of 

retirement in December to take 

over for fired John MacLean 

behind the Devils bench. 

Other results: Philadelphia 

Flyers bt Carolina Hurricanes 

2-1, Pittsburgh Penguins bt 

Los Angeles Kings 2-1, NY Islanders 

bt Montreal Canadiens 

4-2, Buffalo Sabres bt Florida 

Panthers 3-2. — Reuters 

Lakers spoil Allen’s record-setting game 

les Lakers spoiled Ray Allen's 

record-setting game with a 

second half comeback to earn 

a 92-86 win over the Boston 

Celtics in the NBA League 

on Thursday. Allen made his 

record 2,561st three-point shot 

with 1:48 remaining in the 

first quarter to give the Celtics 

an early eight-point lead and 

drew a standing ovation from 

the Boston fans. 

"I knew I only needed two 

threes, but on any other day or 

any other game, it would have 

happened just like that," said 

Allen. "That second three was 

almost slow-motion for me ... 

I was like, 'this is it.' It was 

definitely a magical moment." 

Former Indiana Pacers 

guard Reggie Miller, who 

was in attendance, had held 

the previous record for career 

three-pointers. 

The Lakers trailed by as 

many as 15 points in the second 

quarter and by eight at half 

time, but a 10-0 run to start the 

second half allowed them to 

Jazz coach Sloan resigns after 23 years with team 

NEW YORK — Longtime Utah Jazz 

coach Jerry Sloan said on Thursday a 

drop-off in energy was behind his sudden 

decision to resign after 23 years 

with the NBA team. 

The 68-year-old Hall of Fame coach, 

who earlier this year agreed to a oneyear 

contract extension to remain with 

the team, steered the Jazz to a 31-23 

record this season. 

He will be replaced by assistant 

coach Ty Corbin, who will take over 

for the next game against the Phoenix 

Suns. 

"Twenty-three years is a long time 

to be a part of one organisation... my 

time is up and it's time for me to move 

on," an emotional Sloan said at a news 

conference. 

"You only have so much energy left 

and my energy level has dropped off 

quite a bit." 

Sloan, whose first three years as 

an NBA coach came with the Chicago 

Bulls from 1979-80, had a 1,221-803 career 

record and is the only NBA coach 

to win 1,000 games with a franchise. 

He had been the longest-serving 

head coach of any of the four major 

North American pro sports teams. Also 

leaving with him was his top assistant 

coach Phil Johnson. 

MORE CAREFUL 

"I'll do whatever I can to 

come back as soon as possible," 

Poland's main sports daily 

Przeglad Sportowy quoted 

him as saying. 

The 26-year-old recalled 

also how in 2003 doctors had 

warned him he faced a year 

out of racing. Instead, he returned 

to Formula Three after 

six weeks. 

"At first doctors were telling 

me that the rehabilitation 

will take at least a year. Then 

they told me it would take three 

months minimum," he told the 

Polish paper of that accident. 

"This time it will be harder. I 

have to be more careful." 

The Pole, Renault's leading 

driver and big hope for the 

season, defended his love of 

rallying and decision to take 

part in the minor event near 

Genoa. 

"Rallies are not just a pas- 

West Ham beat Tottenham 

in Olympic stadium tussle 

LONDON — West Ham United were chosen 

yesterday to inherit the London Olympic stadium 

after the 2012 Games, defeating a bid 

from Premier League soccer rivals Tottenham 

Hotspur. 

The Olympic Park Legacy Company 

(OPLC) made a unanimous recommendation 

to back West Ham's plans over an audacious 

bid from Tottenham, who planned to remove 

the running track and knock down the £500 

million ($800 million) stadium in favour of a 

purpose-built soccer ground on the site. 

The authorities are keen to have a viable 

tenant to ensure that the stadium, centre-piece 

of the £9.3 billion Olympics, helps to regenerate 

the rundown area of east London, one of 

the poorest parts of the capital. 

The OPLC decision, which must be rubberstamped 

by London mayor Boris Johnson and 

the government, won strong endorsement from 

the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 

and honours a commitment made when London 

was awarded the Games in 2005. "The IOC 

welcomes the Olympic Park Legacy Company's 

decision which allows Games preparations to 

continue and paves the way for a great sporting 

legacy," the IOC said in a brief statement. 

BOSTON Celtics guard Ray Allen acknowledges the cheers 

from the crowd after setting a NBA record for career threepoint 

baskets, in the first quarter of the game against the 

Los Angeles Lakers in Boston on Thursday. — Reuters 

FORMER Utah Jazz head coach 

Jerry Sloan answers questions from 

the media after announcing his 

resignation from the Jazz in Salt Lake 

City, Utah, on Thursday. — Reuters 

sion," he told the Gazzetta. 

"They are also tough training 

for F1. I drive better in 

F1 because I competed in so 

many rallies last year. Rallies 

help your concentration, when 

there is so little testing in Formula 

One. 

"Rallying has allowed me 

to work on certain areas where 

there is still room for improvement. 

It's important, in a season 

like this one with 20 grand 

prix races." 

Asked whether he would 

continue rallying when he had 

recovered, Kubica replied: "I 

don't know, I'll see when the 

time comes." 

The Pole's manager Daniele 

Morelli told the Gazzetta 

that Kubica had only a litre 

of blood in his body when he 

reached the hospital. 

"'Call the boy's parents," he 

recalled doctors telling him. "I 

felt myself freeze." — Reuters 

ROTTERDAM — Croatian 

veteran Ivan Ljubicic posted 

a battling 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 

(7-4) defeat of Marcos Baghdatris 

yesterday to reach his 

fourth career semifinal at the 

Rotterdam Open. 

It was the best showing at 

the event for the 31-year-old 

in four years: Ljubicic also 

played finals in 2005 and 

2007, losing six years ago 

to Roger Federer and going 

down two years later to Russian 

Mikhail Youzhny. 

Ljubicic needed almost 

two and a half hours to earn 

a re-assuring win over Baghdatis, 

who had beaten him in 

four of five previous meetings. 

"It was a strange match, 

I knew I had to take a lot of 

risk," said Ljubicic, holder of 

10 career singles trophies and 

now 17-8 in Rotterdam. "I 

didn't start great but he gave 

West Ham, who are bottom of the Premier 

League, will be making a short move from 

their current home at Upton Park. 

Their plan would retain the athletics track 

inside the stadium, which would be reduced to 

a 60,000-seater in a £95 million project in partnership 

with the local council. 

Karren Brady, vice-chairman of West Ham, 

said: "Today is a momentous day. We are proud 

to have been passed the Olympic torch and 

fully embrace the responsibility we have for 

keeping the flame alive. 

"We have been granted a once in a lifetime 

opportunity to grow our club. The nation has 

kept its promise and we will keep ours." 

Tottenham, backed by American entertainment 

giant AEG, argued that West Ham's plan 

to incorporate an athletics track inside a soccer 

stadium would be unsustainable. 

They had planned to spend £300 million on 

the stadium but their fans were unhappy about 

the prospect of uprooting from their home in 

White Hart Lane, north London. Spurs manager 

Harry Redknapp, who played for and managed 

West Ham, said his former club would miss the 

atmosphere of Upton Park, a typical British 

ground where fans are close to the action. 

get back into the game. 

The Lakers outscored Boston 

27-15 in the third, led by 

12 points from Kobe Bryant 

after he scored just three in the 

first half. 

"We just made things a little 

bit tougher," said Bryant. 

"In the first half, they got a lot 

of easy opportunities in transition, 

a lot of easy catch and 

shoots. We just had to put a 

stop to it." 

Bryant finished with 23 

points, Pau Gasol had 20 

points and 10 rebounds and 

Andrew Bynum had 16 points 

for the Lakers. 

Allen led the Celtics with 

20 points and Rajon Rondo 

had 12 points and 10 assists. 

"They came out real aggressive 

in that third quarter 

and we just didn't come out 

aggressive," Celtics forward 

Paul Pierce said. 

In other matches, Phoenix 

Suns beat Golden State Warriors 

112-88 and Denver Nuggets 

pipped Dallas Mavericks 

121-120. — Reuters 

"Nobody pushed Jerry or Phil out," 

said Jazz owner Greg Miller. "I've 

loved and respected Jerry for as long 

as I can remember. I have great respect 

and admiration for Jerry." 

Miller said Sloan called a meeting 

with management earlier on the day. 

"All of us in the room threw everything 

we had at him to get him to stay," Miller 

said. 

Said Sloan: "It's not dramatic, not 

a big deal. It's just time for me to move 

on." 

Sloan said he had no interest in 

coaching another team. 

"I'm not looking for another job," 

Sloan said. "My wife has a job for me 

when I get home." 

Sloan's long, successful run with the 

Jazz included teams led by the great 

partnership of Hall of Famers Karl 

Malone and John Stockton. 

They helped the team reach the 

NBA Finals in 1988 and 1989 where 

they fell to Michael Jordan and the 

Chicago Bulls. 

"Everyone wants to win a world 

championship," Sloan said. 

"But I think our team laid everything 

they had out there when they 

were in that position. That's all you can 

ask." — Reuters 

Ljubicic in last four 

me two double-faults in the 

third game.” 

Ljubicic will play wellrested 

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried 

Tsonga, who advanced in a 

walkover when Czech fourth 

seed Tomas Berdych could 

not play due to illness. Ljubicic 

holds a 2-1 edge over 

Tsonga in their career series. 

"I'll have plenty of time to 

rest. I know we will both go 

for our shots, it should be a 

great match," said Ljubicic. 

The other two quarterfinals 

feature Robin Soderling 

continuing a bid for a second 

consecutive Rotterdam title as 

he faces a sixth seed Youzhny. 

Sweden's Soderling had to 

save a match point in the second 

round to defeat German 

Philipp Kohlschreiber. 

Ljubicic's fellow Croatian 

Marin Cilic will play for a 

place in the final four against 

Serb Viktor Troicki. — dpa

18 

BATSMEN are expected to have a 

ball on flat subcontinental pitches 

in the World Cup — only if allowed 

by Dale Steyn and other skilful 

speed merchants. Pitches may be slow 

but there is always room for quality pacemen 

to make a mark, as was proved by 

Australian Craig McDermott who was the 

leading bowler with 18 wickets when the 

Cup was hosted by India and Pakistan in 

1987. 

South African Steyn, Sri Lankan Lasith 

Malinga, England's James Anderson, 

Indian Zaheer Khan and Pakistan's Umer 

Gul will be the pacemen to watch. 

Also hungry for success will be Australian 

pace duo of Brett Lee and Shaun 

Tait, who have recently returned to the 

one-day side after recovering from injuries. 

Lee, who missed the last Cup due to 

an injury, was the second-highest wickettaker 

in the 2003 edition in South Africa 

with 22 scalps, while Tait caught the eye 

in 2007 with 23 wickets. 

Steyn is no stranger to Indian conditions, 

having given a magnificent 

exhibition of swing bowling to destroy the 

hosts for a meagre 76 with a five-wicket 

haul in the second Test in Ahmedabad in 

2008. 

Pace, backed by controlled swing, 

makes Steyn one of the most feared fast 

bowlers. He has an effective new-ball 

partner in Morne Morkel, capable of 

keeping pressure on batsmen. 

Steyn recently proved too hot to handle 

for India in the home series when he 

was his team's highest wicket-taker in 

DUBAI — Rory McIlroy kept his hopes 

of ending a two-year European Tour winless 

drought alive with a four-under-par 

68 for a one-stroke lead in the Dubai 

Desert Classic second round yesterday 

with Tiger Woods lurking. 

The world No 7 moved to an 11-under 

halfway total of 133 to be a shot clear of 

South African Thomas Aiken and Spain's 

Sergio Garcia who both carded 67s while 

Woods (137) roared into contention for a 

first title in 14 months with a 66. 

The American recorded six birdies for 

his lowest round since December. 

Twice champion Woods upstaged 

partners and the world's top two players 

Briton Lee Westwood (139) and German 

Martin Kaymer (140), the Englishman 

carding a 70 to Kaymer's 71. 

"Being out this morning also meant we 

had some clean greens which was nice, 

and all three of us hit them perfect, and 

made a few putts," Woods told reporters. 

McIlory's last European Tour win 

came in the same event, where the 21year-old 

Briton led from start to finish, 

and the Ryder Cup player was not ruling 

out a similar outcome this time. 

"I can't see any reason why I can't win 

wire-to-wire again," he said. 

"I led all four rounds two years ago 

and that's the plan this year. I'll just keep 

shooting good scores and if I can do that 

then there's no reason why I can't beat 

that." 


‘Fab’ five promise batting feast 

IMAGINE Kevin Pietersen, 

Sachin Tendulkar, Chris 

Gayle, Jacques Kallis 

and Shahid Afridi batting for 

the same team. Their captain 

could relax, but not the bowlers 

in the opposition. 

Pietersen's improvisation, 

Tendulkar's strokeplay, Gayle's 

power-hitting, Kallis's conventional 

but highly effective approach 

and Afridi's unorthodox 

shots will make bowlers 

believe they have strayed into 

wrong territory. 

With India's Tendulkar 

opening an innings with West 

Indies' Gayle, runs are bound 

to come thick and fast from 

both the ends as they like dominating 

the attack on all tracks. 

Tendulkar has amassed a 

record 17,629 runs with 46 

centuries — the most by any 

batsman in one-dayers — but 

retains the desire to excel and 

the love for the game even 

after spending more than two 

decades in international cricket. 

The 37-year-old is getting 

better and hungrier with 

age, having smashed the first 

double-century (200 not out) 

in one-day internationals only 

last year, against South Africa 

in Gwalior. 

Tendulkar will be keen to 

deliver as much for himself 

as for his team, for he will be 

playing in his sixth and probably 

last World Cup, the only 

trophy missing from his showcase. 

Left-handed Gayle is 

known for ruining bowlers' 

line, length and reputation 

when on song with his explosive 

power-hitting. Pace or 

spin, Test or one-dayers, he 

just believes in attacking the 

bowling. 

He batted in the opening 

Test against Sri Lanka at Galle 

last year as if in a one-dayer, 

racing to 333 with 34 fours 

and a West Indian Test record 

of nine sixes. 

Gayle also became the 

fourth batsman to hammer 

two triple-centuries in Tests 

after compatriot Brian Lara, 

Australian Don Bradman and 

India's Virender Sehwag. His 

form will be the key to his 

team's fortunes in the mega 

event. 

England's Pietersen, currently 

one of the most exciting 

batsmen, is second to none 

when it comes to boldness and 

inventiveness. His penchant 

for switch-hitting has only 

made field-setting difficult for 

the rival captains. 

With England lacking a 

free-stroking batsman at the 

top, like Gayle or Sehwag, 

they are expected to rely on Pietersen's 

big-hitting in setting 

or chasing a stiff target. 

England failed to reach the 

Steyn leads charge of pace brigade 

Kvitova, Bethanie 

reach semifinals 

PARIS — Fourth-seeded 

Petra Kvitova and Bethanie 

Mattek-Sands fought their 

way into the semifinals of the 

Paris Open yesterday. 

While Czech Kvitova 

overcame No 7 Yanina Wickmayer 

of Belgium 5-7, 6-3, 

7-6 (7/3), Mattek-Sands got 

the better of sixth-seeded 

German Andrea Petkovic 7-6 

(7/4), 2-6, 6-3. 

On Thursday, Russian 

superstar Maria Sharapova 

pulled out of the tournament 

due to illness. 

Sharapova, the world No 

13, has been suffering from 

a throat infection since the 

weekend and consulted a doctor 

on Thursday morning before 

deciding to pull out, having 

been granted a place in the 

draw as a wild card. 

"I've really done everything 

to be ready, but unfortunately, 

I'm unable to play," 

Sharapova said in a statement. 

"I want to apologise to my 

fans and to thank the tournament 

for having been so un- 

2007 Cup semifinals in the 

Caribbean, but Pietersen enhanced 

his reputation as a bigstage 

performer. He was the 

only England batsman to score 

a century. 

In fact, he made two — 

104 against eventual winners 

Australia in Antigua and 100 

against the West Indies in 

Bridgetown. 

South African Kallis, 

Like Steyn, Anderson also is in form 

having played a significant role in England's 

first Ashes triumph in Australia for 

IF spinners are seeking a spark of inspiration 

to succeed on subcontinental 

pitches in the World Cup, they need 

more than two decades, with 24 wickets look no further than Australian Shane 

in five matches. 

Warne or India's Anil Kumble. 

