Observer 3 Feb 2012 - Oman Observer

How the brain 

hears words 

decoded 

Page 12 

Friday, February 3, 2012/Rabee al Awwal 10, 1433 AH 

www.omanobserver.om editor@omanobserver.om 

Asian stocks remain firm 

ASIAN shares rose yesterday as encouraging manufacturing 

data soothed fears about the global economic 

fallout from the euro zone debt crisis, but the euro lost 

steam as the ongoing Greek debt talks reminded investors 

of the complexity of the problem. MSCI’s broadest 

index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed as 

much as 1.4 per cent to a five-month high of 438.674. 

9 14 20 

Fruits, vegetable prices cooling down 

 

 

MUSCAT — The mechanism 

being devised by the authorities 

for monitoring commodity 

prices in order to provide relief 

to consumers is bearing fruits. 

WASHINGTON — International 

astronomers said yesterday 

they have found the fourth 

potentially habitable planet 

outside our solar system with 

temperatures that could support 

water and life about 22 

light-years from Earth. 

The team analysed data 

from the European Southern 

Observatory about a star 

known as GJ 667C, which is 

known as an M-class dwarf 

star and puts out much less 

heat than our Sun. 

However, at least three 

planets are orbiting close to 

the star, and one of them appears 

to be close enough that 

it likely absorbs about as much 

incoming light and energy as 

BRUSSELS — Nato allies set 

out plans yesterday to hand 

Afghans full control of the 

battlefield next year as they 

seek to wind down an unpopular 

war that has dragged on 

for a decade. 

Nato Secretary-General 

Anders Fogh Rasmussen said 

foreign troops would shift to 

a support role as Afghan security 

forces take over, but he 

insisted that the alliance was 

sticking to its decision to keep 

troops there until 2014. 

“We expect the last provinces 

to be handed over to the 

Afghanistan security forces 

Measures like increased 

funding for agricultural 

projects, increasing the acreage 

of food crops and strengthening 

the regulatory framework 

for competition to check anticompetitive 

trade practices 

and consumer protection help 

Habitable planet found 

Earth, has similar surface temperatures 

and perhaps water. 

The new rocky planet, GJ 

667Cc, orbits its star every 

28.15 days — meaning its 

year equals about one Earth 

month — and has a mass at 

least 4.5 times that of Earth, 

according to the research published 

in Astrophysical Journal 

Letters. 

“This planet is the new best 

candidate to support liquid 

water and, perhaps, life as we 

know it,” said Guillem Anglada-Escudé 

who was with the 

Carnegie Institution for Science 

when he conducted the 

research but has since moved 

on to the University of Gottingen 

in Germany. — AFP 

by mid-2013,” Rasmussen 

told reporters ahead of two 

days of talks among Nato defence 

ministers. 

“From that time Afghan 

security forces are in the lead 

all over Afghanistan. And from 

that time, the role of our troops 

will gradually change from 

combat to support. In that, 

there’s nothing new,” he said. 

US Defence Secretary 

Leon Panetta had indicated 

on Wednesday that Nato 

would “transition from a combat 

role to a train and advise 

and assist role” by the end of 

2013. — AFP 

Yacht race 

attracts 

Qatar entry 

Page 11 

Pakistan look for an encore 

CAPTAIN Misbah-ul Haq believes routing world No 1 

England 3-0 will be a big achievement but stressed his 

team will not take that extra pressure into the final Test 

starting today. No team has ever registered a clean sweep 

in the 58 years of Pakistan-England cricket and the team 

has a good chance of making history after their 10wicket 

win in the first Test and by 72 runs in the second. 

MSM garners 

5,564 points 

MUSCAT — Muscat Securities 

Market yesterday closed 

at 5,564.09 points registering 

a rise of 3.13 points or 0.06 

per cent. 

In all, 6.24 million shares 

were traded during the day; a 

decrease by 40 per cent over 

Wednesday’s trading session 

and with a 38.3 per cent decline 

in trading value which 

stood at RO 2.42 million. 

Services sector closed up 

by 0.43 per cent, financial 

sector 0.05 per cent and industry 

0.15 per cent. 

As many as 12 out of 44 

stocks trading managed a 

green closing, 12 closed in 

the red zone and 20 remained 

unchanged. 

Top gainers were led by Al 

Anwar Ceramic Tiles which 

closed up at 3.25 per cent 

(349 baisas), Gulf Mushroom 

3.15 per cent (459 baisas) 

and Al Jazira Services 2.63 

per cent (234 baisas). 

Top losers were Oman and 

Emirates Invest 6.25 per cent 

(90 baisas), Oman United 

Insurance 1.55 per cent (127 

baisas) and Raysut Cement 

1.16 per cent (255 baisas). 

Recently, MSM has been 

selected as one of the Arab 

exchanges index, which was 

LONDON — World oil prices 

traded mixed yesterday as 

traders balanced ongoing Iranian 

tensions with stubborn 

concerns over the outlook for 

global energy demand. 

New York’s main contract, 

West Texas Intermediate 

(WTI) crude for delivery in 

March, fell 76 cents to $96.85 

per barrel. 

But Brent North Sea crude 

for March delivery rose 51 

cents to $112.07 a barrel in 

London afternoon deals. 

“Crude futures were mixed 

over the past week as geopolitics 

were still underpinning 

Brent, while WTI remained 

under pressure from persistent 

demand concerns,” said VTB 

NEW DELHI — India’s 

Supreme Court yesterday 

scrapped 122 telecom licences 

awarded in a 2008 sale at the 

centre of a corruption scandal, 

further embarrassing the government 

and causing upheaval 

in the flagship sector. 

Mis-selling of the secondgeneration 

(2G) mobile licences 

was estimated by the 

country’s public auditor to 

have cost the treasury up to 

$40 billion in lost revenue. 

The minister in charge of 

the sale, A Raja, is currently 

on trial accused of fraud and 

cheating, one of several cor- 

launched by the Arab Federation 

of Exchanges in collaboration 

with Standard & 

Poors. 

The index measures the 

performance of the biggest 

40 companies listed in the 

Arab stock markets. 

The Arab Federation of 

Exchanges has agreed with 

Standard & Poors to launch 

an index that represents 

all the Arab exchanges, represented 

by major companies 

listed on these stock markets 

— as per the objective 

criteria developed by the 

company, such as market 

capitalisation, trading volume 

and the share of free stocks of 

the capital. 

Saudi Arabia topped the 

list of the companies forming 

the index of the Arab 

exchanges ( 35 per cent) 

followed by Kuwait (23.2). 

This is mainly due to the high 

market value of the companies 

listed in these markets 

and the high trading volume. 

It is worth mentioning 

that the Lebanon-based Arab 

Federation of Exchanges includes 

all stock exchanges, as 

well as clearance and settlement 

companies in the Arab 

world. 

Oil hovers over $112 

Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov. 

The oil market slid on 

Wednesday as new US government 

data showed a slower 

pace of petroleum consumption. 

Encouraging economic data 

especially from China, where 

manufacturing activity expanded 

in January, helped the 

oil price early on Wednesday. 

Traders were also inspired by 

similar pick ups in the manufacturing 

sectors of the United 

States and the euro zone. 

However, weekly American 

oil data showed slower refinery 

throughput and mounting 

crude stocks, raising concerns 

about demand. — AFP 

Afghan transition plan Court scraps licences 

Huge visitor turnout 

MUSCAT — The numbers 

of visitors to Muscat Festival 

2012 peaked at the weekend 

yesterday and visitors included 

nationals, residents and 

foreign tourists. 

More people are expected 

to visit the festival venues 

during the Prophet’s (PBUH) 

birthday holiday. 

The festival which gained 

international participation 

opened on January 26, and 

focuses on fun, knowledge 

and entertainment while reflecting 

Omani heritage and 

values. 

Families with children 

thronged the concert theatres 

and people were also attracted 

by acrobatic show and circus. 

Thousands also thronged 

the annual shopping expo 

that attracts all visitors to the 

venue. There were many takers 

for Omani delicacies such 

as the mushkak (barbecued 

meat) which are served in 

open air. 

Meanwhile, a sudden fault 

at Barka power plant caused 

a brief outage at Al Naseem 

Park but festival activities 

there were not affected as 

electricity was quickly restored. 

check the prices. 

With the ongoing winter 

harvesting season, prices of 

most vegetables and fruits in 

Oman started cooling down. 

Till two months back, 

Oman was dependent heavily 

on India, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, 

 

MUSCAT — Hamad Rashid 

al Jabri, Director of Projects 

Department in Buraimi and 

Musandam, has said that the 

Public Authority for Electricity 

and Water is implementing 

a number of water 

projects in the Governorate of 

Buraimi at a cost of more than 

RO 40 million, including 

the establishment of transport 

networks, installation of 

water distribution tanks 

and distribution stations to 

Egypt, Lebanon, Pakistan and 

Thailand for fruits and vegetable 

imports. 

Now locally-produced vegetables 

and fruits are pouring 

abundantly into the markets 

cutting down the size of dependence 

on imports. 

strengthen the pumping. 

He pointed out that the authority 

is seeking to provide 

safe drinking water through 

the implementation of these 

water projects in all wilayats 

considering water as a key 

element in the development 

process in the Sultanate. 

Al Jabri explained that 

Al Buraimi is currently witnessing 

the implementation 

of a water network project in 

Al Khadhra. The project has 

been assigned recently, and 

the length of the network is 70 

With the price rise remaining 

relatively subdued in the 

global market, there has not 

been any imported price rise in 

the Omani market. 

Inflation in Oman fell significantly 

to 3.7 per cent in 

September last from 5.3 per 

km covering all the schemes 

of Al Khadhra. A tender for 

new project is given to cover 

all areas of Hai al Nafhat, Al 

Ghraifa 1, Hamasa, Wadi al 

Jizi and another tender is being 

floated to cover Al Wasit, 

Al Hail, and Al Rabi. 

He stressed that there are 

no future plans to extend and 

expand the water systems 

in Buraimi as the current 

projects will cover all the 

wilayats. 

Abdullah Shamsi, in 

charge of the works of the 

cent in August. With the fall in 

the food prices, a further slowdown 

in inflation is expected 

in the coming months. 

Local vegetables are 

cheap and fresh from the garden 

compared to imported 

ones. To page 2 

New water projects in Buraimi 

Director of the Employment 

Service in Buraimi 

and Musandam, said that the 

amount of water produced 

from wells and desalination 

in Buraimi reached about 

6,500,000 cubic metres in 

2011. 

The total number of 

households benefiting from 

water distribution service 

in Buraimi are 14,410 

homes, stressing that the 

number of projects that have 

been implemented amounted 

to 26. To page 2 

ruption cases to have buffeted 

the government of Prime 

Minister Manmohan Singh. 

While the cancellation 

order re-opens a damaging 

episode for the government, 

there was a reprieve for Home 

Minister P Chidambaram who 

activists had wanted investigated 

by a special court trying 

suspects in the case. 

The Supreme Court declined 

to rule on the issue, 

saying it was up to the special 

court to decide if there was evidence 

against Chidambaram, 

who was finance minister at 

the time of the 2008 sales. 

RECORD TURNOUT: Thousands of visitors throng Muscat Festival 2012 venues, Qurum Natural Park and Naseem Park, yesterday. More pictures on page 2 

Prayer timing Fajr Dhuhr Asr Magrib Isha Weather W Muscat Musc Nizwa Sohar Al Buraimi Sur Khasab Salalah 

EXCHANGE RATES 

GOLD 

Dollar per Omani Rial 

PRICE 

Muscat 05:30 am 12:26 pm 03:36 pm 05:59 pm 07:12 pm Max ax 26 27 25 27 28 26 26 

Min 18 13 20 15 17 20 20 

Buying 0.382 Selling 0.388 $1,756.30

2 OMAN 

OMAN DAILY Observer 

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 

10th round of privately-owned camel racing festival ends 

SAHAM — The 

10th race of privately 

owned-camel racing 

festival concluded 

here yesterday under 

the patronage of 

Shaikh Ahmed bin 

Saleh al Mawali, 

Wali of Saham. 

It was organised 

by the Royal Camel 

Unit of the Royal 

Court Affairs. 

Winners of the 9 

rounds of yesterday’s 

race received prizes 

and folk troupes performed 

during the 

event. — ONA 

RO 40m new water projects in Buraimi 

From page 1 

Al Shamsi stated that the most important of these projects 

are the extension of water line in the business district area in 

the new residential area in Saara, the exhibition complex, and 

Al Makhshami. 

As for the main sources of water in Buraimi, Al Shamsi 

said that the wilayat is fed with water through two 

main sources, namely the desalinated unit and the 12 filling stations. 

There are also plans to feed Mihadha and Al Sinaina wilayats 

and neighbouring areas with pure water from the Sohar desalination 

plant. 

Muscat Festival activities continue 

Launch ceremony for 

Manama as culture capital 

MANAMA — His Highness Sayyid Haitham bin Tareq al Said, 

Minister of Heritage and Culture participated in the launch ceremony 

for Manama as Capital of Arab culture. The event was 

held under the auspices of Prince Salman bin Hamad al Khalifa, 

Bahraini Heir Apparent and Deputy Supreme Commander 

of Bahrain. 

HH Haitham is in Manama at an invitation from Shaikh Mai 

bint Mohammed al Khalifa, Bahraini Minister of Culture. 

The Sultanate will participate in a number of events during 

the year-long cultural celebrations here. The minister is accompanied 

by Shaikh Hamad bin Hilal al Maamari, Under-Secretary 

for Cultural Affairs and other ministry officials. — ONA 

Health seminar organised 

LIWA — Nabr Health Centre organised a seminar for 30 medical 

staff including doctors and nurses to help upgrade health 

services. A number of lectures were delivered on tuberculosis, 

hand hygiene, blood collection, reporting infectious diseases 

and patient safety. — ONA 

Motorist dies in 

road accident 

MUSCAT — An Omani national car driver died when his 

vehicle veered off and turned over on Barka-Wilayat of 

Al Ma’awil road. The vehicle was badly damaged. Royal 

Oman Police (ROP) urges motorists to abide by speed limits. 

Fruits and vegetable 

prices cooling down 

From page 1 

And also they are of high quality. Thamer rice disappears 

from some markets. 

Thamer rice prices returned to previous levels at the time 

it disappeared from shops that had raised its price last week 

for the first time in almost a year. 

According to recent survey of the Public Authority for 

Consumer Protection, the price of sugar has increased in the 

retail shops by 55 baisa, bringing the price to 75 baisa against 

700 baisa a week ago while it settled in the rest of the shops. 

The periodic survey of consumer protection pointed out 

to the stability of the prices of most consumer goods covered 

by the survey in Muscat, with some variation between shops. 

Al Madina rice settled between RO 24.85 and RO 24.99, Abu 

Deek at RO 20.75, Al Dhahabi flour between RO 1.98 and 

RO 2.1, Al Khareef flour between RO 1.93 and RO 1.975, 

the imported flour between RO 2.25 and RO 2.29, Lipton tea 

between RO 1.39 and RO 1.47, Mumtaz Tea at RO 1, Al Mudhish 

milk at RO 4.79, and Nido between RO 7.05 to 9.05. 

Wholesale prices on other hand, the periodic survey did 

not monitor any movements in the prices of consumer goods 

at the wholesale shops. 

Thamer rice ranged between RO 21 and 22, Al Madina 

rice between RO 22 and 22.5, Abu Deek at RO 20, Al Ghazal 

rice between RO 23.5-24, Al Dhahabi flour between RO 1.95 

and RO 2.1, Al Khareef and the imported flour at RO 2, Lipton 

Tea from RO 28.8 to RO 31.5, and Mumtaz Tea between 

RO 21.8 and RO 23.6. 

The price of sugar has stabilised between RO 15.5 and 

RO 16.4, Al Mudhish milk between RO 28.4 and RO 28.5, 

Nido between RO 8.28 to RO 5.30, tomato paste between 

RO 4.3 and RO 4.4, salt between RO 1.6 and RO 2.2, 

lentils at RO 6, Al Manara cooking oil settled between 

RO 10.5 and RO 10.6, Al Jabal al Akhdhar at RO 6.2, 

Al Hafla local ghee between RO 13 and RO 13.2 and Ceylon 

coffee at RO 7.

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel inspects a guard of honour accompanied by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao 

during an ofcial welcoming ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday. — Reuters 

N Korea again rebuffs 

S Korean call for talks 

SEOUL — North Korea’s 

top ruling body yesterday 

again rebuffed South Korea’s 

call for talks, saying Seoul’s 

conservative leaders should 

rst “repent of their crimes” 

and honour past summit 

agreements. 

Seoul has said there is 

a “window of opportunity” 

for dialogue to ease tense 

relations after the death of 

Pyongyang’s longtime leader 

Kim Jong-Il on December 

17. 

The North’s new regime 

headed by Kim’s youngest 

son Jong-Un has repeatedly 

rejected any dealings with 

the South’s leaders, blasting 

them as “traitors” to the 

Korean people. 

Yesterday, the National 

Defence Commission issued 

what it called a questionnaire 

to the government of 

South Korean President 

Lee Myung-Bak — and 

told him to stop talking 

about dialogue until he has 

responded. 

The response came one 

day after a top US diplomat 

SHANGHAI — China has detained 

another company ofcial, bringing the 

total to eight, over a massive river pollution 

case in the country’s south, the government 

and state media said yesterday. 

Industrial waste — including toxic 

cadmium — polluted up to a 300 kilometre 

section of the Longjiang River 

in the Guangxi region and threatened 

drinking water supplies for millions of 

people. 

Police have detained eight executives 

from two rms, Jinhe Mining Co 

and Jinchengjiang Hongquan Lithopone 

Materials Factory, according to a statement 

from Hechi city, where the pollution 

originated. 

told Pyongyang that it must 

improve ties with Seoul if it 

wants better relations with 

Washington. 

The North accuses Lee’s 

government of failing to 

respect the late Kim by 

briey ordering troops on 

alert after his death, and by 

restricting private mourning 

delegations to Pyongyang. 

In yesterday’s statement, 

carried by its ofcial news 

agency, the North asked 

Seoul’s leaders whether they 

were ready to “deeply repent 

of their crimes” after Kim’s 

death and to apologise. 

The nuclear-armed North 

also told the South to honour 

co-operation agreements 

reached at summits in 

2000 and 2007; halt major 

exercises with US troops; 

work for denuclearisation; 

and halt “vicious” smear 

campaigns. 

It reiterated calls for a 

peace agreement to replace 

the armistice that ended the 

1950-53 war, and told the 

South to scrap a tough law 

which punishes unauthorised 

contacts with its neighbour. 

It urged Lee’s government 

“to be well aware of its 

plight, stop talking about 

north-south dialogue and 

improved relations and 

double-think whether it 

has qualications to be 

a dialogue partner of the 

DPRK (North Korea).” 

Seoul rejected 

the questionnaire as 

“unreasonable” and urged 

Pyongyang to show a 

“sincere” attitude. 

“Our government feels 

regret at the unreasonable 

allegations made by North 

Korea for the sake of its 

propaganda,” said an ofcial 

at the South’s unication 

ministry in charge of crossborder 

ties. 

Military tensions have 

been high since the South 

accused the North of 

torpedoing a warship which 

sank near the disputed border 

in March 2010 with the loss 

of 46 young South Korean 

sailors. 

The North denied 

mounting any attack. But in 

Authorities were seeking another 

four people who had ed, the Shanghai 

Daily newspaper quoted Hechi Mayor 

He Xinxing as saying. 

The government said earlier this 

week that seven people had been taken 

into custody. 

A Hechi city spokeswoman did not 

answer phone calls yesterday. 

Jinhe Mining was involved in processing 

cadmium, a carcinogen which can 

seriously damage the kidneys, bones and 

respiratory system. 

Jinchengjiang Hongquan was producing 

the metal indium, outside its business 

scope, and dumping waste directly 

into the ground, reports said. Indium can 

November 2010, it shelled a 

South Korean border island 

and killed four people in 

what it called a response to a 

provocative artillery drill by 

Seoul. 

The latest statement told 

Seoul to “announce before 

the world” that it would no 

longer hurt the North over 

the two incidents. 

Assistant Secretary of 

State Kurt Campbell said on 

Wednesday the United States 

is open to diplomacy with 

the North’s new leaders if 

they improve ties with South 

Korea. 

Campbell, speaking 

during a visit to Seoul, also 

said the North must take 

“necessary steps” before any 

revival of long-stalled sixparty 

nuclear disarmament 

talks. 

The US has called on 

the North to shut down 

its uranium enrichment 

plant — which experts say 

could be recongured to 

make weapons — before 

negotiations can resume. 

— AFP 

8 executives detained in pollution case 

cause lung and other organ damage. 

Guangxi claims to have brought the 

pollution, which was rst discovered on 

January 15, under control amid criticism 

from state media and environmental 

groups for poor industry supervision. 

In Liuzhou city, downstream from the 

original spill, the local government said 

cadmium levels in the river remained at 

2.6 times the recommended limit yesterday. 

Readings for the heavy metal spiked 

to 80 times the government limit immediately 

after the incident, but have 

fallen after authorities dumped chemical 

neutralisers and opened sluice gates to 

increase water ow. — AFP 

N-reactor leaks, radiation tiny 

TOKYO — More than 8 

tonnes of radioactive water 

leaked from a reactor at 

Japan’s Fukushima nuclear 

plant but none reached outside 

the reactor building, 

Tokyo Electric Power Co 

said yesterday as it strives 

to ensure damaged reactors 

are stable enough for work to 

start on dismantling them. 

Experts said the incident, 

which follows smaller leaks 

last weekend, is not a big setback 

to getting the plant under 

control but the timing is 

awkward for the government 

as it strives to win public acceptance 

for the restart of 

reactors elsewhere to avoid a 

summer power crunch. 

The Fukushima Daiichi 

plant, on the coast 240 km 

northeast of Tokyo, was 

wrecked by the March 11 

earthquake and tsunami, triggering 

reactor meltdowns and 

radiation leaks that caused 

mass evacuations and wide- 

spread contamination. 

The leak discovered late 

on Tuesday was from a pipe 

at the plant’s No 4 reactor 

that may have burst after 

freezing due to cold weather, 

said a spokesman for the utility, 

known as Tepco. 

He said leaking water 

would go into a drain leading 

to a storage facility. 

It contained only a tiny 

amount of radiation compared 

with the huge amount 

of water used to cool the 

reactors in the aftermath of 

the March disaster, much of 

which is still being treated at 

the plant to lower its radiation 

level, he said. 

The No 4 reactor was shut 

for maintenance when the 

tsunami struck, and no fuel 

rods are inside the reactor 

vessel. 

“I wouldn’t say this is a 

positive development though. 

But it isn’t something that 

would further stoke safety 

concerns over other nuclear 

plants,” said Kenji Sumita, 

honorary professor at the 

Osaka University. 

“If it hadn’t been for the 

Fukushima disaster, an incident 

like this could have gone 

unreported.” 

Shattered trust in the safety 

of nuclear energy has prevented 

the restart of reactors 

shut for routine maintenance, 

straining power supply and 

threatening blackouts. 

Only three of Japan’s 54 

nuclear reactors are now operating. 

Without approval for 

restarts, all of them could 

be shut by the end of April, 

boosting the use of fossil 

fuels and adding over $30 

billion a year to the nation’s 

energy costs, a government 

estimate said here yesterday. 

UN nuclear experts gave 

their backing on Tuesday to 

stress tests aimed at showing 

Japan’s nuclear plants can 

withstand the sort of disasters 

that devastated Fukushima 

Daiichi. 

The government announced 

on December 16 

that reactors at the plant had 

reached a state of cold shutdown, 

a milestone in cleanup 

efforts and a pre-condition 

for allowing about 80,000 

residents evacuated from a 

20 km radius of the Daiichi 

plant to return home soon. 

Resource-poor Japan had 

aimed to increase the share of 

nuclear power to more than 

half of its electricity supply 

by 2030 before the disaster, 

but now looks to reduce its 

reliance on nuclear power 

and raise the role renewable 

sources such as wind and solar 

power. 

Tepco initially estimated 

the size of this week’s leak at 

six litres but later revised it to 

8.5 cubic metres, and is looking 

into how it can prevent 

similar incidents. — Reuters 

3ASIA 



S Korea’s embattled ruling 

party changes its name 

SEOUL — South Korea’s conservative 

ruling party changed 

its name yesterday to try to 

shore up sagging support in a 

key election year, but sceptics 

called it a cosmetic measure 

which would fail to impress 

voters. 

The Grand National Party 

(GNP) announced it had chosen 

Saenuri (New World) as 

its new title from some 10,000 

suggestions made on the Internet. 

Rejected ideas included 

“New Hope Party” and “One 

People’s Party”. 

“We will be reborn as an 

entirely new party... I believe 

that people will trust us again 

if we continue our reform efforts 

with rm determination,” 

said interim party chief Park 

Geun-Hye, its likely presidential 

candidate. 

The party now holds 166 

ISHINOMAKI — Leaden winter skies 

lour on a coastguard boat as it cuts its 

way through the seas off Japan’s tsunamiwrecked 

shores. 

Somewhere under these unforgiving 

grey waters lie hundreds, perhaps thousands 

of bodies; the unfound, unclaimed 

dead of one of the country’s worst ever 

disasters. 

Even though the hunt on these sullen 

seas goes on every day, Yoshifumi Suzuki 

says none of his coastguard colleagues 

has seen a single corpse since the partial 

remains of a man were untangled from a 

shing net in November. 

But they are not prepared to give up. 

“If we don’t do this, nobody will,” 

Suzuki said. “We want to continue the 

search until we nd the very last one. I 

want to return people to their families not 

because it is my ofcial duty, but because 

it is my duty as a human being.” 

“The (missing) person is in the mind 

of his or her family but they still want 

proof that the person lived in this world. I 

think it’s hard for them to accept the reality” 

without a body, he said. 

The massive tsunami that pummelled 

Japan in March last year claimed more 

than 19,000 lives. One-in-six of the dead 

has never been found. 

In the ravaged port city of Ishinomaki 

and the adjacent town of Onagawa, 20 

per cent of the 4,700 victims are still of- 

cially listed as missing, although no-one 

TOKYO — Heavy snow that 

has blanketed northern Japan 

for weeks, triggering avalanches 

and affecting transport 

networks, has left at least 

55 people dead, ofcials said 

yesterday. 

In one of the country’s 

coldest winters in recent 

years, 43 people have died 

as they removed snow from 

roofs or roads, while seven 

more were crushed by 

heavy loads of snow falling 

from buildings or other structures, 

the disaster management 

agency said here yesterday. 

of the 299 parliamentary seats 

along with the presidency. But 

it anticipates a struggle in the 

April general election and the 

presidential poll in December 

amid a sharp slide in voter 

condence. 

In a shock result, it lost the 

Seoul mayoralty last October 

to an opposition-backed leftleaning 

candidate. It is now 

trying to shed its image as a 

party for the rich and to move 

leftward. 

A major bribery scandal involving 

the election of a party 

chief in 2008 dealt the embattled 

conservatives a further 

blow. 

Surveys show the party’s 

popularity waning because of 

growing discontent over social 

and economic inequality, and 

as economic growth slows. 

The left-leaning opposition 

Democratic United Party 

Four people have died 

in avalanches, with the latest 

snow slide reported in 

northern Akita prefecture at 

a popular mountain resort 

known for therapeutic hotspring 

baths, which left three 

holidaymakers dead. 

The 130 feet avalanche 

crushed three tents near a 

naturally heated rock site on 

Wednesday. 

Local police and rescuers 

continued their search yesterday 

“to conrm there are no 

others buried in the snow”, 

a local police spokeswoman 

said. 

(DUP) has an approval rating 

of 39.7 per cent against 29.1 

per cent for the GNP, according 

to a survey by the Realmeter 

agency in late January. 

But it overhauled policies 

to shift its focus from the freemarket 

economy and pro-business 

growth to “welfare state” 

and “democratic economy”, 

with the promise of more education 

and welfare benets for 

the poor. 

“It’s a natural move given 

the widening income inequality 

in this country and raging 

global debates on the 99 per 

cent versus 1 per cent amid the 

recession,” said Lee Junhan, 

professor of politics at Incheon 

University. 

“The issue of welfare will 

be the keyword in election 

campaigns this year,” he said 

here. 

South Korean parties have 

believes they will be found alive. 

“If the sea was transparent, we would 

be able to nd more people. It’s awful,” 

Suzuki said aboard the 26-tonne Shimakaze. 

Occasional snow stings the ve-strong 

crew as they peer through winter fog at 

the surface of the sea and use underwater 

sonar equipment to detect submerged cars 

or other debris that can trap bodies. 

If they see anything that suggests a 

corpse, they call for divers. 

But visibility below the surface is only 

three feet and the low temperatures mean 

frogmen can be in the water for no more 

than a few minutes. 

Yoshiyuki Kikuchi, the captain of the 

Shimakaze, remembers the horror of the 

tsunami and the frantic days he spent in 

the initial search for bodies. 

When he got the tsunami warning, 

Kikuchi sailed out to sea to protect his 

boat — the waves are smaller further offshore 

and easier to ride over. 

He saw a huge wall of water coming 

his way 10 kilometres off the coast. 

“It was a large swell that I had never 

seen in this area before,” he said. 

“Then I began to see rubble coming 

(from the shore) on the backwash — destroyed 

houses, tyres and cargo containers 

— it was a horric scene.” 

His passage blocked by the swirling 

clouds of otsam, Kikuchi was only able 

to return to port on the third day after the 

disaster and immediately began the task 

The extreme weather, 

which has lled evening 

news reports for weeks, 

has also claimed one other 

life, the government agency 

said. 

Heavy snow has covered 

the northernmost island of 

Hokkaido and much of the 

north of the main Japanese 

island of Honshu, particularly 

affecting the country’s eastern 

side. 

In Sukayu, in northern 

Aomori prefecture, where 

the temperature went down 

as low as minus 9.2 degrees 

Celsius yesterday, 14 feet of 

made a habit of renaming 

themselves in election years 

as they merge or split to win 

more votes. 

The DUP — which also 

faces allegations of vote-buying 

at a party election — chose 

its current name last month after 

joining with major union 

leaders and other left-leaning 

groups. It was its third name 

change in eight years. 

Many are sceptical about 

whether the former GNP’s 

new name will pay off. 

Its website has been ooded 

with hundreds of mocking 

name suggestions referring to 

the bribery scandal and other 

cases of alleged corruption. 

“Apparently they think voters 

have no brains... your fundamentals 

will never change 

just because you put new 

make-up on,” said one commentary. 

— AFP 

Search goes on for thousands 

of Japan’s tsunami missing 

of recovering bodies. 

It is a task he has done over the more 

than 10 months since the tragedy struck, 

and one that is getting harder all the time. 

“We are doing our best but it is becoming 

more and more difcult,” Kikuchi said. 

On land, a police search continues 

through Kesennuma, a city practically 

wiped out by the tsunami and by subsequent 

res, but no bodies have been unearthed 

since December. 

For parents of children at the destroyed 

Okawa elementary school, there 

can be no end until the last four of the 74 

dead youngsters are found. 

Wrapped up against the bitter January 

cold, four men dig through the mud and 

soil in their sad hunt for remains. 

“Children are still missing. We are 

here so that they can go home as soon as 

possible,” said one of the men, who did 

not want to give his name. 

Two policemen on secondment from 

Tokyo stopped at the school to offer 

prayers at an altar built to the memory 

of the 74 children and 10 school ofcials 

killed on March 11. 

“My heart aches,” said one. “I’ve seen 

parents who are looking for their children, 

including a mother who even obtained 

a licence to operate heavy equipment 

for the search. “I think their sorrow will 

never leave their hearts... but I sincerely 

hope the missing people will be found 

soon.” — AFP 

Death toll up as heavy snow grips Japan 

snow is lying. 

Yamagata and Niigata prefectures 

have more than three 

metres of snow, the weather 

agency said. 

Atrocious conditions have 

led to the cancellation of 

ights and numerous train 

delays, including to parts of 

the shinkansen bullet train 

system. 

In Aomori prefecture, a 

heavy snowstorm on Wednesday 

night stranded more than 

100 cars on one road, forcing 

250 people to seek shelter for 

the night in local schools, reports 

said. — AFP 

PEOPLE walk past vehicles stranded in heavy snow in Aomori prefecture yesterday. — Reuters

Times newspaper faces police 

probe for hacking of e-mails 

LONDON — The Times 

newspaper is being investigated 

by British police over 

claims of hacking e-mails, 

reports said yesterday. The 

investigation comes after the 

editor of the broadsheet admitted 

to an inquiry into the ethics 

of the British press that one 

of his journalists had hacked 

the e-mail account of a police 

blogger. 

Tom Watson, a lawmaker 

from the opposition Labour 

party, said he had received 

confirmation from London’s 

Metropolitan Police that the 

Times, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s 

News International, 

was being investigated. 

Watson said on Twitter: 

“The Met police have confirmed 

to me they are investigating 

Rupert Murdoch’s 

newspaper The Times over e- 

mail hacking.” He had written 

to the police last month asking 

them to investigate the matter. 

A spokeswoman for News 

International said she had no 

comment. 

News International was 

forced to close down its News 

of the World tabloid in July 

following a public outcry over 

claims it had hacked the voicemail 

of a missing girl who was 

later found murdered. 

The Metropolitan Police 

said in a statement yesterday: 

“We can confirm that a letter 

was received on Monday 

23 January, from MP Tom 

Watson.” The Times editor 

James Harding told the Leveson 

Inquiry, which was set up 

in the wake of the News of the 

World scandal, that a reporter 

— named as Patrick Foster 

— had been disciplined after 

hacking the e-mail account. 

“There was an incident 

where the newsroom was 

concerned that a reporter had 

gained unauthorised access to 

an e-mail account,” he said. 

“When it was brought to my 

attention, the journalist faced 

disciplinary action. 

“The reporter believed he 

was seeking to gain information 

in the public interest but 

we took the view he had fallen 

short of what was expected of 

a Times journalist. 

Meanwhile, Britain’s biggest 

police force apologised 

yesterday to more than 1,100 

victims of crime after admitting 

it had “inadvertently” 

shared their e-mail addresses 

with other victims. London’s 

Metropolitan Police was emailing 

out a survey about the 

service it provides when the 

4 THE WORLD 



blunder occurred on Monday. 

“In total 1,136 e-mails were 

sent out in seven batches of 

between 119 and 198 recipients, 

but because the addresses 

were put in the wrong box 

they were visible to the other 

recipients in the batch,” the 

Met said in a statement. 

“No other personal details 

were revealed and we are contacting 

everyone affected to 

explain what happened and to 

apologise.” 

The force blamed human 

error and said it was reviewing 

the way it conducted surveys 

to “minimise the risk of 

similar mistakes being made 

in the future”. The Information 

Commissioner’s Office, 

which upholds information 

rights including data privacy, 

had been informed, the statement 

added. — AFP 

HEALTH sector personnel shout slogans during a protest against austerity measures outside Health Ministry in Athens 

yesterday. Greece’s prime minister faces the daunting task of rallying political leaders behind unpopular wage and 

pension cuts demanded by lenders as the price for bailout money that is essential to avert a chaotic default. — Reuters 

Over 150 dead as cold hits Europe 

WARSAW — A cold snap 

kept Europe in its icy grip yesterday, 

pushing the death toll 

past 150 as countries from Italy 

to Ukraine struggled to cope 

with temperatures that reached 

record lows in some places. 

Nine more people died in 

Poland earlier as temperatures 

plunged to minus 32 Celsius 

in the southwest, bringing the 

overall toll to 29 since the 

deep freeze began last week, 

national police said. 

In Ukraine, tens of thousands 

of people have headed 

to shelters trying to escape the 

freeze that the emergencies 

ministry said has now killed 

63 people. 

Shivering and hungry, tens 

of thousands of Ukrainians 

have sought help in the more 

than 2,000 temporary shelters 

set up by the authorities to 

MOSCOW — Russian authorities 

sought yesterday to 

deter activists from turning 

up at a rally against Vladimir 

Putin’s rule, with the church 

calling on them to pray instead 

and the chief doctor urging 

them to stay home due to cold 

weather. 

Tens of thousands are expected 

tomorrow to march 

through Moscow to a square 

just over the Moscow river 

from the Kremlin to protest 

Putin’s grip on Russia exactly 

one month before he stands in 

presidential polls on March 4. 

After much haggling the 

Moscow city hall has allowed 

opposition activists to 

go ahead with the march and 

subsequent rally, the nascent 

protest movement’s third major 

protest since fraud-tainted 

December parliamentary elections. 

The head of Russia’s Orthodox 

Church, which has 

been watching opposition calls 

to take to the streets to demand 

fair elections with growing unease, 

called on the faithful to 

eschew rowdy demonstrations 

help the poor survive the fearsome 

spell of cold weather. 

The shelters offer warmth 

and hot food in a country 

where temperatures fell to minus 

33 degrees Celsius in the 

Carpathians in the west of the 

country and minus 27 in the 

capital Kiev. 

In Romania, eight people 

died because of the cold, 

bringing the overall toll to 

22, the health ministry said. 

Schools remained closed in 

some parts of the country as 

temperatures reached minus 

31 degrees Celsius. 

In Bulgaria, where the mercury 

dipped to lows not seen 

in a century, at least 10 people 

have died, according to media. 

Authorities have not released 

official figures. 

And in the capital Sofia, 

some residents found their 

for a peaceful prayer. 

“Orthodox Christians 

don’t know how to take to the 

streets,” Russian Orthodox Patriarch 

Kirill said in an address 

to Russians. “These people do 

not turn up at demonstrations, 

their voices cannot be heard, 

they pray in the quiet of monasteries, 

cells, and homes,” he 

said on Wednesday. 

“But they are taking to 

heart what is happening today 

money frozen as automated 

teller machines stopped functioning, 

according to local 

media. 

In Latvia, 10 people have 

died around the capital Riga 

alone, with no figures available 

for the rest of the country. 

In neighbouring Lithuania 

a 55-year-old homeless man 

found in the ruins of an abandoned 

house in the port city 

of Klaipeda became the ninth 

victim of the chill. 

In Italy, hundreds of people 

were trapped earlier on trains 

as freezing temperatures and 

heavy snowfalls in the centre 

and north caused widespread 

disruptions on roads, railways 

and at airports. 

In Austria, an 83-year-old 

woman was found frozen to 

death in the woods after apparently 

slipping on her daily 

Russians urged to avoid anti-Putin stir 

A WOMAN eats her meal during a charity event in the 

southern city of Stavropol, Russia, yesterday. — Reuters 

to our people, drawing in their 

mind clear historic parallels 

with the turpitude and forgetfulness 

of pre-revolutionary 

years, with disorder, chaos and 

the destruction of the country 

in the 1990s.” 

The country’s chief doctor, 

who is notorious in Russia for 

frequently intervening in political 

disputes, also called on 

activists to stay home tomorrow 

due to the current bout of 

walk and not managing to get 

up again, becoming the country’s 

second victim of the cold 

snap, officials said. 

In Serbia, the cold has 

killed six people and trapped 

some 11,500 others, mostly in 

remote mountain villages inaccessible 

by road. 

In Belgrade, homeless people 

unable to secure one of the 

140 spots in the capital’s sole 

shelter took refuge in trolley 

buses and trams. 

The freeze has also killed 

two people each in the Czech 

Republic, Slovakia and 

Greece. 

In France, where several 

regions have been placed under 

“deep cold” watch, authorities 

banned trucks on several 

major highways where the risk 

of snowfall and ice remained 

high. — AFP 

cold weather. “The forecast 

for Saturday is extremely unfavourable 

with temperatures 

of minus 18 degrees Celsius 

predicted. This is a very low 

temperature for Moscow,” 

Russia’s chief sanitary doctor 

Gennady Onishchenko said. 

“It’s better to refrain from 

(taking to the streets) and find 

another form of participation 

in building a happier state,” 

Onishchenko was quoted as 

saying by the Interfax news 

agency. Around 26,700 people 

have said they will attend the 

protest, according to its organisers’ 

page on Facebook. 

Putin initially derided the 

protesters saying they were 

in the pay of the US State 

Department. On Wednesday 

he said he was ready to take 

on a possible challenger in a 

second round run-off. Since 

he announced in September 

his plan to seek a third Kremlin 

term in a job swap with 

incumbent President Dmitry 

Medvedev his approval ratings 

have dropped to the extent that 

he may not poll 50 per cent in 

the first round. — AFP 

UK names first envoy 

to Somalia in 21 years 

NAIROBI — Britain appointed yesterday its first ambassador 

to war-torn Somalia for 21 years, Foreign Secretary William 

Hague said, as he made a landmark visit to the anarchic capital 

Mogadishu. “I am delighted to have made the first visit to 

Mogadishu by a British Foreign Secretary for over 19 years. 

This is a sign of Britain’s commitment to the people and country 

of Somalia,” Hague said in a statement. 

“As a further demonstration of our long-term commitment 

to Somalia, the UK’s new ambassador to Somalia, Matt Baugh 

has presented his credentials to (Somali) President Shaikh 

Sharif.” 

Hague was one of the highest profile visitors and the most 

senior British official to the war-torn Somali capital in two 

decades. The last British ambassador left Somalia 21 years 

ago, as the Horn of Africa spiralled into chaos during the 1991 

ouster of president Siad Barre. 

The new ambassador, previously Britain’s Senior Representative 

to Somalia, will remain based in the Kenyan capital, 

a British Embassy spokesman in Nairobi said. 

He will move to Mogadishu and open an embassy only 

“when the security situation allows,” the spokesman added. 

The appointment, and Hague’s surprise visit, comes ahead 

of a London conference due on February 23 aimed at resolving 

the protracted crises in the lawless Horn of Africa nation. 

Britain’s Foreign Office says the event “aims to bring together 

leaders of key partner countries and organisations... to 

help galvanise a common approach to address the problems 

and challenges of Somalia that affect us all.” — AFP 

French investigation 

into Italy ship disaster 

PARIS — French prosecutors said yesterday they have 

launched a probe into last month’s Italian liner disaster in 

which 32 people are feared to have died when the Costa Concordia 

cruise ship struck rocks. 

Four French nationals died and two are missing, and the 

Paris state prosecutor’s office said police would question 

French survivors to “determine the circumstances of the wreck 

and the evacuation and rescue conditions.” 

The inquiry’s aim is to “evaluate their personal distress and 

the psychological impact caused by this accident,” they said in 

a statement. Thirty-two people are believed to have died in the 

January 13 tragedy when the Costa Concordia struck rocks off 

the island of Giglio and capsized with more than 4,200 people 

on board, prompting a panicked evacuation in the night. 

Rescuers have found 17 bodies and 15 more people are officially 

missing, including six German, four Italian, two French, 

two US and one Indian national. 

The Italian ship’s operator Costa Crociere and advocacy 

groups representing survivors struck a deal last Friday in which 

around 3,000 survivors are to receive 11,000 euros ($14,400) 

each plus expenses, two weeks after the accident. 

Passengers would also be reimbursed for the cost of the 

cruise, estimated at some 3,000 euros each, as well as any 

travel and medical expenses. 

Six passengers in the United States however are suing 

Carnival Lines, Costa Crociere’s parent company, demanding 

compensation totalling $460 million. In France a number of 

passengers have rejected the deal and filed legal complaints 

with the French courts. — AFP 

Top court accepts 

challenge to poll law 

PARIS — A constitutional challenge by France’s far-right National 

Front party to an election law that could disqualify its 

leader, Marine le Pen, from running for president was given the 

go ahead yesterday by the country’s highest court. 

The Council of State said in a statement that the constitutional 

question raised by le Pen’s party “fulfilled the legal conditions 

in order to be sent to the Constitutional Council for examination.” 

Under a law dating to 1976, a person who wants to run for 

president has to be sponsored by 500 elected officials. 

Le Pen says she has struggled to secure enough signatures 

from the country’s around 47,000 elected officials, despite polls 

showing her to be voters’ third-favourite candidate. On Tuesday 

she said she had received 340 endorsements. 

The deadline for submitting the list of signatures for the 

April 22 presidential election is March 16. The National Front 

blames le Pen’s difficulties on a stipulation in the 1976 law 

that says candidates must publish the names of the mayors who 

sponsor them. 

The party argues the requirement contravenes a constitutional 

guarantee on political pluralism. The nine-member Constitutional 

Council — the country’s top authority on constitutional 

matters — has three months to consider whether the law 

respects the constitution. — dpa 

Lawyers: Assange’s 

extradition plea valid 

LONDON — Lawyers for Swedish authorities told Britain’s 

Supreme Court yesterday that a bid to extradite WikiLeaks 

founder Julian Assange for questioning over abuse allegations 

is valid. 

In his final appeal within the British legal system, Assange 

is resting his fight against extradition on the argument that the 

Swedish prosecutor who ordered his arrest in December 2010 

was not a proper judicial authority. 

But Clare Montgomery, a British lawyer acting on behalf of 

the Swedish authorities, dismissed the claims made by lawyers 

for the 40-year-old Australian on Wednesday. 

She said that in conventions that were replaced in 2004 

by the European Arrest Warrant system — the system under 

which Sweden is seeking Assange’s arrest — it was clear that 

public prosecutors were considered judicial authorities. 

It is the second and final day of the hearing in central London 

before seven Supreme Court judges. They are expected to 

defer judgement for several weeks. 

Dozens of supporters were again in court to see the whitehaired 

former hacker, who has become a cause celebre since 

his anti-secrecy website enraged Washington by leaking thousands 

of secret US documents. 

Britain’s Supreme Court only deals with cases that it decides 

raise a wider point of public interest, which in Assange’s 

case would be an overturning of the whole fast-track European 

Arrest Warrant system. 

On Wednesday, Assange’s lawyer Dinah Rose argued that 

extraditing him to Sweden on the basis of a European Arrest 

Warrant issued by a prosecutor would breach legal principles 

dating back 1,500 years. — AFP 

JAPAN’S Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko 

stroll on a beach near their imperial villa where they 

are staying for the emperor’s recuperation in Hayama 

town, south of Tokyo, yesterday. — Reuters 

ITALY’S Defence Minister Giampaolo Di Paola (L) 

with his Lithuanian counterpart Rasa Jukneviciene 

in Brussels yesterday. — Reuters 

UKRAINE’S President Viktor Yanukovich (L) with 

Moldova’s Prime Minister Vlad Filat during their 

meeting in Kiev yesterday. — Reuters 

FRANCE’S Socialist Party (PS) candidate for the 

2012 French presidential election Francois Hollande 

visits the Robert Debre hospital in Paris yesterday. 

ROMANIA’S opposition leader Victor Ponta during 

an interview in Bucharest yesterday. — Reuters

NEWS IN BRIEF 

Hariri tribunal hopes to 

start trial of suspects 

THE UN-backed Special Tribunal for 

Lebanon said yesterday it hoped to 

start in 2012 the trial in absentia of four 

suspects, indicted over the killing of 

Lebanon’s former prime minister Rak al 

Hariri. Warrants for the arrest of the four 

men were issued by the tribunal in June, 

but Lebanon later told the court it had 

been unable to track any of them down. 

“We still hope we can start the trial in 

earnest in 2012,” tribunal spokesman 

Marten Youssef told a news conference. 

“Preliminary motions will likely come 

up by the end of the next 60 days and 

the pre-trial judge will consult with the 

defence council once they are appointed 

about how much time they need to 

review the material and form their own 

case,” he said. 

The Netherlands-based tribunal said 

in a statement on Wednesday it was accepting 

preliminary motions challenging 

its jurisdiction or technical defects of the 

indictments. 

Libya to probe prison 

‘torture’ cases: minister 

LIBYA will investigate all cases of 

“torture” in prisons and bring to justice 

those involved in it, Justice Minister Ali 

Hamida Ashur told reporters yesterday. 

“The Department of Justice will investigate 

the issue concerning the charges 

by international organisations about the 

torture of prisoners. Those involved will 

be brought to justice,” Ashur said as his 

ministry took control of a prison on the 

outskirts of Tripoli. 

The prison in the suburb of Ain Zara 

is currently run by former ghters from 

the capital and has about 1,500 prisoners, 

mostly loyalists of slain Libyan ruler 

Muammar Gadda. 

Ashur said the charges of torture 

largely “related to prisons that are not 

under our control,” adding that he had 

“no idea” how many such facilities were 

outside the control of his ministry. 

ICC rejects Gadda 

daughter’s appeal 

THE International Criminal Court (ICC) 

said yesterday it had rejected a request by 

former Libyan leader Muammar Gadda’s 

daughter to submit information in 

the case of her brother, who is awaiting 

trial in Libya. 

On Tuesday, Aisha Gadda had asked 

the court if she could give information 

about attempts she has made to contact 

Saif al Islam, and submitted a document 

suggesting the Libyan authorities were 

unwilling to let any foreign lawyer act 

for him. 

The court said yesterday that it had rejected 

both Aisha’s request and a similar 

one by human rights activist Mishana 

Hosseinioun. Both requests were “misplaced 

and contrary” to court procedures, 

a panel of judges said ruled. 

Algeria parliamentary 

election by mid-May 

ALGERIA will hold a parliamentary election 

in the rst half of May, the rst in 

the north African country since a wave of 

popular uprisings in the region, the prime 

minister announced yesterday. 

“In line with the law, the elections 

will take place before next May 17,” 

Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia told 

reporters on the sidelines of the Senate’s 

closing session, adding that the exact 

date would be announced soon. 

“It will be during the rst fortnight of 

the month of May,” he added, quoted by 

the APS news agency. The election will 

be the fourth multiparty parliamentary 

vote in Algeria, which last went to the 

polls in 2007 and gave a majority to parties 

that backed Ouyahia, including the 

National Liberation Front (FLN). 

South Sudan violence 

major concern: aid chief 

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos yesterday 

visited conict-ridden regions of 

South Sudan, voicing concern over the 

violence that threatens to destabilise the 

world’s youngest nation. 

“Conict, poverty, and increasing 

food insecurity are having a major 

humanitarian impact,” said Amos ahead 

of her trip to remote Jonglei state, where 

weeks of bloody ethnic violence have 

affected 120,000 people. 

Amos, who is on a three-day visit to 

the oil-rich but grossly impoverished 

nation, said she was “concerned about 

the scope and magnitude of the violence 

communities have inicted on each other 

in Jonglei.” — Agencies 

TUNIS — Tunisian forces 

killed two gunmen and captured 

a third after clashes with 

what appeared to be a group 

of people smuggling weapons 

in the east of the country, several 

security and government 

sources said. 

Five Tunisian security 

forces were also wounded in 

the ghting near the industrial 

port city of Sfax, 237 kms 

southeast of Tunis, and police 

and military had cordoned 

off the area, security sources 

said. 

The clashes were the rst 

to take place in Tunisia since 

elections in October ushered 

in a government dominated 

by moderate group Ennahda 

and two secular partners. 

Tunisia’s interior ministry 

forces were shaken by 

the revolt that ousted Zine al 

Abidine Ben Ali and brought 

down his police state a year 

ago and secularist groups 

have accused Ennahda of being 

too soft on armed groups 

and extremists. 

Mohammed al Tunsi, a 

National Guard ofcial, had 

said the three gunmen appeared 

to be Salas, but Interior 

Minister Ali Larayed, 

a senior member of Ennahda, 

told reporters on Wednesday 

night it was too early to identify 

them. 

He described the incident 

as “dangerous” and promised 

more details yesterday. 

Larayed said a large stash 

of assault ries and ammunition 

had been discovered 

in the vehicle the three men 

were travelling in. 

The gunmen abandoned 

their car and hid in the surrounding 

countryside where 

they exchanged re with 

5 REGION 



Opposition protests to 

mark Hama killings 

DAMASCUS — Syria’s opposition 

called protests yesterday 

to mark the 30th anniversary 

of the Hama massacre, as the 

United Nations moved closer 

to agreement on action to halt 

a crackdown on dissent. 

Demonstrations were organised 

in various cities in 

memory of the people who 

perished in February 1982 

when then president Hafez al 

Assad, father of the current 

president Bashar, launched a 

assault on the central town to 

crush a revolt. 

The anniversary took place 

as the government in Damascus 

battles to crush an unprecedented 

revolt that has left 

more than 6,000 people dead 

since mid-March, according 

to estimates of human rights 

groups. The city of Hama deantly 

painted roads in red and 

staged a general strike yesterday, 

the Syrian Observatory 

for Human Rights said. 

In the town of Al Maadamiyeh, 

near Damascus, a Syrian 

dissident was killed by secu- 

rity forces before his body was 

thrown off the rooftop of his 

home in front of his wife and 

children, the Observatory said. 

Explosions rocked the town of 

Talta, a focal point of security 

operations also near the 

capital and home to the military 

prison of Saidnaya, while 

the army kept up its lockdown 

on Rankus, a hideout of army 

deserters it said. 

Videos posted on YouTube 

showed student protests held 

in the capital and on the outskirts 

of the capital to mark the 

Hama carnage. 

International efforts to 

stop the bloodshed have so 

far failed, with Russia rmly 

opposed to an Arab- and 

Western-backed UN Security 

Council resolution condemning 

the violence. 

But diplomats hinted in 

New York on Wednesday that 

a compromise to overcome 

Russia’s objections was possible. 

“We have made some 

progress today,” Britain’s UN 

Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant 

told reporters after a three-hour 

meeting of council members. 

Russia’s envoy Vitaly 

Churkin also said there was 

a much better understanding 

of what needed to be done to 

reach a consensus. “I think it 

was a pretty good session,” he 

said. French Foreign Minister 

Alain Juppe said Russia had 

a “less negative” attitude towards 

the resolution and a vote 

could take place “perhaps” 

next week. 

The draft resolution, introduced 

by Morocco, calls for 

the formation of a unity government 

leading to “transparent 

and free elections,” rather 

than for Assad to step down as 

proposed in an Arab League 

plan. It stresses that there will 

be no foreign military intervention 

in Syria as there was 

in Libya. 

A new draft was expected 

to be prepared following 

Wednesday’s talks and submitted 

to Council members later 

for new discussions, diplomats 

said. — AFP 

Hostile welcome for UN convoy 

GAZA — Dozens of Palestinians 

threw shoes, sticks and 

stones at UN Secretary-General 

Ban Ki-Moon’s convoy as it 

crossed into the Gaza Strip yesterday, 

protesting against what 

they saw as a slight against 

Palestinians jailed in Israel. 

No one was injured during 

the hostile welcome and the 

vehicles, which crossed into 

the Hamas-ruled territory from 

southern Israel, pushed through 

the crowd and sped away. 

Ban is visiting the region to 

try to restart long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian 

peace talks. 

“I thank the people of Gaza 

for the warm welcome,” he 

told a news conference, provoking 

laughter among local 

journalists. “I met many people 

who were waiting for me at 

the entrance.” 

He went to say that he had 

sympathy for the complaints of 

people in Gaza: “I fully share 

their concern and frustration,” 

he said. “This is why I am here 

for the third time. This is a very 

dire economic, social, humanitarian 

problem.” 

Ban again called on Israel to 

lift all restrictions on the Gaza 

Strip and urged Israel and the 

Palestinians to keep the peace 

process alive. 

“The leaders of the two parties 

are committed to continue 

these negotiations. There are 

still concerns and lack of mutual 

trust, but I am hopeful that 

this dialogue will continue in a 

sustainable way,” he said. 

Israel should “provide some 

goodwill gestures as a way 

of condence-building measures”, 

Ban said, echoing pressure 

on Israeli Prime Minister 

Benjamin Netanyahu from the 

United States and European 

Union. 

“I would urge the people 

from Gaza to stop ring rock- 

ets into the Israeli side. Indiscriminate 

killing of people, 

civilians, is not acceptable, for 

whatever reasons. Likewise 

Israelis should fully guarantee 

the freedom, human rights and 

decent life and dignity of the 

Palestinian people.” 

The Israeli army said eight 

rockets were red into Israeli 

territory on the eve of Ban’s 

visit. 

Many of those who protested 

as his UN convoy passed 

were family members of Palestinians 

being held in Israeli 

prisons. They hit the vehicles 

with signs bearing slogans accusing 

Ban of bias towards Israel 

and of refusing to meet the 

relatives of Palestinian prisoners. 

About 5,000 Palestinians 

are held in Israeli jails and securing 

their release is a highly 

emotive issue in Palestinian 

society. — Reuters 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon (C) arrives to the construction site of a housing 

project in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday. — AFP 

Tunisia forces clash with gunmen 

police and military for several 

hours while a helicopter 

buzzed overhead. 

A spokesman for President 

Moncef al Marzouki told state 

television he believed the gunmen 

were part of a 20-strong 

gang that smuggled weapons 

through Tunisia. 

Tunisia, the birthplace of 

the Arab Spring protests that 

swept the region in 2011, has 

made a relatively smooth transition 

to an elected constituent 

assembly that will draft a new 

constitution for the country. 

However, protests and 

strikes have continued in the 

centre of the country, where 

unemployment remains high, 

and security forces are under 

pressure to do more to rein 

in Salas who have asserted 

themselves since the uprising 

and to secure the borders with 

Algeria and Libya. — Reuters 

CAMPAIGN supporters of parliamentary candidate Naji al Hadi give victory and thumbs-up signs at the 

polling station in Jabriya, during voting for the 2012 parliamentary elections yesterday. Kuwaitis headed 

to the polls yesterday for the fourth time in six years in a snap parliamentary election. — Reuters 

Court agrees execution of attackers 

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s highest court 

ratied death sentences yesterday 

for three men convicted of a 2010 

attack on a Syrian Catholic cathedral 

in Baghdad. 

Gunmen linked to Al Qaeda 

seized hostages during Sunday mass 

at the Our Lady of Salvation church 

in Baghdad on October 31, 2010. 

Around 52 hostages and police were 

killed and 67 wounded in the attack, 

which ended when security forces 

stormed the church. 

Al Qaeda’s Iraqi afliate, Islamic 

State of Iraq, claimed responsibility 

for the attack. “There are three convicted 

criminals. All of them are Iraqis 

and they were convicted based 

on the terrorism law,” said Abdul- 

Sattar al Birqdar, spokesman for the 

Supreme Judicial Council. 

“The sentence is nal and it will 

be sent to the presidency to issue 

a decree to the Justice Ministry to 

execute it.” Last week, UN High 

Commissioner for Human Rights 

ISTANBUL — Turkish state prosecutors 

are demanding a life sentence 

for the former head of the armed 

forces, General Ilker Basbug, on 

charges he attempted to overthrow 

the government, media reports said 

yesterday. 

Basbug, military chief of staff 

from 2008 to 2010, is currently being 

held in a high-security prison 

and is the most senior ofcer to be 

charged over alleged plots against 

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s 

government. The retired general, 

who is also accused of leading a terrorist 

group, may appear in court on 

Feb 9 if judges accept the indictment 

outlining the sentence demanded, 

state broadcaster TRT Haber said. 

Court ofcials and Basbug’s lawyer 

were not immediately available 

to comment. He has rejected the 

charges against him, calling them 

“tragicomic”. Basbug was sent to a 

prison outside Istanbul on Jan 6 after 

a court remanded him in custody 

Navi Pillay criticised Iraq for carrying 

out a large number of executions 

and questioned the fairness of its judicial 

proceedings. On Wednesday, 

Iraq executed 17 people. 

One of the alleged leaders of the 

church attack, Huthaifa al Batawi, 

known as Al Qaeda’s “Emir of 

Baghdad,” was killed in an attempted 

jailbreak last May, ofcials said. 

Violence in Iraq has fallen sharply 

since the height of the 2006-2007 

ghting between groups, but bombings 

and shootings by insurgents and 

militias remain a daily occurrence. 

Meanwhile, an oil ministry of- 

cial said yesterday Iraq’s oil minister 

has given his assent for Norway’s 

Statoil to sell its stake in the 

massive West Qurna-2 eld in south 

Iraq to Russia’s Lukoil. 

However, a spokesman for Statoil 

said the company had not sold 

its stake. “The minister (Abdelkarim 

al Luaybi) agreed that Statoil 

will sell its share to Lukoil, but we 

while prosecutors completed their 

investigation. The court subsequently 

rejected an appeal by his lawyer 

against his pre-trial detention and 

also rejected a request for Basbug to 

be tried in the supreme court. 

The case against Basbug is focused 

on anti-government propaganda 

published on websites that 

the military was accused of running 

until 2008. The websites have been 

linked to an alleged ultra-nationalist 

network called “Ergenekon”. 

Media reports said yesterday 

that Ankara state prosecutors have 

launched an investigation into a 

military memorandum issued in 

April 2007 that was seen as a direct 

challenge to Erdogan’s government. 

Basbug’s predecessor General Yasar 

Buyukanit headed the military at 

that time. 

A court last month accepted an 

indictment against former military 

chief and ex-president Kenan Evren 

for alleged crimes related to a 1980 

didn’t receive any details on this 

transaction,” the ofcial said. 

The two rms hold a combined 

75 per cent share — Lukoil 56.25 

per cent and Statoil 18.75 — while 

Iraq’s North Oil Company holds 25 

per cent. When asked by AFP if Statoil 

had sold its West Qurna-2 stake, 

Statoil spokesman Baard Glad Pedersen 

said that it had not. 

“We are partners on the West 

Qurna-2 project with Lukoil,” Pedersen 

said, adding that Statoil does 

not comment on speculation about 

adjustments to its portfolio. 

The deal, for a period of 20 years 

that can be extended by ve years, 

was signed in early 2010, following 

an initial agreement in December 

2009. The companies receive 

fees of $1.15 per barrel extracted. 

According to the terms of the 

deal, Lukoil and Statoil were aiming 

to raise production at the eld 

in southern Iraq to 1.8 million 

bpd. — Reuters/AFP 

Aid workers in Yemen released 

SANAA/ADEN — Tribesmen 

freed six UN aid workers in Yemen 

yesterday, two days after they were 

kidnapped to secure the release of a 

jailed man from police custody, one 

of the hostage-takers said. 

The government had earlier said 

the aid workers — a German, a Palestinian, 

an Iraqi, a Colombian and 

two Yemenis who were seized on 

Tuesday — had been released, but 

the tribal source said the kidnappers 

had made a last-minute demand for 

a fellow tribesman held by police be 

handed over to them rst. 

“We freed the hostages after 

we received the man held by the 

authorities,” the kidnapper said by 

telephone. 

Electricity and Energy Minister 

Saleh Sumai, who led the negotiations 

with the kidnappers, conrmed 

the hostages were handed over to 

him and said they were on their way 

to the capital, Sanaa. 

A UN source said the six worked 

at the Ofce for the Coordination of 

Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). 

One of the kidnappers had earlier 

said there were also delays due 

to one of the hostages falling ill. 

He said the hostage’s health had 

improved after receiving medical 

treatment. 

In southern Yemen, ve ghters 

were killed in clashes with government 

soldiers, a security source 

said, in escalating violence ahead of 

a presidential election this month. 

Protests have continued even 

after President Ali Abdullah Saleh 

transferred his powers and bowed 

to a year of mass protests demanding 

the end of his 33-year rule. 

Activists demand that Saleh, 

in the United States for medical 

care, be tried for alleged killings of 

protesters, and the government be 

purged of his relatives. 

Yemenis are due to go to the 

polls on February 21, to vote for 

a new president. Many fear that a 

wave of violence in Sanaa could escalate 

to derail the vote. 

In another development, gunmen 

loyal to President Saleh besieged 

the ofces of Yemen’s main daily 

yesterday after it stopped printing 

the departing leader’s portrait on its 

front page, witnesses and staff said. 

The headquarters of the stateowned 

Al Thawra daily in the capital 

Sanaa was surrounded by dozens 

of pro-Saleh gunmen since the early 

morning hours, witnesses said. 

The gunmen blocked yesterday’s 

distribution of Al Thawra 

and demanded Saleh’s picture be 

put back on its front page, a day 

after the daily went out without the 

photo, reporters working for the 

newspaper said. Saleh is expected 

to ofcially quit as president later 

this month and cede power to his 

deputy in a peace deal agreed late 

last year intended to end months of 

political crisis. 

Anti-Saleh demonstrators meanwhile 

gathered in Sanaa’s Change 

Square — epicentre of anti-government 

protests since last year — 

calling for the trial of Saleh, who 

received blanket immunity against 

prosecution from parliament, an 

AFP correspondent there reported. 

“Our martyrs have written with 

blood, Saleh must be brought to trial,” 

they chanted. “No immunity no 

guarantee to Saleh and his aides.” 

These developments come 

three days after Yemen’s newlyappointed 

Information Minister Ali 

Ahmed Al Amrani escaped an assassination 

attempt as he was leaving 

government headquarters in 

Sanaa. — Reuters 

Life sentence sought for ex-army chief 

military coup. 

Meanwhile, ghters in the troubled 

Darfur region of western Sudan 

released ve Turks who have 

arrived in the Sudanese capital, the 

International Committee of the Red 

Cross said yesterday. 

“We have transported ve Turkish 

citizens who were freed by the 

Justice and Equality Movement 

(JEM),” Aleksandra Matijevic 

Mosimann of the ICRC said. 

She had no more details, but said 

the Turks had now reached their 

country’s embassy in Khartoum. 

In a December interview with 

AFP, the head of the joint African 

Union-United Nations Mission to 

Darfur, Ibrahim Gambari, said several 

Turks had been held for two or 

three months. 

Sudan’s ofcial SUNA news 

agency said the Turks worked in the 

water sector for a Turkish company 

and were taken by JEM on September 

8. — Reuters/AFP

AITZAZ Ahsan (second right) lawyer of Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, answers a question outside the 

Supreme Court building along with ruling party leaders after the case hearing in Islamabad yesterday. — AFP 

Pakistan will do everything 

for ‘Afghanistan-led’ peace 

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan 

said yesterday it was willing to 

do whatever Afghans wanted 

to end 10 years of war with the 

Taliban, but insisted the process 

should not be led by the 

Americans or any other foreign 

power. 

A day after talks with President 

Hamid Karzai billed as a 

fence-mending visit designed 

to ease frosty ties, Foreign 

Minister Hina Rabbani Khar 

sought to refute perceptions 

that Islamabad was an obstacle 

to peace. 

“We’re willing to do whatever 

the Afghans want or expect,” 

Khar said when asked 

whether Pakistan was ready to 

push the Haqqani network towards 

peace talks, but stopped 

short of naming the group or 

commenting further. 

She said Karzai was due in 

Islamabad in the middle of the 

month and that she would travel 

with Pakistani Prime Minis- 

ISLAMABAD — The UN 

refugee agency is overhauling 

its strategy to help Afghans 

returning to the wartorn 

country in a bid to stop 

them becoming destitute, and 

to focus on sustainable reintegration. 

UNHCR head Antonio 

Guterres said that 10 years 

after the US-led invasion 

and with 5.7 million refugees 

having returned since 2002, 

the United Nations no longer 

wants to restrict its aid to individuals 

who return. 

Instead it will invest in 

communities, health and education 

in order to develop 

more attractive conditions for 

return, and support host communities 

in Iran and Pakistan 

to preserve asylum space and 

ease the sharing of resources. 

Three million registered 

Afghan refugees still live in 

exile. The lack of jobs, food 

ter Yusuf Raza Gilani to Qatar, 

where the Taliban has set up a 

liaison ofce for talks with the 

Americans. 

She said it was “not in anyone’s 

interest” for Afghanistan 

to slide back into the chaos 

of the past, but said Pakistan 

had “so far” not played any 

substantial role in the contacts 

there between the Americans 

and the Taliban. 

Khar said it was imperative 

that the Afghans were central 

to any eventual peace process, 

still “miles away”. 

She was determined to distance 

from Pakistan being in 

any way an independent actor 

in an effective peace process. 

“It is Afghanistan to decide 

and as a friendly neighbour, it is 

our job and responsibility and 

will to stand strongly behind 

that. The only prerequisite that 

Pakistan has is that it should be 

an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned 

and Afghan-driven, Afghan- 

and shelter and the volatile 

security situation in many 

parts of the country makes it 

difcult for those who want 

to return. 

The number of Afghans 

coming back has fallen 

as security has worsened 

and ghting has intensied 

between Nato and the Taliban. 

“We have witnessed a 

considerable reduction of the 

number of Afghans that went 

back home, last year only 

52,000, when in the past we 

have helped more 3.7 million 

people go back from Pakistan 

into Afghanistan,” Guterres 

said. 

Afghans were not only 

leaving for neighbouring 

countries “but everywhere in 

the world” and in Europe “we 

are particularly worried with 

the rising number of unaccompanied 

minors”. 

6 

THE PHILIPPINES/SUBCONTINENT 


backed process which has the 

ownership of Afghan people.” 

A leaked Nato report based 

on material from interrogations 

of more than 4,000 captured 

Taliban and Al Qaeda ghters, 

accused Pakistan’s security 

services of still backing the 

Taliban. 

Khar took a swipe, saying 

that media reports and leaks 

do not reect Pakistan’s “dialogue” 

with Nato and the United 

States. 

“Pakistan would not want 

to be seen to be working at 

counter purposes with the rest 

of the world, including the 

Westerners, Nato, ISAF, US. It 

will be in our interest to be able 

to assist them in whatever way 

we can,” she said. 

She also signalled that 

Pakistan could shortly end 

a more than two-month 

blockade on Nato supplies entering 

Afghanistan for foreign 

forces. — AFP 

Guterres said that UN- 

HCR would invest in education, 

health, water, sanitation 

and income generation — 

“supporting communities in 

order for them to be able to 

integrate those who come”. 

His comments come a 

month after the UNHCR representative 

in Afghanistan, 

Peter Nicolaus, said that the 

agency’s strategy in the wartorn 

country since 2002 had 

been the agency’s “biggest 

mistake”. 

Many returning Afghan 

refugees are homeless or 

live in slums under tarpaulin. 

Nicolaus said the international 

community had failed 

to help them nd a means of 

earning a living and therefore 

reintegrating into society. 

Guterres said the new 

strategy, approved this week 

at talks between the Afghan, 

Iranian and Pakistani govern- 

Drug regulatory 

body for Sindh 

province 

KARACHI — The health 

department of Pakistan’s 

Sindh province is planning to 

institute various authorities, 

including a provincial drug 

regulatory body, to ensure 

effective enforcement of the 

Drugs Act 1976, originally 

meant to regulate the import, 

export, manufacture and sale 

of drugs in the country, it 

emerged yesterday. 

Sources in the health department 

said the ofcials 

felt that there was a dire need 

to have independent devices, 

particularly after the 18th 

amendment to the constitution. 

It is understood that the 

Sindh government, particularly 

its health department, 

is responsible for the health 

of the people living in the 

province, and as such they 

should ensure the presence 

of related institutions and 

mechanism with adequate 

resources. — Internews 

UN overhauls Afghan refugee strategy 

ments, would be unveiled at 

an international conference 

scheduled for early May in 

Switzerland. 

“We hope to have several 

innovative solutions allowing 

for the international communities 

to be more effective and 

more pro-active in supporting 

both the Afghans in Afghanistan 

and the host communities 

in Iran and Pakistan,” he 

said. 

About 20 per cent of the 

population in Afghanistan are 

refugees. Of those abroad, 

there are 1.7 million Afghans 

in Pakistan and a million in 

Iran. 

UNHCR insists all returns 

are voluntary. Until now, it 

has provided cash grants for 

returnees of $150. The money 

covers transport home and is 

supposed to help them survive 

the rst few months of 

their new lives. — AFP 

MYANMAR people use a small boat to cross the Yangon river between Dala and nearby Yangon yesterday. Myanmar is 

emerging from political and economic isolation after a civilian government took power last year. With the West looking at 

easing sanctions and businesses closely watching reforms, Myanmar needs to prepare for an increase in investments. — AFP 


Court decides to indict 

premier for contempt 

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s 

top court yesterday summoned 

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza 

Gilani to appear on February 

13 to be indicted with contempt 

over his refusal to pursue 

corruption cases against 

the president. 

Judge Nasir-ul-Mulk told 

the court there were grounds 

to proceed against Gilani over 

the government’s refusal to 

follow a court order and ask 

Swiss authorities to re-open 

corruption cases against President 

Asif Ali Zardari. 

The government argued 

that Zardari has immunity 

from prosecution while head 

of state and accused judges 

of plotting to wage a witchhunt 

against him. Switzerland 

shelved the cases in 2008, 

when Zardari took ofce. 

“We are satised that pri- 

ZAMBOANGA — Philippine 

authorities said yesterday they 

had failed to nd two European 

birdwatchers in the crucial 

24 hours after their abduction 

and warned armed groups may 

be holding them. 

Hundreds of Marines 

joined the search for Swiss 

Lorenzo Vinciguerra, 47, and 

Dutchman Ewold Horn, 52, 

who were seized by armed 

men on the remote Tawi Tawi 

archipelago in the south of the 

country on Wednesday. 

“There is a massive searchand-rescue 

operation right 

now to nd the kidnappers and 

their captives,” regional military 

spokesman Lieutenant 

Colonel Randolph Cabangbang 

said. 

“Though, as of the moment, 

we have not pinpointed 

their exact location.” 

Cabangbang said one of the 

groups that may be involved 

in the abductions was the Abu 

Sayyaf, which is blamed for a 

spate of other kidnappings of 

foreigners in the south. 

He said the navy was trying 

ma facie there is a case for 

further proceeding into the 

matter. Adjourned for February 

13, for framing charges. 

Prime minister is required to 

remain present in the court,” 

Mulk said. 

Gilani was previously summoned 

to appear in court on 

January 19, when he refused 

to back down on Zardari’s immunity. 

Gilani’s lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan 

said it was possible to appeal. 