England, who have not made it to the Leg-spin wizard Warne turned the 

semifinals in the last four editions, expect 1996 Cup semifinal in Mohali on its head 

Anderson to retain his wicket-taking abil- with four for 36 off nine probing overs as 

ity. Their pace attack looks effective, es- the West Indies crashed to 202 after being 

pecially with Stuart Broad regaining fit- strongly placed at 165 for two chasing a 

ness ahead of the event. 

modest target of 208. 

Zaheer, known for providing early Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan, In- 

breakthroughs, was one of the bowling dia's Harbhajan Singh, England's Graeme 

stars on a recent tour of South Africa Swann, New Zealander Daniel Vettori 

where he grabbed 10 wickets to help and Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal need not lose 

India draw a tough three-Test series and heart in the latest edition. 

nine scalps in one-dayers. 

Bangladesh's talented left-arm spin- 

Gul is expected to be Pakistan's trump ners Shakib Al Hasan and Abdur Razzak 

card as he can extract bounce even on recently made a strong statement for the 

slow pitches and rattle batsmen with slow men, playing crucial roles in their 

yorkers, which makes him one of the 

DALE STEYN 

most effective pacemen. 

Tests with 21 scalps and the third-highest He is also the bowler in form, having 

in one-dayers with eight. 

recently taken 13 wickets in his team's 

'Slinger' Malinga will be keen to re- win in a two-Test series in New Zealand. 

new his love affair with the World Cup His best in one-dayers came last year 

after his impressive exploits in the last when he rocked England with six for 42 

edition in the Caribbean which saw him at The Oval. 

finish among the top-six bowlers with 18 Gul, the highest wicket-taker in the in- 

wickets. 

augural Twenty20 World Championships 

The Sri Lankan, known to produce ac- in South Africa with 13 scalps, became 

curate yorkers and excel in death overs, the first bowler to grab five wickets in 

has the ability to do the unexpected. the next edition in England, against New 

He made World Cup history last time Zealand at the Oval. 

when he grabbed four wickets off as many "I have really developed my yorker 

balls in a Super Eights clash against South by watching videos of (former Pakistani 

Africa in Guyana to raise prospects of an pacemen) Waqar Younis and Wasim 

unlikely win for Sri Lanka, who eventu- Akram. They have really helped me," Gul 

ally lost the match by one wicket. said after his five-wicket haul. — AFP 

team's one-day series wins over New 

GRAEME SWANN 

Zealand and Zimbabwe at home. 

Three slow men in 1987, including match-winner for more than a decade on 

Pakistan's leg-spinner Abdul Qadir, and all surfaces. 

four in 1996 finished among top-six The 38-year-old, playing his last World 

bowlers when the event was held in the Cup, is a big turner of the ball and also 

sub-continent. Leg-spinner Kumble was has a deceptive 'doosra', a delivery that 

the most successful bowler in 1996, with turns away from right-handers instead of 

15 wickets. 

coming into them like a conventional off- 

Sri Lanka skipper Arjuna Ranabreak.tunga stressed the significance of spin Muralitharan, who quit Test cricket 

when he cleverly used Muralitharan, Ar- last year with a record 800 wickets, is also 

avinda de Silva, Sanath Jayasuriya and the world's leading bowler in one-day in- 

Kumar Dharmasena to restrict Australia ternationals. 

to 241 before winning the 1996 Cup fi- Harbhajan has already showed that he 

nal. 

is a difficult bowler to get away in home 

Muralitharan, the only player in the conditions with a tidy line and length 

current squad to have figured in the which can keep batsmen under control in 

1996 final at Lahore, has been his team's middle overs. 

derstanding and supporting 

me." 

Australian Open champion 

Kim Clijsters will replace 

Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki 

if she wins her quarterfinal 

tie. 

The Belgian, who was 

top for 12 weeks in 2003 and 

seven in 2006 before her retirement 

and subsequent return 

to the game two years 

later, will tackle Jelena Dokic 

of Australia for a place in the 

last four. 

Dokic, a qualifier, fired 10 

aces in her 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) win 

over Russian fifth seed Nadia 

Petrova. "I was confident and 

put pressure on her," said Dokic. 

"I played great in the first 

set, went down a little in the 

second but I managed to pull 

through. 

"I have already played five 

matches here, things are getting 

better and better. 

"I have nothing to lose 

against Kim in the next 

match. She's almost number 

one again. I will just go out 

and enjoy it." — AFP 

Two birdies on his closing four holes 

capped a fine round for the Northern 

Irishman who bogeyed the second hole. 

Briton Steve Webster posted another 

68 for a 136 total while Dane Anders 

Hansen (68), Briton Michael Hoey 

(67), Australia's Brett Rumford (68) and 

Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (69) 

dubbed the 'Gary Sobers' of 

contemporary cricket, is every 

captain's first choice because 

of his ability to provide solidity 

to middle order and sharpness 

to the attack with disciplined 

seam bowling. 

He may not be as aggressive 

as Gayle or Sehwag but 

is more consistent and can 

give a lesson or two to many 

in building an innings under 

pressure in both Tests and onedayers. 

Kallis, who has completed 

a rare double of 10,000 runs in 

both Test and one-day cricket, 

is an all-surface batsman as he 

has the technique and temperament 

to neutralise the efficacy 

of any bowling attack. 

He is also a match-winner 

with the ball, having so far 

captured 270 wickets in Tests 

and 259 in one-dayers, although 

his effectiveness in the 

tournament will be curtailed 

by a side strain. 

Pakistan's Afridi may not 

be consistent, but has an amazing 

range of shots to change 

the course of a match in a 

few overs. No target is insurmountable 

when he begins firing. 

He is one of the most feared 

batsmen in one-dayers with an 

ability to smack even a good 

delivery for a boundary. He 

has the fastest hundred to his 

credit in this format — off 37 

balls against Sri Lanka in Nairobi 

in 1996. 

Afridi is also an effective 

leg-spinner and a brilliant 

fielder. — AFP 

McIlroy keeps lead as Woods hits form 

UNITED States’ Tiger Woods plays a 

shot on the second day of the Dubai 

Desert Classic yesterday. — AFP 

Spinners need not lose heart 

were the other players level with Woods. 

Garcia's return to form is a welcome 

boost for the 31-year-old who rose to 

world number two after capturing the 

HSBC Champions event in Shanghai in 

November 2008. 

The Spaniard took a lengthy break 

from the game towards the later part of 

last year and Garcia admitted his confidence 

has been helped by the encouragement 

afforded him by fellow Spaniard 

and men's tennis No 1 Rafa Nadal. 

"Rafa has been very helpful here and 

there," said Garcia. 

"He doesn't give me any tips but it's 

mainly just checking up on how much 

he's doing and what I am doing, but it's 

good encouragement for me. 

"He will say to me things like 'come 

on, I hope you have a good year and have 

a great week' and things like that." 

Briton Nick Dougherty will be sidelined 

for some time with confirmation he 

has broken his right wrist. 

Dougherty was forced to withdraw 

from the Dubai Desert Classic after slipping 

over in the shower in his Dubai hotel. 

South African Keith Horne produced 

the second hole-in-one of the event when 

he aced the par-three fourth hole while 

former champions Colin Montgomerie 

(149), Richard Green (146) and Mark 

O'Meara (150) are set to miss the evenpar 

cut (144). — Reuters 

Zimbabwe veterans 

pass on the wisdom 

of their years 

CHENNAI — Left-arm spinner 

Ray Price and former captain 

Tatenda Taibu have taken 

over the role of mentors in 

an inexperienced Zimbabwe 

squad preparing to take part 

in the World Cup. 

"I really enjoy working 

with the young guys," Price 

told reporters yesterday. "I'm 

34 now, (all-rounder) Greg 

Lamb is nearly 30 and the 

rest are pretty young. So I'm 

bit like a 

grandfather." 

Price 

said he 

enjoyed 

m e n - 

toring 

fellowspinners 

Graeme 

Cremer 

and Craig 

Ervine. 

"I enjoy 

it. Spinners in general talk 

a lot anyway. I'm just trying 

to teach guys it's just a game," 

he said. 

"There might be a lot of 

people making noise and 

things like that but at the end 

of the day, it's like the same 

thing like your kid in the park. 

You also got to enjoy yourself. 

"(I'm) just trying to teach 

the young guys if they prac- 

MUSCAT — A swashbuckling 

knock by Jatinder Singh 

helped Passage to India score 

a thumping victory against 

Enhance CT in the Muscat 

Pharmacy-sponsored A division 

Oman Cricket League, 

here yesterday. 

Jatinder, who had played 

for Team Oman in the recent 

ICC World Cricket League, 

plundered 17 fours and three 

sixes in his 83-ball 147 that 

helped Passage to a mammoth 

358. 

Passage to India then despite 

Unnikrishnan's defiant 

98, bowled Enhance out for 

260 to record an effective 98run 

win. 

Passage did not have a 

dazzling start on batting track, 

but Sandesh Duri and Khalim 

pulled them up from dire 29 

for two. 

And once Jatinder arrived 

on the scene, runs started flowing 

making Enhance bowlers 

sweat for wickets. Captain 

Guru Prasanna claimed three 

wickets for 69 runs. 

Enchance made chase in 

tise enough, it helps their variations 

in the middle and helps 

them work out batsmen." 

Wicketkeeper Taibu, 27, 

said he also offered advice 

to the younger players and to 

captain Elton Chigumbura. 

"When I speak in the 

change room, I say 'guys, 

look after this old man'," 

Taibu said. "Having been the 

captain before, (I try to) help 

Elton as much as possible. 

"I try 

to give 

Elton differentangles...on 

bowling 

changes, 

options 

of stopp 

i n g 

runs and 

getting 

wickets, 

all for 

Elton to 

be able to concentrate on his 

bowling and batting. 

"If we can take away that 

load off his shoulder, he'll 

be able to concentrate on his 

game and we want him to do 

that and win us games with 

the ball and bat." 

Zimbabwe begin their 

World Cup Group 'B' 

campaign against Australia 

in Ahmedabad on February 

21. — Reuters 

He is likely to be the only specialist 

spinner in the playing XI as India also 

have useful part-timers in Virender Sehwag, 

Yuvraj Singh and Yusuf Pathan. 

Off-spinner Swann, who bagged 15 

wickets in his team's recent Ashes triumph 

in Australia, is expected to play a 

major role on slow turners. 

Former India left-arm spinner Bishan 

Singh Bedi, known for his smooth action, 

was all praise for the England bowler. 

"Swann is an outstanding bowler. He 

is the best off-spinner at the moment," 

said Bedi. 

"The fact that he attacks makes him 

extraordinary. He has a nice, clean action 

and I think he should do really well. His 

performance in the Ashes should boost 

his confidence." 

Left-arm spinner Vettori will be keen 

to do justice to his stature in his last 

assignment as captain. He is a vital part 

of New Zealand's attack, capable of 

drying up runs as well as taking crucial 

wickets. 

New Zealand, who suffered 11 successive 

one-day defeats in the sub-continent 

late last year, hope the burden of captaincy 

does not affect their skipper's performance 

at the big stage. 

Vettori is also a gritty lower-order 

batsman who has contributed at important 

stages. 

Bangladesh, playing all their league 

matches at home, will largely rely on 

spinners in a bid to advance to the quarter-finals. 

They have effective spinners in 

Mohammed Mahmudullah, Naeem Islam 

and Suhrawadi Shuvo. — AFP 

Jatinder stars for 

Passage to India 

JATINDER SINGH 

right earnest but the match 

slipped out of their grasp in 

the final 11 overs. When the 

batting power-play was taken 

at 200 for six, the run-rate had 

dipped close to eight. From 

then on, there was no looking 

back for the Passage boys as 

they galloped to a great victory. 

Brief scores: Passage to India 

358 all out (Jatinder Singh 147, Mohammed 

Saeed 37, Guru Prasanna 

3/69) beat Enhance CT 260 all out 

(Unnikrishnan 98, Kahawar Ali 44, 

Mohammed Saeed 3/52, Ghazanfar 

Iqbal 2/33). Man of the match: 

Jatinder Singh. Points: Passage to 

India 5 (6 gm, 13 pts), Enhance 0 

(6 gm, 4 pts).

Dhaka gets facelift 

PEOPLE pose with a giant cricket bat display in Dhaka. The display is part of decorations throughout the city to coincide 

with the ICC World Cup from February 17, which will be jointly hosted by Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. — Reuters 

DHAKA — The Bangladeshi capital is 

abustle in the run-up to next week's opening 

of the cricket World Cup, as the city 

and its residents pull out all the stops to 

prepare a fitting welcome. 

Roadside shops and businesses gleam 

in their new coats of paint, the town's 

workers are applying road markings to 

barely dry asphalt after many of the city's 

long-neglected roads have been resurfaced, 

and decorative electric lights hang 

between newly painted lampposts. 

Homes, airports, guest houses, hotels 

and restaurants have been asked to spruce 

up ahead of the tournament. Beggars and 

street hawkers are nervously awaiting 

their forced relocation from the most visible 

areas. Makeshift measures have been 

introduced to curb the choking congestion 

that is a part of daily Dhaka life. 

The objective is to present as positive 

a face as possible to the thousands 

of foreigners expected to visit the country, 

which is co-hosting the cricket World 

Cup from February 19 to April 2, and 

where the opening ceremony is to be held 

on February 17. 

As important as showing the best of 

Bangladesh is hiding the worst, in a country 

where 40 per cent of the population 

live below the poverty line. 

But authorities say they are fully prepared 

to meet the challenge, more so even 

than co-hosts India and Sri Lanka, a top 

official of the Bangladesh Cricket Board 

said. 

"This World Cup will be the defining 

moment in the history of our cricket," 

Mustafa Kamal said. 

Bangladesh is to host the inauguration 

ceremony and eight matches in the cities 

of Dhaka and the port city of Chittagong, 

where similar urban beautification 

projects are under way, supervised by local 

authorities and the state-run Tourism 

Corporation. 

Dhaka City Corporation has spent 

over $7.5 million on renovating roads 

and decorating its streets, with some 

private companies have also contributing 

to the cosmetic improvement of the 

city. 

"We are trying to give the city a beautiful 

look during the World Cup with our 

limited resources as many foreign dignitaries 

will visit the country," Dhaka's 

Mayor Sadek Hossain Khoka said. 

As the country has been reeling under 

severe power crisis, alternative arrangements 

are being made to ensure continuous 

supply during the World Cup. 

District administrations have been 

asked to provide alternative power suppliers 

to the giant screens they will be 

erecting at strategic points in all 64 towns 

across the country. 

"We have prioritised the venues, es- 

pecially where the evening matches 

will take place, for duplicate or triplicate 

connections to ensure uninterrupted 

power," Alamgir Kabir, chairman of 

state-owned Power Development Board, 

said. 

He said citizens had also been requested 

to be sparing of their own consumption 

as the country will face a shortage of over 

1,000 megawatts at peak cricket-viewing 

times. 

"Some industries have also been asked 

not to run their units during the peak hour," 

he added. Most of Bangladesh's 153 million 

people, the poor and the better-off 

alike, are avid cricket fans, and thousands 

were observed fighting for tickets when 

they went on sale at the banks. 

But such incidents of incivility aside, 

the Bangladeshis are welcoming the opportunity 

to show their cricket-loving 

face to the world. 

"We are happy to be hosting an international 

event like the cricket World 

Cup," said Anwar Hossain, a cricket fan 

from suburban Kawla. "A good job of 

hosting it will help improve our image 

across the globe." 

In Chittagong a number of digital 

signboards and 450 banners have been 

installed over the roads to inform visitors 

of the heritage and history of Chittagong 

and Bangladesh, officials said. 

Real cricket bats, the logo of the International 

Cricket Council, the managing 

body of the tournament, and welcome 

messages from the Bangladesh Cricket 

Board were displayed at the VIP lounges 

of Bangladesh's two international airports 

— Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka 

and Shah Amanat International Airport 

in Chittagong. — dpa 

Kiwis come with restored confidence 

NAGPUR, India — New Zealand 

captain Daniel Vettori 

said yesterday the recent oneday 

victories against Pakistan 

had restored some of their 

confidence ahead of the World 

Cup. 

New Zealand lost the home 

one-day series but managed to 

win two games against Pakistan 

to end an 11-match losing 

streak which started with 

a triangular tournament in Sri 

Lanka last August. 

They were later blanked in 

one-day series in Bangladesh 

and India. 

"Defeats in the last three series 

have affected our morale, 

but the wins against Pakistan 

have restored our confidence," 

Vettori told reporters in Nagpur 

on the eve of their warmup 

game against Ireland. 

The New Zealand skipper 

said the experience of playing 

in Bangladesh and India would 

stand his team in good stead. 

"We have been playing in 

the sub-continent for some 

time and that has helped us 

gain more experience. We 

will focus on every match," 

he said. 