“He (Gilani) has been 

asked to be present in person 

on February 13 when he will 

be indicted,” he said. 

“There is a possibility for 

an appeal in this matter. It is 

up to the court whether to suspend 

this order or not. This 

will be decided after getting 

a copy of the order,” Ahsan 

to block routes leading to Jolo, 

an Abu Sayyaf stronghold 

near Tawi Tawi where an army 

air raid yesterday morning left 

15 armed men dead, including 

one of Southeast Asia’s most 

wanted men. 

Cabangbang said the rst 

24 hours were crucial in deciding 

the fate of people kidnapped 

in the area because this 

was when they were typically 

taken into the abductors’ rugged 

jungle lairs on remote islands. 

“If the trail goes cold, the 

chances of recovering them 

swiftly will vanish little by little,” 

he said. 

At least 10 other foreigners 

have been kidnapped in the 

south since the middle of 2010, 

in what is largely a ransom 

business with Abu Sayyaf and 

other armed groups demanding 

huge amounts of money 

for their captives’ release. 

Five of those kidnapped — 

an Australian, two Malaysian 

traders, an Indian married to 

a Filipina and a Japanese man 

— remain in captivity. 

added. 

There was no immediate 

reaction yesterday from the 

prime minister or senior colleagues 

in the main ruling Pakistan 

People’s Party. 

Legal experts said that 

Gilani could avoid being 

charged by appealing against 

yesterday’s order, apologising 

or promising to write to the 

Swiss. 

“On February 13, the charges 

will be read out to him. He 

will have to admit or deny. If 

he admits and apologises, the 

court can dispose of the case,” 

former Supreme Court judge 

Tariq Mahmood said. 

“The court does not unnecessarily 

punish people in contempt 

cases. It wants its dignity 

and decorum maintained. It 

all depends on how the judges 

proceed.” — AFP 

EU advances in waiving 

duties on Pakistani items 

ISLAMABAD — A World 

Trade Organization (WTO) 

committee on Wednesday 

approved a long pending 

European Union-proposed 

trade waiver for Pakistan — a 

move that is intended to help 

the country recover from devastating 

oods in 2010. 

“I am very happy. It was a 

long drawn-out exercise, and 

something of a success for 

diplomacy,” said Pakistan’s 

Ambassador to the WTO 

Shahid Bashir. 

The Council on Trade in 

Goods (CTG) of the WTO 

unanimously approved the 

EU-proposed waiver on duties 

for 75 products from 

Pakistan, including textiles, 

leather and ethanol. The proposal 

will be tabled before 

the WTO General Council for 

formal approval on February 

14. 

The waiver has been ap- 

proved for a year, and will be 

extended for one more if the 

EU does not nd an adverse 

impact of the concessions on 

its local industry at the yearend 

review. The EU could ask 

for the waiver to be extended 

for a third year if it believes 

Pakistan’s economy still 

needs help. 

The EU’s imports of the 

75 products from Pakistan are 

worth almost $1.2 billion, or 

about 5 per cent of Pakistan’s 

overall exports, according to 

the EU’s waiver request submitted 

to the WTO’s council. 

According to estimates, 

the waiver could increase the 

exports between $100 and 

$200 million. 

The EU had requested for 

this waiver in October 2010, 

and it took 15 months of negotiations 

to develop a consensus 

among WTO members. 

Competing textile exporters 

had opposed the plan but 

dropped their objections after 

the EU amended the scheme 

to use tariff rate quotas 

(TRQs) on 20 products rather 

than full liberalisation. 

The TRQs will be set at 20 

per cent above the average of 

exports in the last three years, 

said Secretary Commerce Zafar 

Mahmood. 

He said the temporary 

waiver will lead Pakistan to 

the Generalised Preferential 

System (GSP) plus status 

by 2014 — a concessionary 

package for developing countries. 

The package includes 

33 non value-added textile, 

23 garment, eight home 

textile, four value-added 

leather, three footwear products, 

two raw leather and 1 

vegetable product, and ethanol. 

— Internews 

Search fails to nd kidnapped Europeans 

The military said some of 

those hostages were believed 

to be on Jolo, but their fate 

after yesterday’s bombing raid 

was unknown. 

Over the past decade, dozens 

of foreigners and locals 

have been kidnapped. Some of 

them, including an American, 

were beheaded after ransoms 

were not paid. 

Cabangbang said the Jolo 

raid had been planned for 

months targeting leaders of 

the Abu Sayyaf and Southeast 

Asian network JI, and was not 

directly connected to the kidnapping 

of the Europeans. 

Ivan Sarenas, a Filipino 

guide for the two wildlife enthusiasts, 

was also kidnapped 

on Wednesday, but said he 

managed to jump off a boat 

that was taking the abducted 

men away. 

“There was a passing boat 

and I decided to go for it. I 

held the barrel of the long 

rearm of the man in front of 

me with one arm and jumped 

out,” he said by phone. 

He said Vinciguerra and 

FBR collects 

$1.38 billion 

revenue in Jan 

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s 

revenue collection in January 

remained at Rs 124 billion 

($1.38 billion), depicting a 

shortfall of $177.78 million 

against the targeted $1.56 

billion, according to provisional 

gures of the Federal 

Board of Revenue (FBR). 

The data showed that 

overall total tax collection 

in the rst seven months 

(July-January) period of the 

current scal year stood at 

$10.71 billion compared to 

$8.56 billion in the same 

period of the last nancial 

year, registering a growth by 

25 per cent. 

“The growth in revenue 

collection has slowed down 

as the FBR was registering a 

growth by 27 per cent in rst 

six months but it declined 

to 25 per cent during July- 

January period,” an ofcial 

source said. — Internews 

First non-stop 

train to be 

launched today 

LAHORE — The Pakistan 

Railways nalised 

yesterday arrangements to 

launch today the Business 

Express, the rst nonstop 

train to run between 

Punjab and Sindh 

capitals with its passenger 

facilitation by the private 

sector. 

Prime Minister Yusuf 

Raza Gilani is likely 

to be the chief guest at its 

inauguration ceremony 

at the Lahore railway station. 

The rst trial run of the 

train was conducted successfully 

on January 26. 

The Pakistan Railways 

and Four Brothers International 

(Pvt) Ltd had signed 

on August 18 last year and 

agreement to operate the 

train between Punjab and 

Sindh capitals as a joint 

venture under public-private 

partnership. — Internews 

SRI Lankan lawyers march with placard during a protest against the government’s decision to relocate the Hulftsdorp 

Courts complex out of Colombo, in Colombo yesterday. The renowned Hulftsdorp Courts complex, which is more 

than 100 years old, is to be relocated to another area following a decision taken by the government. — Reuters 

Horn had travelled to Tawi 

Tawi, ignoring foreign government 

advisories about the 

kidnapping threat there, because 

they wanted to see the 

Sulu hornbill, a critically endangered 

bird species. 

“They are both into hornbills 

and they told me they 

wanted to see the rarest ones 

before they grew old,” Sarenas 

said. 

A colleague of Sarenas’s 

from the Wild Bird Club of 

the Philippines said the Europeans 

were believed to have 

been taken by locals who apparently 

planned to hand them 

over to a armed group. 

In the local kidnapping-forransom 

business, it is common 

for small abduction gangs to 

“sell” their captives to more 

powerful organisations such 

as the Abu Sayyaf. 

A rotating force of 600 US 

troops has been stationed in 

the southern region of Mindanao 

for a decade, helping 

to train local soldiers how to 

combat the Abu Sayyaf and 

other armed groups. — AFP

Unilever sees 

tough year as 

markets slow 

LONDON — Consumer 

goods group Unilever said 

2012 will be a difficult year 

as growth in emerging markets, 

which accounts for 

more than half its business, 

slows and demand in Europe 

and North America stays flat 

at best. 

The gloomy outlook sent 

shares in the Anglo-Dutch 

group sharply lower early 

yesterday after it broadly 

matched 2011 sales growth 

and profit margin forecasts. 

Unilever, which pushed 

up the prices of brands such 

as Dove, Hellmann’s, and 

Knorr to offset higher commodity 

costs, said growth in 

emerging markets had now 

slowed due to these price 

rises and weak consumer 

confidence. 

Finance Director Jean- 

Marc Huet said growth in 

emerging markets such 

as Africa, Asia and Latin 

America stayed strong but 

the company needed to do 

better in Russia and eastern 

Europe where its performance 

was sluggish. 

“We have seen a deceleration 

in some markets and 

one or two are now more 

difficult, so our focus is on 

Russia and eastern Europe 

where we need to improve,” 

he told reporters. — Reuters 

BHP approves 

$917 million 

for ore facility 

SYDNEY — Global mining 

giant BHP Billiton yesterday 

approved $917 million in 

pre-commitment funding to 

ramp up its iron ore operations 

in the Pilbara region of 

Western Australia. 

The money will be spent 

on preparing for the construction 

of a 100-milliontonne-a-year 

harbour to 

handle exports of the steelmaking 

commodity, which is 

in high demand from China 

and elsewhere. 

BHP’s share of the investment 

will be $779 million, 

with the remainder 

coming from Japanese partners 

Itochu Corp and Mitsui 

& Co with a final decision 

on whether to approve the 

project in the final quarter of 

this year. 

“This investment is an 

important first step in providing 

the infrastructure to 

allow us to fully develop our 

world class resource base in 

the Pilbara,” said BHP Billiton’s 

iron ore president Ian 

Ashby. 

“The development of the 

outer harbour is pivotal for 

our longer-term growth objectives 

and this initial funding 

is rapidly turning those 

plans into a reality.” — AFP 

BBVA in the 

red in fourth 

quarter 

PARIS — Spain’s second 

largest bank BBVA yesterday 

said net profit tumbled 

34.8 per cent in 2011 to 

3.004 billion euros ($3.95 

billion), going into the red in 

the fourth quarter because of 

a devaluation of its US business. 

The bank posted a 139 

million euro net loss in the 

fourth quarter 2011, down 

sharply from a 939 million 

net profit a year earlier. 

The fourth-quarter figures 

fell short of market expectations, 

with analysts waiting 

for a net profit of around 150 

million euros. 

On January 10, BBVA 

said it expected to cut the 

goodwill value of its US 

business, resulting in a one 

billion euro impact on 2011 

results. 

Goodwill is a value given 

to intangible assets, such as 

reputation, good labour relations 

or patents which are 

counted on the company’s 

books in the same way as 

physical assets. — AFP 

New Sony CEO to 

confront scale of 

turnaround task 

Page 9 

Holden says to scale down production 

AUTO maker Holden said yesterday it would cut around 100 jobs, 

blaming the strength of the Australian dollar, one week after fellow 

car giant Toyota sacked 350 workers. Holden, an Australian 

subsidiary of US giant General Motors, said it would scale down 

production to a single shift at its Elizabeth plant. Page 9 

LONDON — British gas prices are 

likely to become more volatile and 

prone to spikes over the next few 

years after the UK has moved from 

self-sufficiency to increasing dependence 

on imports of liquefied 

natural gas (LNG) from Qatar. 

The latest UK government data 

show Qatari LNG imports were 

equivalent to 52 per cent of the gas 

consumed over the first nine months 

of 2011, up from 11 per cent for 2009 

as a whole. 

Qatar also accounted for 85 per 

cent of UK LNG supplies between 

January and November last year, 

with Nigeria a weak second at just 

5 per cent. 

Britain’s gas market is exposed to 

diversions of Qatari ships to countries 

that pay more, to shipping restrictions 

or unplanned outages on 

production facilities. 

“If Qatari LNG supply to Britain 

was cut off, UK gas prices would 

spike to oil-indexed levels to attract 

imports and possibly even higher to 

attract LNG from elsewhere,” one 

UK gas trader at a utility said. 

An event considered routine in 

other markets — the news leak last 

LONDON — American investment 

bank Jefferies Group Inc has snapped 

up historic British stockbroker Hoare 

Govett from Royal Bank of Scotland, 

building on its aggressive expansion 

in the London marketplace in the past 

three years. 

Jefferies will take on around 50 

staff in London as part of the deal, including 

current Hoare Govett managing 

directors and some RBS equities 

and capital markets staff. 

It will also gain a big list of clients 

among top UK companies, ranging 

from Rolls Royce to easyjet, making 

it an immediate contender in one 

of the most hotly contested corners 

of the British investment banking 

world. 

Although most investment banks 

— including RBS — have been 

slashing headcount in the past year, 

battered by rising costs, paltry revenues 

and new regulations, Jefferies 

was one of the few firms still on the 

lookout for key staff in London, ac- 

Friday, February 3, 2012 

summer of Qatar’s LNG autumn 

maintenance schedule for its LNG 

trains — had the power to push UK 

winter gas prices up 3 per cent in a 

day. 

British gas prices also soared in 

March last year when Japan, also a 

big LNG importer, was hit with the 

Fukushima nuclear crisis and started 

replacing nuclear capacity with additional 

gas imports. 

By December, Japan’s imports 

from Qatar were double year-ago 

levels. The potential for a sustained 

increase in Japan’s need for more gas 

could divert LNG shipments destined 

for Europe and push up British 

gas prices again later this year. 

“In my view the UK gas market 

has not priced that risk in, which is 

very apparent from the winter 2012 

gas price onwards,” said a European 

gas trader at a UK trading house. 

UK gas for winter 2012 is currently 

trading at 68.25 pence per 

therm, which is higher than the 

front-month price but around 11 per 

cent below levels in March following 

Fukushima. 

Traders say those winter prices 

could rise again as Japan competes 

cording to headhunters. 

Taking on the Hoare Govett team 

is a bigger jump, although RBS said 

the sale was for a “nominal cash consideration.” 

The deal also came with significant 

aid from the British governmentcontrolled 

bank, a source familiar 

with the process said. 

RBS declined to comment. 

RBS has been trying to limit restructurings 

costs as it shrinks its 

investment bank. This includes severance 

pay and several sources had 

already said RBS might consider alleviating 

that by helping to fund an 

eventual acquisition of parts of its 

investment bank. 

Jefferies said buying up the corporate 

broking franchise — a UK oddity 

whereby firms offer equities advice 

to clients for minimal fees in the hope 

of getting lucrative business further 

down the line — would fit in with its 

build-out in other areas. 

In Europe and Asia, the firm, 

for more supply. 

“It depends on the Japanese 

nukes, and if these are not back in 

large numbers by winter 2012, we 

(Britain) may well need discretionary 

Russian volumes as LNG flows 

will likely be even less than this winter,” 

the European gas trader said. 

Even more drastic, Britain is 

vulnerable to a crisis in the Middle 

East, such as the potential for Iran to 

carry out a threat to shut the Strait 

of Hormuz. Virtually all of Qatar’s 

which has about 3,900 staff worldwide, 

has brought in a raft of senior 

bankers to advise clients on merger 

and acquisition deals and stock market 

listings, for example. 

Its joint heads of European investment 

banking, Dominic Lester 

and Peter Bacchus, are relatively recent 

joiners from UBS and Morgan 

Stanley. 

But the firm will also have to hold 

on to the corporate broking clients 

it acquires and face off competition 

Asian stocks firm on global growth 

ASIAN shares rose yesterday as encouraging manufacturing data 

soothed fears about the global economic fallout from the euro 

zone debt crisis, but the euro lost steam as the ongoing Greek 

debt talks reminded investors of the complexity of the problem.. 

Japan’s Nikkei average closed up 0.8 per cent. Page 9 

LNG vessels need to pass through 

Hormuz and the Suez Canal to reach 

Britain. 

“Qatar’s proximity to less stable 

nations and its reliance on delivering 

cargoes via the Strait of Hormuz and 

Suez Canal are of particular concern 

when considering the recent tensions 

with Iran,” said Paul Akass, European 

gas trader at Dutch utility Essent. 

“My guess is, if real disruptions 

occurred, the initial reaction would 

be prices rising to all-time highs.” 

from other banks trying to poach customers. 

Hoare Govett had been one of the 

most historic and prestigious brands 

in British stockbroking for much of 

the 20th century, along with Cazenove, 

but analysts also felt its brand 

value had been diluted after it got absorbed 

into ABN AMRO. 

RBS, 83 per cent owned by the 

British government after a state bailout 

during the 2008 credit crisis, acquired 

the Hoare Govett business as 

The British government has acknowledged 

that Britain receives 

a lot of its gas from Qatar and that 

a potential closure of the Strait of 

Hormuz would threaten economic 

growth. 

Such an event would have much 

less impact on other European countries 

such as Germany, which receive 

most of their gas supplies from Russia 

via pipeline. 

Over the past two years, Qatar 

has proved a reliable trading partner, 

and the UK has become a vital market 

for Qatar to maintain its ranking 

as the world’s largest LNG exporter. 

“I think Qatar wants to have a 

solid relationship with the UK to 

hold its position as the number one 

LNG supplier,” the UK gas trader 

said. 

“However, I think any swing gas 

(spare LNG shipments) would go 

elsewhere unless we are willing to 

pay for it.” 

The UK gas hub has become a 

balancing point between supply and 

demand for the global gas market, 

helping set spot prices. 

Plentiful gas supplies in recent 

years have kept spot prices cheaper 

part of its disastrous acquisition of 

Dutch bank ABN AMRO. 

RBS added that the sale to Jefferies 

— part of a drastic cut to its 

investment bank operations known 

within the company as ‘GBM’ (Global 

Banking & Markets) — was expected 

to be completed by the end of 

the first quarter. RBS has come under 

pressure from Britain’s Conservativeled 

coalition government to focus 

more on retail banking rather than its 

riskier investment banking arm. 

The government has turned the 

screws since the start of the year on 

RBS, which has come to symbolise 

for many in Britain the worst excesses 

of the financial crisis. 

The chief executive and chairman 

of RBS waived their 2011 bonuses 

following intense political pressure, 

while Britain also stripped former 

RBS boss Fred Goodwin — who led 

the ABN AMRO takeover that nearly 

led to the collapse of RBS — of his 

knighthood. 

Europe’s next 

housing bubble may 

pop in Norway 

Page 10 

UK gas may turn volatile if Qatar curbs supply 

Shell unveils major growth plans 

LONDON — Royal Dutch 

Shell unveiled ambitious new 

growth plans alongside disappointing 

fourth quarter results 

yesterday, raising concerns 

about how much profit the increased 

activity will bring. 

Europe’s largest oil company 

by market capitalisation 

said it would hike investments 

to drive a 50 per cent rise in 

cashflow and a 25 per cent rise 

in oil and gas production in 

coming years. 

However, weaker-thanexpected 

results for the fourth 

quarter and full year, partly 

due to dismal industry-wide 

refining margins, and an anaemic 

dividend hike, suggested 

investments were offering falling 

returns. 

Hague-based Shell’s London-listed 

A shares traded 

down 2.4 per cent, lagging 

a 0.7 per cent drop in the 

STOXX Europe 600 Oil and 

LONDON — AstraZeneca is cutting a 

further 7,300 jobs and expects earnings 

to fall 14-18 per cent this year as patents 

on key drugs expire and governments in 

Europe and the United States squeeze 

prices. 

Britain’s second-biggest drugmaker 

said yesterday the latest phase of cuts, 

equivalent to 12 per cent of the workforce, 

would deliver an extra $1.6 billion 

in annual benefits by the end of 

2014. It will cost $2.1 billion to implement. 

The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker 

faces loss of exclusivity on many of 

its top-selling drugs over the next five 

years and has few obvious replacements 

in its pipeline. 

The antipsychotic medicine Seroquel, 

its second-biggest drug, will 

lose exclusivity in the United States in 

March and also goes off patent in Euro- 

Gas index. 

Analysts at Investec said 

they were concerned about 

Shell’s ever-rising investment 

expenditure, which they 

feared meant the company was 

spending “more for less”. 

“We expect to see material 

downgrades to the consensus 

FY2012/13 earnings numbers,” 

they wrote in a research 

note. 

Analysts at Citigroup said 

pean countries this year. 

As a result, Chief Executive David 

Brennan has been shrinking the business. 

“The further expected losses of 

market exclusivity make for a challenging 

2012 outlook,” he said. 

The company has already implemented 

two earlier rounds of cutbacks 

involving 21,600 job losses since 2007, 

which has reduced its worldwide headcount 

to 61,000. 

The latest reductions include ending 

research work at Sodertalje, a major 

facility in Sweden, as well as cutbacks 

in global sales, manufacturing and other 

operations. 

The gloomy outlook weighed on the 

shares, which fell 3.5 per cent by 0940 

GMT, underperforming a flat European 

drugs sector. 

The lack of replacements for products 

like Seroquel and heartburn treat- 

the company needed to convince 

investors it could invest 

money more profitably than rivals 

to justify the outperformance 

in its shares compared to 

rivals in the past 18 months. 

“The new medium-term 

strategy unveiled today fails to 

offer that differentiated story,” 

they said. 

Shell said it was eyeing a 

return to strong production 

growth in the coming years, 

after nearly a decade. Apart 

from a 5 per cent rise in 2010, 

the group’s production has 

fallen every year since 2002. 

“Oil & gas production 

should average some 4 million 

boe/d (barrels of oil equivalent 

per day) in 2017-18,” the company 

said in a statement. 

Production averaged 3.215 

million boe/d in 2011, a 3 per 

cent drop on 2010. 

This growth will be generated 

by higher capital investment 

expenditure, which will 

rise to $32-$33 billion this 

year from $31.5 billion last 

year, Shell said. 

Analysts had previously 

predicted that capex would 

fall, as Shell completed the big 

new projects such as the pearl 

gas-to-liquids plant in Qatar, 

which will push output higher. 

The high capital being invested 

is one reason that Shell’s 

return on capital employed 

ment Nexium, as well as top-selling 

heart drug Crestor which goes off patent 

in 2016, has triggered speculation 

AstraZeneca may need to make a big 

acquisition. 

Following the poorly received purchase 

of MedImmune in 2007, it has 

so far eschewed another large deal. But 

that strategy could be up for review, especially 

with the group casting around 

for an outsider to replace current chairman 

Louis Schweitzer. 

Doubts about AstraZeneca’s future 

have grown since a double blow to its 

new drug pipeline in December when 

it scrapped an ovarian cancer drug and 

took a big writedown on an experimental 

antidepressant being developed with 

Targacept. 

Its existing cardiovascular business 

is also uncertain, with new drug Brilinta 

off to a slow start and cholesterol fight- 

failed to sparkle, at 15.9 per 

cent, compared to levels above 

20 per cent a few years back 

when oil prices were considerably 

lower. 

Similarly, in spite of a 

record average Brent crude 

price of $111/barrel in 2011, 

the full year current cost of 

supply (CCS) net income of 

$28.6 billion still lagged the 

earnings high Shell reported in 

2008, of $31.4 billion. 

Shell said its fourth quarter 

CCS net income was $6.46 billion, 

helped by one-off gains 

from the sale of assets. 

Excluding one-offs, the result 

rose 18 per cent to $4.85 

billion, shy of an average forecast 

of $5.17 billion from a 

Reuters poll of nine analysts. 

The miss was despite the 

fact analysts had recently cut 

back their forecasts in the light 

of weak trading statements 

from Shell’s rivals. — Reuters 

AstraZeneca axes 7,300 jobs, warns on profit 

er Crestor facing more competition following 

the arrival of cheap generic copies 

of Pfizer’s market-leading Lipitor. 

AstraZeneca now expects recently 

launched products and the pipeline to 

contribute $2-4 billion to sales by 2014, 

down from $3-5 billion estimated a year 

ago and $4-6 billion seen in 2010. 

It now expects overall revenues in 

the period up to 2014 to be in the lower 

half of the previously forecast range of 

$28 billion to $34 billion a year. Sales 

were $33.6 billion in 2011. 

“The long-term guidance has serially 

been overly optimistic,” said Sanford 

Bernstein analyst Tim Anderson. 

Despite the challenges, AstraZeneca 

is committed to returning cash to shareholders 

and the company announced 

it planned to buy back $4.5 billion in 

shares in 2012, more than analysts had 

expected. — Reuters 

BEIJING — German Chancellor 

Angela Merkel sought 

to reassure Beijing over the 

crisis in the euro zone and 

urged China to press Tehran 

on its nuclear programme 

as she began an official visit 

yesterday. 

“The euro as our common 

currency has made Europe 

stronger,” Merkel said in a 

speech ahead of talks with 

China’s Premier Wen Jiabao. 

“The European Union — 

in particular those states that 

have adopted the euro — has 

made considerable progress 

in the last two years.” 

Merkel’s three-day trip is 

aimed partly at boosting confidence 

in the euro zone after 

a sovereign debt crisis that 

has seen a wave of credit-rating 

downgrades and brought 

Greece to the brink of bankruptcy. 

Europe is China’s top 

export market and Beijing 

has watched with increasing 

concern as the debt crisis has 

deepened, repeatedly urging 

European leaders to get a grip 

than most contracted prices for Russian 

pipeline gas, which are linked to 

oil prices. 

British officials express little concern 

about the dependence on Qatar. 

“In 2011 we imported LNG from 

eight countries, and the infrastructure 

exists to continue to import 

large volumes, should we need to,” 

Energy Minister Charles Hendry 

said in a speech last week. 

Current alternative LNG suppliers 

such as Trinidad, Nigeria and 

Yemen, however, are also not tied 

into long-term delivery contracts to 

Britain and could ship to where prices 

are highest. 

British month-ahead gas currently 

costs around 57 pence per 

therm, while Asian customers pay 

around 95 pence per therm (or $15 

per mmBtu) for LNG, leaving suppliers 

with a hefty premium on Asian 

deliveries. 

Years from now, Britain’s reliance 

on Qatar and spot gas prices could 

prove an advantage due to the potential 

for a global boom in shale gas 

and plans by companies in the United 

States and Australia to export LNG, 

starting as early as 2015. — Reuters 

Merkel seeks to 

ease euro zone 

fears in China 

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel listens to a 

translation in Beijing yesterday. — Reuters 

on the situation. 

The leader of Europe’s 

biggest economy said EU 

members were now “deeply 

convinced” that they were on 

the right track with a treaty 

agreed by most EU nations 

on Monday that aims to stop 

countries from overspending. 

The treaty — pushed by 

Germany and the European 

Central Bank — will require 

governments to introduce 

laws on balanced budgets and 

impose near-automatic sanctions 

on countries that violate 

deficit rules. 

It will come into force 

after at least 12 euro nations 

ratify it, and only those countries 

that sign up will be able 

to access bailout aid from a 

new rescue fund. 

In a speech to the Chinese 

Academy of Social Sciences, 

Merkel said China — 

the world’s second-biggest 

economy — “must use its 

influence to tell Iran that 

transparency is a must and its 

nuclear programme must be 

open”. — AFP 

Jefferies snaps up RBS’ historic UK broker Hoare Govett 

Last month, RBS said it would 

cut another 4,450 jobs as part of its 

retreat from investment banking. The 

cuts come on top of 2,000 at the investment 

bank in the second half of 

2011 and account for more than a 

quarter of the unit’s staff. 

RBS said it was in “active talks” 

with other parties interested in acquiring 

other parts of its investment 

banking business and sources with 

knowledge of the matter have said 

Asian, Middle Eastern and Australian 

banks might be looking at the assets. 

“The exit of RBS from investment 

banking was inevitable. As a 

state owned institution and political 

football, strategic decision making is 

subject to different influences,” said 

Alex White, partner at accountancy 

and consultancy firm BDO LLP. 

RBS shares closed up 4.2 per cent 

at 27.74 pence on Wednesday, still 

well below the average 49.90 pence 

at which the British taxpayer acquired 

its stake in the bank. — Reuters

Clouds gather over Spain’s renewables sector as aid cut 

MADRID — Spain's push to become 

a world leader in renewable energy 

risks collapsing after the government 

slammed the brakes on generous subsidies 

as part of an austerity drive. 

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's 

government passed a decree last Friday 

to "temporarily suspend" subsidies 

for all new wind, solar, co-generation 

or waste incineration plants as it 

seeks to curb the public deficit. 

The measure will save at least 

160 million euros ($210 million) this 

year, for which the government has 

received subsidy requests for projects 

to install 500 megawatts of new capacity, 

Industry Minister Jose Manuel 

Soria said. 

But industry leaders say the halt to 

the subsidies, combined with uncer- 

tainty over how long the suspension 

will last, will deflate investor interest 

in what was once one of Spain's most 

dynamic sectors. 

"This decision is one of the biggest 

blows ever to the sector," said the 

head of lobby group Fundacion Renovables, 

Javier Breva. 

"Who is going to invest in the renewable 

energy sector after this decree?" 

The subsidies introduced by the 

previous Socialist government, which 

pushed renewable energy as a new 

source of economic growth and jobs, 

fueled the development of wind parks 

and solar power stations across the 

country. 

In 2008 Spain accounted for half 

the world's new solar power instal- 

8 

OMAN/INTERNATIONAL FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 

lations in terms of wattage thanks to 

the subsidies designed to help get the 

young sector up and running. 

The boom in renewables helped 

several Spanish firms to become global 

leaders in the sector. 

Power giant Iberdrola is the world's 

biggest producer of clean energy while 

Gamesa is one of the world's top wind 

turbine makers. 

But the previous Socialist government 

started scaling back the subsidies 

at the end of 2008 as the global 

economic crisis began to bite and 

Spain entered into recession. For wind 

power they were slashed by 35 per 

cent until 2013. 

From 2008-2010 the sector shed 

20,000 jobs largely because of the previous 

government's subsidy cuts, and 

the end of new subsidies announced 

today will likely lead to the loss of a 

similar number of jobs this year, said 

Breva. 

"But what worries me more are the 

hundreds of thousands of jobs which 

would be generated and which now 

will not be," he said, adding that the 

previous government had predicted the 

sector would generate 300,000 jobs by 

2020. 

Renewable energy sources like 

wind and solar power can not yet compete 

on price against electricity generated 

from coal or natural sources, so 

government subsidies play a crucial 

role in their development. 

The Spanish wind power sector 

grew at its slowest rate last year because 

of the subsidy reform. — AFP 

Deutsche Bank profits 

fall as debt crisis bites 

FRANKFURT — Deutsche 

Bank, Germany's biggest 

bank, reported yesterday a 

bigger-than-expected drop in 

earnings at the end of last year 

as the euro zone sovereign 

debt crisis hurt business. 

Deutsche Bank said in a 

statement it booked net profit 

of 186 million euros ($245 

million) in the fourth quarter. 

After payments to minority 

shareholders, the bottom line 

figure amounted to 147 million 

euros, down 76 per cent 

year-on-year. 

At a pre-tax level, Deutsche 

Bank was even in the 

red, with a loss of 351 million 

euros in the October-December 

period, but favourable tax 

effects pulled it back into the 

black. 

The numbers disappointed 

investors and Deutsche Bank 

shares were the biggest losers 

on the Frankfurt stock 

exchange yesterday, showing 

a drop of 1.37 per cent in a 

generally firmer market. 

The group explained that 

while its classic high-street 

banking business performed 

well, its investment banking 

activities were hit by the debt 

crisis. 

"The fourth quarter featured 

continued market uncertainty 

and lack of investor 

appetite leading to subdued 

market activity," it said. 

"The European sovereign 

debt crisis had a particularly 

marked effect on activity levels 

in Europe, where Deutsche 

Bank has a substantial portion 

of its business." 

SEOUL — South Korea's Samsung Electronics 

said yesterday a German court rejected Apple's 

bid to ban sales of its tablet computers 

and new smartphones, the latest chapter in a 

global legal battle between the rivals. 

Samsung said Munich Regional Court yesterday 

quashed Apple's request to impose 

a preliminary ban on sales of its Galaxy 

Tab 10.1N and Nexus smartphone. Apple 

claimed Samsung infringed on its patent 

rights, but the court disagreed, saying the 

technology has been widely used in the mobile 

market, Samsung said. 

The rivals have been locked in a series of lawsuits 

in Germany. 

Last week, the Mannheim Regional Court 

ruled against Samsung saying Apple had not 

violated one of its technical patents, while 

a Dusseldorf court is to rule next week on 

Apple's request to ban sales of Samsung's 

Gaxaxy Tab 10.1N. 

The two technology giants are engaged in a legal 

battle involving dozens of cases worldwide 

as they struggle for leadership in the 

hugely lucrative smartphone and tablet 

computer market. 

US auto sales rise 11pc 

with unusual strength 

DETROIT — US auto sales 

rose more than 11 per cent 

in January, a surprisingly robust 

showing that marked the 

strongest annualised sales rate 

for the industry in nearly twoand-a-half 

years. 

The surge in sales, led by 

Chrysler Group LLC and 

Volkswagen of America, was 

propelled by the growing 

need for American drivers to 

replace their ageing cars and 

trucks. Higher used-car prices 

and low interest rates also 

helped spur sales, executives 

and analysts said. 

"Normally you have a little 

bit of the December hangover," 

Al Castignetti, head of 

US sales for Nissan brand, 

said. 

"January starts out very 

slow and you try to make the 

month in the last 10 days," he 

added. "The absolute opposite 

happened this year." 

US auto sales rose 11.4 per 

cent in January, nearly twice 

the rate analysts had expected. 

The seasonally adjusted annual 

sales rate rose to 14.18 million 

vehicles, according to Autodata, 

which tracks industry 

sales and inventory figures. 

That marked the highest 

sales rate for the industry 

since August 2009, when the 

US government was running 

the "cash for clunkers" tradein 

incentive programme. Most 

analysts had expected a sales 

rate of about 13.5 million in 

January, typically one of the 

slowest months of the year. 

JOSEF Ackermann, outgoing CEO of Deutsche Bank 

addressing the media in Frankfurt yesterday. — Reuters 

Revenues in the investment 

banking fell by 26 per cent 

year-on-year in the October- 

December period, while revenues 

in the classic banking 

division were up 22 per cent, 

thanks largely to the inclusion 

of Postbank, acquired in 

2010. 

Deutsche Bank said it 

raised its loan-loss provisions 

by a third to 540 million euros 

in the fourth quarter. 

In addition, the bank took 

additional write-downs of 144 

million euros against its holdings 

of Greek debt and also 

took a 380 million euro hit for 

litigation. 

Taking 2011 as a whole, 

Deutsche Bank's net profit 

jumped by 87 per cent to a total 

4.3 billion euros however, 

and overall revenues rose by 

16 per cent to 33.2 billion euros. 

The increase in revenues 

came "mainly as a result of 

revenues from businesses acquired 

in 2010, namely Post- 

"The momentum that we 

saw in the fourth quarter actually 

continued to speed up in 

January," Toyota Motor Corp 

US sales chief Bob Carter said 

during a conference call. 

The average vehicle on US 

roads is almost 11 years old 

— a record — and owners are 

now trading in older vehicles 

they kept during the economic 

downturn. 

Stable gasoline prices have 

also helped spur vehicle sales, 

Ford Motor Co economist 

Jenny Lin said, adding that the 

Federal Reserve's promise to 

keep interest rates low through 

late 2014 will also support vehicle 

sales in the future. 

Sales rose even as automakers 

refrained from the 

generous consumer incentives 

that were the mainstay of US 

automakers’ strategy before 

the financial crisis. 

Last January, General Motors 

Co offered incentives to 

jump-start sales, but it has 

bank and, to a lesser extent, 

Sal. Oppenheim and the commercial 

banking activities acquired 

from ABN Amro in the 

Netherlands," Deutsche Bank 

explained. 

"Once again, Deutsche 

Bank has proved its ability to 

deliver substantial earnings in 

challenging conditions," said 

Chief Executive Josef Ackermann, 

who is scheduled to 

step down at the end of May 

after 10 years at the helm. 

"In 2011, our classic banking 

business produced record 

earnings, thus counterbalancing 

the impact of weak 

markets in investment banking. 

We also significantly 

strengthened our capital base, 

boosted our liquidity reserves 

and reinforced our funding 

position," said the Swiss-born 

executive. 

Deutsche Bank said it 

would pay a dividend of 0.75 

euros per share for 2011, unchanged 

from the 2010 payout. 

— AFP 

Samsung says German court 

rejects Apples sales ban bid 

Apple began the process in April last year, accusing 

Samsung of "slavishly" copying its 

iPhone and iPad designs. Samsung has focused 

its own lawsuits on technology patents 

rather than design. 

The South Korean giant received two legal 

boosts in December. 

A court in San Jose, California, denied Apple's 

request for a preliminary injunction that 

would have banned the sale of three Samsung 

smartphones and a tablet computer. 

Australia's High Court cleared the way for 

Samsung to sell its Galaxy 10.1 tablet in the 

country in time for Christmas, dismissing 

Apple's bid to have a ban extended. 

But European regulators this week opened an 

antitrust probe against Samsung to determine 

whether it has distorted competition 

in European mobile device markets. 

The European Commission said it would investigate 

whether Samsung went too far 

last year when it sought injunctions against 

competitors in various EU national courts, 

alleging infringements of Samsung's 

patent rights. — AFP 

since pulled back from this 

approach. 

"The old days of going 

blindly after market share are 

over, and most manufacturers 

are now concentrating on 

what really matters, which is 

profitability," said TrueCar. 

com analyst Jesse Toprak. 

US auto sales, an early 

snapshot of consumer demand 

each month, have been 

a bright spot for the economy, 

which is in the midst of a slow 

recovery. 

Chrysler, now managed by 

Italy's Fiat SpA, posted a 44 

per cent rise in US auto sales 

in January, led by gains for its 

Jeep brand. VW rose 48 per 

cent to 27,209 vehicles, buoyed 

by the introduction of its 

Passat sedan. 

Chrysler sales blew past 

some expectations of a 35 per 

cent increase. The No 3 US 

automaker also swung to a 

profit with full-year 2011 net 

income of $183 million.

Tokyo bourse 

suspends 

241 shares in 

system glitch 

TOKYO — The Tokyo 

Stock Exchange was forced 

to suspend trading in the 

shares of 241 companies including 

blue-chips Sony and 

Hitachi for the whole of the 

morning session yesterday 

due to a computer glitch. 

In the latest embarrassing 

system error to hit 

Asia’s largest bourse by 

market capitalisation, the 

TSE suspended dealing in 

the affected shares — Konica 

Minolta and Mitsubishi 

Electric also among them 

— from its 0000 GMT 

opening. 

Trading resumed when 

the afternoon session started 

at its normal time of 0330 

GMT. 

“The bourse is examining 

the cause of the system 

trouble, and we still don’t 

know what led to the failure,” 

an exchange spokeswoman 

said. 

The computer glitch 

caused the failure of a server 

used to distribute stock data 

to investors, she said. 

The Sapporo Securities 

Exchange, a regional bourse 

in northern Hokkaido, was 

also forced to stop trading 

as it is on the same system 

and all its 74 stocks were 

affected, a bourse official 

said. 

It is the first major system 

trouble since the TSE 

installed a new high-speed 

trading platform, “Arrowhead”, 

in January 2010. 

In November 2005 the 

Tokyo bourse was forced 

to suspend trading in all 

its shares for the first time 

ever because of a software 

problem. 

The exchange was hit 

by a number of computer 

system issues in the following 

years, raising concerns 

about the quality of its 

infrastructure. — AFP 

Hitachi logs 

61pc dive in 

net profit 

TOKYO — Japanese hightech 

firm Hitachi yesterday 

said its nine-month net profit 

dived 61.3 per cent year-onyear, 

with its third quarter hit 

by a strong yen and weaker 

demand from Europe and 

China. 

Hitachi’s net profit came 

to 85.23 billion yen ($1.1 

billion) in the April-December 

period, as operating 

profit fell 21.4 per cent from 

the previous fiscal year to 

265.73 billion yen. 

Sales edged up 1.1 per 

cent to 6.84 trillion yen. 

Net profit for the October-December 

quarter tumbled 

by nearly 45 per cent 

as the European debt crisis, 

weaker Chinese demand and 

the strong yen hurt its electronics 

and infrastructure 

businesses. 

Hitachi’s products range 

from microchips to railways. 

Profit from nuclear 

power systems fell as demand 

dropped after Japan’s 

huge March 2011 tsunami 

knocked out cooling systems 

at the Fukushima nuclear 

power plant, sparking 

the world’s worst atomic accident 

in 25 years. 

Profit from digital media 

and consumer electronics 

fell due to decreased demand 

and lower prices for flat televisions 

as well as the impact 

of flooding in Thailand, 

Hitachi said. 

The firm left its earnings 

forecasts for the full year to 

March unchanged, expecting 

net profit to fall 16.3 per 

cent to 200 billion yen and 

operating profit to shrink 

10.0 per cent to 400 billion 

yen. 

Sales are expected to 

rise 2.0 per cent to 9.5 per 

cent. — AFP 

TOKYO — Asian shares rose 

yesterday as encouraging 

manufacturing data soothed 

fears about the global economic 

fallout from the euro 

zone debt crisis, but the euro 

lost steam as the ongoing 

Greek debt talks reminded 

investors of the complexity of 

the problem. 

MSCI’s broadest index of 

Asia-Pacific shares outside 

Japan climbed as much as 1.4 

per cent to a five-month high 

of 438.674, with Australia and 

China leading the gains. 

Japan’s Nikkei average 

closed up 0.8 per cent, brushing 

off a system glitch that 

suspended trading of some 

major blue-chip shares in the 

morning. 

Meanwhile, European 

shares hit a six-week high 

yesterday adding to solid 

gains after global manufacturing 

data eased fears about 

the growth outlook, but with 

Greek debt talks unresolved, 

gains were limited. 

“As long as there’s no 

bad news, no default in any 

European countries, markets 

should keep on trickling upwards,” 

said Mark Priest, sen- 

ior trader at ETX Capital. 

Markets will be watching 

the strength of demand at 

bond auctions by Spain and 

France for confirmation that 

the euro zone debt crisis fears 

are easing. 

“People are now becoming 

increasingly used to positive 

results on the auctions at 

the moment. They’ve got the 

potential (to boost the euro), 

particularly if they had a very 

healthy bid to cover ratio,” Simon 

Derrick, head of currency 

research at Bank of New York 

Mellon said. 

US factory activity expanded 

at its strongest pace 

in seven months in January, 

while the manufacturing sector 

in Germany and China 

showed resilience to adverse 

effects from the ongoing euro 

zone debt crisis. 

“The manufacturing data 

has given the market a temporary 

break from risk aversion, 

but it is very vulnerable with 

some doubts over how much 

the positive mood would be 

sustained,” said Mitsuru Sahara, 

chief FX manager at 

Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi- 

UFJ in Tokyo. 

9 INTERNATIONAL FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 

Asian stocks firm on easing global growth concerns 

NEW YORK — In a rare criminal 

prosecution to emerge from the financial 

crisis, two former Credit Suisse 

traders admitted to conspiring to manipulate 

the value of about $3 billion 

in subprime mortgage-backed securities 

in order to hide losses as the US 

real estate market began to collapse 

in 2007. 

The men, London-based David 

Higgs, 42, and Salmaan Siddiqui, 36, 

of McLean, Virginia, pleaded guilty 

in US district court in New York to 

a criminal charge of conspiracy to 

falsify books and records and commit 

wire fraud. 

Their one-time boss, Kareem Serageldin, 

38, a US citizen who lives 

in Britain, faces the same conspiracy 

charge and additional charges of falsifying 

books and records and wire 

fraud. Federal prosecutors said they 

do not consider Serageldin a fugitive 

even though he has yet to appear 

in the United States to answer to the 

charges. 

There have been few prosecutions 

of individuals at high-profile 

banks for conduct that contributed 

to the financial crisis, but the Obama 

administration says it is stepping up 

investigations over the collapse of the 

subprime housing market. 

Beginning in the fall of 2007, the 

three men and others began to manipulate 

the bond markets to alter Profit 

and Loss (P&L) numbers, according 

to phone calls recorded under Credit 

Suisse policy, the indictment of Serageldin 

said. 

“If you want (P&L) to be a big 

number let me know what you want, 

then I’ll just go through it with (Higgs) 

because obviously I can move things 

back to where they were... if you’re 

looking for a big number today...” 

one of the traders said in a September 

13, 2007 phone call with Seragaldin, 

the indictment said. 

The investigation stems from 

$2.85 billion in writedowns that 

Credit Suisse took on collateralised 

debt obligations in 2008. Credit Suisse 

revealed those CDO losses in 

early 2008 and blamed them on a 

group of rogue traders who deliberately 

mispriced securities and on a 

failure of internal controls. 

PEDESTRIANS before an electronic board showing the Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo 

Stock Exchange in Tokyo yesterday. — AFP 

London copper slipped 

yesterday while Brent oil was 

supported by supply concerns 

from Iran. Gold hit a near twomonth 

high earlier on the back 

of the euro’s advance. 

“The market is digesting 

the supportive PMI numbers, 

which have confirmed that 

industrial activity looks con- 

Credit Suisse was not charged in 

the case. A spokesman for the bank 

declined to comment on Wednesday. 

The company has co-operated with 

the government’s investigations. 

Separately, the US Securities and 

Exchange Commission filed civil 

charges against Serageldin, Higgs, 

Salmaan Siddiqui and a fourth trader, 

Faisal Siddiqui. The Siddiquis are not 

related. 

siderably better compared to 

Q4 last year, but there’s some 

uncertainty, especially over 

the funding stress in Europe,” 

said Stefan Graber, a Credit 

Suisse Private Banking analyst 

based in Singapore. 

The Australian dollar, seen 

as a gauge for risk appetite, hit 

a five-month high of $1.0758 

New Sony CEO to confront scale 

of turnaround task as loss looms 

TOKYO — The incoming chief of Japan’s 

Sony Corp will face the enormity of 

his task to turn around the electronics icon 

yesterday when the firm is likely to forecast 

a fourth straight annual loss as it loses 

ground to rivals Apple and Samsung. 

Kazuo Hirai, the Sony veteran who 

revived its PlayStation gaming business, 

was named on Wednesday as the company’s 

new chief executive. He will replace 

Howard Stringer on April 1. 

Sony shares were down 0.4 per cent 

yesterday in a market that was up 0.7 per 

cent, with investors awaiting the company’s 

earnings due around 0600 GMT. 

Sony is expected to have barely broken 

even at an operating level for its normally 

lucrative October-December quarter, as it 

heads for a net loss of 132.8 billion yen 

($1.7 billion) for the full year to March, 

Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S data shows. 

There is unlikely to be a honeymoon 

period for Hirai, who is under immediate 

pressure to sort out Sony’s ailing TV 

business after it fell behind South Korean 

rivals such as Samsung Electronics in a 

market where prices are tumbling. 

The TV business is expected to make 

a loss for its eighth straight year in 

2011/12. 

Above all, Hirai will be leading a drive 

at Sony, whose products range from Play- 

Station games consoles to “The Smurfs” 

movie, to recapture the innovative flair 

that made it king of global consumer electronics 

three decades ago. 

In the 1980s, Sony dreamt up the Walkman 

personal music-player and then in the 

1990s the hugely successful PlayStation, 

but it has since ceded ground to Apple Inc 

and Samsung as consumers snap up their 

iPhones, iPods and Galaxy gadgets. 

There are some doubts that 51-yearold 

Hirai — tall, urbane and a fluent Eng- 

SONY’S incoming CEO Kazuo Hirai (left) and current CEO Howard Stringer 

take part in a news conference in Tokyo yesterday. — Reuters 

lish speaker — can rekindle innovation at 

Sony. 

“The biggest issue is top management... 

There needs to be a vision for the 

products, for innovation,” said a former 

Sony executive who felt that a new management 

mindset was needed. 

He said he believed Sony would ultimately 

shut the TV business unless it 

came up with fresh ideas to revive it. 

“There is still a chance in home electronics, 

but I imagine the day may come 

when they will pull the plug on TVs,” he 

said. 

Hirai, who made his name hauling the 

wayward PlayStation division back into 

the black two years ago, sketched out his 

priorities in a statement on Wednesday 

night. 

“The path we must take is clear,” he 

said. “To drive the growth of our core 

electronics businesses — primarily digital 

imaging, smart mobile and games; to 

turn around the television business; and 

to accelerate the innovation that enables 

us to create new business domains.” 

Hirai’s predecessor, Welsh-born 

Stringer, a former journalist who ran US 

broadcaster CBS, had been brought in 

as a rare foreign CEO in Japan to shake 

things up, but many analysts see his major 

achievement as cost-cutting. 

Stringer sold off TV factories in 

Spain, Slovakia and Mexico and outsourced 

more than half of its production 

to other companies, including Hon Hai 

Precision Industry, the contract electronics 

maker whose key customer is Apple. 

Recently, Sony exited an LCD panel 

joint venture with Samsung, enabling it 

to obtain screens for its TVs more cheaply. 

It also agreed to buy out Ericsson’s 

half of their smartphone venture for $1.5 

billion to shore up its position in a market 

where Apple and Samsung have become 

leaders. 

yesterday, buoyed by a record 

trade surplus for 2011 as the 

resource-rich country benefited 

from exporting gold and 

coal. 

A firmer euro supported 

bullion, lifting spot gold up 

0.4 per cent to $1,751.30, its 

highest in nearly two months. 

The recovery in risk ap- 

SYDNEY — Auto maker 

Holden said yesterday it would 

cut around 100 jobs, blaming 

the strength of the Australian 

dollar, one week after fellow 

car giant Toyota sacked 350 

workers. 

Holden, an Australian 

subsidiary of US giant General 

Motors, said it would scale 

down production to a single 

shift at its Elizabeth plant in 

South Australia to “manage the 

impact of the high Australian 

dollar”. 

Managing Director Mike 

Devereux said the changes 

would result in losses “around 

the order of 100 or so casual 

and flexible workers” from the 

company’s workforce of around 

5,000 people nationwide. 

“At the current exchange 

rate we won’t be able to realise 

further growth in our export 

programmes so the shift changes 

allow us to maintain production 

levels and do it more 

efficiently,” Devereux said in a 

statement. 

The Australian dollar has 

traded near or above parity 

with the greenback for more 

than 12 months and it is at a 40 

per cent premium to its longterm 

average, with Canberra 

seeing a strong currency as the 

new norm. 

But the exchange rate has 

hit some local industries hard, 

particularly manufacturing, 

with steelmakers and now the 

auto sector shedding jobs in a 

bid to stay afloat. 

Serageldin’s lawyer, James 

McGuire, said his client “believes he 

has done nothing wrong and nothing 

illegal.” McGuire said that over a 

four-year-long investigation, Serageldin 

had fully co-operated with authorities 

in Britain and the United States, 

including five or six interviews. 

“The indictment comes as some 

surprise to us.” 

A lawyer for Faisal Siddiqui could 

petite weighed on the dollar, 

keeping its index measured 

against key currencies near 

an eight-week low of 78.623 

hit on Wednesday. Intervention 

fears kept the dollar/yen 

in narrow ranges, with players 

building long dollar/yen positions 

slightly, Sahara said. 

Analysts at Barclays Capital 

said that January saw a rise 

in virtually all asset classes, 

due in part to investors buying 

back assets they spent most of 

2011 selling. 

Risks in the euro area have 

not disappeared, however, 

posing a threat to the rally: “A 

clear resolution on Greek restructuring 

remains elusive,” 

Barclays said. 

Greece has yet to finalise a 

deal on the long-awaited debt 

swap with its private bond 

holders, which is vital to securing 

a bailout from global 

lenders to avoid a default. 

Bankers said the bond 

swap deal, which will mean 

real losses of about 70 per 

cent for Greek bond holders, 

is basically done. But the second 

bailout and any official 

sector participation must be 

agreed on before a deal can be 

Manufacturing Minister 

Kim Carr said Holden’s job 

losses were a direct result 

of softer exports due to “the 

changes in the value of the 

Australian dollar.” 

“We are simply not exporting 

as many cars to the United 

States as we would have hoped 

to,” Carr told reporters. 

“We have to adjust to a 

much lower volume environment 

as a direct result of the 

changes that have occurred 

with the value of the Australian 

dollar.” 

Toyota Australia sacked 

350 workers last week due to 

“unprecedented” pressure on 

its operations from the dollar 

and its impact on export mar- 

not immediately be reached to comment. 

Higgs’ lawyer declined comment 

after his court appearance and 

Salmaan Siddiqui’s lawyer said his 

client had been co-operating with the 

probes for some time. 

Robert Khuzami, head of the 

SEC’s enforcement division, said in 

a statement that “the senior bankers 

falsely and selfishly inflated the value 

of more than $3 billion in assetbacked 

securities in order to protect 

their bonuses and, in one case, protect 

a highly coveted promotion.” 

In the case of Higgs and Salmaan 

Siddiqui, federal prosecutors brought 

a single conspiracy charge carrying a 

maximum prison term of up to five 

years, but not a charge of securities 

fraud, which carries a prison term of 

up to 20 years. 

The additional substantive charge 

brought against Serageldin does carry 

a maximum possible prison term of 

20 years. Serageldin had been managing 

director/global head of structured 

credit at Credit Suisse in charge 

of Higgs and other traders. 

“While the housing market was 

announced as all elements are 

interlinked. 

Optimism that the euro 

zone debt crisis may avoid 

a turn for the worse revived 

some demand for the region’s 

sovereign debt, sending yields 

down for some highly indebted 

countries recently shunned 

by investors due to concerns 

about their funding ability. 

Yields on Portuguese, 

Spanish and Italian debt fell 

and the easing tension pulled 

down European interbank 

lending rates, which had already 

been helped by the European 

Central Bank’s commitment 

in December to keep 

abundant funds in the system. 

In Japan, bond prices recovered 

on a strong 10-year 

debt sale, after sentiment was 

hit earlier by a media report 

saying a top Japanese bank has 

drawn up a contingency plan 

to deal with a sharp decline in 

government bond prices. 

The report underlined fears 

that such a drop could be on 

the horizon. Government debt 

yields have stayed compressed 

despite growing global scrutiny 

over high sovereign debt 

levels. — Reuters 

Holden says to scale down 

production, to cut jobs 

kets, saying a slump during 

the financial crisis had failed 

to reverse. 

The Japanese automaker’s 

Australian chief Max Yasuda 

said he was working to slash 

Toyota Australia’s break-even 

point by 25 per cent within 

two years while doubling the 

output of local manufacturers 

to remain viable. 

“We have to make ourselves 

more lean, more efficient 

and a more effective 

company,” he told the Australian 

Financial Review. 

Yasuda said government 

support for the industry 

through co-investment was 

an “ongoing need and a longterm 

need”. — AFP 

Ex-Credit Suisse traders finally admit cooking subprime books 

collapsing, the defendants profited, 

not by correctly predicting the trend, 

but by cooking the books,” FBI Assistant 

Director in Charge Janice 

K Fedarcyk said in a statement. 

Higgs told a federal judge that 

while he was a managing director in 

the investment banking division of 

Credit Suisse in London in 2007 and 

2008, he and others manipulated and 

inflated the cash bond position markings 

of a trading book, called ABN1, 

to hide losses. 

“As a result of my actions, senior 

management of Credit Suisse was 

given the false impression that the 

ABN1 book was profitable and caused 

Credit Suisse to report false year-end 

numbers for 2007 in their books and 

records,” Higgs said in court. 

He said he altered the records 

because he wanted to remain in 

good favor with Serageldin and “enhance” 

his job performance. He said 

he stood to receive a year-end bonus. 

Salmaan Siddiqui, at a separate 

plea proceeding, told a similar story 

about the way the traders falsified 

records. — Reuters

10 

OMAN/INTERNATIONAL FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 

Facebook IPO shifts focus from user growth to revenue 

SAN FRANCISCO — As 

Facebook hurtles towards one of 

the largest initial public offerings 

in US history, its honeymoon with 

investors may already be over. 

The dorm-room project started 

by Harvard dropout Mark Zuckerberg, 

27, could well become one 

of the world’s most highly valued 

Internet companies when it sells 

shares to the public for an expected 

valuation of as high as $100 billion. 

But the relatively carefree days 

of super-charged user growth may 

be behind Facebook, analysts say, 

as the social networking company 

begins the difficult task of living up 

to Wall Street’s lofty expectations 

under a public microscope. 

Facebook’s IPO prospectus, 

filed with US regulators on 

Wednesday, revealed a profitable 

and fast-growing business built 

upon advertising revenue and online 

transactions. 

But the Silicon Valley company’s 

$3.7 billion in revenue last 

year was at the low end of analysts’ 

expectations and underscored the 

wide gulf between its current business 

and the most optimistic hopes 

that many investors have riding on 

it. 

“For the valuation that people 

are going to be paying for this 

name, they’re going to probably 

be overpaying by a third because 

of the optimism related to just the 

name,” said Michael Yoshikami, 

Chief Executive of YCMNET Advisors, 

a California-based wealth 

management firm. 

“The numbers justify maybe a 

$50 billion number,” he said, referring 

to Facebook’s valuation. 

Facebook’s revenue growth rate 

— roughly 88 per cent in 2011 — 

would justify a $65 billion valuation, 

Yoshikami noted, which is 

far short of the $75 billion to $100 

billion that sources have said the 

company is looking for. 

Facebook’s explosive growth 

has come as first-time users joined 

the social networking site in 

droves, which in turn enticed even 

more to join up. The world’s biggest 

social network now has 845 

million members in more than 70 

languages. 

But with signs that membership 

growth is slowing, analysts 

say Facebook needs to get existing 

users to spend more time on the 

site and advertisers to spend more 

money. In the last three months of 

2011, Facebook’s total monthly 

active users rose 5.6 per cent versus 

10.5 per cent in the last three 

months of 2010. 

“The hypergrowth is probably 

over’” said Michael Pachter, head 

of research in the private shares 

group at Wedbush Securities. “The 

low-hanging fruit of the Western 

developed world has already been 

penetrated to a large extent... It’s 

just kind of obvious that they’re 

not going to ever get every single 

person that lives on the planet.” 

Facebook knows it needs to 

diversify revenue streams. It has 

Smith & Nephew cuts 

bolster its profit NEW 

LONDON — Smith & Nephew, 

Europe’s biggest artificial 

knee and hip maker, trimmed 

costs to shore up profit in the 

last three months of 2011, 

putting it back on track for 

what it expects to be a tough 

2012 after a disappointing 

third quarter. 

The British group’s trading 

margin bounced back to 

25.2 per cent, from 19.8 per 

cent in the third quarter, resulting 

in fourth quarter trading 

profit of $279 million, 

down 1 per cent but ahead of 

analyst expectations. 

Smith & Nephew, which 

also has endoscopy and advanced 

wound management 

units, has struggled with high 

costs, and chief executive Olivier 

Bohuon is cutting $150 

million from the business, including 

shedding 7 per cent of 

its 11,000-strong workforce. 

Demand for replacement 

knees and hips, made by 

Johnson & Johnson, Styker 

and Zimmer as well as Smith 

& Nephew, stalled when global 

economies weakened. 

Stryker said last month 

it expected the market to rebound, 

but not until the jobless 

rate improved, a view 

echoed by Smith & Nephew 

yesterday. 

“We expect continued 

tough market conditions in 

the coming year as global 

economic uncertainties continue 

to influence patient and 

payer decisions,” Bohuon 

told reporters. 

Investors welcomed the 

initial gains from the costsaving 

strategy put in place by 

Bohuon, who became chief 

executive in April 2011. 

Analyst Sebastien Jantet 

at Investec said the strong 

quarter should reassure investors. 

“Not only were the numbers 

ahead of expectations, 

thanks to a stronger than expected 

margin performance, 

but guidance for 2012 is unchanged,” 

he said. 

“We do not anticipate 

changing our forecasts, but 

see scope for a continued rerating 

as the market warms to 

the new CEO and his strategy 

to drive growth.” 

The company has seen 

growth in its knees franchise, 

but its hips business has been 

hit by controversy over metal-on-metal 

joints. 

Bohuon said Smith & 

Nephew’s Birmingham Hip 

Resurfacing (BHR) joints 

were different to other metalon-metal 

implants, which 

carry a risk of tiny metal fragments 

shaving off and entering 

the bloodstream. 

Britain’s healthcare regulator 

said on Monday it was 

taking another look at safety 

concerns arising from certain 

implants made by Johnson & 

Johnson’s DePuy unit, which 

were withdrawn from the 

British market in 2010. 

“On the evidence currently 

available the majority of patients 

implanted with metalon-metal 

hip replacements are 

at low risk of developing any 

serious problems,” a MHRA 

spokesperson said. “We are 

continuing to closely monitor 

all evidence.” — Reuters 

THE Facebook reception area at its headquarters in Palo Alto. — Reuters 

a successful gaming business 

that nets it 30 per cent of the revenue 

from sales of virtual goods in 

games like Zynga Inc’s Farmville. 

But Facebook wants to encourage 

users to stay for media content, 

putting it in competition against 

Apple Inc and Google Inc. 

Known for its engineeringdriven 

culture, where innovation 

and experimentation are prized, 

TEL: 24601003, 24600586 • FAX: 24600736 

• WEBSITE: www.salalahport.com 

Facebook has rolled out a steady 

stream of new features and capabilities, 

from video chat to mobile 

apps. They appear to be ensuring 

that users keep coming back. 

In December, 57 per cent of Facebook’s 

845 million active users 

interacted with the service on any 

given day, up from 54 per cent at 

the same time last year, the IPO 

prospectus shows. 

Bankrupt JAL posts $2bn profit 

TOKYO — Japan Airlines, 

which went bankrupt two years 

ago in one of the country’s 

biggest-ever corporate failures, 

reported a nine-month profit of 

almost $2.0 billion yesterday, in 

part thanks to the strong yen. 

The carrier was bailed out 

by the government after filing 

for bankruptcy with debts 

of about 2.32 trillion yen, and 

emerged from a court-supervised 

restructuring in March 

last year. 

JAL said net profit reached 

146 billion yen ($1.92 billion) 

in the nine months to December 

after aggressive cost-cutting. It 

posted an operating profit of 

162 billion yen on sales totalling 

909 billion yen in the period. 

Because of the massive 

restructuring JAL carried out 

under government supervision 

— led by Chairman Kazuo Inamori 

— the airline does not 

have comparable data from the 

previous year. 

The company upgraded 

its forecast for the full year to 

March to a net profit of $2.1 

billion, partly due to a stronger 

yen that encourages more Japanese 

to travel overseas. 

“Revenue for the third 

quarter... has increased from 

the original projection in part 

due to the high yen rate, which 

encouraged international leisure 

travel from Japan, as well 

as from stable corporate travel 

demand,” JAL said. 

In contrast, many Japanese 

exporters have blamed the 

strong yen for hurting their 

balance sheets, as it makes 

their products more expensive 

abroad and erodes the value of 

repatriated profits from overseas 

operations. 

“JAL continued to review 

aircraft scheduling on each 

route and enforced measures 

to increase revenues while examining 

every cost category to 

achieve greater cost reduction, 

such as in fuel costs,” the airline 

said. The number of passengers 

travelling to Thailand 

decreased in October due to 

severe flooding in that country, 

but JAL increased flights on 

its Delhi route to meet robust 

corporate travel demand, the 

airline said. 

For the year to March 2012, 

JAL now expects a net profit 

of 160 billion yen and operating 

profit of 180 billion yen on 

sales of 1.19 trillion yen. 

In November, JAL had 

expected a lower net profit of 

120 billion yen and an operating 

profit of 140 billion yen on 

sales of 1.15 trillion yen. 

During its restructuring 

the company cut unprofitable 

routes, reviewed its fleet, and 

reduced fuel expenses. It also 

started using a new revenue 

management system to improve 

productivity. — AFP 

Europe’s housing bubble 

may pop in Norway 

OSLO — Made a safe haven 

for global capital by its oildriven 

prosperity, Norway is 

struggling to contain the sort 

of housing market bubble 

which launched four years of 

global financial turmoil. 

Having bounced back from 

a recession in 2009 with the 

help of its huge reserves of 

rainy-day oil cash, low interest 

rates have kept Norwegians 

borrowing at the sort of pace 

that prompted banking and 

housing crashes in the UK, 

US, Spain and Ireland. 

Borrowing this year is expected 

to grow twice as fast as 

wages and households’ debt is 

set to top 200 per cent of their 

disposable incomes — more 

than twice that in Germany 

and a third more than the peak 

in the US before its crash. 

That has already made 

house prices almost unaffordable 

for some and the question 

is what happens if and when 

interest rates or unemployment 

rise from near record 

lows. 

“If my mortgage rate goes 

up one percentage point, our 

vacation to Malaga would be 

gone,” says Erik Aasland, a 

32-year-old professional in 

Oslo. 

“If the mortgage goes up 

three percentage points, then 

there’s no Malaga, or anything 

else for that matter,” he added. 

“I could still pay but it would 

be a close call and there would 

be no reserves.” 

Interest rates stood at 5.75 

per cent as late as the end of 

2008 but the central bank cut 

them as low as 1.25 per cent 

to support growth in 2009 and 

is headed back in that direction 

in a bid to stop the crown 

And US users seem willing to devote 

increasing amounts of time to 

the site — seven hours each month 

compared to just over five hours 

only a year ago, data from industry 

research firm comScore says. 

Boosting that level of engagement, 

however, will be one of 

Facebook’s challenges. With new 

competitors hitting the market, 

from image-sharing site Pinterest 

to Google+, some analysts warn 

that social networking “fatigue” 

might set in. 

“There’s probably going to be 

a breaking point in how many of 

these new technologies consumers 

can cobble into their lives,” said 

Rebecca Lieb, an advertising and 

media analyst at research and consulting 

firm Altimeter Group. 

“You still have to eat, you 

still have to sleep. So the market 

might become very saturated and 

shake out,” she said, noting that 

Facebook has a very solid foundation 

compared to some of the other 

social networking services. 

Facebook’s advertising business, 

which generates the bulk of 

revenue, also has room for growth 

or improvement, depending on your 

perspective. In 2011, the number of 

ads delivered on Facebook rose 42 

per cent year on year, while the average 

price per ad delivered rose 18 

currency gaining further and 

damaging the economy’s precarious 

competitiveness. 

Returning rates to more 

normal levels, which seems 

like just a matter of time, the 

bubble could burst, cutting 

back disposable income, damaging 

undercapitalised banks, 

lowering retail spending and 

slowing growth. 

“The growth rates of 

household debt and house 

prices are not following a 

sustainable path,” says Morten 

Baltzersen, the Director-General 

of the Financial Services 

Authority. 

“The overall debt ratio of 

the household sector is still 

growing from a record high 

level, and the house price level 

is increasing rapidly from a 

record high level,” Baltzersen 

added. 

That echoes a recent 

warning from ratings agency 

Fitch that low rates risk pushing 

house price even higher, 

leading to an overheating in 

domestic demand and risking 

a painful correction. 

At the heart of the problem 

is the economy’s success to 

date. Investors fleeing the euro 

zone’s debt crisis have seen 

per cent, the company reported. 

The wealth of information that 

users have given Facebook about 

themselves — from their age, gender 

and city of residence to the 

music and products that they “like” 

— means that the company can 

target marketing pitches to specific 

audiences. 

Whether Facebook’s advertising 

services can become a mustbuy 

for marketers, the way Google’s 

search ads have, remains to 

be seen, analysts say. Many of the 

companies that have created pages 

on Facebook simply use the service 

as a free marketing tool rather than 

paying for advertising services. 

Facebook noted in its prospectus 

that more than 4 million business 

have set up pages on its site — 

but it did not mention how many of 

those companies are paying advertising 

customers. 

“I worry that the billions of dollars 

of revenue that they generated 

last year aren’t as solid as they need 

to be because the advertisers who 

spent the money aren’t as thrilled 

with the results they got for it,” 

said Nate Elliott, an analyst with 

Forrester Research. 

While Facebook has plenty of 

data about users, it has not figured 

out how to use that to effectively 

target ads, he said. — Reuters 

American Airlines 

to slash 13,000 jobs 

YORK — American 

Airlines plans to slash 13,000 

jobs — around 15 per cent 

of the company’s total workforce 

— and cut costs by 20 

per cent in order to stay afloat 

after filing for bankruptcy late 

last year. 

“All workgroups will have 

total costs reduced by 20 per 

cent, including management,” 

Tom Horton, Chief Executive 

of American parent AMR 

Corporation, said in a letter to 

employees on Wednesday. 

“While the savings from 

each work group will be 

achieved somewhat differently, 

each will experience the 

same per centage reduction,” 

he said. 

Local television in the Dallas-Forth 

Worth, Texas area, 

home base of AMR, said the 

cuts include 1,400 management 

and support staff, 400 

pilots, 2,300 flight attendants, 

4,600 maintenance workers 

and 4,200 fleet service employees. 

“These are painful decisions... 

But they are essential 

to American’s future,” Horton 

said in a statement later on 

Wednesday. 

“We will emerge from 

our restructuring process as 

a leaner organisation with 

fewer people, but we will also 

preserve tens of thousands of 

jobs that would have been lost 

if we had not embarked on 

this path,” he said. 

He said the airline needed 

to cut $1.25 billion a year in 

employee-related costs. 

In exchange he offered 

employees a profit-sharing 

plan that would pay out 15 per 

cent of all pre-tax income. 

He made no references to 

cutting flights, but said the 

airline aimed to increase departures 

in five key US markets 

— Dallas/Fort Worth, 

Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles 

and New York — by 20 per 

cent over the next five years. 

AMR, which operates 

American Airlines and 

American Eagle Airlines 

and employs nearly 88,500 

employees worldwide, filed 

for Chapter 11 bankruptcy 

protection on November 

29. — AFP 

the crown as a safe bet, given 

it is backed by an economy 

with a massive oil sector, a 

$570 billion wealth fund and 

no public debt. Even without 

the oil sector, Norway will 

grow 2.5 per cent this year 

while its jobless rate is just 

over 3 per cent, a third of that 

in the single currency area. 

That’s pushed property 

prices up around 9 per cent a 

year for the past decade and 

a half, and prices could rise 

another 6.5 per cent in 2012, 

twice as fast as wages. In 

January, annual growth was 

over 8 per cent and prices hit 

new records. 

“Human beings always 

have an amazing capacity 

of not learning from other 

people’s mistakes,” says CMC 

Markets analyst Michael 

Hewson. 

“When house prices start 

to flatten out or come back 

down, that’s when you really 

have to worry, that’s when 

banking balance sheets can 

deteriorate very quickly,” he 

added. 

Banking crises are not alien 

to Norway. In 1991 several 

top banks had to be rescued by 

the state. — Reuters

Give fur the cold 

shoulder: Penelope 

Page 14 

The race brings the GCC 

countries together through 

their maritime history, with 

the sport of sailing and the 

related infrastructure being 

increasingly developed 

across the states 

THE Pearl Qatar, Qatar Sailing and 

Rowing Federation and Oman 

Sail yesterday revealed details of 

the second edition of ‘Sailing Arabia — 

The Tour’ — the only yacht race around 

the GCC — introducing the Qatar entry 

sponsored by Commercialbank Group. 

At a press conference at The Pearl 

Qatar, details of Team Commercialbank 

were officially announced, along with 

the man charged with leading the team, 

Frenchman Bertrand Pace. 

No stranger to offshore sailing, Pace 

won consecutive victories in Le Tour de 

France à la Voile, the event on which 

SATT is based, in 2010 and 2011. He is 

currently Sports Director for Aleph — a 

French sailing team competing in the 

America’s Cup World Series. Pace led a 

Omega-3 fatty acids tied to 

lower heart arrhythmia risk 

Page 12 

French team to victory in the 2011 edition 

of SATT and in 2012 he returns to lead 

the team hailing from Qatar. 

Now in its second year, the race is 

organised by Oman Sail in collaboration 

with a number of Federations and authorities 

from the Gulf region, with the concept 

of bringing Gulf states together in a 

race around the Arabian Peninsula. 

Khalifa Mohammed al Suwaidi, President 

of Qatar Sailing and Rowing Federation, 

commented: “We thank Oman Sail 

for organising the second edition of Sailing 

Arabia — The Tour, a concept that 

revives the rich maritime heritage associated 

with the region in the modern side of 

sailing. Hosting the in-port races in Doha 

on February 14, 2012 comes in celebration 

with Qatar’s National Sports Day 

Adele keeps top 

spot on chart 

Page 13 

Scientists decode how the 

brain hears words 

Page 12 

Fea ures 

Friday, February 3, 2012 

and this will provide a great opportunity 

for the crowd to support their team and 

enjoy the race from a close distance.” 

The marine tourism industry and the 

sport of sailing are growing rapidly in the 

GCC, according to Oman Sail’s Events 

Director Issa Ismaili, explaining why 

SATT has proved to be so popular and 

what it means to the region. 

“SATT provides a winter alternative to 

the European offshore event and the timing 

is perfect as a prelude to the European 

sailing season. Each leg will present different 

challenges to the sailors and many 

of the international sailors will be using 

SATT as a training ground. This is just the 

second edition of SATT and the event is 

already talked about by the international 

sailing community. 

The h event h has grown since i i its fifirst 

first 

year and in 2013 we aim to attract 

even more teams, both from the international 

sailing fraternity and from the 

region. The additional teams from the 

region are essential to the continued 

success of the event. SATT is a perfect 

platform for us to promote sailing — 

one of the fastest growing sports in the 

region.” 

The team members announced to date 

include Bertrand Pace, skipper, and his 

crew of Vincent Portgual, Gildas Morvan, 

Julien Falxa, Cedric Chateu and Clement 

Salzes. 

Named after its sponsor, Qatar’s team 

Commercialbank Group will go head to 

head with four teams from Oman, as well 

as teams from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Ras 

Being a child model was 

brutal: Katherine Heigl 

Page 14 

Oman Sail’s yacht race attracts Qatar entry 

Over the five legs, the 

sailors will not only have 

to race offshore over- 

- 

night, but they will also 

have short, fast races in 

stopover venues close 

to shore for the public to 

watch and where some 

lucky locals will take part 

al Khaimah representing United Arab 

Emirates and an entry from Pace’s home 

country — France. 