Vettori was also banking 

on the expertise of newlyappointed 

coach John Wright, 

who helped India reach the 

2003 World Cup final in South 

Africa during his five-year 

stint with the team. 

"John is an important asset 

for us. He has vast experience, 

knowledge of local conditions, 

crowd and people and 

therefore he will be a good 

coach for New Zealand," said 

Vettori. 

New Zealand are in Group 

'A' with defending champions 


Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, 

Zimbabwe, Canada and 

Kenya, with the top four 

teams advancing to the quarterfinals. 

They open their World 

Cup campaign on February 20 

against Kenya at Chennai in 

India. — AFP 

South Africans will not 

dwell on unhappy past 

CHENNAI — South Africa 

are determined to make a new 

start at the World Cup opening 

match on February 19 after 

semifinal exits in 1992, 1999 

and 2007 and a shock quarterfinal 

loss to West Indies in 

1996. 

A B de Villiers, who will 

add the wicketkeeper's role to 

his batting duties, said yesterday 

the team were not looking 

back. 

"We really are not focusing 

on that at the moment," he told 

reporters. "The thing that has 

happened in the past is history. 

We've got an all-new side with 

a different look." 

"ICC events are difficult 

things, you have to peak at the 

right time. It has nothing to do 

with choking or throwing a 

game away. It's pressure and 

other teams may have played 

better that time. 

"(In the) last two years, 

three maybe even, we played 

the big situations very well. 

We are going to do exactly the 

same in this tournament. 

"We don't need extra help 

or psychologists. We've got 

little things to work on but 

definitely it's not about choking." 

Team-mate Morne Morkel 

was equally confident. 

"We have a lot of young 

and fresh guys, all hungry to 

get success and start our own 

legacy," he said. 

"(This is an opportunity) 

also for those guys who played 

before us to do something special. 

We have the team and got 

the backing from home...we'll 

be ready. We have a point to 

prove." 

Morkel and his new ball 

partner Dale Steyn will spearhead 

South Africa's attack and 

the 26-year-old was confident 

of success even though the 

subcontinent's flat pitches will 

deny him his customary steep 

bounce. 

"I think it can also play in 

my favour," Morkel said. 

"I have seen here the 

bounce can get really inconsistent. 

Tall bowlers, if they 

hit the deck hard and get inconsistent 

bounce, that can 

count as a favour." 

A safe pair of hands behind 

the wicket will instill confidence 

in Morkel and his bowling 

colleagues and de Villiers 

said he was ready for what 

looked like a tough test of his 

keeping skills. "It's a different 

role for me," said the Pretoriaborn 

player who will turn 27 

on February 17. 

"It's going to be physically 

quite challenging but something 

I have worked on in the 

last few months. It's best for 

the team at the moment, so 

that's something I'm looking 

forward to. It's going to be a 

big challenge for me but I'm 

ready for it. 

"All the keepers will have 

a tough time. It's not easy to 

keep in the subcontinent. I've 

seen lot of keepers making 

lots of mistakes here, even the 

local keepers. 

"When you let through 

a bye, it's not the end of the 

world, you got to move on 

make sure you focus on the 

next ball. I'll be prepared in 

the best possible way I can." 

19 

Tsotsobe avoids 

comparisons 

with Ntini 

CHENNAI — Left-arm 

pace bowler Lonwabo Tsotsobe 

paid a generous tribute 

to Makhaya Ntini yesterday 

but took pains to avoid comparisons 

with the pioneer for 

black South African cricketers. 

"He's played a big role for 

me. I played with him in the 

franchise system back home. 

He played a huge role for the 

black community in South 

Africa and played a part in 

my success also," he said. 

Tsotsobe said he would 

not play the same role as 

Ntini when South Africa attempt 

to win the World Cup 

for the first time. 

"I've tried to stop people 

from saying that I'm filling 

his shoes," he said. "I'm a 

different bowler to Makhaya 

and I try to use as much variation 

as possible. I'm not in 

the team because I'm filling 

his shoes." 

Tsotsobe said his heroes 

had been left-arm pace bowlers 

Wasim Akram from Pakistan 

and Sri Lankan Chaminda 

Vaas while he now 

tried to learn from India's 

Zaheer Khan. — Reuters

BANGALORE — Australia may not start as 

strong World Cup favourites but the momentum 

is with them after their recent one-day success 

against England, skipper Ricky Ponting 


"At the moment we're in good shape. We've 

got some really good confidence and a bit of 

momentum around our team," Ponting told reporters 

in Bangalore. 

"Our lead-up really couldn't be much better 

coming into this World Cup, having just beaten 

a pretty good English side with quite a few of 

our more senior players not taking part." 

Australia, seeking a fourth consecutive title, 

lost the recent Ashes to England at home but 

bounced back strongly to clinch the following 

one-day series 6-1. 

Ponting said he was not worried his side 

were not considered as overwhelming favour- 


Momentum with Australia, says Ponting 

AUSTRALIAN captain Ricky Ponting pictured during a training session at 

the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore yesterday. — AFP 

ites despite enjoying the top ranking in one-day 

internationals and an enviable record at the 

showpiece event. 

Australia have not been beaten in their last 

29 games (one tied) since their last World Cup 

defeat to Pakistan at Headingley in 1999. 

"I don't care," Ponting said when asked 

about the missing favourites tag. "I'm not sure 

if there's a really hot favourite going into a tournament 

like this. 

"I don't really care where we start the tournament. 

It's totally irrelevant. Yes, we are 

ranked number one but we won't be thinking 

about that." 

Ponting however conceded India and South 

Africa 'are probably two of the outstanding 

teams'. 

The Australian skipper also said he was 

hopeful of playing in tomorrow's opening 

warm-up game against India in Bangalore despite 

having missed the one-day series against 

England due to a broken finger. 

"The next couple of weeks are important for 

me. To be out of the game for a month going 

into a World Cup is not a perfect preparation. I 

have to really focus on my batting and my fielding," 

said Ponting. 

Australia are in Group 'A' with Sri Lanka, 

Pakistan, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Canada 

and Kenya, with the top four sides making it to 

the quarterfinals. 

The Australians open their campaign 

against Zimbabwe at Ahmedabad in India on 

February 21. — AFP 

Ricky relishes Cup 

duel with Sachin 

BANGALORE — Australia 

captain Ricky Ponting is relishing 

the opportunity of another 

batting duel with India's 

Sachin Tendulkar in what will 

probably be their last World 

Cup. 

Ponting, 36, the tournament's 

second most prolific 

batsman behind Tendulkar, 

said he had always enjoyedplaying 

against 

the world's 

leading runs 

scorer in Test 

and one-day 

cricket. 

"There 

is no bigger 

stage than a 

World Cup 

for all of us to 

stand up and 

perform well," 

Ponting told a news conference 

yesterday. 

"I am sure Sachin wants to 

have a good tournament. I am 

sure he wants to be a part of 

the World Cup-winning side, 

but hopefully he is not." 

"It probably will be 

Sachin's last World Cup and 

probably my last World Cup 

I want to bat entire 50 overs: Sehwag 

BANGALORE — Hard-hitting Indian 

opener Virender Sehwag yesterday 

sounded a warning to rival bowlers 

ahead of the World Cup, saying 

he planned to bat right through the innings. 

Sehwag, who opens the innings with 

batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar, is 

known for giving his team flying starts 

with his hard and clean hitting and has 

so far scored 7,380 runs in 228 one-dayers 

with 13 centuries. 

"I think I have never played 

50 overs in one-day cricket. 

The maximum I have played 

is 43 or 44 overs," said Sehwag, 32. 

"But this time, I will try to bat 50 

overs and give a good start to the team. 

I have been unsuccessfully trying this 

for the past 10 years, but the effort is 

still on." 

Sehwag said he was not feeling any 

pressure as his captain Mahendra Singh 

Dhoni and coach Gary Kirsten had always 

backed him to play his natural 

game. 

"The coach and captain just allow 

me to bat the way I bat. So, they are not 

putting any pressure on me. They have 

said 'you just go and play your natural 

game'," said Sehwag. 

"My role is to go out there and enjoy 

myself and give a good start to the team. 

If I score 20 runs in 10 balls or 100 in 70 

or 80 balls, I am happy with that." 

He said India were eagerly looking 

forward to their opening match against 

Bangladesh in Dhaka on February 19, 

as well. I guess we have been 

lucky over the years to play 

a lot of cricket against each 

other. 

"I have always enjoyed 

the chance of playing against 

Sachin and playing against the 

Indian team, especially under 

these conditions here. 

"So, nothing will change 

over the next few weeks. We 

will enjoy 

and see who 

comes out on 

the top." 

Ponting 

said Australia 

would 

miss injured 

left-hander 

Michael Hussey, 

who was 

Australia's 

best batsman 

in the losing 

Ashes series. 

"Losing Michael Hussey is 

a big loss to our setup. There 

is no doubt about it," Ponting 

said. 

"His experience and his 

knowledge of the game in 

tournaments like this are almost 

second to none. We will 

miss him." — Reuters 

WEST Indies skipper 

Clive Lloyd 

was poised to 

hold aloft the World Cup 

for a third time, only to see 

Kapil’s ‘Devils’ from India 

snatch it away in one of the 

biggest surprises. 

The West Indies were 

favourites having won the 

event twice, while India 

were outsiders having won 

just one match — against a 

lowly East Africa in 1975 

— in the previous two tournaments. 

The 17-day event was 

bigger than the previous 

ones as there were 27 

matches instead of 15, with 

each side playing against 

the other twice in the fourteam 

group. 

The tournament began 

on a sensational note, with 

India shocking the West 

Indies in a group match at 

Old Trafford and minnows 

Zimbabwe 

upsetting 

Australia on 

the strength 

of a superb 

all-round 

performance 

by Duncan 

Fletcher, who later coached 

England. 

India had already posted 

a morale-boosting win over 

the West Indies at Berbice 

in Guyana before the tournament. 

“The faith and selfbelief 

in our approach had 

been born during those two 

victories (at Berbice and 

Old Trafford),” Kapil Dev 

said. 

“To beat the West Indies 

in their own country especially 

was practically unheard 

of in those days. Yes, 

these two results were the 

key to our success.” 

Australia were to face 

to the West Indies’ fury in 

the next match as they were 

dismissed for 151 chasing a 

253-run target, with paceman 

Winston Davis taking 

seven for 51 — then a Cup 

record. 

The West Indies won 

their remaining four group 

matches before putting it 

across Pakistan in the semifinal. 

India faced many anxious 

moments, losing to the 

a repeat of their 2007 World Cup clash 

in the Caribbean where they lost by five 

wickets. 

The defeat eventually led to India's 

first-round exit. 

"I think we have lost just two games 

against Bangladesh, including the one 

in the World Cup," said Sehwag. 

"We know that in the last World Cup 

we lost to them, so we are waiting for 

the match against Bangladesh. We are 

Kapil’s ‘Devils’ 

just magic 

HISTORY 

1983 

West Indies in their second 

group encounter and then 

to Australia before finding 

themselves in a deep trouble 

against Zimbabwe. 

They were 17 for five 

when Kapil Dev played 

a brilliant innings at 

Tunrbidge Wells, a blazing 

175 not out off just 138 

balls with the help of six 

sixes and 16 fours to help 

his team post a competitive 

266 for eight. 

Zimbabwe eventually 

lost the match by 31 runs, 

but won plenty of hearts 

with their gutsy batting. 

India beat Australia in 

the last group match to 

set up a semifinal clash 

with England. They again 

proved their all-round ability 

to defeat the hosts by six 

wickets. 

It looked a three-in-arow 

for the West Indies 

when India managed only 

183 in the 

final against 

a formidable 

pace attack 

of Andy 

Roberts, 

Joel Garner, 

Michael 

Holding and Malcolm Marshall. 

But Indian medium-pacers 

Madan Lal, Mohinder 

Amarnath, Balwinder 

Sandhu and Roger Binny 

were superbly marshalled 

by Kail Dev. 

If there were one 

catch that swung the final 

India’s way, it was Kapil 

Dev’s to account for Richards. 

Richards had been 

dominating the Indian attack 

before he miss-hooked 

a Madan Lal bouncer for 

Kapil Dev, who ran back 

towards mid-wicket to hold 

the ball and change the 

course of the match. 

“Getting Richards out 

then was the key for us,” 

Kapil said, after the West 

Indies were all out for 140 

to hand India a 43-run victory. 

The days of favourites 

had gone as the West Indies 

never reached the final 

again. Cricket was never 

the same in India where 

players were accorded star 

status. — AFP 

charged up for the game and hopefully, 

we will do well against them this time." 

Sehwag, who missed a recent oneday 

series in South Africa due to a 

shoulder injury, is also a useful offspinner, 

having taken 92 wickets. 

India are in Group 'B' with South Africa, 

England, the West Indies, Bangladesh, 

Ireland and the Netherlands, with 

the top four sides making it to the quarterfinals. 

— AFP

BP offers 

TNK-BP role 

in Rosneft deal 

KHANTY-MANSIISK, 

Russia — BP has offered 

its Russian venture TNK- 

BP a chance to join its 

partnership with Rosneft, 

TNK-BP’s deputy CEO 

told reporters yesterday, 

signalling a possible 

resolution to a row. 

“We had an offer 

from BP... about its 

agreements with 

Rosneft. For the 

company, obviously, 

the partnership would 

be interesting,” Maxim 

Barsky told reporters on 

a visit to an oil-rich West 

Siberian region. 

“The company is 

reviewing the offer and 

we will present it at the 

board of directors on 

February 18.” 

He gave no further 

details of BP’s proposal. 

The British major and 

Rosneft, Russia’s biggest 

oil producer, earlier this 

year struck a share swap 

deal which will see them 

jointly explore the Arctic 

for oil. 

The deal drew 

opposition from AAR, 

the consortium of 

Russian shareholders 

in TNK-BP, who said it 

violated their shareholder 

agreement and secured a 

London court injunction 

to freeze the deal. 

Under a shareholders’ 

agreement between BP 

and a Moscow-based 

consortium of investors 

with whom it evenly 

divides control of No 

3 Russian oil producer 

TNK-BP, the TNK-BP 

board has right of review 

over BP’s other Russian 

activities. — Reuters 

PARIS — French oil giant 

Total saw its profits soar by 

a third in 2010 to 10.3 billion 

euros ($14 billion), driven by 

recovering crude prices, it said 

in an earnings statement yesterday. 

Net profits were 2.6 billion 

euros in the fourth quarter 

alone, up by 23 per cent 

on the same period in 2009 

and above analysts’ forecasts. 

Sales for 2010 stood at 159.3 

billion euros, up 21 per cent. 

Total cited oil prices that 

have risen sharply, in line 

with a broad strengthening of 

the world economy. The average 

price of a barrel of Brent 

North Sea crude rose by 29 

per cent in 2010. 

Chief executive Christophe 

de Margerie (pictured) said 

the results also reflected an 

“improvement in the group’s 

performance, with notably 

production growth of more 

than four per cent.” 

Total, one of the world’s 

biggest oil firms and the biggest 

company in France by 

market capitalisation, said it 

pumped 2.4 million barrels 

of oil and gas a day in 2010, 

up 4.3 per cent on the previ- 

Nokia joins forces with Microsoft 

NOKIA and Microsoft teamed up to build an iPhone killer yesterday 

in a desperate attempt to take on Google and Apple in the 

fast-growing smartphone market. In a strategic u-turn, Nokia said 

it would use Microsoft’s Windows Phone as the software platform 

for its smartphones. ● Page 22 

Saturday, February 12, 2011 

Gulf petrochem sector set to attract 

$50 billion in new investments 


MUSCAT — The Gulf’s petrochemical 

sector is expected 

to expand significantly to pull 

in new investments in excess 

of $50 billion as the industry 

adds new capacity to meet 

burgeoning demand growth, 

Dr Abdulwahab al Sadoun, 

Secretary-General, Gulf Petrochemicals 

& Chemicals Association 

(GPCA). 

Speaking at the recent Middle 

East Technology Forum 

(ME-Tech 2011), the first 

technology-focused conference 

and exhibition for the 

downstream oil and gas sector, 

Dr Al Sadoun said Saudi 

Arabia would account for the 

largest volume of this projected 

new capacity, while Abu 

Dhabi would show the most 

growth. 

His presentation, entitled 

‘The next wave of petrochemicals 

in the Gulf region’ 

highlighted short to mid-term 

trends and lauded the region 

French oil major Total’s 

net profits surge in Q4 

ous year. It has begun shifting 

away from refining and 

last year closed its refinery at 

Dunkirk in northern France, 

sparking a big strike. 

It said that the volume of 

its refining was down by seven 

per cent in 2010 but its net 

profits on those activities rose 

by 23 per cent. 