The race has attracted a host of international 

talents, proving that the region 

has something great to offer the wider 

world of international sailing. 

The race brings the GCC countries 

together through their maritime history, 

with the sport of sailing and the related 

infrastructure being increasingly developed 

across the states. It showcases a 

number of state-of-the-art marinas across 

the region and their unique ability in hosting 

world-class sailing events. 

SATT will start from Amwaj Marina in 

Bahrain on February 12, and will traverse 

the peninsula visiting seven marinas on 

the way — Doha, Abu Dhabi, Ras al 

Khaimah, Musandam and Musannah, before 

finishing in Oman 15 days later. By 

the time the teams reach the final port, 

they will have sailed an incredible 1,408 

km. 

Over the five legs, the sailors will not 

only have to race offshore overnight, 

but they will also have short, fast races 

in stopover venues close to shore for the 

public to watch and where some lucky locals 

will take part. 

For the first time there will also be 

a unique all women’s team taking part, 

Al Thuraya BankMuscat, led by British 

round the world sailor, Dee Caffari. 

The team, which includes four Omani 

women, will compete as part of Oman 

Sail’s women’s programme, which was 

launched in October 2011.

PEOPLE’S 

PLATFORM 

IT is a real honour for all Omanis to celebrate 

2012 as Muscat has been selected as 

the Capital of Arab Tourism for this year. 

We shall indeed be proud of our country and 

its wise leader His Majesty Sultan Qaboos. 

Muscat will be the tourism capital not just for 

Oman, but the whole Arab region. 

Today, Muscat has improved beyond recognition, 

but has never lost its pride in its 

pristine Omani heritage and culture. It is a 

leading example of intelligent and artistic 

development that combines the ancient and 

modern modes of a city. Selecting Muscat as 

the Capital of the Arab Tourism is a good opportunity 

to attract more visitors to the Sultanate 

in 2012. 

Muscat has been selected due to its rich 

topographical and historical diversity in addition 

to the natural beauty. It has much to offer 

to its travellers and visitors. Oman, in general, 

has recently been largely attracting thousands 

of tourists from all over the world. The Sultanate 

is distinguished with many remarkable 

tourism features in addition to its strategic 

location as a gateway between the East and 

West of the world as well as the security and 

political stability. 

— Abdulaziz al Jahdhami 

Editor: Selecting Muscat as the Capital of 

Arab Tourism for 2012 is of course a major 

regional recognition for the Sultanate and 

an honour as well. This reflects the Sultanate’s 

remarkable progress in all walks of life 

including tourism. Therefore, celebrating this 

occasion will be an opportunity to promote 

the Sultanate’s culture and heritage as well 

as to attract more visitors to enjoy the natural 

and cultural diversity in Oman. This is the 

achievement not only of the Tourism Ministry 

but also the entire society including both government 

and private sectors and citizens. 

Prophet’s Birthday 

OBSERVING Prophet Muhammad’s 

(Peace Be Upon Him) Birthday is 

marked on the 12th day of the Islamic month 

of Rabee al Awwal. Muslims all around the 

world observe this day to show their sincere 

respect to the Prophet who is the Messenger of 

Allah the Almighty. The Prophet’s Birthday is 

an event worthy of praise because it reminds 

Muslims of the history of Islam and the 

lifetime of Prophet Muhammad. 

On this day some people observe and recall 

this day in different ways, sometimes individually 

at homes or in groups at mosques. 

Some Muslims mark the occasion by spending 

more time reading the Holy Quran while 

others organise discourses for both men and 

women. Special lectures or sessions are organised 

for children to brief them about the 

Prophet’s life. Through these discourses and 

lectures, Muslims can learn some lessons 

from the Prophet’s life who is a role model 

for all Muslims. 

— Saleh Abdullah 

Editor: Observing the anniversary of 

Prophet Muhammad’s (Peace Be Upon Him) 

birthday is one of the most important religious 

occasions celebrated in the Sultanate. Muslims 

all around the world observe this occasion and 

each society has its own different features and 

ways of observing this day. All Muslims — 

men, women and children — respect this day 

and give special significance in their life. 

Salalah a favourite spot 

SALALAH is a great tourist destination 

even during winter. 

I knew Salalah’s importance as a tourism 

spot only during Khareef and have visited 

12 

LETTERS/HEALTH FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 

Honour for Muscat opens an opportunity 

during the festival. The place has natural attractions 

and has huge potential to emerge as 

major tourist spot in the region. Some more 

planning and more accommodation facilities 

for tourists are needed. 

— Khalid 

Editor: Salalah’s Khareef festival attracts 

many tourists. The place has potential for 

all the four seasons. Work on many tourism 

projects are going on there and are likely to 

be completed by 2014. 

Family Cycling Event 

I 

’M writing these comments regarding the 

report published in these columns about 

the Family Cycling Event held in Jebel Sifah. 

It was a very remarkable and first of its kind 

sport event organised by Oman Bicycle Shop 

and Muscat 360. 

I believe this event was a good opportunity 

for family and cycling enthusiasts to converge 

and practise sports in one of the picturesque 

tourist destinations in Muscat. It was a good 

gathering where family members and cyclists 

could enjoy their day exercising and having 

fun. Such events that include the whole family 

give a special feeling of pleasure and entertainment 

shared among families of different 

nationalities. 

— Mohammed Ali 

Editor: You are right. The Family Cycling 

Event was a very unique one. In fact, it is a 

great initiative organised for families and 

cycling enthusiasts to spend a wonderful day 

practising their favourite sport in a breathtaking 

landscape in Muscat. This event offered 

the pleasure of practising the cycling sport as 

well as enjoying the beauty of nature. 

Do you have a word of appreciation for any services you received? 

Or suggestions for improvement? Observer is giving you an opportunity to rant or rave 

about anything and everything around you: Please write to: 

Badr Mohammed al Thanawi, Co-ordinator, Office of the Editor-in-Chief 

Tel: 24649451, Fax: 24649469; e-mail: featuredesk@yahoo.co.in 

Omega-3 fatty acids tied to lower heart arrhythmia risk 

OLDER adults who had 

the highest blood levels 

of omega-3 fatty 

acids, most commonly found 

in fish, were 30 per cent less 

likely to later develop an irregular 

heartbeat than peers 

with the lowest blood levels of 

omega-3s, according to a US 

study. 

Up to 9 per cent of US residents 

will develop atrial fibrillation 

by the time they reach 

their 80s, according to some 

estimates. The heart rhythm 

abnormality can lead to stroke 

and heart failure. 

There are few treatments 

for the condition and they 

largely centre on preventing 

strokes with blood-thinning 

drugs. 

“A 30 per cent lower risk of 

the most common chronic arrhythmia 

in the United States 

population is a pretty big effect,” 

said Dariush Mozaffarian, 

senior author of the study 

and a professor at the Harvard 

School of Public Health. 

Some previous studies have 

suggested that people who eat 

a lot of fish have a lower risk of 

developing atrial fibrillation to 

begin with, but others haven’t 

found the same link. 

Diet soft drinks could be 

invitation to heart attacks 

PEOPLE who consume 

diet soft drinks daily 

could be unwittingly inviting 

strokes and heart attacks. 

Conversely, taking them 

in moderation don’t seem 

to perk chances of vascular 

events, a form of cardiovascular 

disease primarily affecting 

the blood vessels, says a 

new study. 

It was conducted by Hannah 

Gardener and colleagues 

from the University of Miami 

Miller School of Medicine 

and Columbia University 

Medical Centre, the Journal 

of General Internal Medicine 

reports. 

Diet soft drinks are typically 

sugar-free, artificially 

sweetened, non-alcoholic 

carbonated beverages generally 

marketed towards healthconscious 

people, diabetics, 

athletes and other people who 

want to lose weight. 

Gardener and team examined 

the relationship between 

both diet and regular soft 

drink consumption and risk of 

stroke or myocardial infarction 

(heart attack), according 

to a Miami statement. 

Data were analysed from 

2,564 participants in the 

Northern Manhattan Study, 

which was designed to determine 

stroke incidence, 

risk factors and prognosis in 

a multi-ethnic urban population. 

— IANS 

The omega-3 fatty acids 

measured in the new study, 

which was published in the 

journal Circulation, were eicosapentaenoic 

acid (EPA), 

docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) 

and docosahexaenoic acid 

(DHA). They are found in oily 

fish and some enriched foods, 

such as eggs, as well as in fish 

oil supplements. 

The earlier studies relied 

on questionnaires about how 

much fish people ate, which 

can only estimate the amount 

of omega-3s they ingested, 

Mozaffarian noted. 

“Any given fish species can 

vary in its omega-3s by tenfold,” 

he said. 

To get a more accurate 

measurement of how much 

fish oil people in the study actually 

ingested, the researchers 

sampled blood from more than 

3,300 adults over age 65. 

Over the next 14 years, they 

tracked the participants’ health 

and found that 789 developed 

atrial fibrillation. 

Those with the top 25 per 

cent omega-3 levels in their 

bloodstreams at the beginning 

of the study were about 30 per 

cent less likely to end up with 

the arrhythmia compared to 

those with the bottom 25 per 

cent blood levels. 

“These are meaningful reductions 

in risk,” said Alvaro 

Alonso, a professor at the University 

of Minnesota School 

of Public Health, who was not 

involved in the study. 

A 30 per cent reduction in 

risk would mean that instead 

of 25 out of every 100 people 

developing a condition, 

only about 17 of every 100 

would. 

Of the three omega-3 fatty 

acids, high DHA levels were 

linked to a 23 per cent lower 

risk for atrial fibrillation, while 

EPA and DPA were not tied to 

any reduced risk. 

Alonso cautioned that the 

study doesn’t prove eating 

fish is responsible for the 

lower rate of atrial fibrillation, 

but said there is some 

idea that the fatty acids found 

in fish could work by stabilising 

the excitability of heart 

muscle cells. 

He added that the results 

seem promising enough to 

warrant further studies that 

experiment with how fish oil 

might be used as a potential 

preventive measure against the 

arrhythmia. — Reuters Health 

New clues on how Alzheimer’s spreads 

ALZHEIMER’S disease 

appears to spread in 

a predictable pattern, 

infecting brain cell after brain 

cell as the disease spreads 

along linked circuits known as 

synapses, according to a new 

study. 

The findings, published on 

Wednesday in the online journal 

PloS One, help confirm a 

new understanding of how 

the disease gets from one region 

of the brain to another. It 

suggests blocking that process 

early on may keep the disease 

from spreading. 

“This is a phenomenon that 

is increasingly recognised and 

potentially very important,” 

said Dr Samuel Gandy, of the 

Mount Sinai Alzheimer’s Disease 

Research Center in New 

York. 

“If we understood this process, 

we could potentially arrest 

progression at an early stage,” 

said Gandy, who has seen the 

study but was not involved in 

the research. 

Imaging studies in people 

have suggested that Alzhe- 

imer’s spreads from region to 

region in the brain rather than 

popping up spontaneously in 

different areas, but the evidence 

was not strong enough 

to say for sure. 

“Everyone talks about 

Alzheimer’s ‘spreading’, but 

there really has not been a 

standard theory,” Karen Duff 

and Dr Scott Small of Columbia 

University Medical Center 

in New York, who worked on 

the study, said in an e-mail. 

“In the past, we have asked 

many of our colleagues in the 

field of Alzheimer’s research 

what they mean when they 

say ‘spread’. Most think that 

the disease just pops up in different 

areas of the brain over 

time, not that the disease actively 

jumps from one area to 

the next,” they said. 

“Our findings show for the 

first time that the latter might 

be true.” 

More than 5 million Americans 

suffer from Alzheimer’s, 

a brain disease that causes dementia 

and affects primarily 

elderly people. Some experts 

estimate the disease costs the 

United States more than $170 

billion annually to treat. 

Despite costly efforts, no 

drug has been found that can 

keep the disease from progressing. 

For their study, the team 

used mice that were genetically 

engineered to accumulate 

deposits of tau in a key memory 

centre of the brain known as 

the entorhinal cortex, which is 

where that toxic protein starts 

to deposit in people. 

Their aim was to map the 

progression of tau, an abnormal 

protein that forms tangles 

of protein fibres in the brains 

of people with Alzheimer’s 

disease. 

The team analysed the 

brains of the mice periodically 

over a period of 22 months 

to see how the disease progressed. 

They found that as the mice 

aged, the abnormal human tau 

spread along a linked pathway, 

travelling from the entorhinal 

cortex to the hippocampus 

to the neocortex, areas of the 

brain needed to form and store 

memories. — Reuters 

WINDOWS 

By Khulud al Maqrashiyah 

Why not venture into S SMEs? ? 

ONCE I had a chance to attend a workshop on 

small- and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs). Before 

the speaker delved into the subject matter of his 

lecture he asked us: How many of you aspire to be selfemployed 

after graduation? It was a normal question by 

which he intended to start the lecture. What was abnormal 

was that only a couple of hands were raised. Two students 

out of 30 were thinking of starting up their own businesses 

even though almost all of them were finance majors. 

Then the speaker asked the attendees: How many want to 

become civil servants? This time the remainder of hands 

were up. 

I wonder why we stick to the same old notion of preferring 

public sector positions to private businesses although 

sector jobs are at a premium. 

It is really a problem that the public is still unaware of 

the culture of small businesses and its crucial role in stirring 

the market and creating employment opportunities for 

a large segment of the youth population. 

In today’s world the state divisions are no longer the 

sole provider of jobs. With the number of government 

vacancies dwindling day after day, it cannot be deemed 

the guarantor of jobs. The alternative way may well be the 

small- and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs). What needs to 

be done is increasing the public awareness of this promising 

and profitable sector, and God willing we will get good 

results out of this trend. 

The smoothness that distinguish such projects as to 

establishing, developing and running, makes them a key 

underpinning for the national economy. Being aware of the 

significance and effectiveness of SMEs, the government 

has of late thrown its weight behind this sector, and made 

wide steps to buttress its progress. 

In this context, the Royal Decree No 19/2007 issued 

on March 4, 2007 set up the Directorate-General for the 

Development of Small- and Mid-Sized Enterprises in the 

Ministry of Commerce and Industry. 

Such projects offer employment for some society 

segments and supplement the income of other segments 

as well as achieve self-sufficiency in some communities 

without the need for export. 

Some world countries rely on SMEs to leverage their 

national economies and diversify the sources of revenue. 

SMEs, by some estimates, have 50 to 60 per cent of the 

size of workforce worldwide. 

The success of a small project hinge wholly on the 

shrewdness of its owner as it depends on creative management 

and the rational utilisation of modern technologies. 

The Business Pioneers Department, established by the 

Ministerial Decision No 59/2009, takes care of small businesses 

and furnishes the owners with much needed support 

so that their businesses succeed. 

The department has a mechanism for developing 

projects and finding alternative sources of fund. It also 

assesses the performance of the projects and advises 

the owners of what needs to be done in the event of any 

defect. 

Scientists decode how the 

brain hears words 

US scientists said they have found a way to decode how 

the brain hears words, in what researchers described as 

a major step towards one day helping people communicate 

after paralysis or stroke. 

By placing electrodes on the brains of research subjects 

and then having them listen to conversations, scientists 

were able to analyse the sound frequencies registered and 

figure out which words they were hearing. 

“We were focused on how the brain processes the 

sounds of speech,” researcher Brian Pasley of the Helen 

Wills Neuroscience Institute at the University of California 

Berkeley said. 

“Most of the information in speech is between one to 

8,000 hertz. Essentially the brain analyses those different 

sound frequencies in somewhat separate locations.” 

By tracking how and where the brain registered sounds 

in the temporal lobe — the centre of the auditory system 

— scientists were able to map out the words and then recreate 

them as heard by the brain. 

“When a particular brain site is being activated, we 

know that roughly corresponds to some sound frequency 

that the patient is actually listening to,” Pasley said. 

“So we could map that out to an extent that would allow 

us to use that brain activity to resynthesise the sound from 

the frequencies we were guessing.” 

One word the researchers mapped was “structure.” The 

high-frequency “s” sound showed up as a certain pattern 

in the brain, while the lower harmonics of the “u” sound 

appeared as a different pattern. 

“There is to some extent a correspondence between 

these features of sound and the brain activity that they 

cause,” and putting together the physical registry in the 

brain helped rebuild the words, Pasley explained. 

The work builds on previous research in ferrets, in 

which scientists read to the animals and recorded their 

brain activity. 

They were able to decode which words the creatures 

heard even though the ferrets themselves didn’t understand 

the words. 

The next step for researchers is to figure out just how 

similar the process of hearing sounds may be to the process 

of imagining words and sounds. 

That information could one day help scientists determine 

what people want to say when they cannot physically 

speak. 

Some previous research has suggested there may be 

similarities, but much more work needs to be done, Pasley 

said. — AFP

FLIGHT LIGHT SSCHEDULE 

CHEDULE 

ARRIVALS ALS — FRIDAY 

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Dubai bai 

Zanzibar-Dar-es-Salaam 

Riyadh 

Kuwait 

Istanbul 

Amritsar 

Kuwait-Dubai 

Karachi 

Doha 

Dubai 

Dubai 

Bahrain 

Cairo 

Amman 

Frankfurt 

Bahrain 

Doha 

Shiraz 

Shiraz 

Dubai 

Abu Dhabi 

Dubai 

Bombay 

Salalah 

Jaipur 

Lahore 

Lahore 

Hyderabad 

Islamabad 

London Heathrow 

Madras 

Trivandrum 

Cochin 

Dubai 

Kuala Lumpur 

Delhi 

Doha 

Sharjah 

Abu Dhabi 

Trivandrum 

Trivandrum 

Dubai 

Chah Bahar 

Colombo-Male 

Kathmandu 

Bangkok 

Salalah 

Bahrain 

Calicut 

Khasab 

Dubai 

Karachi 

Salalah 

Doha 

Lahore 

Kuala Lumpur 

Abu Dhabi 

Bombay 

Bahrain 

Dubai 

Calicut 

Lucknow 

Bangalore 

Kuwait 

Bahrain 

Sharjah 

Chittagong 

Salalah 

Dubai 

Dubai 

Bangalore-Hyderabad 

Amsterdam-Abu Dhabi 

Jeddah 

Delhi 

London Heathrow-Abu Dhabi 

Dubai 

Madras 

Cairo 

Frankfurt-Abu Dhabi 

Doha 

Zurich-Dubai 

Abu Dhabi 

Bahrain 

Al Ain 

Bahrain 

Ahmedabad-Bombay 

Salalah 

Doha 

Jeddah 

Abu Dhabi 

Dammam 

Cochin 

Bombay 

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QUOTATIONS FOR TODAY 

Optimism is the faith that leads to 

achievement. Nothing can be done 

without hope and confidence. 

— Helen Keller 

Kindness in words creates confidence. 

Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. 

Kindness in giving creates love. 

— Lao Tzu 

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 Country 

Music; 1.00 Jazz Cafe (Suhail); 2.30 News Bulletin; 

2.40 In Biz — Laxmi, Repeat of Wednesday 3.00pm; 

2.45 Radio Station Jingles and programmes; 2.55 Mix 

Music; 3.00 Cybertalk (Tariq) — Repeat of 5.30 Wed; 

4.00 News Headlines, 4.02 Thursday Afternoon Show 

Live; 5.30 Top 10 (Lakshmi) Repeat on Frinday 1.00; 

6.30 News Bulletin; 6.40 Women in Focus — Nisham 

Repeat of Tue 3.00 & Fri 6.40pm; 7.05 Omanesque 

— Laxmi Live (2 hours); 8.00 News Headlines; 8.02; 

Omanesque — Laxmi Live (2 hours); 9.00 Best by the 

Request; 10.00 News Bulletin; 10.10 Station Beats; 

12.40 News Summary ; 12.45 The Holy Quran; 01.00 

National Anthem, Close Down. 

DEPARTURES 

Flight No Aircraft To / Via STD 

BA072 

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Abu Dhabi-London Heathrow Bombay-Ahmedabad 

Colombo-Male 

Bombay 

Dubai 

Trivandrum 

Madras 

Abu Dhabi 

Cochin 

Hyderabad 

Kuala Lumpur 

Doha 

Delhi 

Trivandrum 

Bombay 

Bahrain 

Lahore 

Jaipur 

Istanbul 

Islamabad 

Abu Dhabi-Mangalore 

Kathmandu 

Karachi 

Dubai 

Dubai 

Dubai-Kuwait 

Doha 

Cairo 

Bahrain 

Amman 

Dubai 

Salalah 

Chah Bahar 

Shiraz 

Dubai 

Chittagong 

Lahore 

Karachi 

Calicut 

Lucknow 

Bangalore 

Dubai 

Khasab 

Salalah 

Sharjah 

Bombay 

Dubai 

Abu Dhabi 

Doha 

Cochin 

Cochin-Trivandrum 

Shiraz 

Doha 

Dar-es-Salaam 

Kuwait 

Frankfurt 

Malpensa 

Cairo 

Bahrain 

Bahrain 

Paris 

Abu Dhabi 

Calicut 

London Heathrow 

Munich 

Dubai 

Salalah 

Jeddah 

Dubai 

Lahore 

Dubai 

Bahrain 

Salalah 

Dammam 

Kuwait 

Doha 

Riyadh 

Bahrain 

Sharjah 

Al Ain 

Abu Dhabi 

Dubai 

Dubai 

Hyderabad-Bangalore 

Abu Dhabi-Amsterdam 

Riyadh-Jeddah 

Salalah 

Madras 

Delhi 

Abu Dhabi 

Dubai-Zurich 

Doha 

Jeddah 

Bahrain 

Abu Dhabi-Frankfurt 

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AQUARIUS 

(January 21- 

February 19) 

Your negative attitude to 

your neighbours is not 

good for any of you. Make a point 

of a positive, friendly approach and 

you will all feel better for it. 

PISCES 

(February 20- 

March 20) 

What at first glance 

appeared to be a real 

bargain may turn out on closer 

scrutiny to be a rather expensive 

proposition. Think twice before 

laying out the money. 

ARIES 

(March 21-April 20) 

Having recently learned 

that you too can be 

independent if you 

push hard enough, apply your new 

knowledge with care and discretion 

before jumping in at the deep end. 

TAURUS 

(April 21-May 20) 

A person of the opposite 

sex whom you met recently 

may at rst seem 

rather insignicant, but on longer acquaintance 

you will discover a very 

strong character. 

13 

INFORMATION/LEISURE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 

PHARMACIES 

PHARM 

24-HOUR SERVICE 

Al Hashar ph, Ruwi 24783334 

Muscat ph, Ruwi, 24702542 

Al Sarooj, 24695536 

Scientific ph, Qurum, 24566601 

Ruwi, 24702850 

DAY DUTY 

Muscat Al Badiya 24425024 

Sagar 24393696 

Global Polyclinic 

24551002 

Ibn Sina 24702682 

Sur Masirah 25544033 

Ibri Muscat 25689216 

Buraimi Zohal 25640211 

Rustaq Muscat 26878631 

Barka Scientific 26883673 

Nizwa Basmat Nizwa 

25431060 

Samayil Al Jinan 25351030 

Salalah Al Eman 23290170 

NIGHT DUTY 

Muscat A Seeb 24420294 

Atlas 24503585 

Muscat 24535977 

Muscat 24833323 

Sur Ibn Sina 25540669 

Ibri Al Huda 25692604 

Buraimi Yass 1, 25653855 

Rustaq Bader Al Jashmi 

26875798 

Barka Muscat 26885372 

Nizwa Nizwa 25412323 

Samayil Balsm 25351064 

Salalah Abu Aldahab 

23291303 

KHOULA HOSPITAL VISITING HOURS 

Private & Other Wards 

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

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

ICU 

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

Holidays: 16:00-17:00 

Special Care Baby Unit 

Working Days: Parents may visit at any time. 

Weekends & Public Holidays: Parents may visit 

at any time 

YOUR STARS 

IF IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY: Conditions at home may force you to change your attitude and introduce 

alterations which may at first meet with resistance. A close relative has proved a true friend in 

the past and will again contribute to the solution of your problems. 

GEMINI 

(May 21-June 21) 

Don’t try to gain an in- 

uential person’s sympathy 

by describing your present lot 

in a black light. You will win more 

respect by showing fortitude and an 

optimistic outlook. 

CANCER 

(June 22-July 21) 

Although you are impatient 

to make a start 

on putting your house in order, rst 

make sure that you have sufcient 

time and energy to nish the job. 

LEO 

(July 22-August 21) 

An influential friend 

will be most helpful in 

assisting your promotion. You would 

have had difficulty in contacting the 

right people without his knowledge 

and experience in these affairs. 

VIRGO 

(August 22-Sept 22) 

An old fashioned method 

which has stood you 

in good stead so far, may have to 

be abandoned if you want to compete 

with those using more modern 

means. 

CARTOONS 

LIBRA 

(September 23- 

October 22) 

Having completed a 

difcult job most successfully, 

you must make sure that it 

comes to the attention of the person 

who could put you in line for promotion. 

SCORPIO 

(October 23- 

November 21) 

Don’t let a person 

whom you have just 

met and to whom you have taken 

a sudden liking, inuence you in 

any way against your better judgement. 

SAGITTARIUS 

(November 22- 

December 21) 

Avoid asking too many 

premature questions 

about a plan a friend is not yet ready 

to discuss in detail. It doesn’t do to 

presume on friendship. 

CAPRICORN 

(December 22-Jan 20) 

Continued meetings 

with an interesting person 

of the opposite sex 

will soon make you overcome your 

natural shyness. 

ADAM @ HOME by Brian Basset 

CALVIN AND HOBBES by Bill Watterson 

GARFIELD by Jim Davis 

STONE SOUP by Jan Eliot 

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

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

Health Services Department 

Muttrah . . . . .24797602 

Quriyat . . . . .24845001 . . 24845003 

SQH, Salalah 23211555 . . 23211151 

Police . . . . . .24603988 . . 24603980 

Al Nahda. . . .24831255 . . 24837800 

Ibn Sina . . . .24876322 . . 24877361 

Nizwa . . . . . .25439361 . . 25425033 

Al Rustaq . . .26875055 . . 26877186 

Sumayil. . . . .25350055 . . 25350022 

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

Haima . . . . . .23436013 . . 23436055 

OTHER HOSPITALS 

Sohar . . . . . .26840022 . . 26840099 

Al Buraimi . . .25650855 . . 25652319 

Sur . . . . . . . .25440244 . . 25461373 

Tanam. . . . . .25499011 . . 25499033 

Masirah. . . . .25404018 . . 25404018 

Ibra . . . . . . . .25470533 . . 25470535 

Adam . . . . . .25434167 . . 25434055 

Bidiya . . . . . .25483535 . . 25483535 

Ibri. . . . . . . . .25491011 . . 25491990 

Saham . . . . .26854427 . . 26855148 

Khasab . . . . .26830187 . . 26830187 

Dibba . . . . . .26836443 . . 26836443 

Burkha . . . . .26828397 . . 26828397 

Sinaw . . . . . .25474338 

RITISH singer Adele stood 

B her ground atop the Billboard 

album chart with 21 despite seven 

new entries vying for No 1 this 

week, including stiff competition 

from country music singer Tim 

McGraw. 

21, which has sold more than 6 

million copies in the United States 

since its release in February 2011, 

Eastwood honoured 

T 

HE Smithsonian 

Institution 

has honoured 

Hollywood 

legend Clint 

Eastwood at the 

inauguration of 

a new theatre 

in Washington 

dedicated to 

the history of 

American lm. 

Eastwood, 81, was honoured with the 

James Smithson Bicentennial Medal in 

recognition of “six decades of captivating 

national and international audiences 

through his work as an award-winning actor 

and director,” the museum said. 

The 271-seat Warner Brothers Theatre, 

named for the studio that donated $5 million 

towards it, offers exhibitions of Hollywood-related 

objects as well as screenings, 

many of them free to the public. 

First to go on display will be costumes 

worn by Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall 

and Ingrid Bergman, Harry Potter’s robe, 

and Warner-related objects such as movie 

mogul Jack Warner’s silver telephone and 

Bugs Bunny cartoon drawings. 

Screenings were to begin yesterday 

with a three-day festival dedicated 

to Bogart that opens with Casablanca. 

Highlights of Eastwood’s work, including 

cowboy Westerns Unforgiven, Pale Rider 

and The Outlaw Josey Wales, will be presented 

in June. — AFP 

M USEUMS IN OMAN 

FAISAL BIN ALI AL SAID 

MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24641650 

MUSEUM OF OMANI HERITAGE, 

Tel: 24600946 

CHILDREN’S SCIENCE MUSEUM. 

Tel: 24605368 

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24641374 

NATIONAL MUSEUM, Tel: 24701289 

SULTAN’S ARMED FORCES 

MUSEUM, Tel: 24312646 

CURRENCY MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24796102 

MUSCAT GATE MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24739005. 

OMANI-FRENCH MUSEUM (Bait 

Fransa), Tel: 24736613 

BAIT AL ZUBAIR, Tel: 24736688 

BAIT A’NAMAN, Tel: 24641300 

SOHAR FORT MUSEUM. 

Tel: 26844758 

NAHKAL FORT, Tel: 26781384 

BAIT AL MAKHAM. Tel: 24641300 

BAIT ADAM MUSEUM, QURUM, 

Tel: 24605033, 24605013 

OIL AND GAS EXHIBITION 

CENTRE AND PLANETARIUM, 

Tel: 24677834. 

PLANETARIUM, Tel: 24675542. 

AQUARIUM at the Marine Science 

and Fisheries Centre (located next to 

Marina Bandar Rowdha, Sidab). 

SALALAH MUSEUM, Tel: 23294549 

CULTURAL CENTRE, 

Tel: 23294549. 

SUR MARITIME MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24541466. 

BAIT AL BARANDA, Tel: 24714262. 

notched its 18th week in the top 

spot of the Billboard 200 chart. 

Adele, who has been resting her 

voice after vocal cord surgery last November, 

said she will be making her 

live comeback at the Grammy Awards 

in Los Angeles on February 12. 

Country music star McGraw’s 

11th studio album, Emotional Traf- 

c debuted at No 2, scoring the 

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 

Adele beats 7 new albums 

to keep top spot on chart 

Paula axed from The X Factor 

INGER Paula Abdul has 

S reportedly been red from 

her role as a judge on the US 

version of The X Factor. 

According to tmz.com, the 

49-year-old, who was personally 

recruited by music mogul 

Simon Cowell after she was 

red from American Idol, got 

news of her dismissal from 

a lawyer connected with the 

show. 

Nick Cannon to direct 

movie: Singer Nick Cannon 

is stepping behind the camera 

to direct his rst feature lm. 

singer his his 14th 14th top top 10 10 album album in in the 

the 

Billboard 200 chart and 13th No 1 

iin the h Billboard illb d Country Albums lb 

chart. 

New albums from rock band 

Lamb of God, singer-songwriter 

Ingrid Michaelson, American Idol 

alumnus Kellie Pickler, Christian 

music singer Kari Jobe and soul 

singer Seal dotted the top 10, along 

with the “2012 Grammy Nominees” 

and “Kidz Bop 21” compilation and 

Drake’s Take Care. 

After a couple of weeks in early 

January that saw low unit sales gures, 

the chart was rejuvenated this 

week across the top 10. Still, 21 was 

the only album to cross the 100,000 

copies mark, partially driven by a 

re-issued deluxe edition released last 

week in Target retail stores. 

Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger (What 

Doesn’t Kill You) took the top spot 

on the Digital Songs chart, followed 

by Adele’s Set Fire to the Rain holding 

steady at No 2 and last week’s 

chart-topper, David Guetta’s Turn 

Me On featuring Nicki Minaj, falling 

to No 3 this week. — Reuters 

The America’s Got Talent 

host, who was hospitalised 

with kidney failure in Aspen, 

Colorado over the festive season, 

is pushing on with his 

work commitments and will 

begin a new movie project 

this year, reports femalerst. 

co.uk. 

“(I’m) taking a lot of the 

young hip-hop acts of today 

and putting them in a movie 

with a bunch of comedians, 

make something happen 

there,” he told gossip column 

Page Six. — IANS

14 

ENTERTAINMENT FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 

Love, friends, work — how Facebook changes life 

FRIENDS, soulmates, lost parents, 

not to mention work opportunities 

— for about 10 per 

cent of the planet, Facebook is where 

you go to nd much of what matters 

most in life. 

Think of Facebook as something 

like a 24-hour party, virtual of course, 

with a chance to meet your friends’ 

friends. Instead of spotting someone 

across the room, you’ll rst see them 

in their prole picture. You might not 

hear them telling a funny story to a 

group in the corner of the room, but 

you could easily be enticed by the 

comments they put up on their page 

or that of other people. 

The virtual party can lead to real 

love, as it did for Sandrine, who lived 

in Italy and met Antoine who lived in 

Paris, but, like her, was on Facebook. 

Today they have a esh-and-blood 

little daughter. 

“We were both playing on a 

Facebook game app and ended up 

ghting against a common friend,” 

Sandrine recalled. “It started with 

silly exchanges like, ‘don’t touch him, 

leave him to me!’ Then it went to little 

messages, then long mails, and nally 

a highly emotional meeting two 

months later.” 

This global address book, with 

more than 800 million active members, 

may also allow you to search for 

lost friends or even close relatives. 

It’s cheaper and easier than going to a 

private detective, at least. 

Caner Ongun, a 44-year-old Turkish 

man living in New York, had lost 

all trace of his friend Cetin for 15 

years. He knew that he had moved to 

Veracruz in Mexico, but neither Internet 

searches, nor telephone listings 

helped track him down. 

When Ongun signed up to 

Facebook in 2007, it took him only a 

few clicks before he found Cetin was 

also on the network. 

Cetin had left Turkey after divorcing. 

He was a sailor and spent long 

Give fur the cold shoulder, 

says Penelope Cruz 

OLLYWOOD actress Penelope Cruz has 

Hcondemned the use of real fur while posing for an 

anti-fur campaign for PETA in New York. 

The campaign shoot will be displayed on a 70-foot 

billboard outside New York’s Madison Square Garden 

throughout the New York Fashion Week during February 

9 to 16. Milan and London will also be seeing similar 

campaigns, reports femalerst.co.uk. 

Yvonne Taylor, senior programme manager for PETA 

(People for Ethical Treatment of Animals), said: “Penelope 

Cruz has appeared on every ‘best-dressed’ list in the 

world, and the one thing you’ll never see her wearing 

is fur.” 

“One couldn’t ask for a more tting emblem of 

the modern, glamorous woman who knows that 

there’s nothing more beautiful than a woman who 

has a look that kills without anyone having to die for 

it.” 

Cruz isn’t the only famous name ghting for animal 

rights, celebs like Kelly Osbourne, Pink, Pamela Anderson 

and Eva Mendes have all been a part of PETA campaigns 

in the past. — IANS 

Y 

YOU months without communicating with 

his ex-wife and daughter, who had 

moved and couldn’t themselves get 

in touch with him. They had come to 

believe the worst had happened. 

“I wrote my daughter’s name 

on Google and saw her as a user of 

Facebook, but I didn’t know what is 

Facebook,” Cetin said. Since then, 

he’s been back in almost daily con- 

OU can relive li the h thrills h ill of f Don 2 by b 

retracing the trail left by Bollywood 

superstar Shah Rukh Khan during the 

shooting of the sleek actioner in Berlin. 

And this new tour in Berlin, one of 

Europe's top destinations, has earned the 

actor the title of “sexy ambassador” for 

the city. 

This is one of the surprises that await 

SRK fans when they ock in Berlin on 

February 11 to watch Don 2: The King Is 

Back in the company of the man himself. 

Berlin is already one of the three top 

destinations in Europe after London and 

Paris and the city is said to have become 

increasingly popular with Indian tourists 

after Shah Rukh spent 50 days in the 

German capital along with a crew of 70 

people in 2010 to shoot for “Don 2 - The 

King Is Back”. 

Since then, the number of Indian visitors 

to the German capital increased by 

42.8 per cent. Kirsten Niehuus, Managing 

Director, Medienboard, the Berlin ofces 

responsible for funding lms, nds Shah 

Rukh “a sexy ambassador” for the city. 

“After this lm, many Indian tourists 

will want to discover the city on the track 

of Don 2,” says Niehuus. 

by 

retracing the trail left by Bollywood 

t Sh h R kh Kh d i th 

tact with his estranged daughter, even 

if they haven’t met for real. 

Amy, a US woman, recounted 

how she found her high school best 

friend after a long separation. 

“She was my best girlfriend, but 

we went to different universities, etc. 

We hadn’t spoken for about 20 years, 

and I found her on Facebook. Turns 

out, she was living near my mum in 

North Carolina all this time. We have 

spent a lot of time together over the 

last couple of years and now we are 

celebrating her 40th birthday.” 

In an increasingly globalised 

world, Facebook is proving an ideal 

tool. Stephen Todd, a consultant for 

fashion magazine Supply, said that of 

his 1,053 friends on Facebook, only 

99 are at home in Sydney. 