Its huge profits for 2010 

were still less than the 13.9 

for the consistent and exponential 

growth in production 

it had witnessed in the last 25 

years from 4 million tonnes 

in 1985 to over 100 million 

tonnes in 2010. 

His words were echoed by 

Dr Abdulrahman al Ubaid, 

EVP, Technology and Innovation 

at SABIC, who charted 

out the global trends that have 

been adopted in the region to 

help foster this growth. Investment 

in research and development 

and the harnessing of tal- 

billion euros logged in 2008, 

before the worst of the global 

economic crisis, and the 

$30.46 billion earned last year 

by the world’s biggest oil firm, 

US giant ExxonMobil. 

Total said it plans new upstream 

projects over the next 

two years in Russia, Australia, 

Canada and China, as well as 

a new project in Angola this 

year. — AFP 

ent were just some of his key 

messages. 

Both speakers reiterated 

the importance of setting up a 

‘culture of innovation’ that enables 

gas processors, refiners 

and petrochemical companies 

to improve margins and operational 

excellence. 

Designed to give innovators 

and end-users the opportunity 

to exchange views on 

cutting edge downstream oil 

and gas technology solutions, 

ME-Tech 2011 was organ- 

ised by European Petroleum 

Consultants (EPC) with the 

support of Gulf Petrochemicals 

& Chemicals Association 

(GPCA). The event attracted 

some of the major players in 

technology innovation and the 

downstream sector, including 

regional heavyweights such 

as Sabic, Dolphin Energy and 

Takreer alongside international 

players such as UOP, Axens 

and Shell Global Solutions. 

GPCA is the first such association 

to represent the in- 

Asian stock markets fall 

ASIAN stocks fell more than a per cent and were on course for 

their biggest weekly loss in nine months as investors shunned risk 

on concerns about the pace of policy tightening in the region. A 

broad sell-off in Asia since the start of 2011 on inflationary worries 

has shown no signs of abating. ● Page 24 

terests of the industry in the 

Middle East and it has brought 

a major dimension to its task 

by creating both a forum for 

discussion and a place where 

likeminded people can meet 

and share concepts and ideas. 

Since its inception in March 

2006, the GPCA has earned 

the enviable reputation for 

steering the regional industry 

towards a whole new level of 

co-operation and raising the 

standard in terms of common 

ground interests. 

IMF chief urges global monetary reform 

WASHINGTON — IMF chief 

Dominique Strauss-Kahn 

(pictured) said the currencies 

of China and other emerging 

economies should play a 

greater role in global finance, 

as part of a bid to promote 

monetary stability. 

Strauss-Kahn, the managing 

director of the 187-nation 

International Monetary Fund, 

backed the inclusion of the 

yuan in a basket of currencies 

that makes up the IMF’s Special 

Drawing Rights, a type of 

reserve currency. 

Strauss-Kahn also advocated 

an expanded role for 

the SDR to help to bolster the 

monetary system in the face of 

damaging volatility. 

Noting the only way the 

world survived the 2008 financial 

crisis was through extraordinary 

international policy co- 

operation, he warned: “Global 

imbalances are back.” 

Issues that were worrisome 

before the crisis — large and 

volatile capital flows, exchange 

rate pressures, rapidly 

growing excess reserves — 

were “on the front burner once 

again,” the managing director 

said at an IMF panel discussion 

on international monetary 

reform. 

If the problems were left 

unresolved, they “could even 

sow the seeds of the next crisis,” 

he warned. 

Such reform would help 

address the root of those global 

imbalances and bolster the 

system’s ability to prevent future 

crises. 

“When we worry about 

the deficiencies of the international 

monetary system, we 

are mostly worrying about 

volatility: a sense that money 

sometimes flows around the 

globe in too volatile a fashion, 

and that countries need a 

more stable, more predictable 

external environment in order 

to prosper,” the former French 

Socialist finance minister said. 

Strauss-Kahn recalled that 

the IMF has been working to 

limit that volatility through 

several approaches: by 

strengthening co-ordination of 

economic and monetary policy, 

stepping up surveillance 

of capital flows and improving 

its financial safety net for 

member nations in need. 

Under a mandate from the 

Group of 20 developed and 

emerging economies, representing 

about 90 per cent of 

global output, the IMF has 

launched a mutual assessment 

process that takes into account 

the global effect of countrylevel 

policies. 

France, which holds the 

rotating G20 presidency this 

year, has put currency reform 

at the top of its agenda. 

Strauss-Kahn’s remarks were 

his clearest yet showing an 

alignment with the remedies 

proposed by French President 

Nicolas Sarkozy. 

As part of a reform toolkit, 

Strauss-Kahn suggested a central 

role for Special Drawing 

Rights. 

“Over time, there may also 

be a role for the SDR to contribute 

to a more stable international 

monetary system,” he 

said. 

A key move would be 

expanding the SDR basket, 

which currently includes four 

major currencies: the dollar, 

euro, yen and pound. 

“Adding emerging market 

currencies — such as the 

renminbi — could help the 

process of internationalisation 

of these currencies, which 

would benefit the system as a 

whole,” he said, referring to 

the official name of the Chinese 

yuan. — AFP 

SME exhibition, conference 

to begin tomorrow 

MUSCAT — The 3rd Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) 

Exhibition and Conference will be opened at Oman International 

Exhibition Centre tomorrow under the title of “Making 

and Innovation for Small and Medium Enterprises” under the 

auspices of Ali bin Masoud al Sunaidy, Sports Affairs Minister. 

The 3-day event will be organised by the Trifoil Exhibition 

Company in conjunction with the Directorate General of Small 

and Medium Enterprises at the Commerce and Industry Ministry 

and Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI). 

The SME Exhibition and Conference is considered to be 

a platform for setting up trade relations for small and medium 

enterprises and their group which includes the suppliers 

and buyers and their counterparts to promote business and 

exchanging knowledge and expertise related to this system. 

During the exhibition, the small and medium commercial and 

industrial institutions display their products and services, as 

well as, the buyers, services providers, governmental employers 

and those who set up the trade and industrial policies at the 

public and private sectors. 

The conference, which will be held on the sidelines of the 

exhibition, will provide an opportunity to focus on the important 

topics relevant to the activities of the system of the small 

and medium industries during which pioneers and experts 

present their ideas and experience in these topics. — ONA 

MSM remains higher in Jan 

MUSCAT — The Muscat Securities Market (MSM) 30 index 

closed at the end of January 2011 at 6838.58 points increased 

by 83.66 points or 1.24 per cent as compared to the previous 

month. 

The market value for companies enlisted at MSM rose by 

0.46 per cent during last January 2010 to RO 10.95 billion as 

compared to RO 10.90 billion for January 2011, according to 

statistics issued by MSM. 

The trading volume stood at RO 163.42 million during January 

2011, constituting a 26 per cent rise. The daily average of 

trading volume was RO 7.43 million as compared to RO 8.11 

million during the previous month. 

In terms of sector wise contribution to trading values, the 

banks and investment companies sector ranked first to reach 

RO 67.01 million, or 41 per cent of the total trading value. 

Services and insurance sector came second to reach RO 63.14 

million, or 38.64 per cent and industry sector came third to RO 

32.52 million, or 19.90 per cent. 

The value of shares brought by foreign investors reached 

RO 34.29 million comprising 20.98 per cent. The value of 

shares sold by foreign investors reached RO 48.76 million 

comprising 29.94 per cent. — ONA 

Certificates of deposit tender 

MUSCAT — Certificates of deposit (Issue No 704) tender was 

held at the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) last week. The total 

amount allotted was RO 203.7 million. 

A bulletin issued by the CBO stated that the average interest 

rate of these certificates was 0.06 per cent while the maximum 

accepted interest rate was 0.07 per cent. 

The tenor of these certificates is 28 days so their maturity 

date is March 9. The certificates of deposit issued to licensed 

banks by the CBO as a monetary policy instrument aimed at 

absorbing excess liquidity at the banking sector in particular 

and maintaining stability of the interest rate and the money 

market in general. The Repo rate during February 9 to February 

15 is 2 per cent. — ONA

Nokia joins forces with Microsoft 

against Google and Apple 

LONDON — Nokia and Microsoft 

teamed up to build an iPhone killer yesterday 

in a desperate attempt to take on 

Google and Apple in the fast-growing 

smartphone market. 

In a strategic u-turn, Nokia said it 

would use Microsoft’s Windows Phone 

as the software platform for its smartphones, 

the main plank of new chief 

executive Stephen Elop’s overhaul of 

the world’s biggest cellphone maker. 

“It’s now a three-horse race,” Elop 


Investors were not convinced by 

Elop’s eagerly anticipated strategy announcement 

and shares in Nokia tumbled 

more than 11 per cent as the market 

reacted to Nokia’s saying that 2011 

and 2012 would be “transition years” 

as it built up the partnership. 

The deal would have a negative impact 

on Nokia’s margins in the shortterm, 

analysts said. Nokia said its operating 

margin would be “10 per cent or 

more” after the transition period. 

“They’ve announced a big tie-up 

with Microsoft but at the same time 

they haven’t cut R&D. Given that the 

people who were positive on the stock 

UK producer 

prices surge 

LONDON — British firms’ 

input costs rose last month 

at their fastest annual rate 

in more than two years and 

factory gate prices also accelerated, 

raising pressure 

on the Bank of England to 

raise rates sooner rather than 

later. 

The figures suggest pipeline 

inflation pressures are 

continuing to build, and will 

worry BoE policymakers at 

a time when consumer price 

inflation is nearly double its 

2 per cent target and still rising. 

The Office for National 

Statistics said producer input 

prices rose 13.4 per cent on 

the year in January, the biggest 

rise since October 2008 

and well above forecasts for 

an annual rate of 12.6 per 

cent. Producer output prices 

rose 4.8 per cent on the year, 

the highest rate since May 

2010 and also above forecasts 

for an annual rise of 

4.4 per cent. 

Data next week is likely 

to show consumer price inflation 

vaulted above 4 per 

cent in January as a rise in 

value added tax added to 

pressure from surging oil 

and commodity prices. 

“I don’t think it tells us 

much about next week’s 

CPI, but what it does tell 

us is that elevated inflation 

is increasingly likely to become 

engrained in the system 

further down the road,” 

said Alan Clarke, economist 

at BNP Paribas. 

“It reinforces the case for 

higher rates.” 

There was little market 

reaction to yesterday’s data 

as investors awaited a raft of 

economic data next week for 

clearer pointers on how the 

economy is faring. 

The ONS said the rise in 

input prices was mainly driven 

by a 28.8 per cent annual 

rise in the price of crude oil 

— the biggest increase since 

May 2010. Rising prices of 

imported metals and materials 

also played a role. 

The BoE is having to juggle 

soaring price pressures 

with a fragile economic recovery 

and has held interest 

rates at 0.5 per cent for almost 

two years. — Reuters 

A WOMAN displays a new Nokia N900 smartphone. — Reuters 

were looking for mid-teens devices 

margins by 2012, we can see some cuts 

to estimates,” Richard Windsor, global 

technology strategist at Nomura said. 

The partnership marks a major 

breakthrough for Microsoft which has 

struggled for years to establish itself in 

wireless. 

Its Windows Phone platform, which 

DUBAI — Cheaper valuations mean 

Middle East fund managers may increasingly 

look to single-country 

telecoms operators as a proxy for 

domestic economic growth. 

While traders expect renewed 

selling on Egypt’s bourse when it reopens 

tomorrow as protests against 

President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year 

rule continue, longer-term investors’ 

strategy will remain based on fundamentals. 

Banks are the usual equity choice 

for a macroeconomic play, but telecoms 

may be a better choice, said 

Ibrahim Masood, senior investment 

officer at Mashreq Bank. 

Doubts linger over whether bank 

provisions in some countries have 

peaked, while the lack of listed oil 

22 

OMAN/THE WORLD SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2011 

had a 2 per cent market share in the 

last quarter, is widely recognised by 

industry experts as a leading edge technology 

but has not yet gained success 

among consumers. 

The decision to throw its lot in with 

Nokia could put others off using its 

software, but analysts said that on balance 

it was Microsoft that would gain 

South Korea freezes key rate 

despite inflation fears 

SEOUL — South Korea’s central 

bank left its key interest 

rate unchanged yesterday, citing 

major external risks such 

as unrest in Egypt, despite the 

government’s call for a war on 

inflation. 

Bank of Korea governor 

Kim Choong-Soo and his fellow 

policymakers froze the 

benchmark seven-day repo rate 

at 2.75 per cent, following a rise 

of 25 basis points in January. 

The bank said the domestic 

economy appears set for 

solid growth in coming months 

thanks to strong exports and 

increasing consumption and 

facilities investment, but risks 

remain. 

“The fiscal problems of European 

countries and the run-up 

in oil prices associated with the 

situation in Egypt will act as 

major downside risk factors,” it 


The bank said its aim was to 

“firmly” maintain price stability 

since inflation is set to rise 

further amid a steady recovery 

in the domestic economy. 

“Looking ahead, the committee 

will conduct monetary 

policy in such a way as to firmly 

anchor the basis for price 

stability while the economy 

continues its sound growth,” it 

said. 

Tong Yang Securities econ- 

A WOMAN counts money as a vendor packs vegetables at 

a market in Seoul yesterday. — Reuters 

omist Lee Chul-Hee said inflation 

was at high levels but not 

serious enough to warrant successive 

rate hikes. 

“Also, recent price hikes 

are being driven by supply-side 

factors, an issue that policy 

rates alone can’t solve,” Lee 

told Dow Jones Newswires. 

Annual inflation reached 

4.1 per cent in January due to 

increasing food and energy 

prices. President Lee Myung- 

Bak has declared “war” on inflation. 

The finance ministry last 

month announced a series of 

measures to curb price rises, 

including a tariff cut on key 

imports and a pledge to freeze 

companies mean local exchanges 

are unrepresentative of the economies 

of the world’s top crude exporting 

region. 

“Single country telecoms operators 

like Mobily, Du and Nawras 

are all proxies for local economic 

growth,” said Masood. “Normally 

you would buy banks, but telecoms 

are cheaper.” 

Gulf Arab telecoms operators 

have a median price to earnings ratio 

of 9.1 per cent, varying between 

74 and 5.7, while banks are more 

expensive with a regional sector median 

of 14, according to data. 

Masood said Oman, Saudi and 

Qatar all had attractive fundamentals 

of high GDP and young populations 

and these would be reflected in 

utility charges. 

Earlier yesterday the central 

bank said annual producer price 

inflation hit a two-year high of 

6.2 per cent in January due to 

higher global prices of oil and 

other raw materials. 

Recent figures showing 

strong output and exports may 

give the bank an opportunity 

to raise the key rate eventually 

without fears of stifling 

growth. 

South Korea recorded its 

largest-ever monthly exports of 

$44.9 billion in January. Industrial 

output increased for a second 

straight month in December 

compared with the previous 

month. — AFP 

most from the deal. 

“I don’t see LG, Samsung, HTC carrying 

on with Windows Phone. They’re 

betting everything on (Google’s) Android. 

Nokia’s obviously going to have 

a much deeper integration than the others,” 

Carolina Milanesi, handsets analyst 

at IT research firm Gartner said. 

“This is a partnership born out of 

both parties’ fear of marginalisation 

at the hands of Apple and Google but 

there is no silver bullet,” said analyst 

Geoff Blaber from CCS Insight. 

Nokia has rapidly lost share in the 

higher-margin smartphone market to 

Apple’s iPhone, and products based 

on Google’s Android platform, which 

claimed the top spot from the company 

last quarter. 

In a bid to stem Nokia’s losses, 

Chairman Jorma Ollila brought Elop 

in from Microsoft last September. The 

47-year-old is the first non-Finn to head 

the company. 

Nokia said in a statement it would 

stick with its current management team, 

with only one senior executive to leave. 

There had been speculation of a wider 

cull at the company. — Reuters 

local telecoms’ earnings. 

Qatar’s economy is forecast to 

grow 12.8 per cent in 2011, Saudi’s 

by 4.3 per cent and Oman 4.6 per 

cent, according to analysts polled by 

Reuters. 

“Telecoms give you an idea about 

local economic growth, such as population 

growth and distribution of 

ages within the population — young 

people are the primary driver behind 

technology uptake,” said Hans Zayed, 

Rasmala head of research. 

Etisalat’s Saudi affiliate, has 

been expanding aggressively to beat 

analysts’ profit forecasts for three 

straight quarters as it takes market 

German 

inflation 

rises to 2pc 

FRANKFURT — German 

inflation rose to 2 per cent 

in January, the national statistics 

office said yesterday, 

revising higher an earlier estimate 

of 1.9 per cent for the 

biggest economy in Europe. 

Energy costs were again 

the main factor for higher 

prices across the board, and 

when they were stripped 

out of the calculation inflation 

came in at a much more 

tame 1.1 per cent, the Destatis 

data showed. 

Inflation has thus reached 

a threshold “which is important 

for monetary policy,” a 

Destatis statement said. 

The European Central 

Bank has set a medium-term 

inflation target of below but 

close to two per cent for the 

entire 17-nation euro zone. 

Strengthening inflation 

in the bloc’s economic locomotive 

will once again be 

mulled by the ECB governing 

council when it makes its 

next interest rate decision in 

early March. 

The council believes that 

euro zone inflation, which hit 

2.4 per cent in January, will 

ease later this year, which is 

when economists expect the 

bank’s current record low 

rate of 1 per cent to begin to 

rise. — AFP 

share from former monopoly Saudi 

Telecom Co, while Du has made 

similar inroads into Etisalat’s business. 

Shares in Oman’s Nawras, a 

unit of Qatar Telecom (Qtel), are up 

16 per cent since listing on the Muscat 

bourse in November. 

This trio are all relatively recent 

start-ups and so are yet to become 

the stable cash cows favoured by investors 

looking for defensive stocks 

and a play on the local economy. 

“There’s a broad correlation between 

industry revenue growth and 

economic growth, but that doesn’t 

take into account whether the operator 

is gaining or losing market 

By Samuel Kutty 

Rising oil helps boost fiscal 

consolidation, yet… 

OIL exporters are expected 

to see visible growth 

in fiscal and external 

balances during the current fiscal 

year with prices of the commodity 

hovering around $100 

per barrel despite fears of supply 

disruption through the Suez 

Canal. 

The Canal is a key shipping 

route cutting through Egypt, 

providing a sea link between 

Europe and Asia and allowing 

ships safer and faster travel between 

the two regions without 

having to sail around Africa. 

While Egypt is not a major crude producer, the canal is estimated to carry about 2.4 million 

barrels of crude daily. 

The bounce back seen in oil prices has aided in stronger economic recovery in the Gulf 

Co-operation Council region from the lows seen in 2009. Overall external current account 

surplus is expected to increase to about $150 billion in the first half of 2011. 

According to recent IMF estimates, the MENA region is estimated to grow at an improved 

pace of 5.1 per cent during first half of 2011. The prevailing robust fiscal policy 

initiatives has aided in continued infrastructure spending and growth in non-oil income. 

Oil exports in the GCC region are projected to increase by 31 per cent to $680 billion in 

2011, well above 2007 levels. Consequently, oil GDP is estimated to grow at 4.3 per cent 

levels, and the external current account surplus to double relative to 2009, at $140 billion. 

At the same time, IMF expects the foreign direct investment inflows expected to approach 

to the 2008 levels, at close to $80 billion. 

In Oman, oil revenues are calculated based on the estimated annual average oil production 

rates to 897K barrels per day and also assuming an average price of $59 per barrel 

during the current Eighth five year plan period. 

According to statistics by the Ministry of National Economy, Oman’s total oil production 

rose remarkably by 6.4 per cent in 2010. 

The total crude oil production amounted to 315.6 million barrels in 2010, compared to 

296.6 million barrels in 2009. 

The statistics also pointed out that the Sultanate’s total oil exports recorded a remarkable 

increase in 2010 by 10.6 per cent to hit 268.7 million barrels as compared to 242.9 million 

barrels in 2009. 

Oil and natural gas revenue is projected to grow by about 5.7 per cent and 4.1 per cent 

respectively over 2010-2015. In the same period current revenue is projected to grow by 

3.2 per cent. Overall annual average of total government revenues has been estimated at RO 

7,499 million for the plan period. 

Over the medium term, Oman is expected to follow fiscal consolidation to preserve the 

oil revenues and also promote diversification efforts and employment generation. 

The IMF expects the world GDP to expand by about 4.8 per cent in 2011. The advanced 

economies are estimated to show a modest recovery of 2.2 per cent during the current year 

with the anticipation of moderate improvement in employment and consumer spending 

levels. 

At the same time, the Fund expects the growth rate in emerging economies to slow down 

to 6.4 per cent during the first half of 2011 against 7.1 per cent during first half of 2010. The 

emerging countries saw strong expansion in consumer spending, improved private sector 

growth and lower unemployment. 

But the question now is whether markets will repeat the ructions that followed the oil 

surge above $100 in February 2008 and open way for another implosion. 

The fact is that the still-expanding appetite for oil in the emerging economies will keep 

the prices buoyant. Companies and economies, therefore, should learn to live with costs. 

The recent earning results from manufacturers show robust growth despite accelerating 

input costs. 

Yet, the upswing in the oil price can be painful for poor countries. It can fuel food price 

inflation and contraction in their economies. 

In 2008, investors hedged by putting money into emerging markets and commodities. 

As a result, emerging markets outperformed both in terms of economic and financial terms. 

But, now the fear is knocking against a constraint on resources. The sky-rocketing food 

prices also pose a serious threat. 

Rising oil prices fuel increase in transport costs for food. Governments of emerging 

markets have already started stockpiling food commodities. The central banks in these 

countries are increasing their interest rates, obviously allowing their currencies to appreciate 

– another way of combating inflation. 

As oil prices are soaring along with food, gold, copper, and all other commodity prices, 

it is unhelpful to look at each commodity market in isolation and explain prices in each 

market by factors specific to that market. 

Telecoms seen as proxy for domestic economic growth 

MIDEAST MARKETS WEEK AHEAD 

share,” said Richard Barker, Credit 

Suisse telecoms analyst. “It’s more 

likely to be true of a mature operator 

than it is of a start-up, which will 

have more different characteristics 

than the economy at large.” 

Nevertheless, single-country operators 

are easier for investors to understand, 

although increased competition 

is pressuring margins. 

“Multi-country operators offer 

diversification of risk,” said Barker. 

“But institutional investors can pick 

a portfolio of their own and move in 

and out of companies very quickly 

to get exposure to particular economic 

trends, so they don’t necessarily 

need these operators to provide 

diversification — they can find 

that themselves. 

“That’s likely to be the case for 

sophisticated institutional investors 

from developed markets, but local 

retail investors may not have the 

time or resources, so may like the 

diversification multi-country telcos 

provide.” 

Yet banks account for an estimated 

one-third of regional market 

capitalisation and so will remain a 

major component of regional investors’ 

portfolios. 

“Banks continue to face challenges, 

but they still give a good 

idea of the economic prospects of 

any country — deposit and loan 

growth are a good proxy for economic 

growth,” said Sofia el Boury, 

Shuaa Capital assistant vice-president 

for research. — Reuters

BankMuscat’s presence 

enlivens Muscat Festival 

MUSCAT — BankMuscat has made its presence felt at Muscat Festival. Supporting 

as main sponsor, the bank has spared no efforts in enlivening the Sultanate’s annual 

cultural and tourism extravaganza. 

Coinciding with the festival, BankMuscat has launched special offers on an array 

of innovative products. The offers include chance to win laptops, iPhone, iPads and 

BlackBerry mobile phones for those applying for BankMuscat MasterCard credit card 

while those applying for Zeinah women’s credit card get an exclusive guaranteed gift. 

Special interest rates on Baituna home finance, consumer loans and Sayyarati car loans 

and never-before discounts on Hayatuna insurance products are also on offer during the 

festival period till February 24. 

Hussain Baqer, Head — Retail Assets Sales, said: “BankMuscat seeks to utilise all 

opportunities in reaching out to people. Muscat Festival perfectly fits into the corporate 

ethos of BankMuscat. The special offers on BankMuscat products, which have evoked 

good response, reiterate the bank’s keenness to fulfil its social responsibilities. The 

bank views its participation in the national festival as a means to connect with citizens, 

residents and visitors from across the world, thereby making Muscat Festival a truly 

memorable experience for all.” 

BankMuscat stalls prominently adorn the festival venues, providing the required 

banking assistance for people. During the 29-day festival, the BankMuscat services 

available beyond the normal office hours are a boon to the large crowds visiting every 

day. 

In all the previous editions of Muscat Festival, BankMuscat has been closely involved 

with the popular event. “The Muscat Festival partnership is an earnest attempt 

by BankMuscat to propagate the core family values held dear by Omanis, underpinned 

by the Bank’s promise of ‘With you, always,’ ” Hussain Baqer said. 

Seminar on Financial Reporting 

THE Muscat Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (formed under 

the sponsorship of College of Banking and Financial Studies) is all set to organise 

February 23 a seminar on International Financial Reporting Standard 3 — Business 

Combinations at the CBFS Auditorium in Bausher. 

The objective of IFRS 3 is to specify the financial reporting by an entity when it 

undertakes a business combination. The session is aimed at providing a high level 

overview of scope and principles of IFRS 3 and to illustrate accounting under different 

acquisition methods. 

The keynote speaker of the seminar shall be K Srinivasan an Associate Member of 

the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, and is also a qualified Certified Information 

Systems Auditor (CISA). 

He has over 25 years of audit and accounting experience and heads PwC’s Consumer, 

Industrial Products and Services’ practice in Dubai. Besides, he also heads the 

PwC UAE IFRS Technical Function and is a key member of PwC Middle East Region 

IFRS Technical Group. 

A learned and erudite speaker of repute, his topic will also include major projects 

undertaken by International Accounting Standards Board and the broad changes proposed 

in those projects. The session, open to members of the Muscat Chapter, is expected 

to be yet another achievement of the Chapter in providing continuing professional 

education to its members. 

Kia Carens — seven-seat treat 

IMAGINE a sleek, versatile 7-seater MPV. Imagine it to be packed with top-end 

comfort, style and safety features. And now, imagine yourself in Kia Carens. 

According to a noted automotive expert's blog, “ Well defined, versatile and stylish, 

the Carens captures the best of both the MPV and SUV segments with a dynamic, 

crossover design and layout. In its making, a solid MPV base has been adapted in 

tandem with SUV styling cues throughout the exterior and interior. Those seeking 

a balance between a family-oriented MPV and the tough outdoors ambience of the 

SUV will naturally choose the Kia Carens for its dynamic appeal and modern em- 

FRANKFURT/NEW YORK, — 

Deutsche Boerse AG's planned 

takeover of NYSE Euronext faces 

intense scrutiny from German regulators 

and European anti-trust authorities, 

potentially imperiling the 

blockbuster exchange tie-up. 

It could also run into hurdles in 

Washington as US lawmakers and 

regulators consider whether they 

are prepared to allow the citadel 

of American capitalism to fall into 

foreign hands, although there has 

been virtually no public criticism in 

the United States as yet. 

The companies said on Wednesday 

they are in "advanced talks" to 

join forces and create an exchange 

operator with unprecedented global 

reach and — most worrisome 

for regulators — a dominant grip 

on Europe's lucrative derivatives 

markets. 

While executives from Frank- 

23 

OMAN/INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2011 

bellishments.” And here's a taste of the wonderful features the Carens is packed with: 

sunroof, alloy wheels, parking sensors, fog lamps, power and tilt steering, keyless entry 

system, 2 DIN cassette radio CD MP3 player w/4 speakers, USB and Bluetooth connectivity, 

driver side airbag, side impact beams and high mounted stop lamp. 

With its purposeful and outdoors appearance, Kia Carens exudes a next generation, 

sporty ambience. Its interior embraces versatility in the form of multiple seating capabilities 

worthy of the MPV label — with plenty of amenities that sport vehicle drivers 

recognise and love. 

Kia understands that space efficiency is integral to ensuring a high level of comfort 

for the driver and passengers. Sporting a longer wheelbase and increased height, the 

cabin of the Carens is more cavernous than ever, translating into more head, shoulder 

and leg room for all 3 rows. With storage areas also strategically designed to ensure 

the most versatile and practical space utility for passengers and cargo, the Carens is 

prepared to serve any transporting load or need. 

In a Carens, one can drive with the confidence that virtually every area of the cabin, 

chassis and exterior has been treated with an advanced safety mechanism for maximum 

driver and passenger protection. Also shortly available would be Carens 5-seater — 1.6 

L 4 cylinder CVVT engine offering 122 HP of power at 6,300 rpm and a Torque of 

15.9 Kgm/4,200rpm. 

Reliable International Automotive, the distributor for Kia in Oman provides a rewarding 

ownership experience for customers. Excellent product attributes and an unmatched 

after sales support of 18 sales outlets, 19 service centres and easily accessible 

28 parts outlets ensure their absolute satisfaction, every mile of the way. 

No wonder then that Reliable International Automotive has been ranked amongst 

the top Kia distributors worldwide and has been honoured with prestigious accolades 

including the Kia 'Dealer of the Year' award; Kia 'Distributor of Distinction' award, 

'Family Like Care' service award and the 'Zenith Club' award for excellent performance. 

The prestigious 'Kia Award for Overall Excellence and Outstanding Performance' 

amongst Kia distributors worldwide was bestowed most deservingly. 

Ford Edge — mix of style and performance 

FORD’S Edge crosssover has been one of the most successful vehicles of the recent 

years — gaining acceptance among motorists worldwide with its unique mix of stylish 

design and powerful performance. 

Edge’s dynamic prowess starts with its bold exterior design. The signature Ford 

3-bar chrome grille gives you the immediate sense that Edge is a vehicle of bold, dynamic 

design. The panoramic Vista Roof, for example, provides more area than a typical 

moonroof with its multi-panel design. And the sculpted body rides on a chassis with 

wheels at the outer corners for a solid, athletic stance. From any angle, it's easy to see, 

Edge is the ultimate crossover. 

The all-new My Ford Touch driver connect technology fully integrates your vehicle 

with all your modern gizmos, and allows convenience like never before. There's also a 

smart start that starts the engine at the push of a button. 

The 2011 Ford Edge brings you the revolutionary all-new availbale MyFord Touch 

driver connect technology — powered by the latest version of our award winning Ford 

Sync system that allows you to make and take calls, and select music all with voice 

commands. Vibrant LCD screens, intuitive controls, voice activation — together, they 

make it easy to access your entertainment, phone and more. MyFord Touch features 2 

screens in the guage cluster, plus a multitalented touch screen and an extensive media 

hub. It’s all about control — right at your fingertips. A new 390-watt audio system from 

Sony, standard on LTD. Its unique Sony-designed finish panel features touch-sensitive 

switches and is completely flat except for the multifunctional dial. 

The Edge is perfect for just about anything you would need personal transportation 

for. It comfortably seats five adults best-in-class adult headroom and legroom for the 

second row, has a flexible seating and cargo hauling capability. 

The 60/40 reclining split second row folds flat to provide a level load floor for carrying 

equipment in the large cargo area. Edge can transport items as long as 8 feet inside 

with the front passenger seat that folds flat. Each rear seat can be folded manually 

using an industry-first single-hand release or automatically with an optional EasyFold 

electro-mechanical remote release accessible from the rear cargo area. 

The beauty of the Edge goes beyond its exterior. At the heart of this crossover is a 

reinforced steel cage, part of the structural design to help manage energy in the event of 

a collision. Anti-lock brakes help deliver confident stopping power. Edge is equipped 

with standard dual-stage front airbags in the Personal Safety System® and side airbags 

for the driver and front passenger, plus Safety Canopy side-curtain airbags for outboard 

seated passengers in both rows. All these features have helped earn the Edge a 

"Top Safety Pick" rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. What's more, 

Edge is equipped with AdvanceTrac with Roll Stability Control and offers all-wheel 

drive to help you avoid trouble in the first place. Be sure to always wear your safety 

belt and secure children in the rear seat. 

Powering the Edge is a robust, all-new 3.5-litre, DOHC, all-aluminium V6 engine 

generating a healthy 285hp (net) at 6,500 rpm and 34.9 kg-m of torque (net) at 4,000 

rpm. The all-new 6-speed automatic front-wheel-drive transmission uses a wide 6.04:1 

gear ratio to deliver good fuel economy and performance. 

Sometimes, driving in bad weather can be downright unnerving. But don't worry. 

Edge offers all-wheel drive. AWD doesn't just react to wheel slippage when it 

occurs. It predicts traction and automatically delivers the precise and proper amount 

of engine torque to all of the wheels even before slippage occurs. Working with the 

standard AdvanceTrac with Roll Stability Control system, AWD can transfer torque 

from front to rear and side to side. While all this is going on, you don't have to think 

about it. That's peace of mind. In Oman, the Ford vehicles are marketed by Arabian 

Car Marketing Co LLC, a part of the renowned Saud Bahwan Group. They come 

with 6 years unlimited mileage protection, service and parts network that stretches 

across the Sultanate, over 98 per cent parts availability and Ford Privilege Card 

which provides 24 hours on-road assistance from AAA. 

furt and New York have hatched a 

tentative agreement, there are still 

obstacles that must be overcome — 

the same ones that scuppered past 

attempts to combine Deutsche Boerse 

with Paris-based Euronext. 