“What Facebook does most for 

me is allow me to feel close to friends 

all around the world, no matter how 

incisive or banal... the exchange.” 

For those wanting jobs or other 

commercial endeavours, not friends, 

Facebook is also a sort of worldwide 

advertising billboard. 

Whether you’re an artist, journalist 

or jewellery maker, your Facebook 

page is now a rst stop for fans, customers 

and co-workers. Stephanie 

Chayet, a French journalist in New 

York and a master of the ironic “status” 

update on her page, wrote this 

summer: “Sorrel — the new spinach.” 

Before she knew it, her Facebooktrawling 

editors had commissioned an 

article on “the latest culinary fads.” 

Her sister Camille, meanwhile, 

got an internship after discovering an 

offer on Facebook, her yoga instructor-friend 

used the network to nd 

her rst clients — the list goes on. 

Then there’s Gilles Verdiani, a 

French scriptwriter. His “status” updates 

made between 2009 and 2010 

on becoming a new father didn’t just 

attract attention online: They’ll be 

coming back out in May in France as 

an old-fashioned book. — AFP 

Berlin gets Don Don 22 

trail, thanks to SRK 

Being a child model was brutal: Katherine Heigl 

CTRESS Katherine Heigl says 

Aworking as a child model when she 

was nine was “brutal” and she hated the 

experience. 

The 33-year-old, who raises threeyear-old 

daughter Naleigh with husband 

Josh Kelley, began her career in showbusiness 

with a stint as a model for clients 

including US department stores Macy's 

and Sears but Katherine has admitted she 

hated the experience. 

“Oh my god, it was brutal. You even 

understand it, even when you're nine, 

you're like, 'This is silly and lame' and 

they're like, 'No, no, it's adorable, do it,'” 

contactmusic.com quoted Heigl as saying. 

Now, Gaga has a pad in London: 

Pop star Lady Gaga has reportedly 

So in a special tour titled — “On the 

Trail of Don 2” — fans will walk the German 

capital in the footsteps of Don, the 

character played by Shah Rukh in the lm. 

Fans will be armed with a map marked 

by locations where Don 2 was shot, including 

the swanky Mandala Hotel on 

Potsdamer Platz. Here Shah Rukh had special 

permission to smoke in room number 

bought a luxurious apartment in the 

posh locality of Fitzrovia in London and 

she is expected to share it with her boyfriend 

Taylor Kinney. 

The pop superstar recently asked Kinney 

to move in with her. 

The house is located in a new development 

which is not yet complete and 

the building will have a modern concrete 

exterior, oor-to-ceiling windows, four 

luxury penthouses, a roof garden and a 

communal courtyard, reports femalerst. 

co.uk. 

A source said: “She had been staying 

in The Lanesborough Hotel every time 

she visited London but because she is 

over so much she has decided to go for 

it and invest.” 

In the past many celebrities stayed 

in the area — Madonna owned a townhouse. 

— IANS 

Vanity Fair picks Hollywood’s leading women stars of 2012 

Rooney Mara 

ANITY Fair unveiled the cover of its annual 

VHollywood issue on Tuesday, featuring 

"fresh stars of 2012" who were chosen for the 

impact they made through movies, including 

Oscar nominees Rooney Mara and Jessica 

Chastain. 

"We're looking for actresses who are doing 

great work on the screen. And if they're young 

and beautiful, well that doesn't hurt either," 

wrote Vanity Fair features editor Jane Sarkin in 

an e-mail. Most are in their 20s. The eldest is 

Paula Patton at age 36. 

The 11 stars picked alongside Mara (The 

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Chastain (The 

Help) for the prestigious 3-page cover include 

last year's best actress Oscar nominee Jennifer 

Lawrence and "Albert Nobbs" actress Mia 

Wasikowska. 

They are joined on the cover insert by Martha 

Marcy May Marlene actress Elizabeth 

Olsen, The Descendants breakout star Shailene 

Woodley, Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol 

action lady Patton, "Abduction" star Lily 

Collins, Pariah actress Adepero Oduye, Chicago 

native writer-actor Brit Marling and Like 

Crazy actress Felicity Jones. 

"This group has solid acting cred. Some have 

already taken on great roles, and I think that all 

of these girls are on the go-to list for every lm 

currently being cast," explained Sarkin. 

Jessica Chastain 

1107 in a city where smoking is banned 

in all public places. Those not inclined to 

walk lk can ddrive i iin open air i ttourist i t bbuses. 

Countless Shah Rukh fans from different 

parts of Europe are expected at 

the Berlinale, the 10-day lm fest that 

opens in the city on February 9 to get 

another glimpse on the red carpet of the 

Bollywood actor. 

In anticipation, city authorities are 

wiping away the last speck of dust at the 

actual locations where Don 2 was shot, 

including the historic Brandenburg Gate, 

the Berlin Cathedral, State Opera House, 

the Olympic Stadium and the high rise 

hotel on Alexanderplatz from where a 

Shah Rukh double is shown taking that 

breathtaking plunge. 

The idea of Bollywood in Berlin follows 

Hollywood in Berlin, an older city 

tour that has already taken countless 

visitors to sights where both modern and 

classic lms starring Hollywood divas 

like Marlene Dietrich and Liza Minnelli 

were shot. 

“On the Trail of Don 2” is the rst tour 

organised in the city after the German 

capital featured as an integral part of the 

narrative. — IANS 

The art-deco style shoot, which sees the 

ladies wearing pastel coloured dresses with 

feathers and furs inspired by the Jazz age of the 

1920s and ’30s, was conducted by famed photographer 

Mario Testino. 

The annual cover of the March issue, which 

has featured stars such as Anne Hathaway, James 

Franco, Carey Mulligan and Amy Adams in recent 

years, was described by Sarkin as a "casting 

couch" that helped raise actors’ proles. 

The issue has often been criticised in the past 

for its lack of racial diversity among the stars 

and despite featuring two African American 

women on this year’s cover, the magazine drew 

critical re again. 

Dodai Stewart, editor of feminist website 

Jezebel, noted that the two black actresses, Patton 

and Oduye, in the 3-page cover were excluded 

from the left "power panel" and put on 

the insert, saying "it's pretty obvious that Hollywood 

has a serious problem with diversity." 

Film website Cinemablend.com also lamented 

the exclusion of this year's Oscar nominees 

Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer, stars of The 

Help, and questioned the inclusion of Collins. 

"We're very pleased with our cover and the 

talented women who adorn all three panels," 

Sarkin said in response to the critics. 

The March issue of Vanity Fair is available on 

newsstands from yesterday. — Reuters 

Emma not fashion conscious 

ACTRESS Emma Watson, who was named the world's 

best dressed woman of 2011 by a fashion magazine, 

says she is a "boring" dresser. 

"My problem is that I am a little bit boring. I don't 

wear designer bags or big sunglasses. When I don't have 

to play Emma Watson in public, I'd rather not put myself 

'out there'," showbizspy.com quoted the 21-year-old as 

saying. 

"I have to be more careful with my look in my everyday 

life. I have ('Harry Potter' character) Hermione to 

thank, in a weird way, for my sense of style. Playing this 

role, fashion was my way of expressing myself away from 

that school unifor uniform," she added. 

Rihanna named hottest tweeter 

P 

OP star RRihanna 

has been named 

the hottest woman on 

Twitter in a magazine 

poll. 

The 23-year-old defeated 

models Kate Upton 

and Adriana Lima, 

who grabbed the second 

and third positions. 

According to contactmusic.com, 

the R&B 

star's racy tweets and 

provocative snapshots 

helped her to land the 

title in a poll conducted 

by Complex magazine. 

Zoe Saldana and 

Nicole Scherzinger round up the top ve, while Beyonce 

Knowles, actress Emmanuelle Chriqui, Shakira and model 

Candice Swanepoel make it to the top 10 list. 

P 

has been 

the hottest wom 

Twitter in a ma 

Rachel Weisz’s L’Oreal ad banned 

L'OREAL ad 

A featuring actress 

Rachel Weisz has been 

banned by Britain's 

Advertising Standards 

Authority (ASA), which 

found it "misleadingly 

exaggerated". 

ASA ruled that the 

41-year-old's complexion 

had been digitally 

changed in the image 

used to promote L'Oreal 

Paris Revitalift Repair 

10, making it appear 

smoother. 

The ASA also ruled 

the ad could not be used 

again in its current form and warned L'Oreal against using 

post-production techniques to misrepresent what their 

products can achieve, reports contactmusic.com. 

‘No’ to cosmetic treatment 

ACTRESS Gwyneth 

Paltrow says she 

is happy to grow old 

gracefully rather than go 

for cosmetic treatment. 

"I'll take my wrinkles, I 

don't like the Botox thing. 

I eat whatever I want. I 

like bread and cheese, and 

that makes my life fun and 

enjoyable," showbizspy. 

com quoted the 39-yearold 

as saying. 

Scarlett dating ad executive? 

ACTRESS Scarlett Johansson is reportedly dating 

advertising executive Nate Naylor. 

The 27-year-old is said to have been secretly romancing 

the freelance creative director for the last six months, 

and they were spotted together in Manhattan, New York 

recently. 

"They're keeping it very, very low key. He's not one 

for the limelight and fame and she likes that about him," 

showbizspy.com quoted a source as saying. — IANS

NEWS IN BRIEF 

Dilip Kumar gives hand 

impression for museum 

BOLLYWOOD thespian Dilip Kumar 

says that actor Riteish Deshmukh 

recently paid him a visit to take his and 

his wife Saira Banu's hand impression for 

his upcoming museum called Legends 

Walk in Mumbai, a desi version of the 

famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. 

“Last week, Riteish Deshmukh, my 

dear friend Vilasrao Deshmukh’s talented 

son, visited us with his life-casting 

expert to get impressions of my hands 

and Saira’s hands which will be in a 

museum he proposes to have for cinema 

lovers,” Dilip Kumar wrote on his blog 

thedilipkumar.mouthshut.com. 

“It is Riteish’s way of telling those of 

us who spent the best years of our lives 

entertaining and, hopefully, impacting 

people’s minds through our films, that 

our hard work and contributions to the 

growth of the medium have not been in 

vain,” he further posted. 

Riteish is set to tie the knot with his 

long time girlfriend Genelia D'souza 

today and the 89-year-old wished them 

saying, "I hope to be at his wedding on 

February 3 and share the Deshmukh 

family's happiness on the occasion." 

Riteish, who is set to launch a 

Legends Walk in Mumbai soon, has 

already got the handprints of as many 

as 25 legendary actors of the Hindi film 

industry including the likes of Shashi 

Kapoor, Manoj Kumar, Sadhana and 

Amitabh Bachchan. 

Uttarakhand to better farm 

livelihoods with UN loan 

INDIA is receiving a loan of nearly 

$90 million from the United Nations 

to improve agricultural livelihoods 

in the small northwestern hill state of 

Uttarakhand. 

The loan under an agreement with the 

UN International Fund for Agricultural 

Development will go towards the 

Integrated Livelihoods Support Project, 

which aims to support and develop the 

food production system in Uttarakhand 

by improving technologies for traditional 

food crops and livestock. 

The project will enable farmers 

to earn more by selling cash crops, 

according to the Rome-based agency. 

Production of off-season vegetables 

such as potatoes, tomatoes and peas 

will increase and better marketing 

arrangements will be put in place. 

The project, which will cover 143,000 

households, will also introduce new 

crops and products such as nuts, spices, 

medicinal and aromatic plants. Among 

those expected to benefit are small rural 

producers, women, scheduled caste 

households and young people. 

Commercial vehicles 

causing jams: Delhi Police 

BLAMING the city’s transport 

department for allowing overloaded 

commercial vehicles to enter the city, 

which eventually causes jams, Delhi 

Police yesterday said it was facing flak 

for no fault of theirs. 

According to a message posted by 

Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) 

Satyendra Garg on traffic police's 

Facebook page, which has more than 

95,000 followers, police say that those 

who were responsible for the situation 

don’t even care. 

"Most of the commercial vehicles 

which are allowed entry in the city 

at night are overloaded. Transport 

department has not delegated prosecution 

for overloading to police," said Garg. 

Another woman arrested 

in baby Falak case 

A WOMAN has been arrested with 

connection to the 14-year-old girl who 

brought battered baby Falak to hospital, 

police said yesterday. This is the fourth 

arrest in the case. 

The woman has been identified as 

Arti, the associate of another arrested 

woman Pooja. Police on Wednesday 

announced the arrest of three people — 

Sandeep, his wife Pooja and Jitendra 

Kumar Gupta, the teenager's father who 

used to physically assault her. 

Falak was brought to All India 

Institute of Medical Sciences on January 

18 with severe head injuries and bite 

marks all over her face by the teenager, 

who initially claimed to be her mother. 

The girl is now in a juvenile home. She 

got the baby from Rajkumar, the key accused 

in the case who is on the run. 

Rajkumar got Falak from a woman 

Laxmi, who after being questioned by police, 

revealed that she received the baby 

from Munni, the biological mother, who 

is absconding. — IANS 

NEW DELHI — In a blow to the government, the 

Supreme Court yesterday quashed all 122 licences for 

mobile phone services issued in 2008 and left it to a 

trial court to decide on a possible probe into the role of 

Home Minister P Chidambaram, then finance minister. 

In what also comes as a respite to some 45 million 

phone subscribers covered by the 122 licences, Justices 

G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly ordered that the services 

will carry on for four months, by which time the telecom 

watchdog will decide the future action plan. 

The licences were issued to companies, which now 

operate under the brand names Uninor, Loop, Etisalat, 

Videocon, STel, Tata Tele, Idea and MTS. But not all 

the licences that are currently with them pertain to the 

tainted ones awarded in 2008. 

The judges virtually thanked the petitioners — Janata 

Party president Subramanian Swamy and lawyer 

Prashant Bhushan — and said the "misuse and arbitrary 

use of powers" may not have come to light but for some 

enlightened citizens seeking good governance. 

The court also slapped a fine of Rs 5 crore each on 

Unitech, Tata Teleservices and Swan Telecom and ordered 

half of that to go towards the court's legal aid 

services and the remaining to defence services. It also 

imposed varying costs on other companies. 

"The exercise by the officers between September 

2007 and March 2008 under the leadership of then telecom 

minister A Raja was wholly arbitrary, capricious 

and contrary to public interest apart from being violative 

of the doctrine of equality," the verdict said. 

"He (Raja) virtually gifted away the important national 

asset at throw away prices." 

The verdict pushed Communications Minister Kapil 

Sibal into an overdrive. He met Prime Minister Manmohan 

Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee 

before a press conference in which he defended the 

government, saying implementation of policy alone 

was wrong. 

"The court has indicted the 'first come first serve' 

policy. This was the policy of NDA (National Democratic 

Alliance) government," he said. Blaming Raja, 

he added: "The order says the advise of finance ministry 

and Prime Minister's Office wasn't followed by then 

minister." 

His own ministry was then overseen by Raja, an undertrial 

who began his second year in jail yesterday. 

India's telecom network has grown into the the second 

largest in the world after China, with 926.53 million 

subscribers, serviced by 15 operators, including 

two state-run companies, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam 

15 INDIA 



Court quashes Raja’s 

122 phone licences 

and Bharat Sanchar Nigam. 

With elections under way in five states, the opposition 

seized the opportunity to renew its demand for the 

ouster of the home minister, and said the United Progressive 

Alliance (UPA) government under Prime Minister 

Manmohan Singh had no moral right to continue. 

"The Bharatiya Janata Party would like to ask Prime 

Minister Manmohan Singh: Would you take some action 

against Chidambaram or will you continue to 

express your confidence in him despite so much evidence?” 

wondered spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad. 

The main petitioner was clearly elated. 

"The court has said the government must now get 

market value of these licences," Swamy told reporters 

here. “As far as Chidambaram is concerned, the court 

said the trial court can decide.” 

Justices Singhvi and Ganguly also said the Special 

Trial Court of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) 

— that is hearing the 2G spectrum allocation case in 

which former telecom minister Raja is prime accused 

— will decide on Chidambaram within two weeks. 

With this the focus shifts to the trial court, being presided 

over by Judge O P Saini. This court has heard a 

separate petition of Swamy to prosecute Chidambaram 

and reserved its order on that matter for tomorrow. 

Apart from the political arena, yesterday's development 

had its impact on other areas as well. The stocks 

of the companies which hold the tainted licences fell 

sharply, even as that of older telecom firms gained in 

anticipation of subscribers shifting to them. 

While subscribers served by these 122 tainted licences 

were left wondering about the fate of their 

service, experts said they were free to use the mobile 

number portability (MNP) scheme, which is in full 

force across the country. 

"Basically, the time period of four months is the 

time for government to decide to come up with an enhanced 

market mechanism," Rajan Mathews, director 

general of the Cellular Operators Association Of India 

(COAI), said. 

The court order does not affect companies that got 

licences before 2008, nor does it have an impact on 3G 

services for which licences were auctioned two years 

ago, even as Sibal remained optimistic on the future of 

India's telecom sector. 

"The judgement will bring clarity to the situation. It 

will bring sanity to the sector and it will bring hope to 

the sector because now the road map is clear. And we 

will get large investments," Sibal said. — IANS 

SMOKE rises after a blaze at a wood warehouse in south Mumbai yesterday. The fire was fuelled by 

inflammable material such as wood, plastic and oil stored there, a fire brigade official said. 

Eight fire engines and six water tankers were pressed into service. — AFP 

Month-long exhibition 

chronicles Gandhi-King ties 

NEW DELHI — The Black History 

Month in the US, which began on 

Wednesday, has connected to India 

with a showcase of civil rights icon 

Martin Luther King, Jr’s visit to the 

country and his ideological tryst 

with Mahatma Gandhi. 

The month-long visual chronicle, 

'Journey Towards Freedom', opened 

at the American Center here. 

It documents King's love affair 

with India, his inspiration from Mahatma 

Gandhi and the fruition of 

coloured America's dream with the 

presidentship of Barack Obama in 

2008-2009. 

"The exhibition coincides with 

the Black History Month in February 

in the US. Without Gandhiji, we 

would have had no King. We are indebted 

to Gandhiji," Lydia Barraza, 

a writer and senior officer at the US 

Embassy, said. 

"The Black History Month, over 

the years, has widened its frame to 

include women, LGBT groups and 

other minorities," she added. 

King's philosophy of non-violence 

was essentially Gandhian, a 

panel on display at the exhibition 

said. “The true non-violent resistance 

is not unrealistic submission 

to evil... it is rather a courageous 

confrontation of evil by the power 

of love in the faith that it is better to 

be the recipient of violence,” Martin 

Luther King, Jr, had said in 1959. 

Gandhi, on his part, was influenced 

by American resistance writer 

Henry David Thoreau's essay Civil 

Disobedience. 

The showcase is made of 15 

panels that bring out aspects of 

King's and Gandhi's lives that were 

common to their mission of nonviolence. 

King's cry for equal rights 

for America's coloured population 

was crafted by Gandhi's view of the 

“black people”. 

“Let not the 12 million negros 

(the then population of the coloured 

people) be ashamed by the fact that 

they are the grandchildren of the 

slaves... There is no dishonour in being 

a slave, there is dishonour in being 

a slave owner,” Gandhi had told 

a delegation of African-American 

leaders led by Howard Thurman, a 

theologian and educator, in 1936. 

Gandhi urged his American visitors 

to try “civil disobedience”. 

Martin Luther King, Jr a seminary 

student, first came to know of 

Gandhi during a college lecture by 

educator Mordecai Wyatt Johnson 

at Morehouse College where he 

studied between 1944-1948. 

“The message was so electrifying 

that I left the meeting and bought 

half-a-dozen books on Gandhi's life 

and works,” King said. 

It changed King's life forever, 

marking the beginning of his “journey 

to freedom”. 

“To other countries, I may go as 

a tourist, to India, I come as a pilgrim,” 

King said in 1959. 

With a grant of $4,000 from 

Christopher Reynolds Foundation 

and $1,000 from the American 

Friends Service Committee, King, 

wife Coretta and a friend Lawrence 

Reddick visited India in 1959, a few 

weeks after King's 30th birthday. 

The group visited Shantiniketan, 

Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, 

Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, 

Agra and New Delhi. 

In the capital, King and his group 

were hosted by Jawaharlal Nehru and 

his daughter Indira. The Kings visited 

Gandhi's memorial at Rajghat, 

where Coretta King said: “It was like 

meeting George Washington, Thomas 

Jefferson and James Madison in 

a single day.” A year after King's assassination 

in 1968, Coretta returned 

to India to collect the 'Jawaharlal 

Nehru Award for International Understanding'. 

— IANS 

PRASHANT Bhushan, a lawyer and the main petitioner in the 2G case, speaks with the 

media after a verdict outside the Supreme Court in New Delhi yesterday. — Reuters 

Foreign firms seek clarity 

NEW DELHI — Norwegian 

firm Telenor yesterday 

sought a fair deal from the 

government to protect its investment 

in the country after 

the Supreme Court cancelled 

the licence of its joint venture 

Uninor, while analysts viewed 

the verdict as a setback for foreign 

investment in the sector, 

at least in the short run. 

"We look to the government 

to arrive at a fair outcome that 

doesn't jeopardise our lawful 

investment," said Glenn Mandelid, 

Director of Communications, 

Telenor Group. 

"We are reviewing the order 

and will consider necessary 

actions to safeguard our 

investment." 

The Supreme Court cancelled 

all 122 licences issued 

to telecom firms in 2008. 

However, the apex court has 

given four months' time to the 

country's telecom regulator to 

look into the matter and make 

recommendations for the fresh 

auctions. 

Mandelid said the Supreme 

Court's decision should not be 

NEW DELHI — Tata Group 

chief Ratan Tata yesterday 

urged the Supreme Court to 

direct the central government 

to give him the confidential 

report on the leaked taped 

conversations of former corporate 

lobbyist Niira Radia. 

Tata asked for the report 

of the probe by the director- 

general of income tax so that 

he could implead the telecom 

service providers as parties in 

the case. 

The confidential report being 

sought by Tata is on the 

investigation by the director 

general of income tax into the 

leakage of the taped telephone 

conversations of Radia. 

On a plea by senior counsel 

Mukul Rohatgi, appearing 

for Tata, the apex court 

bench of Justice G S Singhvi 

and Justice S J Mukhopadhaya 

asked additional solicitor 

general Harin Raval if he had 

any reservation on sharing the 

confidential report with the 

petitioner. 

Raval told the court that 

if Tata filed an application on 

BJP demands immediate 

resignation of Chidambaram 

NEW DELHI — The Bharatiya 

Janata Party (BJP) yesterday 

demanded the immediate 

resignation of Home Minister 

P Chidambaram after the Supreme 

Court in a verdict cancelled 

122 telecom licences issued 

when he was the finance 

minister. 

Top BJP leaders spoke out 

in chorus against Chidambaram, 

who was the finance minister 

when the 2G licences 

were allotted, and sought clarifications 

from Prime Minister 

Manmohan Singh and Congress 

president Sonia Gandhi. 

"The finance minister is the 

custodian of the public exchequer. 

It is the prime responsibility 

of finance minister to ensure 

that there is no loot of public 

money," Leader of Opposition 

in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley 

told reporters in Lucknow. 

"The prime minister had 

said Chidambaram is his valued 

colleague and what he did 

is right. That decision of the 

government to allot 2G licences 

has been declared illegal and 

unconstitutional by the highest 

court of the country... It was 

not a person's decision, it was 

inflicted on its investment, as 

the company's participation 

in the Indian JV started after 

2008 spectrum allocation. 

"When we have not caused 

any of the faults found by the 

courts, it is obvious to everyone 

that our investment must 

not be jeopardised," he said. 

Telenor has invested more 

than Rs 6,100 crore in equity 

and over Rs 8,000 crore in corporate 

guarantees as a foreign 

investor in Uninor. 

Unior on its behalf said 

it had been unfairly treated, 

even as it followed the regulatory 

process to acquire the 2G 

spectrum. 

"We are shocked to see that 

Uninor is being penalised for 

faults the court has found in 

the government process," said 

a company spokesperson. 

The company said the current 

order by the apex court 

did not entail Uninor to stop 

operations. 

"We expect the authorities 

to ensure that our 36 million 

customers, 17,500 workforce 

and 22,000 partners are not 

this, the central government 

in its response would tell the 

court the portions of the report 

on which it would claim 

privilege and the portions of 

the report that could be made 

available to Tata. 

The court adjourned the 

hearing for two weeks to enable 

the industrialist to file an 

application. 

The court was hearing a 

plea of Tata for enforcing his 

right to privacy by restraining 

unauthorised publication of 

the transcripts of the intercepted 

telephone conversations of 

Radia. Tata contended that the 

publication of the intercepts 

violated his right to privacy. 

The income tax department 

after approval from the union 

home secretary taped 5,851 

telephonic conversations that 

Radia had with different people 

during the course of the 

grant of 2G licences and allocation 

of spectrum. Tata 

moved the apex court in November 

2010. 

The income tax department's 

report on Radia tapes 

the government's decision. The 

telecom minister and finance 

minister had a special role (in 

the decision)," Jaitley said. BJP 

general secretary Ravi Shankar 

Prasad asked Prime Minister 

Manmohan Singh, Congress 

president Sonia Gandhi and 

party general secretary Rahul 

Gandhi to clarify on the issue. 

"Will the prime minister 

take some accountability or 

keep silent as always? Will Sonia 

Gandhi and Rahul, the two 

most powerful leaders in the 

Congress, speak about massive 

corruption in this government 

or maintain a conspicuous silence," 

Prasad asked. He also 

demanded to know if the prime 

minister would take action or 

continue to express his confidence 

in Chidambaram. 

Prasad's party colleague 

Balbir Punj, echoing him, 

said, "If the government has 

any standards left, they should 

ask for the resignation of 

Chidambaram immediately." 

He added, "If he refuses, he 

should be sacked." 

The main opposition party's 

reaction come after the Supreme 

Court ordered cancel- 

unjustly affected." 

Another telcom operator, 

Sistema Shyam TeleServices 

(SSTL), which operates under 

MTS brand in India, said 

it would resort to all means 

under the law to protect its interests. 

"The company would like 

to state that being a law abiding 

organisation, it reserves 

the right to protect its interests 

by using all available judicial 

remedies." 

SSTL is a joint venture 

between Sistema Joint Stock 

Financial Corporation of Russia 

and the Shyam Group of 

India. 

Analysts pointed out that 

players like Sistema and Etisalat 

are government-controlled 

companies and these foreign 

governments would now be 

cautious about doing business 

in India. 

And, they said, getting 

foreign direct investment in 

the sector could be a bit more 

challenging for the country, till 

the policy framework is clarified. 

— IANS 

Tata seeks report on Radia tapes 

was given to the apex court on 

Tuesday in a sealed cover. It is 

believed to have indicated that 

the leakage was not done by 

any of the government agencies 

who had access to these 

tapes. 

The report is believed to 

have pointed the needle of suspicion 

to the service providers 

as they too were involved in 

the tapping of phones. 

The government said there 

were eight to 10 agencies, 

including service providers, 

which were involved in the 

tapping of Radia's telephonic 

conversations. 

While purusing the probe 

report on Tuesday, the court 

said it was "quite possible that 

someone else has done it". 

Tata in his petition said 

he was not questioning the 

right of the government to 

intercept telephone calls 

but the recorded conversations 

could be used only for 

investigations and not for publications 

in media. — IANS 

ling of all 122 licenses granted 

to telecom companies during 

the tenure of then communications 

minister A Raja. The order 

came on a plea of Janata Party 

leader Subramanian Swamy. 

However, the apex court 

left another petition by Swamy, 

seeking investigation into the 

role of Chidambaram in the 

2G spectrum case, with a trial 

court, adding that the CBI is 

free to investigate if it chooses 

to. 

"The CBI has elaborately 

argued for days together that 

the role of Mr Chidambaram 

need not be investigated. 

Therefore, the upfront of today's 

order is that his role has 

to be investigated. The special 

court has already taken up the 

matter," Prasad said. 

He also said the court 

verdict had made the nation 

proud. 

"We believe India's reputation 

has grown after this verdict, 

the common Indian is full 

of pride today," he said, adding 

that several crucial policy decisions 

of the UPA government 

lacked transparency and credibility. 

— IANS

NEWS IN BRIEF 

Always wanted to 

experience Indian culture 

HOLLYWOOD action star Arnold 

Schwarzenegger always wanted to 

experience the culture and heritage of 

India and says he is feeling great to be in 

the country and that he delayed the shoot 

of Last Stand to be here. 

“I always wanted to visit India and 

experience the rich culture, beauty and 

the history of India. I am shooting for 

my film Last stand since October, but 

I had to delay the shoot because I was 

supposed to come here (India). It feels 

nice to be in India,” the 64-year-old said 

yesterday while attending the 12th Delhi 

Sustainable Development Summit. 

The former governor of California 

is in the capital to attend the summit 

that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 

inaugurated. 

When asked how strict is he about 

saving energy back home, the Terminator 

star said: “I always ask my kids to turn 

off the lights whenever they are out 

of their rooms. And I tell them if they 

forget, I would take out the entire switch 

board.” 

Oil firms halt, resume fuel 

supplies to Air India 

JET fuel supplies to cash-strapped Air 

India were halted for three hours by the 

three state-run oil marketing companies 

yesterday but resumed following 

government intervention. 

An Air India official said that the 

supplies were hit from 4 pm to 7 pm 

because the airline had not paid pending 

dues, leading to delays in four flights. 

The official said the issue was 

resolved after civil aviation ministry 

officials contacted the petroleum 

ministry. 

“The petroleum ministry was assured 

that the dues would be settled in a day or 

two,” the official said. 

Poll panel disbands 

Punjab flying squads 

THE Election Commission has decided 

to disband surveillance teams and flying 

squads set up to monitor the assembly 

elections in Punjab, an official said in 

Chandigarh yesterday. 

Punjab Chief Electoral Officer 

Kusumjit Sidhu said that district 

authorities across the state have been 

asked to ensure that no person was 

harassed by these teams any more. 

The teams, made up of officers from 

various government agencies, were 

deployed to monitor election related 

expenditure and flow of liquor during 

balloting. 

The Election Commission recovered 

Rs 33.66 crore of unaccounted cash and 

over 697,000 bottles of country liquor in 

the run up to the poll. 

IAS duo sent to 

police custody 

TWO Indian Administrative Service 

(IAS) officers arrested for alleged 

involvement in a multi-crore iron ore 

export scam were sent to police custody 

yesterday. 

Debaditya Chakraborty, a former 

managing director of the West Bengal 

Essential Commodities Supply Corp 

(WBECSC), and R N Jamir, an exdirector-general, 

would be in police 

custody till tomorrow, the chief 

metropolitan magistrate said. 

The duo were arrested on Wednesday 

for their alleged involvement in the over 

Rs 220 crore scam of 2004. 

The WBECSC was assigned to ship 

iron ore to a Chinese firm in association 

with an Indian company, Bharat Minmet 

Corp Ltd (BMCL). The consignment was 

rejected because of inferior quality but 

the ship did not return, raising suspicions 

that the ore was sold somewhere between 

India and China. The prosecution said 

both the accused acted fraudulently to 

gain over Rs 220 crore wrongly. 

Government to prefer 

domestic manufacturers 

THE government said yesterday it 

will give preference to domestic firms 

while buying electronic products which 

have security implications for the 

country. 

The cabinet headed by Prime Minister 

Manmohan Singh approved the proposal 

to “provide preference to domestically 

manufactured electronic products... 

which have security implications for the 

country”. 

The manufacturers will also get 

preference in procurement of electronic 

products for general use. — IANS 

Wage delay matter 

of concern: PM 

NEW DELHI — Delayed payments 

of wages under the rural job scheme 

are a cause of concern, Prime Minister 

Manmohan Singh said yesterday 

as Congress chief Sonia Gandhi 

stressed that complaints of corruption 

about the UPA government’s flagship 

scheme cannot be ignored. 

Addressing an event to mark six 

years of the Mahatma Gandhi National 

Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme 

(MGNREGS), the prime minister said 

the potential of the scheme that guarantees 

a member of a rural household 

100 days of employment in a year has 

not been fully realised. 

“There are many challenges in implementation 

of MGNREGS. The biggest 

worry is delayed wage payment 

to workers,” the prime minister said. 

“They should get it within 15 days. 

We need to expand the reach of banks 

and post offices to do it,” the prime 

minister said. 

Rural Development Minister 

Jairam Ramesh, in his address, responded 

to the concerns raised 

by the prime minister and the United 

Progressive Alliance chairperson and 

said that measures to improve the 

MGNREGS will be announced by 

next month. 

The prime minister, who inaugurated 

the conference, expressed 

confidence that the issues in implementation 

of the scheme will be sorted 

out. 

“We feel what was the basic purpose 

of MGNREGA and its potential 

has not been reaped fully,” he said. 

He said the poor come under 

debt due to delayed wage payments 

in the rural job scheme, and urged 

the state governments to address the 

issue of shortage of manpower in 

verifying the muster rolls and works 

done under the scheme. 

The prime minister congratulated 

Ramesh for implementing the job 

scheme in Maoist areas and said playgrounds 

for children can be built under 

the scheme in these districts. 

He said the government was allocating 

around Rs 40,000 crore annually 

for the scheme despite financial 

difficulties. 

In her address, Gandhi said the talk 

about improving the MGNREGS was 

taking place for quite a long time and 

time has now come to implement the 

suggestions. 

“We cannot ignore the complaints 

that are coming regarding the irregularities 

and corruption in the scheme,” 

she said. 

Gandhi said she was happy that the 

CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) 

will look into the expenditure 

under the scheme. 

“Corruption in MGNREGA is great 

injustice to the country and a crime,” 

she said, adding, “there is unfortunately 

an apathy towards it (the scheme) 

in some states, especially those which 

are considered poor.” 

She said panchayats had a role in 

implementing the scheme and the 

grass roots organisation should be empowered. 

Gandhi said the scheme has helped 

arrest migration from the affected parts 

of the country as people were getting 

jobs closer to their homes. 

Officials said the ministry has been 

working on the suggestions to expand 

the job scheme to cover irrigation and 

its convergence with total sanitation 

campaign. — IANS 

Renault plans to bring 

out below Rs 4 lakh car 

KOLKATA — French auto major 

Renault yesterday said it is planning 

to launch a passenger car in India at 

below Rs 4 lakh. 

“Beyond Rs 4 lakh a car is our 

playing ground today (in India). We 

project to go below Rs 4 lakh,” Renault 

India Pvt Ltd Country Managing 

Director Marc Nassif said here. 

He was speaking on the sidelines 

of a programme to launch Pulse, a 

hatchback in B segment. 

According to Nassif, currently 

about 50 per cent of Indian passenger 

cars cost between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 

4 lakh. 

The company launched the diesel 

version of Pulse, priced between Rs 

5.77 lakh and Rs 6.25 lakh, in January. 

Nassif said the plan of rolling out 

cars below Rs 4 lakh was part of its 

global strategy. 

On the sales target in India, he 

OTTAWA — A Canadian entrepreneur 

faces charges of bribing an Indian cabinet 

minister in the first prosecution of 

a person under Canada's foreign anticorruption 

law, a paper said yesterday. 

Indian-born entrepreneur Nazir Karigar, 

64, was charged 18 months ago 

with bribing foreign officials but the 

Royal Canadian Mounted Police at 

the time refused to reveal details of 

his alleged crime. 

Court documents cited by the daily 

Globe and Mail now reveal that the 

case involved Heavy Industries Minister 

Praful Patel and former Mumbai 

police commissioner Hasan Ghafoor. 

Karigar, working on behalf of US 

high tech firm CryptoMetrics, is ac- 

said: “We will aim to sell one lakh 

cars once we have our five cars on the 

roads and 100 outlets. It can be 2013 

or 2014… that will depend on how 

the models are doing and the growth 

of the market.” 

Among the company’s five new 

cars, three are out in the market. 

The car maker, which entered India 

in 2005, launched a luxury sedan, 

Fluence, in May 2010. In September, 

it came up with a compact SUV, Koleos. 

In the second half of this year, it 

will launch Duster, a SUV. The company 

will come out with a sedan before 

2012 ends. 

“Last year (2011) we sold about 

1,500 cars (Koleos and Fluence),” 

Nassif said. 

The company will open 100 outlets 

in the country by December 2012. 

— IANS 

THE Managing Director of Renault India Private Limited, Marc Nassif 

addresses the media after launching the Renault Pulse automobile 

in Kolkata. Renault India is the fully owned subsidiary of 

French auto giant Renault who launched the Pulse. — AFP 

Canadian accused of bribing 

India cabinet minister 

cused of bribing Patel and conspiring 

with Gafoor to rig a $100 million 

contract to supply a facial recognition 

security system to Air India. 