"These key questions are not yet 

resolved," a senior German financial 

source said on Thursday. 

A financial regulator from the 

German regional state of Hesse 

— which must approve the deal — 

BUSINESS ALERT 

said it would seek to preserve the 

interests of Frankfurt as a financial 

centre. Likewise, French regulator 

AMF said it would be vigilant 

about preserving Paris' status. 

Once notified, European Commission 

competition authorities 

initially have 25 days to decide 

whether to approve a deal but can 

also seek an in-depth investigation 

that can take some months including 

extensions. "The biggest danger 

of a failure for the deal at this point 

is antitrust concerns in the derivatives 

market, because Eurex and 

Liffe would have a market share of 

more than 90 per cent in Europe," 

said Stefan Brugger, a fund manager 

at Union Investment in Frankfurt. 

"We consider these concerns 

as overdone," he added. 

US politicians were unusually 

quiet about the deal that would 

see the Big Board bought out and 

Sharakah to participate in SME Expo 

THE Fund for Development of Youth Projects (Sharakah) will participate in the Small 

and Medium Enterprises (SME) Expo and Conference to be held from February 13-15 

at Oman International Exhibition Centre. 

This move comes as part of the efforts exerted by the Fund to acquaint the public 

about its rich experience in supporting and financing private initiatives that aim at encouraging 

the Omani youth to establish their own projects to sustain the government’s 

efforts exerted in this important and vital field. 

Dinkar Kishor, Assistant General Manager of Sharakah, said: “The participation of 

the Fund in the SME Expo and Conference will be a bit different this year. We will provide 

opportunity for projects that benefited from our financial support to exhibit their 

experiences during the expo. Our objective is to showcase projects that were financed 

by the Fund and achieved resounding success in their business.” 

“We hope this idea will be of more impact to the youth who wish to establish own 

projects in the near future,” he added. 

Sharakah is the brand name of the Fund for Development of Youth Projects. Its 

core objectives are to provide equity and other means of financial support to small and 

medium enterprises owned by Omani entrepreneurs. 

Bank Sohar in inter-bank bowling tourney 

THE Bank Sohar bowling team is participating 

in the Inter-Bank Bowling Tournament 

that has started at the Al Masa 

Shopping Mall. The Inter-Bank Bowling 

Tournament is an annual event that generates 

a lot of excitement among bowling 

enthusiasts employed by the leading 

banks in Oman. This year, there are 10 

banks that are participating in the tournament 

that is spread over six months. 

Bank Sohar’s bowling team has been 

regular participants at the Inter-Bank 

Bowling Tournament and at the Ramadhan 

Bowling Tournament held at the 

Bowling Centre at the Al Masa Mall. Last 

year, the bank’s bowling team emerged 

runners-up in the Inter-Bank Bowling championships. This year, the team hopes to 

improve on thier performance and aim for the top position. 

“At Bank Sohar, we encourage staff to participate in sporting events of their choice,” 

said Munira Abdulnabi Macki, DGM Human Resources and Corporate Support, Bank 

Sohar. “Sporting events like the Inter-Bank Bowling Tournament give an opportunity 

to carry the team spirit of the workplace to the sports field as well. On the part of the 

staff, it takes commitment and determination to make time for sporting events after a 

busy day in the bank. We encourage staff and do all we can to support them and make it 

easier for them. We will be there throughout the six months of the tournament to cheer 

them through all the games that they play.” 

‘Spot the Mazda V-Mobile’ promotion 

MAZDA’S latest promotion — ‘Spot the Mazda V-mobile’ is getting good response. 

There will be a special raffle draw. All one has to do is spot the Mazda V-mobile as it 

cruises across Muscat, click a picture of it and e-mail it to club@towellauto.com the 

person who spots the most number of Mazda V-mobiles (at multiple locations), stands 

to win a premium gift hamper through a raffle draw — a Ray-Ban sunglass and a weekend 

stay at the Al Nahdha Resort and Spa. 

As part of this promotion, on buying a Mazda3, one can also win a premium gift 

hamper (Ray-Ban sunglasses and weekend getaway at Al Nahdha Resort and Spa), 

along with a Mazda TLC package that includes giving your Mazda3 a tender loving 

touch with soft cushions and car perfumes and a 5-year extended dealer warranty. This 

offer is valid from February 7 to 28. 

Golden Tulip to celebrate Valentine’s Day 

AT Golden Tulip on the February 14 (Valentine’s Day), it is an exciting night at 

Le Jardin Restaurant with a fun-filled dinner, offering special seafood buffet, and 

special gifts for ladies. 

There will also be special raffle draws at the end of the night in addition to the 

in house band performer. 

Deutsche Boerse-NYSE Euronext deal faces intense anti-trust scrutiny 

would put more than 40 per cent of 

US options trading under one roof. 

New York Mayor Michael 

Bloomberg, the first major US public 

figure to comment, said he supported 

the plan. "It's going to give 

us access to Europe, and the Europeans 

access to the States in a way 

that our competitors, like London, 

will not have," he told reporters in 

New York. 

While US Representative Caro- 

lyn Maloney of New York said she 

supported the deal, five senior lawmakers 

with market oversight duties 

declined to comment. 

In another sign that barriers remain 

in Europe, French Economy 

Minister Christine Lagarde said she 

was watching negotiations closely 

with an eye on market stability and 

security, and the development of 

value on French soil. — Reuters

Asian stocks fall on selling pressure 

HONG KONG — Asian stocks 

fell more than one per cent and 

were on course for their biggest 

weekly loss in nine months as 

investors shunned risk on concerns 

about the pace of policy 

tightening in the region and 

growing tensions in Egypt. 

A broad sell-off in Asia 

since the start of 2011 on inflationary 

worries has shown 

no signs of abating, as expectations 

of more monetary 

tightening have encouraged 

investors to shift funds from 

emerging to developed markets. 

Analysts said the selling 

in emerging markets could 

have some more room to run, 

especially in countries where 

stocks are ripe for a pullback 

after last year’s stellar gains 

and the near term interest rate 

outlook is unclear. 

Yesterday, Taiwan shares 

ended down more than two per 

cent, stock markets in Thailand 

and Korea were down one per 

cent, while Australia’s benchmark 

index snapped a sevenday 

winning streak investors 

took profits from banking and 

resource shares. 

Hong Kong’s benchmark 

stock index eked out gains on 

the final trading of its worst 

week in nine months, hit by an 

outflow of funds from Greater 

China markets. 

The benchmark Hang Seng 

Index closed up 0.53 per cent 

at 22,828.92, but down 4.5 per 

cent on the week. 

The index has slipped be- 

A FLOOR trader walks inside the Hong Kong Stock Exchange trading hall during 

afternoon trading in Hong Kong yesterday. — Reuters 

low a trendline support, currently 

at 23,163 on the charts 

that had held since May last 

year, raising the risk of a retest 

of the December 2010 low 

around 22,400. 

Hong Kong Exchanges 

and Clearing Ltd (KHEx), the 

world’s biggest exchange operator 

by market value, reiterated 

yesterday that it is not in 

talks with any other exchanges 

for mergers or alliances. However, 

it said it may seek strategic 

alliances if they presented 

“strategicially compelling benefits 

consistent with our focus 

on markets in Greater China”, 

in a statement. 

MSCI’s index of Asia Pacific 

shares-ex-Japan is set to 

fall by more than 4 per cent 

this week, its worst performance 

since May 2010. 

So far this year, Asian 

shares have underperformed 

the MSCI world index by five 

points as traders cut positions 

due to a steady drip of strong 

data out of the US. 

“Pressure on emerging 

market equities may well, 

therefore, continue while uncertainties 

about the intensity, 

24 

OMAN/INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2011 

duration and effect of the ongoing 

tightening cycle remain 

alive,” Barclays strategists 

said in a weekly note. 

This week alone, China 

raised interest rates, Philippines 

held rates but raised its 

inflation forecast and Bank of 

Korea surprised markets by 

holding rates steady, although 

it is widely expected to tighten 

again in March. 

Foreign selling has picked 

up in Asian shares, especially 

in South Korea this week 

while offshore selling in Taiwan 

on Thursday was the big- 

gest in six months. Indonesian 

shares fell 0.6 per cent with 

shares in PT Garuda Indonesia 

, the nation’s state-owned carrier, 

tanking by more than 20 

per cent on debut. 

Japanese markets were 

closed for a national holiday. 

Copper rose back above 

$10,000 per tonne, while tin 

prices hit a record high as 

strong US jobless data reassured 

investors about the pace 

of the recovery in the world’s 

biggest economy. . 

Gold , was steady at around 

$1,364 an ounce and US crude 

oil futures rose 88 cents to 

$87.61 a barrel. 

In the currency markets, 

the dollar edged higher after 

notching up solid gains against 

the euro overnight and after 

traders said the European Central 

Bank stepped in to rescue 

a failing Portuguese bond auction. 

. 

Broad trading patterns in 

the euro are in line with wave 

formations and the single currency 

may be in the initial 

stages of what may be a decline 

towards the lower end of 

a broad 1.3250-1.3850 range. 

“Any easy gains in the euro 

are susceptible to rapid reversal,” 

said David Watt, senior 

currency strategist at RBC 

Dominion Securities. 

The Australian dollar extended 

losses after the central 

bank said interest rates were 

likely to be on hold for some 

time. — Reuters 

Boeing, EADS submit final bids for tanker contract 

WASHINGTON — Boeing Co submitted 

its final bid to the Pentagon 

hoping to win the lucrative contract to 

build the next generation of Air Force 

refuellers. 

Boeing is competing with the European 

Aeronautic Defence and Space 

Co (EADS) for the $35 billion contract 

to build 179 of the new aerial refueller 

tankers known as the KC-X. EADS 

said in a statement it will submit its final 

proposal on Thursday as well. 

Both aerospace giants had to file 

final proposals by yesterday in the 

bitter battle for the contract which 

has dragged on for years and grown 

increasingly political. The winner is 

expected to be announced within 

weeks. 

Boeing said its plane is the best option 

for the Air Force as it is more fuel 

efficient than the EADS version and 

will save taxpayers billions of dollars 

over its operational life. 

“Our best-of-Boeing team has offered 

the most capable and fuel- efficient 

tanker that will enable the US 

Air Force to continue serving as the 

world’s finest air refuelling provider 

without breaking future defense budgets,” 

Boeing Chairman Jim McNerney 

said. 

Both companies launched advertising 

campaigns in the Washington market 

this month touting their respective 

planes. 

EADS says its plane, based on the 

Airbus 330, is the only one “flying 

now.” EADS is the parent company of 

France-based Airbus. 

“We’re proud to compete on the 

merits of our tanker offering and support 

the warfighter’s right to choose 

the aircraft they will go to war in,” said 

Ralph D Crosby Jr, the Chairman of 

EADS North America Chairman. 

The Boeing tanker is based on the 

767. 

The dispute has shaped up along 

politcal lines, with Democrats largely 

backing Boeing, saying an EADS victory 

will ship jobs oversees. EADS has 

said it will build an assembly line in 

Alabama that will support 48,000 US 

jobs, gaining the support of Republicans 

with districts in the southern US. 

The Air Force has been trying to 

find a replacement for its aging fleet of 

KC-135s since 2001, but has encountered 

numerous problems. 

The Pentagon in 2008 awarded the 

contract to a partnership EADS had 

formed with Northrop Grumman. But 

a congressional oversight agency sided 

with a protest lodged by Boeing, ruling 

that errors had occurred in evaluating 

the proposal, effectively requiring the 

Pentagon to hold a new competition. 

Northrop Grumman has since dropped 

out of the competition. — dpa 

TEL: 24601003, 24600586 • FAX: 24600736 

• WEBSITE: www.salalahport.com 

BIZ BRIEFS 

HomeServe says full year on track 

LONDON — British emergency repair 

and insurance group HomeServe said its 

full-year outlook was unchanged and it 

expected to meet market expectations. 

HomeServe, which aims to generate 

half its profit overseas in the mid to 

long term, also said yesterday customer 

and policy numbers in the United States 

were improving, while the same numbers 

doubled in Spain compared to December 

2009. “A key focus for growth is the US 

market,” Chief Executive Richard Harpin 

said. (pictured) “The key thing is that discussions are continuing to go well with new potential 

utility partners over there, we are working with 16 of them, covering 20 million households 

currently, and confident about future signings.” 

HomeServe sells insurance cover for, and fixes, burst pipes, broken boilers and drains 

through a network of utility partnerships in markets that have little or no competition. 

The company, whose 2010/11 year runs to end-March, said it continued to look at expanding 

in Belgium, France and Italy. 

“We have done our first test marketing with Enel (in Italy), the largest of our utility partners,” 

Harpin said. 

“It is a test with 1.5 million households but Enel have over 15 million households so, 

hopefully, a successful test would mean that we could roll out across Italy.” 

In Britain, where the coldest December on record saw HomeServe’s emergency repair 

jobs up 30 per cent year-on-year, the company was in line to hit a customer growth target of 

3-4 percent. Harpin said it remained cautious about the state of economies, particularly in 

Britain and Spain. 

John Lewis fund sells 10.4pc Ocado stake 

LONDON — British retailer John Lewis’s 

pension fund has sold its remaining 10.4 

per cent stake in British online grocer 

Ocado for about £152 million ($245 million), 

it said yesterday. The fund sold 57.3 

million shares in an accelerated bookbuild 

offering to institutional investors at 265 

pence apiece, 7 per cent below Thursday’s 

closing price, according to Goldman Sachs 

which managed the sale. 

Ocado shares were down 14 per cent at 

245 pence at 0830 GMT, valuing the business 

at about £1.23 billion. 

Ocado, whose shares had risen sharply in recent weeks, said the sale would not affect its 

relations with upmarket grocer Waitrose, a unit of John Lewis. 

Ocado mainly sells Waitrose products and some analysts expect the two will increasingly 

become competitors as Waitrose expands its own online grocery business. 

John Lewis transferred a 29 per cent stake in Ocado to its pension fund in 2008. The fund 

sold more than half that holding in Ocado’s initial public offering in July at 180 pence. 

Ocado’s shares slumped as low as 120.9 pence in the months after its IPO as some analysts 

questioned whether its model of selling groceries from a central warehouse could ever 

profitably compete with supermarket groups that fill online orders at their stores. 

But the stock bounced back to as high as 290 pence recently, after Ocado announced an 

earlier-than-expected pretax profit in the fourth-quarter of its fiscal year. 

Traders have also reported talk of a possible bid from a British company which does not 

have a significant online presence in groceries, such as Wm Morrison and Marks & Spencer, 

or a US group like Amazon. The John Lewis pension fund said the stake sale was part of its 

normal investment management activities. 

Gazprom sees Europe exports, prices rising 

MOSCOW — Russia’s top gas company 

Gazprom expects to ramp up its sales to 

Europe and increase average gas price by 

14 per cent on the back of fuel demand recovery 

amid improved economic situation 

on its prime market. 

Two sources familiar with the company’s 

plans said yesterday that Gazprom 

is set to increase gas exports to Europe — 

where it feeds a quarter of total gas demand 

— to over 152 billion cubic metres in 2011 

from around 140 bcm in 2010. 

The average gas price for Europe, the main source of revenues for Gazprom, will rise to 

$352 per 1,000 cubic metres in 2011 from some $308 in 2010. 

Gazprom’s prices in long-term contracts with European customers are pegged to oil prices, 

which have recently shot above $100 per barrel to reach two year-highs. 

Many EU customers were asking Gazprom to include a spot price element into the longterm 

agreements, a proposal met with discontent by the Russian gas exporting monopoly. 

The sources also said the company plans to produce 505.6 bcm of gas in 2011, less than 

the 508.6 bcm it extracted in 2010, according to the Energy Ministry data. 

But the firm looks to increase output to 531.4 bcm in 2012 and to 558.3 bcm in 2013 -- to 

outstrip pre-crisis levels. 

In 2009, when the weak global economy lowered gas demand and new unconventional 

gas supplies in the United States boosted supply, Gazprom saw its production sink to record 

lows of 461.4 bcm, off 16 per cent from the 550 bcm it produced in 2008. 

DBS bank posts jump in quarterly profit 

SINGAPORE — Singapore’s DBS Group 

Holdings Ltd, the biggest lender in South- 

East Asia, yesterday said its net profit for 

the last quarter of 2010 jumped 38 per cent 

year-on-year on the back of rising income 

and falling bad-debt costs. 

In the three months through December, 

net profits came up to S$678 million 

($530.6 million), compared to S$493 million 

a year earlier, DBS said. 

Total income climbed 10 per cent yearon-year 

to S$1.73 billion, while bad-debt 

allowances in the fourth quarter fell 59 per 

cent to S$157 million , it said. 

For all of 2010, net profit hit a record S$2.65 billion, a 28-per-cent rise from a year ago, 

DBS said. 

However, including a one-time impairment charge for the bank’s Hong Kong business, 

annual net profit reached just S$1.63 billion. 

“DBS is in a good position to strengthen the value of franchise in Singapore, Greater 

China, South and South-East Asia and fortify our position as a leading Asian bank,” chief 

executive Piyush Gupta said. 

DBS kicked off earnings reports for Singapore banks, with smaller rivals Oversea-Chinese 

Banking Corporation Ltd and United Overseas Bank following later this month. 

Telecom New Zealand reports drop in profit 

WELLINGTON — Telecom New Zealand 

reported yesterday a drop of nearly 

one-third in its profits in the last half of 

2010 because of the effects of regulatory 

changes and intense competition. 

It told the New Zealand Stock Exchange 

that it made NZ$165 million 

($126 million) in the final six months 

of last year, 32 per cent less than in the 

same period a year earlier. 

Although revenue fell more than 3 

per cent to NZ$2.5 billion, cost-cutting 

shaved 5 per cent from the company’s 

expenses, chief executive Paul Reynolds 

(pictured) said. “A continued strong focus 

on operational excellence and cost control has helped to offset increased tax and ongoing 

regulatory impacts,” he said. 

Reynolds said Telecom remained on track to deliver its forecast profit of NZ$330 to 

NZ$370 million in the fiscal year ending June 30. 

“Telecom’s strategy has been updated to drive better product, platform and process outcomes 

for customers, create a leaner operating model, and an intense focus on free cash flow 

through management of capital and operating costs,” he said. 

“Telecom people have been set revised targets and accountabilities to meet these goals,” 

he added. — Agencies

By Hasan Kamoonpuri 

STEP into the Nassem Park 

and you will find a host of 

stalls selling pure honey. 

Omanis are fond of honey. Being 

natural people they make a beeline 

to these stalls tasting and discussing 

about the various possible uses 

of honey in daily life. 

In fact, the practice of beekeeping 

and consumption of honey 

is very common in most Muslim 

countries, including Oman, Yemen, 

Iran and Saudi Arabia. 

A glance at the Quran and Hadith 

would confirm that honey is 

a key to good health and a healer 

of several diseases. The Prophet, 

it is said, used to drink an infusion 

of water sweetened with honey on 

empty stomach. This custom holds 

ample benefits and subtle secrets. 

TV is so tiring: 

Preity Zinta 

Page 27 

Honey has many beneficial health 

qualities. Experts say drinking 

honeyed water can help you lose 

weight! 

Dr Abdullah Jalabain, General 

Manager, Mo’jezat Annahl for 

Yemeni Honey, says Omanis and 

people from many countries are 

buying large quantities of honey 

not only because they use it in 

daily life but also because honey 

has shelf life for years and Yemeni 

honey is famous in the world for its 

purity and variety. 

Dr Jalabain, who has had his 

stall in previous editions of Muscat 

Festival, has this to say: “The response 

this year is extraordinary”. 

Yemen, famous for honey on account 

of its purity and variety, has 

a centuries-old tradition of using 

honey for infertility. 

Honey has also been considered 

Dr Padma, Vineeth enthral 

classical music lovers 

Page 27 

Information 

bombardment 

Page 27 

Honey has been considered 

as beneficial to the health 

by ancient civilisations from 

the Egyptians, Assyrians, 

Indians, Chinese, Greeks to 

the Romans. Honey has also 

been used to heal diseases, 

treat wounds and 

stomach problems 

Oman is a land of beauty and 

inspiration: ‘Chinese Picasso’ 

Page 26 

Fea ures 

Saturday, February 12, 2011 

as beneficial to the health by ancient 

civilisations from the Egyptians, 

Assyrians, Indians, Chinese, 

Greeks to the Romans. Honey has 

been used to heal diseases, treat 

wounds and stomach problems. 

Arabs prefer pure honey produced 

in Oman or Seder honey of 

Yemen and Saudi Arabia, which 

is famous for its medicinal use. 

Arabs and Muslims in particular 

like honey because of the repeated 

references in the Quran and the 

Hadith as a wholesome and nutritious 

food. 

Recent researches indicate that 

honey is good for curing breast 

cancer, eye and skin diseases, brunets 

and cough. Honey is used as 

a cure for conditions such as colitis, 

ulcer, insomnia, pimples, sore 

throat and indigestions. 

Milk and honey are often served 

together as both these ingredients 

help in cultivating a smooth soothing 

skin. Having milk and honey 

daily in the morning is a common 

practice in many countries. 

Honey can also be had for 

stomach ache. Take one teaspoon 

of honey, half a lemon juice with a 

glass of hot water first thing in the 

morning. Traditionally, for weight 

loss, honey has been combined 

with cinnamon. 

The bee visits no less than two 

million flowers just to manufacture 

one pound of honey, says an 

expert from another Yemeni stall at 

Nassem Park. As an antioxidant the 

honey allows the blood to circulate 

better and thus helps provide more 

oxygen to the brain. Not only does 

honey stimulate your taste buds 

and whet your appetite, its unique 

Rihanna okay with 

modification 

Page 28 

medicinal and antiviral properties 

are a boon for the entire body. 

Honey is low in calories and 

useful as a sweetener for diabetics, 

heart patients and obese people. 

The unique chemical composition 

of low water content and relatively 

high acidic level in honey creates 

a low pH environment that makes 

it very unfavourable for bacteria or 

other micro-organism to grow. 

A great natural source of carbohydrates, 

honey is known for its 

effectiveness in instantly boosting 

the performance, endurance and 

reducing muscle fatigue. Honey is 

the key to a healthy married life. 

Honey increases virility and fertility 

because it is rich in vitamin B 

and in amino acids which are the 

building blocks of protein. Honey 

is a powerful immune system 

booster. For children aged two and 

above consumption of honey is a 

key to good health and glowing 

skin. 

Ahmed, who sets up a honey 

stall in every Muscat Festival, says 

honey is just amazing. There are 

many different ways in which it 

can be used for various conditions 

is mind boggling. A small pamphlet 

that he distributes among visitors 

sheds light on types of honey, 

health benefits and culinary uses. 

If you are feeling low and lethargic 

in the morning, try honey. 

Are you facing sleeplessness? Take 

a glass of hot milk with a teaspoon 

of honey to calm the soul and induce 

sleep. Honey helps treat sore 

throats. 

Professional singers often use 

honey to soothe their throats before 

performances. 

— Pictures by Hasan Kamoonpuri

By Aisha al Habsia 

HAN Mielin, known widely as the 

‘Chinese Picasso’, is on a short 

visit to Oman and the Middle 

East for the first time as part of his plan 

to get familiar with the various cultures all 

around the world. The 75-year-old artist 

has excellent sculptures, paintings, cal- 

ligraphy works, ceramics, dyeing and logo 

design works to his credit. His art is internationally 

renowned, especially in Europe. 

Through his works he reflects his outlook 

and the elements of his environment, culture 

and ideology. 

Mielin was born in Jinan, China in 1936. 

He graduated from the Central Academy 

of Arts and Design. He is mostly known 

of his giant sculptures that represented 

items from the Chinese myths and his beliefs. 

He has organised many exhibitions 

all over the world. He also wrote, A Book 

from Heaven, in which he has managed to 

depict tens of thousands of characters from 

the ancient Chinese language. 

Speaking to Oman Observer, Mielin 

pointed out: “I am really pleased for being 

in Oman, the land of ancient culture 

and heritage. I planned to stay only one 

day in Oman, but once the plane landed, 

I changed my mind immediately because 

I wanted to discover the real beauty, environment 

and climate of the country. I 

was in Nepal before that, building a huge 

90-metre tall sculpture of Buddha with 

other artists”. 

Mielin has a lot to say on his art work 

and the three museums he has in China. 

He owns the largest private museum in 

the world. This museum is named after 

him and has more than 5,000 pieces of art, 

most of which are sculptures representing 

a wide range of human passions and interests. 

His collections reflect his creativity 

in expressing himself as an artist and his 

Chinese identity. He believes that visiting 

different parts of the world will grant him 

wider horizons that will enrich and inspire 

him with different cultural aspects. 

Mielin has been a gifted artist since his 

early years. He started practising his passion 

for calligraphy when he was only 5 

years and by six he had started painting. 

His progress continued till he became a 

professional in most of the well-known 

arts. He has dedicated himself to serve this 

goal towards developing his creativity in 

the fine arts. 

He has shown us some of his works 

while painting some very nice ones for us. 

His painting is distinguished because of 

the great sense of accuracy and creativity 

shown through the subject of the drawing. 

One of Mielin’s most important accomplishments 

is his book A Book from 

Heaven into which he has puts his experience 

of no less than 34 years by collecting 

the content of ancient Chinese characters 

dating back to 7000 years ago. He has been 

collecting these characters from different 

sources such as old pottery, bronze, rocks 

and animal bones. 

Han displays through his book the 

progress of the Chinese language. He 

mentions that the first language was recorded 

in a “robe” which contains knots 

and markings. For example 3 dots would 

mean: I am going home. 

Later on, the Chinese language developed 

and became a basic drawing of the 

required creature or item (ie the word tiger 

was written as a drawing of a tiger). 

Each word was expressed with more than 

200 forms which were simplified later on 

as the number of known written words increased. 

These characters became a very 

simple drawing made out of 5-8 lines in 

most words. Later the Chinese Emperor 

Qing decided that Chinese must be a 

standardised and started to unify the terms 

by choosing one form to represent the 

26 ART SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2011 

Oman is a land of beauty and 

inspiration: ‘Chinese Picasso’ 

Drawing a picture of a cow 

Mielin has a lot to say on 

his art work and the three 

museums he has in China. 

He owns the largest private 

museum in the world. This 

museum is is named after after him 

and has more than 5,000 

pieces of art, most of which 

are sculptures representing 

a wide range of human 

passions and interests 

Han’s son showing different ancient 

forms of the word ‘tiger’ 

meaning. 

Thus, the number of characters decreased. 

Han says that he is the only person 

to give so much attention to these ancient 

forms of Chinese words since most of the 

researchers and scholars had stopped pursuing 

the real meanings of these words 

which are obsolete and no one uses them. 

“We could not get to know the meaning of 

any of these words, not even got close to” 

Han said. 

The Chinese history is full of great victories 

and accomplishments, especially in 

humanities. It has developed strong relations 

with the other countries through its 

trade overseas. Oman is one of the countries 

introduced to China centuries ago. In 

this regard, I invited Han and his friends to 

visit the ‘Ancient Treasure Ships Exhibition’ 

which is currently held in Muscat as 

it shows the history of trade lines and the 

good relationships between China and the 

Middle East. 

“Oman is a beautiful country. It is full 

of elements of inspiration. What was really 

surprising is to see that the Art in Oman is 

so well connected to the amazing heritage 

of this prosperous country. I was amazed 

with the sophisticated craftsmanship and 

especially the Khanjarwhich is very beautiful. 

The buildings are nicely designed in 

the whole area. I wish to see Omani men 

and women in their traditional costume 

soon in Beijing”, Han remarked. 

He assured me that the good relations 

and solidarity between Oman and China 

will endure eternally. He also promised 

another longer visit to Oman soon as we 

left his place with aspirations and beautiful 

booklets of fine art. 

— Pictures by Fadhil Abdulwahid 

Han showing the image of robe language. Right: Some of his logo designs 

WINDOW 

By Salim bin Nassir al Hadhrami 

The Omanisation plan 

THE Omanisation plan is considered 

as one of key indicators on which 

the Ministry of Manpower rely in 

determining the national workforce 

actually needed in the private sector 

institutions in all its levels and scope 

of activity. The Omani legislator has 

given special attention to the labour law 

by its farsighted views by periodically 

notifying the labour market. This 

stems from a number of considerations 

such as the primary estimations of 

national workforce needed by the 

labour market, especially the highlyqualified, 

besides the initial forecast 

for needs of the labour market. 

The Omanisation plan itself was 

one of the estimations and forecasts 

given to the state of the labour market, 

knowing that it is possible to get 

accurate figures of the higher education 

students so as to provide new job 

opportunities needed by the labour 

market. 

In our belief, the Omanisation plan 

is not only for recruiting the national 

workforce, instead the plan is considered 

a true indicator for the actual 

requirements of employers by means 

of achieving the rate of Omanisation 

required by the law or replacing the 

expatriate workforce. 

Previously we praised the positive 

reaction by many private sector establishments 

when they initiated setting 

up Omanisation plans and following 

the basic skeleton of the plan, some of 

them are trying to generalise the plan 

in the entire body of the establishment 

with all its departments, Omanisation, 

as well, is being achieved in top level 

of the administrative hierarchy — the 

supervising jobs — going down to 

lower occupational levels. 

On the other hand some people 

are still reluctant in executing the 

Omanisation plan. They are not taking 

it seriously enough paving the way to 

recruit more expatriate workforce. 

The ministry also gives particular 

attention to planning and generalising 

the Omanisation plan to employers. 

This is done so that both employers 

and the job-seekers have the information 

concerning job opportunity in all 

levels. 

To this end we would like to extend 

our thanks to all the establishments 

that showed their keenness to co-operate 

in the plan at the right time. 

— Translated by Khalid al Kush

By Kabeer Yousuf 

LEGENDARY Indian classical 

dancer Padmabhushan (Dr) 

Padma Subrahmanyam and 

popular actor-dancer, Vineeth, enthralled 

the capacity audience at the 

Indian Embassy auditorium with their 

classical dance event titled Bharata 

Nrityam. Their remarkable performance 

revolved around shringara and 

bhakti rasa — nectar of vevotion 

through dance. 

Jointly organised by the Black & 

White and the Indian Embassy as part 

of the Indian Republic Day celebrations, 

Dr Gayatri Kannan, Mahati 

Kannan and Shyamakrishnan along 

with Nrityodaya artists, offered a 

unique experience of the rich and intricate 

classical dance. 

This dancing sensation of generations, 

Dr Padma Subramanyam has 

received many awards and honours 

to her credit including Padmashri 

in 1981, Padma Bhushan in 1983, 

the highest civilian awards of India. 

During her dancing career, she has 

received several awards too. 

She has also been the recipient 

of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 

in 1983, Padma Bhushan (2003) Kalaimamani 

Award from Government 

of Tamilnadu, Kalidas Samman from 

Madhya Pradesh, Nada Brahmam 

from Narada Gana Sabha in Chennai, 

Bharata Sastra Rakshamani, Nehru 

Award in 1983 of the Soviet Union 

and so on. 

Padma Subramanyam has also 

received the prestigious `Fukuoka 

Asian Cultural Prize` from Japan for 

her contribution to development and 

harmony in Asia. She has served as 

a non-official member of the Indo- 

Sub-commission for education and 

culture. 

Malayalam actor Vineeth, also an 

acclaimed classical dancer, who has 

acted in several well received films in 

native Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and 

Kannada films, proved to be highly 

passionate in his renderings. 

Soorya Krishnamoorthy, the 

Founder-Director of the Soorya 

Stage and Film Society, was the guest 

of honour. Anil Wadhwa, the Indian 

Ambassador, was also present for 

the show. Dance of India was presented 

by Oman Air. Event partners 

are Omifco (Oman India Fertiliser 

Company), Al Ansari Group, Spicy 

Village and Damas. 

27 SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2011 

Dr Padma, Vineeth enthral classical music lovers 

INDIAN School Al Ghubra celebrated 

its 20th Founders Day last week in an 

evening filled with nostalgia. 

After the Principal, Papri Ghosh welcomed 

the gathering and all dignitaries 

with flowers, ‘Milestones — ISG’ took 

one and all on a trip down memory lane 

as the presentation highlighted all the major 

events in ISG in the past 20 years. This 

was followed by the release of the School 

Profile a publication commemorating the 

occasion. 

The Cultural Programme for the 

evening took off with Raag Sandhya — an 

ensemble of Indian classical music. The 

school campus was transformed into a 

Egyptian town with heliographic inscriptions 

and Egyptians statuettes decorating 

the way, which left the guests intrigued as 

they entered the school. The entire mystery 

unfolded with the enactment of the 

play Cleopatra ... a tale of a Princess. 

The musical depicted the tale of Princess 

Cleopatra of Egypt who was handed 

over the Scared Key by her father King 

Ptolemy much to the annoyance of her 

older sister Arsinoe. 