Karigar allegedly boasted to others 

how he funneled a $250,000 bribe to 

Patel, then aviation minister. Gafoor 

was once Air India's security director 

and a childhood friend of Karigar. 

Karigar also allegedly paid hundreds 

of thousands of dollars to two 

Air India executives. The bid was unsuccessful. 

The Globe said Patel and Gafoor 

denied knowledge of the scheme, and 

Karigar has pleaded not guilty. CryptoMetrics 

declared bankruptcy shortly 

after Karigar was charged. — AFP 

16 INDIA 



Technology to empower women 

BANGALORE — Women 

leaders from India and over 

50 other countries are gathering 

here today to discuss role 

of technology in empowering 

women, particularly in developing 

nations. 

The three-day conference 

titled “Women and Technology” 

is being organised by 

the Art of Living (AoL) International 

Centre, founded 

by spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi 

Shankar.This is the fifth International 

Women’s Conference 

(IWC) hosted by AoL. Parliamentarians, 

film-makers, 

HYDERABAD — Visiting 

Chanchalguda Central Jail as 

Andhra Pradesh home secretary, 

he had received a guard 

of honour. Just two months 

later, senior Indian Administrative 

Service (IAS) officer 

B P Acharya yesterday found 

himself in the same jail as an 

undertrial. 

A special court sent Acharya 

to jail in the Emaar-APIIC 

township scam in which he is 

the prime accused. 

The Central Bureau of 

Investigation (CBI), which 

arrested the 1983-batch IAS 

officer on Monday, presented 

him before the special court 

dealing with the CBI cases. 

He was remanded in judicial 

custody till February 15. 

Acharya complained that 

KOLKATA — The West Bengal 

government’s plans to drop 

a clause in service rules of its 

employees that gives them full 

trade union rights have drawn 

the ire of a majority of workers' 

organisations. 

“If the right to strike is 

taken away from government 

employees, all the central 

trade unions will rally behind 

them with all solidarity,” All 

India Trade Union Congress 

(AITUC) general secretary 

and Communist Party of India 

(CPI) MP Gurudas Dasgupta 

said. 

Describing as “unfortunate” 

state Labour Minister 

Purnendu Bose's comments 

that the amendment will be 

repealed, Dasgupta said the 

remarks were against the 

“constitution principles” and 

BANGALORE — Rich stone 

varieties across India, latest 

techniques for chipping stones 

in different hues, and about 

300 artisans carving stunning 

shapes under one roof are attracting 

visitors to this biennial 

international trade expo being 

held on the city's outskirts 

since Wednesday. 

Organised by the All India 

Granites and Stone Association 

(AIGSA), the 10th edition 

of STONA 2012 at the Bangalore 

International Exhibition 

Centre (BIEC) showcases a 

range of colourful, eye-catching 

natural stones to demonstrate 

modern techniques in 

the craft of stone working. 

Representatives of stone in- 

corporate executives and social 

activists from India, Argentina, 

Canada, the United 

States, the United Kingdom, 

Germany, France, Holland, 

Italy, Ireland, Bulgaria, Egypt, 

Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel, 

Bangladesh, Singapore and Japan 

will attend the conference, 

a statement from the AoL said 

yesterday. 

Union minister of state for 

human resource development 

Daggubati Purandeswari, first 

Woman presidential candidate 

of Egypt Bothaina Kamel, Israeli 

parliamentarian Ronit 

he was forcibly discharged 

from the Nizam’s Institute 

of Medical Sciences (NIMS) 

on Wednesday night but the 

judge said jail authorities 

would look after his health. 

Acharya was later shifted 

to the Chanchalguda Central 

Jail, where another IAS officer, 

Y Srilakshmi, former Karnataka 

minister G Janardhana 

Reddy and other industrialists 

and bureaucrats are already 

lodged in various cases. 

The IAS officer, who was 

admitted to the NIMS on 

Tuesday due to chest pain, 

again complained of fever 

and body pain after reaching 

the jail. Jail superintendent 

Keshava Naidu told reporters 

that Acharya was not well 

and the doctors were keeping 

the rights upheld by the International 

Labour Organization 

(ILO) convention. 

The minister said on Tuesday: 

“As per their service 

rules, government employees 

shouldn't be criticising the 

government.” 

The clause introduced as 

an amendment to the service 

regulations of the government 

employees in the 1980s by the 

then Left Front government 

was “illegal”, he added. 

The state service rules do 

not permit government employees 

to be part of organisations 

affiliated to political parties, 

he said. 

According to the Left Front 

amendment, the 900,000 state 

government employees were 

allowed to set up associations 

and unions for collective bar- 

dustry from Italy, China, Turkey, 

Egypt, Japan, Korea and 

several European countries 

are also attending the four-day 

conference-cum-exhibition. 

On display are natural 

stones, machinery related to 

the natural stone industry, 

safety and environment protection 

methods, packaging 

and transportation. 

The exhibition has a 'Shilpagram' 

where 110 artisans from 

Karnataka, Rajasthan, Gujarat, 

Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Odisha 

and West Bengal are displaying 

their skills. 

Among the creative works 

of art in stone on display are 

idols of Bollywood superstar 

Amitabh Bachchan, celluloid 

Tirosh, and Jordanian filmmaker 

Al Wajd Al Fayez are 

some of the leading personalities 

attending the conference, 

it said. 

“The conference will focus 

on the impact of technology 

on women and society, the 

connection between spirituality 

and technology, raising 

awareness on the role of yoga 

and meditation in relieving 

stress, the opportunity to use 

technology as a tool to empower 

women in the developing 

world and technology 

serving as a connecting link 

a watch on his condition. The 

official indicated that Achraya 

may be shifted to the Osmania 

Hospital. 

Earlier, Keshava Naidu 

said Acharya would be treated 

like an ordinary prisoner. 

“There are no special privileges 

for IAS officers. Since 

there are no directions from 

the court that he be treated 

as special class inmate, he 

would be treated like others,” 

he said. 

“He had then come as our 

principal secretary (home). 

That is a different issue. 

Now he has come like any 

other inmate,” the jail official 

said when asked about 

Acharya’s previous visit to 

jail to review facilities for 

prisoners. 

gaining and such bodies did 

not require any recognition 

from the government. 

They could also resort to 

protests and organise strikes 

or demonstrations as part of 

the collective bargaining. 

The Congress-affiliated 

Indian National Trade Union 

Congress' (INTUC) state 

president Pradip Bhattacharya 

termed the move “improper”. 

“The government should 

hold a meeting with all central 

trade unions before deciding 

on any such step." 

The opposition Communist 

Party of India-Marxist's 

(CPM) labour arm Centre of 

Indian Trade Unions (CITU) 

was scathing in its criticism. 

"This government is totally 

on the road to fascism. We will 

not allow it to snatch the rights 

heroine Deepika Padukone 

and Karnataka’s thespian Raj 

Kumar. 

The 20-foot monolithic 

black granite statue of Hindu 

god Anjaneya, popularly 

known as Hanuman, is, however, 

the centre of attraction 

and cynosure of all eyes, as it 

is billed to travel to the US for 

adorning the San Marga Iravan 

temple being built at Kauai’s 

Hindu monastery at Hawaii in 

Honolulu. 

"Over the years, STONA 

has established itself on the 

international map as promoting 

global trade, business opportunities, 

innovative technologies, 

new manufacturing 

and processing facilities. It 

between women belonging 

to different social strata,” the 

statement said. 

“The purpose of this conference 

is to raise awareness 

on the multi-dimensional impact 

of technology on women. 

The new age woman is on par 

with men in creating new technology 

as well as in using the 

same,” said IWC chairperson 

Bhanumathi Narasimhan. 

The conference will showcase 

the rich heritage of 

various cultures by both Indian 

as well as international 

artists. — IANS 

FARMERS offload cauliflowers from a truck at a market in Ahmedabad yesterday. Vegetables are an important crop in the 

horticulture sector of India and occupy an area of 8.2 million hectares with a total production of 137.7 million tonnes. — AFP 

Top Andhra official in jail over 

Emar-APIC housing scam 

The CBI on Wednesday 

filed a charge sheet in the 

case against Acharya and 11 

others, formally charging 

them with cheating, criminal 

conspiracy, criminal breach 

of trust and corruption. 

As then vice-chairman and 

managing director of Andhra 

Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure 

Corporation (APIIC), 

Acharya allegedly in collusion 

with Emaar Properties 

and its associate companies 

had diluted APIIC’s equity in 

an integrated township project 

in Hyderabad. 

APIIC’s equity in the 

joint venture with Emaar was 

brought down from 26 per 

cent to six per cent causing 

huge losses to the government. 

— IANS 

Bengal slammed for employees’ rights move 

of the workers. This is a draconian 

act. We will protest with 

all our might," said CITU state 

secretary Kali Ghosh. 

But the Indian National 

Trinamool Trade Union Congress 

(INTTUC), owing allegiance 

to the ruling Trinamool 

Congress, saw nothing wrong 

with the plans. 

"No central trade union can 

have any comment on this. 

The state government employees 

are not permitted to form 

trade unions for their collective 

bargaining. 

As per their service rules, 

they cannot join any trade union 

affiliated to any political 

party. 

The minister has only reiterated 

this," said state INTTUC 

in charge Dola Sen. 

— IANS 

Creative stone works on display at trade fair 

provides a platform for over 

350 exhibitors from the world 

over, with over 10,000 visitors 

making a beeline to the 

venue," association president J 

B Surana said. 

As a treasure-trove of 

stone, possessing a wide spectrum 

of dimensional products 

in granite, marble, sandstone, 

slate and quartzite, India is one 

of the largest producers of the 

aesthetic raw material. 

The industry is evolving 

into production and manufacturing 

of blocks, flooring slabs, 

structural slabs, ready-to-fix 

tiles, monuments, tomb stones, 

sculptures, artefacts, cobbles, 

cubes, curbs, pebbles and landscape 

garden stones. — IANS

Rousseff visits Haiti, 

promises to boost aid 

PORT-AU-PRINCE — 

Brazil’s President Dilma 

Rousseff promised on 

Wednesday to boost economic 

aid and deliver some 

visas for Haitians seeking 

to migrate to her country, 

in a meeting with President 

Michel Martelly. 

More than 4,000 Haitians 

have entered Brazil 

illegally in recent months, 

many arriving by crossing 

the border with Peru. On 

Monday Brazil said that 

these migrants would be 

granted permanent residency, 

and the government 

was allocating more than 

$500,000 to help them. 

“The Brazilian president 

has promised that 1,200 

visas will be allocated to 

Haitians,” said Martelly, 

speaking alongside Rousseff 

at Haiti’s still damaged 

National Palace. 

“These visas, which will 

not be work permits, will 

allow Haitians to travel 

to Brazil without going 

through a network of smugglers,” 

Martelly said. 

Rousseff in turn promised 

to strengthen cooperation 

between Brazil 

— Latin America’s leading 

economy — and Haiti, 

the poorest country in the 

Americas. 

The Brazilian leader 

mentioned building homes 

for people displaced by the 

earthquake, and encouraging 

private Brazilian investment 

in Haiti. 

Before departing Haiti 

late on Wednesday, Rousseff 

visited bases where 

Brazilian peacekeepers — 

in Haiti since 2004 as part 

of a United Nations stabilisation 

mission — are deployed. 

Brazil leads the military 

component of the UN mission 

in Haiti. 

Rousseff also said that 

Brazil would gradually reduce 

its military presence 

in the Caribbean country, 

and will participate in a 

joint commission with the 

Haitian government aimed 

at setting up a domestic 

security force that will take 

over when the UN mission 

ends. 

Haiti is still recovering 

from the devastating January 

12, 2010 earthquake 

that attened its capital 

Port-au-Prince and damaged 

much of the south of 

the country. 

The magnitude 7.0 

quake killed 250,000 people 

and displaced hundreds 

of thousands. According 

to UN gures, the quake 

killed, injured or displaced 

one in six of the Caribbean 

nation’s entire population 

of almost 10 million. 

On her stop on Tuesday 

in Cuba, Rousseff, a former 

leftist guerrilla herself who 

now describes herself as 

a practical capitalist, held 

talks with her Cuban counterpart 

Raul Castro and also 

called on the president’s 

brother and predecessor, 

85-year-old Fidel Castro. 

Rousseff signed agreements 

to create a geological 

data bank, bolster the metallurgy 

ministry’s technology 

and quality centre and 

set up a network of human 

milk banks. 

Rousseff also refused 

to criticise Communistruled 

Cuba’s human rights 

record, saying the issue 

should not be used to score 

ideological points. — AFP 

Local investors in 

MEXICO CITY — The discovery in Mexico of 

almost $2 million cash in the luggage of a state 

government ofcial has triggered a round of 

mud-slinging in the run-up to the presidential 

election in July. 

Mexico has very strict campaign nancing 

rules with presidential candidates restricted to 

spending less than 495 million pesos ($38 million) 

on campaigning before the July 1 vote, 

which the opposition Institutional Revolutionary 

Party, or PRI, is favoured to win. 

That contrasts sharply with the huge amounts 

being raised now in the US election race north 

of the border. President Barack Obama’s team 

raised $130 million last year alone. 

The bundles of notes discovered in the luggage 

amounted to 25 million pesos ($1.9 million). 

Much of the cash was in fresh 1,000 peso 

bills and it was seized from a Veracruz state 

ofcial disembarking from a private ight at 

Toluca airport, capital of the State of Mexico. 

WASHINGTON — US President 

Barack Obama yesterday 

argued his calls for tax hikes 

on the rich and curbs on abuses 

by big banks had a strong 

moral and religious grounding, 

in an election-year swipe 

at Republicans. 

Obama argued at the National 

Prayer Breakfast in 

Washington that pious religious 

observance should not 

stop with private worship but 

should guide political motives 

and lead to policies that help 

the sick and the needy. 

The president told worshippers 

that he believed nancial 

institutions should play by the 

rules, health insurance companies 

should not discriminate 

against the sick and unscrupulous 

lenders should be reined 

in. 

“I do so because I genuine- 

17 AMERICAS 


ly believe it’ll make the economy 

stronger for everybody, 

but I also do it because I know 

that far too many neighbours 

in our country have been hurt 

and treated unfairly over the 

last few years,” Obama said. 

“I believe in God’s command 

to love thy neighbour 

as well as one’s self,” Obama, 

said in a highly political 

speech likely to rile some of 

his Republican foes as he girds 

for his reelection race in tough 

economic times. 

“At a time when we have 

enormous decits, it’s hard for 

me to ask seniors on a xed 

income or young people with 

student loans or middle class 

families who can barely pay 

the bills to shoulder the burden 

alone. 

“I think to myself, if I’m 

willing to give something up as 


Morals enter poll message 

Both states are governed by the PRI. 

The ofcial said he was making a legitimate 

payment to a company — but the ruling conservative 

National Action Party, or PAN, said 

that was an “insult to the intelligence of Mexicans.” 

“Cleanliness in the management of political 

campaign funds is a pressing need that shows 

the difference in the behaviour of parties and 

candidates who want to rule this country,” the 

PAN said in a statement. 

The saga is reminiscent of the “Pemexgate” 

scandal in 2000, when the oil workers’ union 

was accused of funnelling tens of millions of 

dollars from the state oil company to a presidential 

candidate’s campaign. No one was punished 

in that case. 

“Of course it’s suspicious that in an election 

year the Veracruz government found it so 

important to send 25 million pesos in cash to 

Toluca to cover expenses in Veracruz,” said po- 

litical analyst Sergio Sarmiento. 

“It was so urgent that instead of making an 

electronic transfer, which would be instantaneous, 

they preferred to send the money in two 

suitcases in a private plane.” 

Toluca is capital of the home state of the 

PRI’s presidential candidate and the clear front 

runner, Enrique Pena Nieto. His party reacted 

angrily to the suggestion Veracruz state funds 

were being diverted to bankroll PRI campaigns. 

“This is absolutely false. We demand the accusers 

present proof,” the PRI said in a statement. 

“Enough already with the use of the instruments 

of justice for electoral purposes.” 

The saga has underlined the fears of some 

Mexicans that illicit revenue, including from 

powerful drug trafcking cartels, could nd its 

way into political pockets, although there is no 

suggestion that the cash seized in this case was 

illegally acquired. 

somebody who’s been extraordinarily 

blessed, give up some 

of the tax breaks that I enjoy, 

I actually think that’s going to 

make economic sense. 

“But for me as a Christian, 

it also coincides with Jesus’ 

teaching that for unto whom 

much is given, much shall be 

required.” 

The president also cited the 

Biblical gospel of John, arguing 

that sharing and generosity 

would sustain Americans in 

harsh economic times. 

“John tells us that if anyone 

has material possessions and 

sees his brother in need but 

has no pity on him, how can 

the love of God be in him?” 

Obama said. 

The president’s rare public 

show of faith, in which he 

detailed his daily prayer and 

scripture habits, also seemed 

to be a veiled counter-argument 

to false claims by some 

political foes that he is not a 

Christian. 

His decision to make a religious 

case for his campaign 

pledge of creating an economy 

that is fair for all not just the 

rich, also came as he girds 

for a campaign against likely 

Republican nominee Mitt 

Romney. 

Democrats are portraying 

multi-millionaire Romney as 

a predatory venture capitalist 

who does not appreciate the 

struggles of the poor and middle 

class. 

A starkly religious tone 

by Obama also contrasts with 

Romney, who rarely discusses 

his Mormon faith, which is 

distrusted by some evangelical 

voters in the United States, in 

public. — AFP 

SOLDIERS from Brazilian Battalion 1 stand at attention during a speech by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff 

at the military base in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday. Rousseff is in the capital to meet Haiti’s President 

Michel Martelly to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries. — Reuters 

The PAN said it was “no coincidence” the 

money was taken to Toluca, the base of Pena Nieto’s 

campaign. It posed a laundry list of questions 

about the payment, including why such a 

large sum was to be handed over in cash. 

The PRI ruled Mexico for seven decades before 

being toppled in 2000 by the PAN. Pena 

Nieto, 45, hopes his youthful, energetic image 

will win over voters who are wary of returning 

the PRI’s old guard to power. 

President Felipe Calderon’s PAN has not yet 

picked its candidate, but leading in the polls is 

the only woman in the race, former education 

minister Josena Vazquez Mota, 51. 

Whoever wins the election in July will have 

to tackle widespread poverty, increase weak tax 

revenue and improve a failing education system. 

About half of Mexico’s population lives below 

the poverty line, so the photos of stacks of pink 

1,000 peso bills seized in Toluca grabbed the 

public’s attention. — Reuters 

Canadian senator says 

killers should hang 

OTTAWA — A Canadian senator whose daughter was murdered 

provoked a backlash during Quebec’s suicide prevention 

week on Wednesday by suggesting that convicted killers be 

given a rope to hang themselves in prison. 

The worst criminals should “have the right to a rope in his 

(or her) cell and make a decision about his or her life,” Conservative 

Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu told reporters when 

asked about his views on the death penalty. 

He also suggested reintroducing the death penalty in cases 

where a criminal’s rehabilitation is impossible. 

“As a society, I think that is something we should discuss,” 

he said. Boisvenu, who became a victims’ rights advocate after 

his daughter was murdered in 2002, later issued a statement 

retracting his strong comments. 

But the opposition New Democratic Party jumped on it to 

suggest that Canada’s ruling Conservatives secretly planned to 

bring back the death penalty, which was abolished in Canada 

in 1976. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said: “We all understand 

that Senator Boisvenu and his family have suffered horribly 

in the past and, obviously, I think that we understand his 

emotions in that regard. 

But this government is focused on making sure that we protect 

victims in the future.” Boisvenu’s 27-year-old daughter 

was kidnapped, raped and murdered in the summer of 2002. 

IMF says no improvement 

in Argentine economic data 

WASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund said on 

Wednesday that Argentina had made no improvements to its 

data on ination and growth, which have raised widespread 

doubts over the government’s economic reporting. 

“The Executive Board regretted the absence of progress” 

in improving its consumer price and gross domestic product 

data, the IMF said, after a deadline had passed in January for 

Buenos Aires to improve its gures. 

In July last year the IMF gave Argentina 180 days to improve 

the quality of the statistics it is obliged to provide the 

Fund, as economists were faulting the government for reporting 

ination at less than half the actual rate. The IMF said the 

government had expressed intentions “to adopt some remedial 

measures to address the quality of its reported GDP data.” 

On Wednesday, it gave Buenos Aires another 180 days to 

begin providing better gures, “with a view to bringing the 

quality of the data into compliance with the obligation under 

the articles of agreement” that IMF member countries sign on 

to. Failure to meet IMF rules can lead to sanctions, including 

the extreme of suspending a member’s voting rights. 

The IMF and Argentina have a long history of troubled relations, 

with successive governments blaming the Fund for domestic 

economic failures and its deep troubles in international 

debt markets. — AFP 

telecoms favoured 

MEXICO CITY — The fa- its cell phone industry, but 

vourite to win Mexico’s presi- limits it to 49 per cent in other 

dential election this July said areas. 

on Wednesday the country Mexican tycoon Carlos 

must favour local investors Slim, the world’s richest man, 

over foreign competitors in dominates the country’s tel- 

strategic sectors of the econecom sector — especially its 

omy, including telecommuni- cell phone market, where his 

cations. 

companies account for more 

Enrique Pena Nieto of the than three-quarters of all sub- 

opposition Institutional Revoscribers.lutionary Party, or PRI, was The country’s competi- 

responding to questions from tion watchdog has blocked a 

reporters about government $1.6 billion telecom deal that 

proposals to allow foreign would have linked the em- 

companies unfettered access 

pires of two of the country’s 

to the country’s communica- 

other richest men, one of the 

tions sector. 

companies said on Wednes- 

“I think domestic investday.ment 

should be favoured here 

That proposal would have 

in strategic areas such as tel- 

brought together the interecommunications,” 

Pena Niests 

of media tycoons Emilio 

eto said. 

Azcarraga, who owns broad- 

But he added that he was 

in favour of competition in 

caster Televisa, and Ricardo 

all areas of a country where 

Salinas, who owns telephone 

analysts say economic control 

company Iusacell as well as 

is often concentrated in a few 

Mexico’s second broadcaster 

hands. 

TV Azteca. 

Pena Nieto has said if Pena Nieto remains com- 

elected, he would open up the fortably in the lead ahead of 

state-owned oil sector to more July’s ballot, although his 

private investment. 

support slipped by 2.6 per- 

A prominent rival, Jose- centage points in the rst poll 

na Vazquez Mota of the rul- of the year after a series of 

ing National Action Party, or public gaffes. 

PAN, has raised the possibil- The PRI ruled Mexico for 

ity of listing state oil company seven decades before losing to 

Hackers attack bank websites billion telecoms deal 

BRASILIA — The shadowy computer “Attention sailors: Target hit ! Itau is image of a grim-faced joker with a mes- 

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s competition watchdog has 

hacker group Anonymous said on Wednes- adrift. TANGO DOWN !,” the hackers sage saying, “If Megaupload is down, 

blocked a $1.6 billion telecoms deal that would have linked 

day it attacked the websites of three major crowed. Itau said in a statement that its you are down too.” It was signed “Ghos- 

companies belonging to two of the country’s richest men, both 

Brazilian banks over the past few days web page was at times “unavailable” but tofThreads.” 

companies announced on Wednesday. 

to protest widespread inequality in Latin did not conrm it was under pirate attack, Megaupload is a le-sharing service The Federal Competition Commission’s board ruled three 

America’s leading economy. 

according to Valor. Bradesco said it expe- company that allows customers to upload to two against broadcaster Televisa’s planned acquisition of 

Hackers from Anonymous’s Brazilian rienced a large quantity of hits, well above les to a website, where their information half of cell phone company Iusacell, the companies said. Both 

branch told the economy daily Valor that its site’s capacity. 

can be downloaded by other Internet us- plan to contest the decision. 

their attacks on Bradesco, Itau and Banco “Message to the big banks: We don’t ers. The US Justice Department shut down The decision “weakens competition in a key sector of Mex- 

do Brasil did not aim to defraud clients, forget you. Your turn will come,” Anony- the company’s website on January 19 after ico’s development,” Televisa, the world’s biggest Spanish-lan- 

but were meant to protest “the countless mous Brasil warned. 

its owners were indicted on copyright inguage broadcaster, said in a statement. The commission said 

inequalities in the country.” 

Last month, Anonymous already fringement charges. 

last week it would announce the decision after informing both 

The last to be targeted was the website breached the websites of Brazil’s federal Hong Kong-based Megaupload has companies. The deal would have allied Emilio Azcarraga, who 

of Banco do Brasil, the country’s largest district as well as a site belonging to popu- over 150 million users and 50 million owns Televisa, and Ricardo Salinas, who owns Iusacell and 

state-run bank. 

lar Brazilian singer Paula Fernandes to visitors per day, or 4 per cent of all global Mexico’s second broadcaster TV Azteca. 

Monday, Itau, the country’s biggest pri- protest the forced closure of Megaupload. Internet trafc. Last October, one hacker The commission’s rejection is a boost for tycoon Carlos 

vate bank and the biggest in Latin Ameri- com. 

breached the ofcial blog of the Brazilian Slim, reputedly Mexico’s richest man, whose operator America, 

was attacked, followed a day later by The hackers succeeded in shutting presidency to post a message denouncing ca Movil claims around 70 per cent of the Mexican cell phone 

Bradesco, Brazil’s third biggest bank. down Fernandes’ website, posting the corruption. — AFP 

market, as well as 80 per cent of land lines. — AFP 

US missionary couple found 

dead in north Mexico 

MONTERREY, Mexico — A missionary couple from the 

United States were found dead in their home near the violence-wracked 

north Mexican city of Monterrey, the US Embassy 

and a Mexican ofcial said on Wednesday. 

The US Embassy in Mexico City identied the couple as 

John and Wanda Casias, and said they were providing consular 

assistance to their next of kin. 

The couple were from Colorado and had lived in Santiago 

municipality, some 20 miles (35 kilometres) outside Monterrey, 

according to Jorge Domene, security spokesman for 

Nuevo Leon state. 

Their bodies were found late Tuesday, apparently showing 

signs of beating and asphixiation, Domene said. 

The couple’s son, who was not identied, discovered the 

Pemex on the stock exchange the PAN in 2000. Pena Nieto, 

bodies and said that some electrical appliances, a vehicle and 

if she becomes Mexico’s rst 45, hopes his youthful image 

other objects were missing, he added. 

female president. 

will win over voters wary of A DEMONSTRATOR hurls a bottle containing paint at the front door of an HSBC Bank branch during a protest in The couple’s website said their lives had been “suddenly 

Mexico allows 100 per returning the PRI’s old guard 

Buenos Aires yesterday. Left-wing Activists protested against the arrival of Britain’s Prince William to the taken in a home invasion” and that they had been working in 

cent foreign involvement in to power. — Reuters 

Falkland Islands, also known as Malvinas in Spanish, for a planned military stint. — Reuters 

Mexico for 29 years. — AFP 

Seized cash triggers political furore in Mexico 

Watchdog blocks $1.6 

Woman, 3 others charged 

for human trafcking bid 

MEXICO CITY — A Canadian woman held in connection 

with an audacious bid by a son of ex-Libyan dictator Muammar 

Gadda to smuggle himself into Mexico has been formally 

charged, along with three alleged accomplices, an ofcial said 

on Wednesday. 

Mexico’s Assistant Attorney General Jose Cuitlahuac Salinas 

said authorities charged Cynthia Vanier, a Dane and two Mexicans 

on January 28 for attempted trafcking of undocumented 

people, organised crime and falsifying ofcial documents. 

A fth, fugitive suspect has not been identied. Mexican of- 

cials said in December they had uncovered an elaborate plan, 

at the height of pro-democracy protests in Libya, to bring Saadi 

Gadda and other relatives into Mexico on false papers. 

The plan failed “because the pilots didn’t accept to land in 

secret” in Libya, Salinas told a news conference on Wednesday. 

Salinas also said Vanier had complained of mistreatment during 

her detention in Mexico. 

Vanier and Mexican Gabriela Davila were sent to Chetumal 

jail, in southeast Mexico while Dane Christian Flenborg and 

Mexican Jose Luis Kennedy Prieto were sent to a jail in eastern 

Veracruz, Salinas said. — AFP

18 

PANORAMA 



Amid privacy fears, some still resist Facebook 

FACEBOOK’S 800 million 

users have made it 

a household name but 

some holdouts — technophobes 

and privacy zealots 

among them — are still refusing 

to join the social networking 

party. 

Facebook — founded in 

2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, 

then a 19-year-old Harvard 

student — led documents 

with the Security and 

Exchange Commission on 

Wednesday to go public, 

seeking to raise $5 billion in 

its initial stock offering. 

But these staggering numbers 

only begin to describe 

the pervasiveness of the Internet 

giant in everyday life, as 

the online sharing of pictures, 

commentary and digital links 

becomes a common currency 

for social interactions. 

For the 21st century rebels 

who refuse to join Facebook, 

the social pressure to conform 

is unrelenting. 

“Finally, I just gave up. 

Now I have 200 friends,” said 

Matthew Herman, a 31-yearold 

fashion designer who created 

a Facebook prole on 

Saturday for the rst time after 

refusing to do so for years. 

Herman said “some kind 

of snobbery” had kept him 

from signing up, even though 

he had used other social networking 

sites like MySpace 

and Friendster. 

He said he liked going 

against the ow and “taking 

pride in living my own life in 

a real way.” 

Australia seen as ideal 

home for expatriates 

AUSTRALIA beat out the United States and Singapore 

to take top place among expatriates as 

an ideal residence for quality of life and career 

prospects, according to an international survey released 

yesterday. 

More than 3,000 expatriates in over 100 countries 

rated nations on a range of criteria from accommodations 

to food, healthcare and the quality of the commute 

to work, according to HSBC’s Expat Explorer survey, 

now in its fourth year. 

Australia took the honours with 10 per cent of respondents 

choosing the nation known for its sundrenched 

beaches and solid economy as their preferred 

next posting location. 

“The report suggests expats are putting lifestyle and 

well-being ahead of money and Australia wins hands 

down on this front,” said Graham Heunis, head of retail 

banking and wealth management for HSBC Bank Australia 

yesterday. 

The United States, which had slightly fewer votes 

than Australia, came in an extremely close second and 

was seen as offering the best career opportunities with 

higher remuneration, the report said. 

Singapore, narrowly edged for third with 9 per cent, 

appeared to combine the best of both worlds, with respondents 

noting its good quality of life along with 

prime job opportunities. 

Hong Kong came in fourth, Canada fth, the United 

Kingdom sixth and France seventh. 

Respondents said they were attracted to the higher 

salaries in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, while 

Canada’s lifestyle won it points. — Reuters 

Pensioner claims to be 

world’s shortest man 

GUINNESS World Records experts said they are to 

travel to a remote valley in southwestern Nepal to 

measure a 72-year-old claiming to be the world’s 

shortest man. 

Chandra Bahadur Dangi is 56 centimetres tall and weighs 

12 kilos, he told a media conference broadcast by Nepali state 

television. “We intend to travel to Mr Dangi’s village to of- 

cially measure him and are currently making provisions for 

medical professionals to assist us in the verication,” Guinness 

World Records editor-in-chief Craig Glenday said by email. 

State-run Nepal Television broadcast images on Wednesday 

of Dangi jumping off a park bench and taking a short walk 

in front of journalists. Members of his family were quoted by 

local media as saying Dangi was in excellent health and had 

never taken medicine or been to hospital. 

“We cannot conrm Mr Dangi’s height until formal measurements 

have been taken and veried by Guinness World 

Records ofcials but we hope to undertake the verication,” 

said Glenday, who is to make the journey to Dang district. 

CHANDRA Bahadur Dangi, a 72-year-old Nepali who 

claims to be the world’s shortest man at 56 centimetres 

(22 inches) tall, at a media conference in Jhapa 

district, southeastern Nepal. — AFP 

But then Herman noticed 

he was missing out on parties. 

“More social events would 

happen that I wouldn’t hear 

about because they went, ‘Oh, 

you’re not on Facebook, I totally 

forgot,’” he said. 

And at parties, Herman 

found that he didn’t always 

know what everyone else was 

talking about. 

“I denitely did not feel 

isolated, but now that I’m on 

the other side of it, if I knew 

then what I know now, I would 

have felt isolated,” he said. 

“Now that I’m on it, I see 

it’s easy (to keep in touch 

with people),” he said. “It’s 

fun, too.” 

When Herman nally embraced 

Facebook, his prole 

was inundated with welcome 

THE Museum for Sepulchral 

Culture in Kassel, 

central Germany, has 

been dealing with the theme 

of death and everything associated 

with it for the past 20 

years. It’s the only museum 

of its kind in Germany and 

probably the world. 

“There are a few museums 

in the United States that are 

similar but they are nanced 

by undertaker companies,” 

says museum director Reiner 

Soerries. 

Soerries is a Protestant theologian 

and art historian who 

has been running the museum 

since it opened. The museum 

has evolved over the years in 

unison with developments in 

funeral traditions, according 

to the 59-year-old. 

“Our job is to ask the 

questions that people want 

answers to.” The hospice 

philosophy arrived in Germany 

in the mid-1980s and it 

brought with it new ways for 

dealing with death. 

messages from friends. 

Others reject Facebook because 

they consider it a waste 

of time or because they are so 

overwhelmed by the number 

of social networking sites on 

the Internet that they just ignore 

all of them. 

“There are so many social 

networks available — 

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, 

Google+ — that it’s difcult 

to separate the wheat from 

the chaff. Rather than decide 

which network they’d want 

to join, many forgo them all,” 

said Mike Isaac, a staff writer 

for Wired. 

Privacy is another reason 

why some avoid Facebook. 

“What with the abundance 

of online predators and 

scammers, many aren’t com- 

“It would not have been 

possible to open the museum 

without that change,” says 

Soerries. 

The museum was founded 

along with the Central Institute 

for Sepulchral Culture by 

architect Hans-Kurt Boehlke 

and was opened on 24 January 

1992 by the former German 

President Richard von 

Weizsaecker. 

At rst the museum carefully 

dealt with the theme of 

death by exhibiting relevant 

works of art, ornate cofns 

and mourning jewellery, recalls 

Soerries. 

“The majority of the museum 

today deals with the 

theme of tombs.” 

With the opening of the 

Last Minute exhibition in 

2000 the museum changed 

direction. “People wanted 

to know more about death.” 

That trend has continued to 

this day. “People are less interested 

in old cofns and 

more in what affects them di- 

fortable with sticking their entire 

lives online,” Isaac said. 

“Privacy settings are hardly 

straightforward, so rather 

than navigate the confusing 

lters for keeping one’s data 

private, many users decide to 

opt out entirely.” 

“This is especially true in 

the case of kids whose parents 

are worried about their child’s 

online presence,” he said. 

Others are just wary of social 

interactions in the public 

domain. 

A Los Angeles artist, who 

did not want to be identied, 

put it this way: “I’m not sure if 

I am ready to be quoted about 

why I am not on Facebook, 

maybe for the same reason I 

am not on Facebook.” 

Older Americans are one 

rectly.” One of the questions 

frequently asked is what is 

death? 

The museum sometimes 

also takes a more light-hearted 

approach to the topic and 

in 2004 the Schluss mit lustig 

(The Party’s Over) exhibition 

was a big success. 

“We managed to show 

a satirical side to death and 

we also want to hear people 

laughing in the museum,” 

says Soerries. In 2009 the 

rst bodies were seen in the 

museum in the form of mummies. 

“It took us a long time 

to get that far,” says Soerries. 

It seems unlikely that the 

museum will be able to top 

that, nevertheless, there is “an 

immense diversity” of topics 

that the museum has yet to 

deal with. 

A new special exhibition 

which has just opened deals 

with places of execution in 

the Middle Ages. 

The medical and philosophical 

sides to death are 

of the fastest growing segments 

of Facebook users, 

many of whom use it to stay 

in touch with their children, 

said Isaac. 

But, he noted, “there are a 

signicant number of technophobes 

out there who aren’t 

comfortable with adopting the 

social network. 

Those who didn’t grow 

up in the information age, for 

example, are far more biased 

against taking up the new 

communication medium.” 

A survey of 2,500 adults 

published a year ago by Business 

Insider magazine found 

that 56 per cent of those who 

would not join Facebook felt 

it would be a waste of time, 

while 42 per cent cited privacy 

fears. — AFP 

A MYANMAR snack vendor sits on a pier waiting for commuters crossing the Yangon river from Dala to nearby Yangon 

yesterday. Myanmar is emerging from political and economic isolation after decades of military rule since a nominally 

civilian government took power last year. With the West looking at easing sanctions and businesses closely watching 

sweeping democratic reforms, Myanmar needs to prepare for an anticipated increase in investments and tourism. — AFP 

Germany’s museum of tombs 

marks 20th anniversary 

two possible future angles the 

museum may explore. 

Mourning for people who 

you never met is another 

aspect to death that may get 

the museum’s attention in future. 