The elaborate sets and the professional 

stage presence of the students held the audience 

spellbound. Samantha Mendonsa 

played the role of Cleopatra. 

Later awards and certificates were presented 

to students for their achievements 

The dancing sensation of generations, Dr Padma Subramanyam has received 

many awards and honours to her credit including Padmashri in 1981 

Cleopatra staged at ISG Founders Day 

in academics, sports and art. Dr Narayan, 

father of Sai Prateek Narayan, the recipient 

of the prestigious Kurt Hahn Prize 

expressed his gratitude to this glorious 

institution for having groomed his son to 

scale such heights of achievement. 

The chief guest on the occasion was 

Dr Hammad Hamed al Ghafri, Adviser, 

Ministry of Civil Service, Sultanate of 

Oman. Anil Wadhwa, Ambassador of 

India to Oman and two former Ambassadors 

of India to the Sultanate, Ranjit 

Gupta and Satnamjit Singh to witness the 

school celebrate 20 glorious years in the 

field of education 

The comperes for the evening were 

Merrin Emma Mathews, Nikitha McDonald 

and Lakshmi Ajayan. 

Budding authors 

getting into print 

with e-books 

BUDDING writers 

know how difficult 

it is to find publishers, 

but the more enterprising 

among them are turning to 

e-books for publication. 

The rise of e-readers, 

for instance Amazon Kindle, 

has allowed aspiring 

authors to bypass the hassle 

of finding representation 

as well as the cost of 

printing, binding and delivering 

books, reports the 

Daily Mail. 

Russ Grandinetti, 

Vice-President of Kindle 

Content for Amazon Digital 

publishing, said: "It's 

possible for any author to 

make their book available 

with little or no upfront 

cost and reach a global 

audience." 

He said digital publishing 

"gives a chance to a 

great book that otherwise 

might have been overlooked". 

— IANS 

IT seems Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, 

who will be hosting the Indian version of 

Guinness World Record, is finding her stint 

on small screen hard. "Just finished shooting 

1 of the Guiness World Record episodes! 

Hats off to Amitji, Salman, Shah Rukh, 

Akshay and Priyanka Chopra for rocking TV 

as its SO TIRING! Phew!," Preity wrote on 

microblogging site Twitter. 

The show will be telecast later this year on 

Colors. 

Big B enjoying mum-in-law's cooking: 

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan seems to 

be enjoying his stay in Bhopal as he is getting 

CULTURAL 

MUSINGS 

By Arwa A Alhinaia 

Beware of all that junk food! 

FRIES, burgers, fizzy drinks, candy… the dream list is 

infinite. These supposedly “good stuff” is also known 

as junk food. These are foods even the most health cautious 

wouldn’t mind having regardless of the insane amount of 

calories they contain. A regular cheese burger can have up 

to 359 calories not to mention a very high amount of fat. 

Even though junk food may seem most alluring having 

it on a regular basis can lead to serious problems. Several 

researches have been conducted on the effects of junk food 

on health and eating habits. The most prominent of these 

health hazards is obesity, followed by increased levels of 

cholesterol and cardiac diseases. 

One study implied that junk food leads to addiction, the 

same way as drugs would! Why wouldn’t the brain react 

to it as a drug? It is tasty and satisfyingly filling; it doesn’t 

cost much, compared to organic food at least. It can be a 

phone call away and is delivered to our doorstep. These 

foods deliver empty calories which the body ends up storing 

as fat. 

An article I read recently in the Oman Daily Observer 

about junk food made me realise how bad junk food is. I 

think junk food is bad because it consists of too much of 

everything. To start with it has too much sugar. I read in an 

another article a few years ago that a can of cola drink has 

around 10 teaspoons of sugar. Imagine having that much 

sugar on a daily basis? No wonder diabetes has been on 

the rise! 

Secondly, junk food has too much salt. Having too much 

salt leads to heart disease and increases the possibility of 

having a stroke. Also, junk food has a ridiculous amount 

of saturated fat. Further, the fat that is found in junk foods 

is trans fat, which is known to be the most dangerous type 

of fat as it increases the bad cholesterol level and decreases 

the good cholesterol level in the body. 

Next is the saturated fat these foods contain. The more 

fat the body consumes the more the possibility of becoming 

obese. Once obesity is introduced, it’s downhill from 

there on. As the saying goes “you are what you eat”. 

Bearing in mind all the emphasis the media puts on being 

thin and the size 0 trend, it is obvious that we live in a 

shallow world that does not follow the “don’t judge a book 

by its cover” rule. First impressions are crucial. When an 

obese person walks into an office for an interview, all eyes 

will be on him/her. Some people may be intimidated by 

all the attention, which in this case, is not very positive. 

That may have a negative effect on their confidence, thus 

affecting their productivity. I believe it’s vice versa: “look 

good, feel good”. When a person is healthy and follows a 

healthy lifestyle, it reflects on his/her exterior, therefore 

that person will live a more fruitful life. 

Picture your body as an automobile. When you own 

one, you make sure we only use the finest oils and lubricants 

in order to get it up and running for the longest period 

possible. The same should be done to our bodies. The intake 

should be healthy food and exercise rather than junk 

and/or fast food. 

Famous fast food chains and others should serve healthier 

options to people in order to prolong their life span. So 

far, MacDonald’s has been doing a good job at improving 

their menu. Healthier food is offered to their fanatic customers. 

An apple a day does keep the doctor away; that 

has been scientifically proven. More attention should be 

paid on the quality of our food consumption, rather than 

the quantity. 

Humans bombarded by information 

EVER wondered how we 

are being bombarded 

by the equivalent of 

174 newspapers-full of data a 

day? According to researchers, 

there is around 295 exabytes 

of data floating around 

the world — that's around 295 

billion gigabytes. 

The growth of the Internet, 

24-hour television channels 

and mobile phones means that 

we now receive five times as 

much information every day 

as we did in 1986. Daily, the 

average person produces six 

newspapers worth of information 

compared with just twoand-a-half 

pages 24 years ago, 

nearly a 200-fold increase, reports 

the journal Science. 

All this information needs 

storing and we now have the 

equivalent of 600,000 books 

stored in computers, microchips 

and even on the strip on 

the back of your credit card, 

according to the Telegraph. 

The extent of the information 

revolution and digital age has 

been calculated by Martin 

Hilbert and his team at the 

University of Southern California. 

They used a complex formula 

to calculate the average 

amount of information stored 

and sent in the world from 

every medium — computers, 

papers, books and letters by 

post. "These figures show that 

we are in the middle of the information 

age," Hilbert said. 

"When you think that 100 

years ago people were lucky 

to read the equivalent of 50 

books in a lifetime, but now 

most children have watched a 

couple of hundred movies." 

"In 1986 we sent out — 

mainly by post, telephone and 

fax — around two and a half 

pages of newspaper each day. 

This increased to six newspapers 

thanks to e-mail, digital 

photography, the Twitter and 

other social network sites by 

2007," he points out. — IANS 

TV is so tiring: Preity Zinta 

home-cooked food everyday from his motherin-law. 

Amitabh is shooting for Prakash Jha's 

Aarakshan in Bhopal which is also his actresswife 

Jaya's home town. 

"As I work in Bhopal, my sasural, my 

wife's home, her mother who lives by herself 

there, shall dutifully prepare my dinner each 

night and personally come over to the hotel 

with it and sit beside me to feed me and supervise 

the meal. Coercing me to eat more, to try 

this and that and whether it was appealing or 

not," Amitabh posted on his blog big.bigadda. 

com. 

The film also stars Saif Ali Khan, Deepika 

Padukone, Prateik Babbar and Manoj Bajpai. 

Manu my toughest role: Madhavan: 

Bollywood actor R Madhavan has 

revealed that his upcoming film Tanu Weds 

Manu with Kangana Ranaut is a mix of drama 

and comedy and that it is his toughest role till 

date. 

"Ok folks. Have to make it clear Tanu Weds 

Manu is not a full-on comedy film. It's funny 

but more drama and romance. My toughest 

role till date," Madhavan wrote on microblogging 

site Twitter. 

"It looked and sounded so simple but 

"Manu" ne toe Jaan hi le li yaar (It was the 

hardest ever). Had to Focus hard to pull myself 

to his standards. Heroic but Common man," he 

wrote. — IANS

Watson confirms doing Perks 

Of Being A Wallflower 

ACTRESS 

Emma Watson 

has confirmed she 

will feature in the 

movie The Perks of 

Being a Wallflower. 

The 20-year-old 

actress, who earlier 

said she might give 

up her film career 

to focus on fashion, 

wrote on Twitter: 

"Hi all, just wanted 

to tell you that 

for once a story 

in the papers is 

true! I'm filming 

Perks of Being a 

Wallflower this 

summer. Can't wait!" 

Contactmusic.com reports that Logan Lerman will take the 

leading male role in the coming-of-age drama based on the 

book by Stephen Chbosky. The movie tells the tale of a young 

man named Charlie who falls in love with an older girl (played 

by Emma) while dealing with his own mental health issues and 

the suicide of his best friend. Chbosky has written the screenplay 

and will direct the movie. 

Lohan to open boutiques with mum 

TROUBLED 

actress Lindsay 

Lohan and her 

mother Dina 

are reportedly 

planning to open 

fashion boutiques 

in New York 

and California. 

"Both Dina and 

Lindsay love the 

fashion industry 

and are excited to 

do this together," 

femalefirst.co.uk 

quoted a source as 

saying. 

The 24-yearold, 

whose jewellery 

theft charge counted as a breach in the terms of probation, 

is planning to divide her time between the two stores. "Lindsay 

and her mom will be looking for a place in downtown Manhattan 

as soon as her ban to travel has been lifted. For now, she is 

awaiting her February 23 probation hearing and preparing for 

a visit from her mom and siblings," said the source. 

Lindsay has been warned by Superior Court Judge Keith 

L Schwartz on Wednesday that if she does anything else to 

breach her probation before her next court appearance, she will 

be jailed. — IANS 

Couples all set for 

Valentine’s Day 

VALENTINE'S Day is just round the corner and what 

better way than heading out to some special place with 

your beloved to spend those special moments in quality 

exclusiveness. That's what most couples have planned for 

this February 14. 

Since it is Monday, there is the added advantage of combining 

it to the weekend. Many people have planned to head out 

for a three-day trip or even longer to enjoy love and leisure. 

"The idea is to have some quality time with your loved one. 

So couples look for short breaks around or out of the country," 

Karan Anand, head of relationships and supplier management 

at Cox and Kings, said. 

"The Valentine's Day falling on a Monday this year is definitely 

a plus point," he said. Keyur Joshi, co-founder and chief 

operating officer of MakeMyTrip.com, shared the same opinion. 

"We have been getting queries for a weekend getaway 

around Valentine's Day for both domestic as well as international 

destinations," he said. Some of the most popular domestic 

destinations this year include the Andamans, Udaipur, 

Jaisalmer, Shimla, Ooty, Nainital and, of course, Goa, the ever 

favourite among travellers and couples. 

According to Anand, the popular international destinations 

this year are Singapore, Phuket, Bangkok, Bali, Mauritius, 

Maldives, Seychelles, Macau, Penang and Pattaya. "Valentine's 

Day packages are popular. There is a lot of demand as 

this day is associated with a lot of hype. Tour operators add 

their bit to it to get the best out of it," Anand added. 

Many luxury hotels are offering special deals to couples. 

The global hotel booking website, hotel.com , lists The Leela Kempinski Kovalam Beach in Kerala, 

Coconut Grove in Goa and Capella Singapore among their 

most recommended hotels for a perfect Valentine's Day getaway. 

Reema Dubey, a 28-year-old housewife, is looking forward 

to this day of love since she is going off to Goa for a vacation 

with her husband of two years. 

"We used to celebrate Valentine's Day even while we were 

courting, but never got a chance to head out on this day. This 

year it being a Monday, my husband has taken leave and we 

are planning a three-day trip to Goa," she said, not trying to 

hide the excitement. 

Shashank and Swati Sharma, a working couple who hardly 

get to spend time with each other, have ensured that this Monday 

is just for the two of them. "We are going to Udaipur. We 

will make sure this is going to be a great experience," said 

Shashank, an advertising professional. — IANS 

28 

ENTERTAINMENT SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2011 

Rihanna okay with modification 

SINGER Rihanna has agreed to 

modify her restraining order against 

ex-beau Chris Brown. The singer 

has allowed to modify it to level one, 

which would allow them to have contact 

as long as Brown doesn't annoy, molest 

or harass her. 

Brown's attorney has been informed 

of her approval, but he has yet to go to 

court to have the order officially changed, 

reports usmagazine.com. 

Brown was sentenced to five years 

probation and six months of community 

service for assaulting Rihanna in 2009, 

following which she had obtained a restraining 

order which doesn't allow him 

to be within 100 yards of her. 

Christian Bale denies marriage 

trouble: A representative for Christian 

Bale has rubbished reports that the actor's 

marriage is in trouble following his hardpartying 

behaviour. 

According to a report by editors at 

America's Star magazine, the Oscar-nominated 

actor has been hitting the Hollywood 

party scenes throughout the movie 

industry's current awards season. 

It is said that the star was berated by 

film mogul Harvey Weinstein for his 

"boorish behaviour" at the SAG Awards 

after party last month, which initiated tension 

between Bale and wife Sibi Blazic. 

However, his representative denies 

any such problem, reports aceshowbiz. 

com. "There's no truth to the story in the 

Star," said the spokesperson 

Hudgens 'figuring things out': Actress 

Vanessa Hudgens is not ruling out a 

reconciliation with her ex-boyfriend Zac 

Efron — she says the two of them are 

"figuring things out". The couple broke 

up last year citing their respective work 

commitments as the reason for the split, 

but Hudgens thinks they could get back 

together in the future. 

"We're still friends. Who knows what 

the future will bring? We're figuring 

things out," contactmusic.com quoted 

Hudgens as saying. The two were rumoured 

to have rekindled their relationship 

last month when they were spotted 

holding hands and enjoying "intimate" 

meals together when Efron visited the set 

of Hudgens' latest film Journey 2: The 

Mysterious Island. 

The couple started dating in 2005 after 

meeting on the set of High School Musical, 

in which Efron, 23, played basketball 

Ex-beau Brown 

was sentenced 

to five years 

probation and 

six months 

of community 

service for 

assaulting 

Rihanna in 2009, 

following which 

she had obtained 

a restraining 

order which 

doesn’t allow him 

to be within 100 

yards of her 

team captain Troy Bolton, while 22-yearold 

Hudgens portrayed Gabriella Montez, 

a bookworm. 

Ranveer, Anushka to pair again in 

YRF film: After a sizzling chemistry in 

hit film Band Baaja Baaraat, Ranveer 

Singh and Anushka Sharma will share 

screen space yet again for the romantic 

comedy Ladies V/S Ricky Bahl. 

It's another offering from Yash Raj 

Films' and Aditya Chopra is producing 

the movie based on a story developed by 

him. It seems Yash Raj Films is looking to 

spin the same magic again as the premise 

of this film sounds similar — Ladies V/S 

Ricky Bahl is a romantic comedy where a 

charming conman Ricky Bahl cons girls 

for a living, but finally meets his match. 

It goes on floor early April with plans 

to be in theatres worldwide on December 

9 this year. If the lead pair is repeated, 

some of the crew members are also from 

Band Baaja Baaraat. 

Habib Faisal has written the dialogues 

and Devika Bhagat has scripted screenplay. 

Salim-Sulaiman will compose the 

music, and Amitabh Bhattacharya will 

pen the lyrics. The film will be shot by 

Aseem Mishra (DOP). — IANS 

Chief Executive Officer ABDULLAH BIN NASSIR AL RAHBI. Editor-in-Chief FAHMY BIN KHALID AL HARTHY 

Printers and Publishers OMAN ESTABLISHMENT FOR PRESS, PUBLICATION AND ADVERTISING 

IN THE SPOTLIGHT 

Former South African Olympic swimmer and future 

Princess of Monaco Charlene Wittstock seen during a 

visit to a local school in Pietermaritzburg, 

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PICTURE of an overcrowded train approaching 

a station in Dhaka. The prize-winning entry of the 

World Press Photo Contest 2010. — Reuters 

The prize-winning entries of the World Press 

Photo Contest 2010. — Reuters 

A baby lion-tailed macaque sits next to his mother in 

their enclosure at the zoo in Wuppertal, 

western Germany. — AFP 

Indonesian Hindu devotees walking towards the ashshooting 

Mount Bromo volcano to make offerings at a 

temple east of Indonesia’s central Java island. — AFP 

A man carrying a shark through the streets of 

Mogadishu, Somalia, on September 23, 2010. — AFP 

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