Soerries says he would 

like the museum to receive 

more acceptance in the wider 

community. “I hope that in 

the next ve years a Jewish or 

Muslim association will support 

the museum.” 

At the moment the German 

government, the authorities in 

the state of Hessen, the city of 

Kassel and the Protestant and 

Catholic churches provide the 

museum’s outside support. 

Between 17,000 and 

24,000 people visit the museum 

every year. That looks 

set to grow when the Brothers 

Grimm World opens next 

door in 2014. But Soerries 

says he wants the museum to 

maintain its special character 

even if many more visitors 

come. — dpa 

Iron lady on road to world-scale wealth 

AUSTRALIAN Gina Rinehart 

could soon become the world’s 

wealthiest woman after amassing 

an $18 billion fortune from mining 

and media investments, Forbes magazine 

says in its latest list of the wealthiest people 

in Australia. 

The 57-year-old widow saw her fortune 

almost double after a deal signed last 

month that will see South Korean steel giant 

POSCO take a 15 per cent stake in her 

Roy Hill iron ore mine in Western Australia’s 

Pilbara iron belt. The deal valued 

the project at $10 billion, boosting Rinehart’s 

fortune dramatically. 

In the next few years, Rinehart also 

has plans to expand her iron ore operations 

and develop two coal collieries. 

If commodity prices hold up, Rinehart 

could challenge Christie Walton, 

worth $24.5 billion, as the world’s richest 

woman, Forbes said. Walton is the widow 

of John Walton, one of the sons of Sam 

Walton, the founder of retail chain Wal- 

Mart Stores. 

For now, Rinehart will have to be content 

with being the Asia-Pacic region’s 

wealthiest woman, based on Forbes’ 

tally. Rinehart is the daughter of Lang 

Hancock, an Australian prospector credited 

with discovering giant deposits of 

iron ore in the 1950s that now make up 

Australia’s largest export base. 

China alone relies of Australian iron 

ore for nearly half its imports of the key 

steel making ingredient, and Japan, South 

Korea and Taiwan also are big buyers for 

their steel mills. 

Compared with other ultra-rich like 

Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Facebook’s 

Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, 

the source of most Rinehart’s 

wealth is downright low-tech. Iron ore is 

just extracted from giant pits resembling 

excavation sites found in the 500,000square-kilometre, 

or 190,000-square- 

mile, Pilbara, the single largest source 

of iron ore in the world. Ore is simply 

churned up by bulldozers and carted in 

trucks to waiting open-topped rail cars. 

Known as the “Pilbara Princess”, 

Rinehart is also building stakes in some 

of Australia’s largest media companies, 

drawing comparisons to another famously 

powerful Australian, Rupert Murdoch, 

head of News Corp and now a US citizen. 

Rinehart this week became the largest 

shareholder in Fairfax Media by more 

than tripling her stake in the newspaper, 

digital and radio broadcasting company. 

She already owns 10 per cent of rival Ten 

Network Holdings. 

Her move into media is raising concerns 

among politicians, namely the leftleaning 

Labor party of Prime Minister 

Julia Gillard, whose views on who should 

control the Australian mining sector differs 

from Rinehart’s. — AFP 

Scientist: elephants could be 

Australia’s giant weed killers 

N Australian academic was ridiculed yesterday for 

A proposing that elephants could keep down the weeds 

that are taking over the savannah in the far north of the 

continent. 

Botanist David Bowman proposed that bringing in elephants 

would both help with their survival and help deal 

with an introduced species, gamba grass, that is too big and 

tough for native animals to eat. 

“The idea of introducing elephants may seem absurd 

but the only other methods likely to control gamba grass 

involve using chemicals or physically clearing the land, 

which would destroy the habitat.” Professor Bowman 

said. 

The University of Tasmania researcher, writing in the 

journal Nature, said that gamba grass, unknown in 1984, 

now covered 3,800 square kilometres. 

“Using mega-herbivores may ultimately be more practical 

and cost-effective, and it would help to conserve animals 

that are threatened by poaching in their native environments.” 

Environment Minister Tony Burke, speaking 

to the Weekly Times, said that “from time to time in this 

portfolio people come up with some wacky ideas — I think 

this is one of them.” Bowman’s plan was likened to the 

disastrous importation of cane toads in 1935 to chomp on 

the beetles infesting coastal Queensland sugar cane plantations. 

There are now billions of cane toads colonising the continent. 

Bowman noted that cattle and sheep are introduced 

species — as are the camels, pigs, horses, goats and deer 

that have gone feral in the Outback. 

“We need to trial things, debate things and respect differences 

of opinion,” he said. 

Singing bowl massage 

helps New Yorkers relax 

NEW YORK has a deserved reputation as the city that 

never sleeps. The metropolis is one of the most hectic 

places on the planet where pedestrians jaywalk constantly, 

subways travel around the clock and taxis blow their horns 

at every opportunity. 

However, one person has declared war on stress in the 

city thanks to a sound massage therapy involving planetary 

Himalayan singing bowls combined with Reiki treatments. 

Anja Martin moved to New York from Germany ve 

years ago and set up her unique business under the name 

“Ein-Klang.” Each session lasts approximately 90 minutes 

and consists of Martin placing seven different-sized vibrating 

bowls on the bodies of her clients. According to Martin, 

the sound emanating from the bowls, combined with 

effects of the vibrations, helps the body of even the most 

tense New Yorker to relax. 

Martin learnt about the benets of sound massage 

therapy from German masseuse Frank Plate but wanted to 

use her skills on more people than just her friends and acquaintances. 

The 30-year-old asked herself whether there 

is anywhere other than New York that needs this service 

more? “Although this city produces so much energy, it also 

saps a lot of energy from you,” she explained. 

The therapy is called singing bowl massage because the 

vibrating bowls are supposed to massage the body’s cells, 

while their sound is meant to induce a trance-like state in 

the patient. Although there is no scientic evidence to back 

her up, Martin argues that the combination of the two effects 

causes the body to relax and reduces stress. 

On Martin’s homepage www.einklang-nyc.com, numerous 

happy clients swear by the unusual treatment. 

“The unique vibrations caused by the bowls took me to 

another world. I have never felt so relaxed and refreshed at 

the same time. It’s like ying above the clouds — simply 

fantastic,” wrote Kuei Chen Fang. 

Although each session lasts around 90 minutes, most 

patients only notice the effects of the treatment days later. 

“It’s not about short-term relaxation so that a person can 

proceed to race through life like before,” explained Martin. 

“Anyone who agrees to a singing bowl massage slowly 

begins to nd their inner peace again.” According to Martin, 

the objective of the treatment is to heal the body both 

physically and mentally. 

Macau welcomes 1.2m visitors 

over Chinese New Year 

MACAU received 1.2 million visitors over the 

Chinese New Year holiday as gamblers ooded 

in, according to statistics from the resort’s tourism ofce 

yesterday. 

The high gure was more than 200,000 higher than 

during the holiday period in 2011 and came as casinos in 

the territory enjoyed some of their highest ever takings. 

From January 19 to January 29, more than 1.2 million 

people entered Macau, most from mainland China, 

according to the tourism ofce. The busiest day was January 

27 when 144,000 visitors arrived. 

Casinos in the territory, which has a population of 

500,000, saw gambling revenues of more than 25 billion 

patacas ($3.13 billion) in January, the second highest ever 

monthly total. Macau, a former Portuguese colony, reverted 

to Chinese sovereignty in 1999 and is now the world’s 

most lucrative gambling location with revenues far surpassing 

those of the Vegas Strip in the United States. 

The territory is the only place in China where casinos 

are legal and draws millions of gamblers a year from 

mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Last year, visitors 

reached a record 28 million, an increase of 12.2 per 

cent over 2010, with around 25 million coming from 

mainland China. 

Teen stabs to death mother, 

sister to save the planet 

15-year-old boy who killed his mother and sister 

A because he believed there were too many people 

in the world was ordered to be detained indenitely in 

a psychiatric hospital, a Hong Kong news report said 

yesterday. 

Kan Ka-leung used a cleaver to hack to death his mother 

and younger sister, later telling an ambulance ofcer that 

fewer people in the world would be more environmentallyfriendly, 

the South China Morning Post reported. 

Kan, now 16, pleaded not guilty to two charges of murder, 

but guilty to manslaughter claiming diminished responsibility, 

which the prosecution accepted. 

Reports presented in court agreed Kan was schizophrenic 

and he was ordered to be detained indenitely in a 

psychiatric hospital at a hearing on Wednesday. 

The court heard the killings took place around 2 am on 

July 22, 2010. The mother, Lam Lin-kan, 40, sustained 17 

serious chop wounds. Kan’s sister, Kan Chung-yue, 12, received 

30 cleaver injuries. — Agencies

19 SPORT 



Egypt in mourning after 74 killed in football tragedy 

CAIRO — Egypt began three 

days of mourning yesterday after 

74 people were killed in an eruption 

of violence at a football match 

that sparked new anger against the 

military rulers for failing to ensure 

security. 

The rioting in the northern city 

of Port Said on Wednesday night 

marked one of the deadliest incidents 

in football history and sent 

shares on the Cairo stock exchange 

plunging in yesterday's trade. 

Prime Minister Kamal al Ganzuri 

told an emergency session of 

parliament on the tragedy that the 

Egyptian football association's director 

and management board had 

been sacked, as had the Port Said 

security chief. 

Ganzuri added that the governor 

of Port Said had resigned his post 

and his resignation accepted. 

Clashes erupted as soon as the 

referee blew the final whistle in a 

match which saw home team Al 

Masri beat Cairo's Al Ahly 3-1. 

Al Masri fans flooded the pitch, 

throwing rocks, bottles and fire- 

MALABO — Emmanuel 

Agyemang Badu sent Ghana 

into the African Nations Cup 

quarterfinals with a stunning 

goal in their 1-1 draw against 

Guinea on Wednesday while 

Mali joined them thanks to 

Seydou Keita's winner against 

Botswana. 

Midfielder Badu, 21, collected 

a corner just outside the 

penalty area, flicked the ball 

up with his left foot and then 

sent a dipping volley into the 

far corner with his right to give 

the Black Stars the point they 

needed. 

African Footballer of the 

Year runner-up Keita's first 

goal of the tournament in the 

75th minute gave Mali a 2-1 

win over debutants Botswana, 

who at least kept the score 

respectable after losing 6-1 

to Guinea in their previous 

match. 

Ghana topped Group 'D' 

with seven points, with Mali 

on six and Guinea with four. 

Botswana failed to get off 

the mark. 

Both Ghana's game in 

Franceville and the Mali 

match in Libreville were 

played in near deserted stadiums, 

a problem which has 

plagued the tournament both 

in Gabon, where Wednesday's 

matches were played, and cohosts 

Equatorial Guinea. 

The tournament was hit by 

another case of indiscipline as 

Tunisian midfielder Adel Chedi 

walked out on his team after 

failing to get any playing time 

at the tournament. 

Chedli had left the team 

in Franceville and was heading 

back to Tunisia, Tunisian 

works at Al Ahly supporters, causing 

chaos and panic as players and 

fans ran in all directions trying to 

flee, witnesses said. 

Photos of bleeding players circulated 

on the Internet. 

Gunfire was also reported on 

the main road leading to Port Said 

from Cairo, and troops were deployed 

to prevent further clashes. 

State television ran footage of 

riot police standing rigidly in rows 

as pandemonium erupted around 

them. 

Interior Minister Mohammed 

Ibrahim has said most of the 

deaths were caused by the crush 

but medics said some people were 

stabbed. 

The health ministry said 74 people 

were killed, including a policeman. 

Hundreds were also reported 

wounded. Police said 47 people 

had been arrested. 

The ruling military announced 

three days of national mourning. 

Stocks in Cairo tumbled by 

4.6 per cent, with the EGX-30 index 

of leading shares falling from 

media officer Zouhaier Ward 

said. 

The French-born Chedli, 

one of two survivors from the 

squad that won the Nations 

Cup in 2004, was sent to the 

stands for Tuesday's 1-0 defeat 

by co-hosts Gabon after reacting 

angrily to being left out of 

the team for the game. 

Chedli's departure, ahead 

of Tunisia's appearance in 

Sunday's quarterfinal, follows 

the expulsion of Zambian Clifford 

Mulenga by his side for 

4.688 points at opening to 4.471 

points. 

The clashes — blamed by the 

Muslim Brotherhood on supporters 

of fallen president Hosni Mubarak 

— came as Egypt struggles with a 

wave of incidents linked to poor 

security. 

Politicians, fans and players 

took to social media to express 

breaking a curfew and failing 

to apologise. 

Ghana will face Tunisia in 

Sunday's quarterfinal while 

Mali play Gabon in one of the 

most open and entertaining 

Nations Cup tournaments in 

years. In the other matches on 

Saturday, Equatorial Guinea 

will meet Ivory Coast, the cofavourites 

alongside Ghana, 

and Zambia play Sudan. 

Ghana had the run of the 

dice against Guinea, who were 

unlucky not to win the game 

MADRID — Lionel Messi had a penalty saved 

early in the second half as Barcelona were held 

to a 1-1 draw at Valencia in a hard-fought 

King's Cup semifinal first leg on Wednesday. 

Valencia snatched a 27th minute lead at their 

Mestalla Stadium when Jeremy Mathieu found 

space down the left wing and Jonas clipped the 

Frenchman's low cross high into the net past 

goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto. 

Pinto was lucky to be still on the pitch after 

television replays showed he handled the ball 

outside his area in the 18th minute but the referee 

waved play on. 

Barca captain Carles Puyol equalised 10 

minutes before the break when he met a deep 

Cesc Fabregas corner and nodded past Diego 

Alves, who had come out to collect the ball but 

watched it sail over his head. 

Alves, who has an impressive record saving 

spot kicks, made amends 11 minutes into the 

second half when he flung himself to his left 

and parried away Messi's penalty, awarded after 

Miguel felled Thiago Alcantara in the area. 

Barca substitute Daniel Alves smashed 

a shot against the post after a brilliant one- 

two with Messi around 15 minutes from 

time but neither side were able to find another 

goal ahead of next week's second leg at the 

Nou Camp. 

GREAT RESULT 

It was Barca's third successive draw, coming 

after they were held to a 0-0 stalemate 

at Villarreal in La Liga on Saturday and last 

week's 2-2 Cup quarterfinal draw at home to 

holders Real Madrid that sent Pep Guardiola's 

side through 4-3 on aggregate. 

Guardiola, who was without the injured Andres 

Iniesta, David Villa and Pedro and opted 

to rest playmaker Xavi, told a news conference 

it was the best performance against Valencia 

he had seen from his players since he became 

coach in 2008. 

their fury over the clashes, which 

cap a year of political upheaval 

and unrest after the uprising that 

unseated Mubarak. 

"There are dead people lying 

on the ground! There are dead 

people in the changing room," Al 

Ahly striker Emad Meteab told the 

team's satellite channel. 

"I won't play football anymore 

Badu stunner sends Ghana into last eight 

Milkwaukee comeback bucks 

Miami’s winning trend 

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee 

continued to relish the role of 

giant-killers when a storming 

second-half performance led 

the Bucks to a 105-97 victory 

over the Miami Heat in 

the National Basketball Association 

(NBA) series on 

Wednesday. 

Milwaukee survived a 40point 

barrage from LeBron 

James and overcame a 17point 

first half deficit by exploding 

in the final two quarters 

to win their third straight 

in a streak that also includes a 

triumph over the Los Angeles 

Lakers. 

The Bucks (10-11) also 

defeated the Heat on January 

22 in what had been Miami's 

only loss in nine games going 

into Wednesday's contest. 

This time, Milwaukee ate 

into Miami's advantage with 

a 13-2 run to start the third 

quarter before kicking into a 

higher gear at the start of the 

next by outscoring the visitors 

22-3 en route to a 98-82 lead 

in the blink of an eye. 

The Heat could get no 

closer than nine in the fourth 

before a three-pointer at the 

buzzer settled the final score. 

Dwyane Wade finished 

with 23 points but the visitors 

were undone by a lack 

of teamwork as the pressure 

mounted in the final quarter. 

"We're trying to find a balance 

where we can take advantage 

of our guys' strengths 

of ability to attack and ability 

to break down the defence," 

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra 

told reporters. 

"At the same time, we 

have to do it collectively, and 

the ball has to move." 

Brandon Jennings sparked 

Milwaukee with 31 points, including 

seven three-pointers, 

while Drew Gooden added 17 

and nine rebounds. 

James poured in 24 firstquarter 

points to stake Miami 

(16-6) to a 40-23 lead at the 

first interval before the Bucks 

hauled themselves back into 

the contest to end the Heat's 

five-game winning streak. 

"In the first half it felt like 

LeBron was going to go for 

60. We just played good defense 

as a team and stayed aggressive," 

Jennings said. 

Results: Orlando Magic 

bt Washington Wizards 109- 

103; Philadelphia Sixers bt 

Chicago Bulls 98-82; New 

Jersey Nets bt Detroit Pistons 

99-96; Boston Celtics 

bt Toronto Raptors 100-64; 

Milwaukee Bucks bt Miami 

Heat 105-97; Indiana Pacers 

bt Minnesota Timberwolves 

109-99; Phoenix Suns bt New 

Orleands Hornets 120-103; 

Oklahoma City Thunder bt 

Dallas Mavericks 95-86; San 

Antonio Spurs bt Houston 

Rockets 99-91; Portland Trail 

Blazers bt Charlotte Bobcats 

112-68; LA Clippers bt Utah 

Jazz 107-105. 

EFA dissolved, Fifa waits for more info 

BERLIN — Football's ruling body Fifa said yesterday 

it was too early to talk about possible sanctions 

after the dissolving of the Egyptian Football 

Association (EFA) in the wake of deadly riots at a 

game in Port Said. 

A Fifa spokesman said that the federation was 

awaiting further information on the issue before 

making an official statement. 

Egyptian Prime Minister Kamal al Ganzouri 

told parliament at an emergency session that he 

had dissolved EFA and sacked the governor of 

the coastal city of Port Said after 74 people were 

killed in a football riot after a game between lo- 

GHANA’S Badu Emmanuel Agyemang (second left) celebrates with team-mates after 

scoring a goal against Guinea during their African Cup of Nations Group ‘D’ match at 

Franceville Stadium in Gabon on Wednesday night. — Reuters 

and force a three-way tie with 

their opponents and Mali. That 

would have forced organisers 

to bring the calculators out to 

determine the top two sides 

under the complicated headto-head 

system. 

Guinea had a penalty appeal 

turned down and goal 

ruled out for off-side before 

Badu, part of Ghana's world 

under-20 championship winning 

team in 2009, produced 

his masterpiece. 

Guinea levelled in first half 

cal team Al Masri and Cairo's Al Ahly. Government 

intervention into football affairs is outlawed 

by Fifa rules and violations can be punished with 

suspension of the respective country from all international 

football matches. 

Fifa said in a statement earlier yesterday that 

it had 'asked the Egyptian authorities for a full 

report on the incidents in order to evaluate what 

happened'. 

"Fifa has offered its full support to the Egyptian 

Football Association and will provide the 

EFA with any assistance it needs with regard to 

this tragedy." — dpa 

stoppage time with a fortuitous 

effort. Abdoul Razzagui 

Camara sent what appeared 

to be an intended cross over 

from the left but the ball flew 

over a bemused Ghana goalkeeper 

Adam Kwarasey and 

into the net, the first goal 

Ghana have conceded at the 

tournament. 

Guinea continued to have 

the better of the game after 

the break but lost momentum 

when Mamadou Dioulde Bah 

was sent off in the 70th minute, 

receiving a second yellow card 

for a high tackle. 

In Libreville, Botswana 

scored first against the run of 

play with a sweeping move out 

of their midfield, started and 

finished by Mogakolodi Ngele 

in the 51st minute. 

But Mali's pressure paid 

off six minutes later with 

Abdou Traore turning the defence 

before providing a cross 

that Modibo Maiga forcefully 

headed goalward. Botswana 

goalkeeper Modiri Marumo 

could only parry it right to 

Garra Dembele who hammered 

home from close range. 

Keita's goal was set up by 

his persistence on the edge of 

the penalty area as he probed 

an opening and then got a return 

pass from Cheick Tidiane 

Diabate to perfectly place the 

ball into the roof of the net. 

Then there was the further 

agony for a full five minute 

wait until Guinea's failure to 

beat Ghana was confirmed. 

The Mali players stood 

anxiously waiting, watching 

pictures on the big screen before 

erupting in celebration. 

— Reuters 

Messi misses penalty, Barca 

held 1-1 at Valencia 

BARCELONA’S Lionel Messi reacts 

during the King’s Cup semifinal match 

against Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium in 

Valencia on Wednesday. — AFP 

"We created a lot of problems for them and 

they have always done the same to us, at home 

or away," the former Barca and Spain midfielder 

said. 

"It was a great result but the tie is not decided 

and now we need to win the return leg 

and see if we can make the final." 

The eventual winners will play 23-time 

Cup winners Athletic Bilbao — Barca hold the 

record with 25 — or third-tier Mirandes in the 

final. 

Mirandes, only the second team from 

Spain's Segunda B to reach the last four 

of the Cup in its present format, gave themselves 

hope of pulling off another upset with 

a late goal in Tuesday's first leg at their tiny 

stadium in Miranda de Ebro as a Fernando 

Llorente double gave Bilbao a narrow 2-1 success. 

— Reuters 

until these people get justice," a furious 

Meteab said. 

Egypt's hated police force, 

which recently came under fire for 

its heavy-handed tactics, had been 

given instructions to deal carefully 

with protesters, sources said. 

State television said Egypt's 

military ruler, Field Marshal 

Hussein Tantawi who took power 

MUSCAT — The second day 

of TransHajar Mountain Bike 

Race, organised by the Oman 

Cycling Association and Muscat 

Municipality as part of the 

Muscat Festival 2012, took 

the riders down through the 

rolling graded trails of Wadi 

Lahloo and into Yiti where 

they then turned onto the old 

Yiti Road towards Ruwi. 

The blacktop section lasted 

for about 10 km before riders 

were sent into the series of 

short steep sections of graded 

tracks along the Ruwi hilltops 

overlooking the sea and 

mountains. 

The descents were steep 

and loose and riders had to pay 

close attention on the bends. 

At the end of the graded 

section riders faced a rolling 

section of paved tracks 

and a steep descent back on 

to Qantab Road. Riders then 

turned towards the Bandar 

al Jissah Hotel along Qantab 

Road and then towards Yiti 

where they re-entered Wadi 

Lahloo and rode it to the finish. 

The final section was the 

fastest section of the trail with 

some steep elevations to really 

push the riders to their physical 

limits. 

The day two saw a total 

domination by the Spanish 

and Swiss riders who battled 

for glory through the challenging 

90 km route. 

Jacqus Olcker from South 

Africa said: “It felt a lot 

longer than 90 km, the wind 

was against us today but the 

scenery made it all worth the 

effort. I stopped at a point just 

LONDON — Newcastle United 

closed in on the top four 

with a 2-0 victory at Blackburn 

Rovers on Wednesday 

and Arsenal slipped to seventh 

after a goalless draw at Bolton 

Wanderers stretched their winless 

run in the Premier League 

to four matches. 

Scott Dann's own goal 

and a late effort by substitute 

Gabriel Obertan lifted Newcastle 

into fifth place, three 

points behind Chelsea, while 

luckless Rovers remained 

stuck fast in the relegation 

zone. 

Arsenal drew 0-0 at Bolton 

and remain five points adrift 

of the top-four place that has 

been a virtual guarantee for 

the past decade under manager 

Arsene Wenger whose 

Dutch striker Robin van Persie 

was twice denied by the 

woodwork. 

"The belief is there, the 

desire is there and the confidence 

is there. We have come 

through a difficult period and 

we have of course a fight in 

front of us but we are ready 

for it," Wenger said when 

quizzed on his side's prospects 

of qualifying for next season's 

Champions League. 

"We have to hope that the 

fact we didn't lose gives us 

confidence." 

Djibril Cisse needed less 

than 15 minutes to mark his 

return to the Premier League 

when the Mubarak was ousted on 

February 11 last year, sent two military 

planes to fly out the players 

and the injured from Port Said late 

on Wednesday. 

He stressed that the country's 

security was 'fine' as he waited at 

a Cairo airport to meet the players 

and wounded fans. 

In Geneva Fifa President Sepp 

Blatter said he was shocked by the 

incident. 

"This is a black day for football. 

Such a catastrophic situation is unimaginable 

and should not happen," 

he said. 

The Confederation of African 

Football (Caf) announced that a 

minute of silence will be observed 

at the Africa Cup of Nations this 

weekend in memory of those killed 

and injured in the disaster. 

"African football is in a state 

of mourning," said CAF President 

Issa Hayatou. 

Politicians in Cairo expressed 

fury at the deaths, with newly 

elected liberal MP Amr Hamzawy 

calling for the sacking of the inte- 

to admire the beauty of the 

Sultanate.” 

The race saw 50 riders battle 

it out for the podium finishes, 

Spanish rider Mario Contives 

came in the first position 

with a time of three hours, 18 

minutes and 31 seconds followed 

by swiss rider Thomas 

Kommermann who clocked 

3: 19: 41 and in third position 

it was another Spanish rider 

Luis Martin who finished the 

stage in 3:20:8. 

with a goal as he opened his 

account for Queen's Park 

Rangers in their 2-2 draw at 

Aston Villa. 

The 30-year-old former 

Liverpool and Sunderland 

player, who signed on transfer 

deadline day from Lazio, celebrated 

with a somersault after 

smashing a shot past Villa 

keeper Shay Given. 

QPR doubled their lead 

with a Stephen Warnock own 

goal but England striker Darren 

Bent halved the deficit 

on the stroke of halftime and 

Charles N'Zogbia volleyed a 

second-half equaliser, his first 

goal for the Midlands club. 

"We're delighted that he 

has such an instant impact so 

early in his QPR career. You 

saw his quality tonight in tight 

areas, where he was able to 

use his pace and power and 

that will be effective for us in 

the course of the season," QPR 

manager Mark Hughes said of 

French striker Cisse. 

UPWARD CURVE 

Sunderland's form continued 

its upward curve since 

Martin O'Neill took over as 

manager with a 3-0 home victory 

over Norwich City that 

lifted them to eighth — Fraizer 

Campbell paving the way 

for a fifth win in seven league 

games with a spectacular volleyed 

opener. 

Former Fulham coach Roy 

Hodgson returned to Craven 

rior minister as well as Port Said's 

governor. 

The Muslim Brotherhood, 

Egypt's largest political force, accused 

Mubarak supporters of instigating 

the football violence. 

"The events in Port Said are 

planned and are a message from the 

remnants of the former regime," 

said MP Essam al Erian in a statement 

on the Islamist group's Freedom 

and Justice Party website. 

"This tragedy is the result of 

negligence and the lack of army 

and police, and those running the 

country bear the responsibility," 

Erian added. 

"There are those who deliberately 

want to sow chaos in the country 

and place obstacles in front of the 

peaceful transfer of power." 

Since Mubarak's ouster, Egypt 

has seen sporadic and sometimes 

deadly unrest coupled with a sharp 

rise in crime linked to the scarcity 

of the unpopular police, who were 

heavily criticised for their crackdown 

on protesters during the uprising. 

— AFP 

Spanish, Swiss riders dominate 

TransHajar Race second round 

The top ten riders were 

only separated by less than 

15 minutes. Nirjala Tamrakar, 

Nepal’s national women 

champion who is using the 

TransHajar race as a platform 

to prepare for her London Olympics 

bid, said: “TransHajar 

is a physical challenge with 

yourself and nature, it is one 

of the most scenic races I have 

participated in.” 

The 140 km third stage will 

start at 8 am today. 

Newcastle go fifth, faltering 

Arsenal slip to seventh 

Cottage where his West Bromwich 

Albion side eked out 

a 1-1 draw thanks to a late 

equaliser by Somen Tchoyi. 

Champions Manchester 

United moved level at the top 

of the table with a 2-0 victory 

over Stoke City on Tuesday 

when leaders Manchester City 

suffered a 1-0 defeat at Everton. 

Newcastle, the surprise 

package during the early 

months of the season, proved 

they are serious contenders for 

a European berth with a gritty 

win at Ewood Park. 

After Ryan Taylor's shot 

deflected into the net off Dann 

after 12 minutes Newcastle 

were forced to defend for long 

periods as the hosts dominated. 

Blackburn's David Dunn 

squandered the chance to 

equalise from the penalty 

spot and Rovers also struck 

the woodwork late on before 

Obertan's clincher. 

Arsenal, who found out 

earlier on Wednesday that 

Jack Wilshere had suffered a 

setback in his recovery from 

injury, suffered more frustration 

at Bolton. 

Van Persie came agonisingly 

close to a 20th league 

goal of the season when his 

crafty lob struck the bar late 

on to leave Arsenal still waiting 

for their first league win of 

2012. — Reuters

Messi misses 

penalty, Barca 

held at Valencia 

Page 19 


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 

Badu stunner fires 

Ghana into 

last eight 

Pakistan look for an encore against England 

DUBAI — Captain Misbahul 

Haq believes routing world 

No 1 England 3-0 will be a big 

achievement but stressed his 

team will not take that extra 

pressure into the third and final 

Test starting here today. 

No team has ever registered 

a clean sweep in the 58 years 

of Pakistan-England cricket 

and Misbah's team has a good 

chance of creating history after 

their comprehensive ten-wicket 

win in the first Test and by 

72 runs in the second. 

England, who will also be in 

danger of losing their world's 

top rankings if they lose here, 

will have to find a quick solution 

to counter Pakistani spinners 

Saeed Ajmal (17 wickets) 

and left-armer Abdul Rehman, 

who has 12 in two matches. 

Misbah said Pakistan 

will look for an encore in the 

third Test. "It will be a big 

achievement for the team 

(winning 3-0)," said Misbah 

of the clean sweep which Pakistan 

last achieved against 

Bangladesh at home in 2003, 

while their last against a top 

Test nation was beating West 

Indies 3-0 in 1997. 

By Our Sports Reporter 

MUSCAT — Belgians Michael 

Geerts and Magali Kempen stayed 

in contention for back-to-back singles 

titles while boys top seed advanced 

to the semifinals of the second Oman 

ITF Under-18 Championships at the 

Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex here 

yesterday. 

Boys number one Christos Hadjigeorgiou 

eased into the last four after 

routing Baseem Mekawi of Egypt. 

With 6-1, 6-1 result the Cypriot booked 

a semifinal against Iran’s Shayan Mehdizadehfard, 

who overcame Farid 

Hajizada of Azerbaijan 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in 

his quarterfinal match. 

Fifth seeded Michael Geerts, who 

won the boys singles title in the first of 

the back-to-back ITF Under-18 tourneys 

being organised by the Oman 

Tennis Association, stunned Cypriot 

second seed Konstantinos Ilia 6-3, 

6-1. 

In the semifinals, the Belgian takes 

on third seeded German Alexander 

Zverev, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Vitali 

Shcherba of Ukraine. 

In the girls singles, top seeded Russian 

Anna Pomyatinskaya was not so 

lucky as she came up against a spirited 

Romanian wild card Laura Enea and 

was eliminated after a three-set battle 

won by the latter 6-2, 4-6, 6-2. 

Third seed Fiona Codino of France 

also met with the same fate as her 

campaign ended in a 6-3, 6-2 loss to 

NEW DELHI — England 

spinner Graeme Swann and 

Sri Lankan captain Mahela 

Jayawardene head a star cast 

of cricketers who will be auctioned 

tomorrow to join the Indian 

Premier League (IPL). 

As many as 144 foreign and 

Indian players have thrown 

their hat in the ring in an auction 

restricted to players not 

already aligned to any team in 

the money-spinning Twenty20 

league. 

Australian fast bowlers 

Mitchell Johnson and Peter 

Siddle, and England duo 

James Anderson and Ian Bell, 

are among the other leading 

players going under the hammer 

in Bangalore. 

Each of the nine franchises 

have a maximum of $2 million 

"The way the team is performing 

with consistency, if 

we play well like we did in the 

first two games good results 

will come but we will not take 

that extra pressure (of clean 

sweep)," said 37-year-old Misbah. 

Since taking over as captain 

in the aftermath of spot-fixing 

scandal during which Pakistan 

lost 3-1 to England in 2010, 

Misbah has led Pakistan to 

eight wins with one defeat and 

five draws. 

Misbah said England were 

still a good team and winning 

the last Test will not be easy. 

"No doubt, England is a 

good team, they are number 

one in the world and it will 

not be easy because they will 

be more prepared, but we will 

try our best," said Misbah, who 

praised Ajmal and Rehman. 

Ajmal took a career best 

seven for 55 in the first Test 

here and Rehman registered 

his best six for 25 in the second 

in Abu Dhabi, feats which 

Misbah said were extraordinary. 

"I think both have been 

bowling well for quite some 

Sabina Shaydullina of Russia. 

In the first semifinal, Laura takes 

on Sabina while the other last four 

match will see Magali Kempen squaring 

off against fourth seeded Serbian 

Teodora Radosavljevic. 

Seventh seeded Magali upset Kazakh 

second seed Gulnaz Dokey 6-3, 

6-3 while Teodora overcame Turkey’s 

Melis Bayraktaroglu 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. 

to spend at the auction as they 

bid to strengthen their line-ups 

ahead of the fifth edition of the 

IPL which will be played between 

April 4 and May 27. 

Team insiders warn, however, 

that no more than 20-25 

players are likely to be bought 

since only a few slots are up 

for grabs to fill the quota of 

11 foreign stars in the 33-man 

squads allowed for each club. 

"Teams will focus on their 

strategic requirements, not 

on star quality alone," Delhi 

Daredevils executive Amrit 

Mathur said. 

"If a team already has a 

number of batsmen, it will 

likely go for bowlers. The idea 

is to provide an all-round balance 

to the squad." 

Much will also depend on 

PAKISTAN captain Misbah-ul Haq (left) talks with coach Mohsin Khan during a practice session at the Dubai 

International Cricket Stadium at Dubai Sports City on the eve of their third and final Test against England yesterday. 

PICTURE RIGHT: England captain Andrew Strauss (right) and coach Andy Flower during their practice session. 

Michael and Magali advance to semifinals 

UPSETS IN DOUBLES 

There were upsets in both the boys 

and girls doubles with top and second 

seeds being shown the exit in the 

semifinals. 

In the boys doubles last four, German 

and Croatian pair of Alexander 

Braun and Neven Krivokuca defeated 

top pair of Anton Djamalov of Uzbekistan 

and Alexander Zverev of 

Germany 6-4, 6-4. 

the availability of the players 

for the seven-week tournament 

that will host 76 matches. 

England's international 

players will not be available 

for more than a month, since 

their tour of Sri Lanka ends 

on April 7 and is followed by 

a home series against the West 

Indies starting in mid-May. 

The leading Australians 

will join the IPL only after 

their tour of the West Indies 

finishes on April 27. 

Among the players to 

be auctioned are those from 

the Kochi Tuskers franchise, 

which took part in last 

year's tournament before being 

thrown out of the IPL in 

September for non-payment 

of dues. 

Sri Lankan pair Jaya- 

wardene and world Test and 

one-day wicket record holder 

Muttiah Muralitharan are 

among the Kochi players on 

the market, as well as New 

Zealand's Brendon McCullum 

and Indian veteran Venkatsai 

Laxman. 

Former Pakistan international 

Azhar Mahmood, who 

now holds a British passport, 

is the only player from his 

country to try his luck at the 

auction. 

Pakistani players took part 

in the inaugural edition in 

2008, but were kept out of the 

next three editions amid growing 

political tensions following 

the Mumbai attacks later 

that year. 

Tom Cooper of the Netherlands 

and the O'Brien broth- 

Second seeds Bassem Mekawi for 

Egypt and Giovani Samaha of Libya 

were handed a 0-6, 6-4 (10-3) verdict 

by Daniil Michshenko of Kazakhstan 

and Chanintorn Silakul of Thailand. 

In the girls doubles, Linda Dubska 

of Czech Republic and Valentina 

Kulikova of Russia upset top seeds 

Fiona Codino of France and Serbian 

Teodora Radosavljevic 6-4, 6-1 to advance 

to the final. 

ers from Ireland — Niall and 

Kevin — are players from the 

non-Test nations on the auction 

list, which also includes Bangladesh 

opener Tamim Iqbal. 

Meanwhile, Kevin O’Brien 

is hoping for more good news 

from Bangalore when the IPL 

players’ auction takes place in 

the southern Indian city tomorrow. 

It was in Bangalore last 

year where O’Brien scored the 

fastest World Cup century of 

all time during Ireland’s sensational 

win over England. 

O’Brien got to three figures 

in just 50 balls and finished 

with 113, including six sixes 

and 13 fours, in a magnificent 

display of clean hitting as Ireland 

won by three wickets with 

seven balls to spare. 

And he proved that innings 

In the second semifinal, Belgian 

third seeds Magali Kempen and 

Greetje Minnen defeated second 

seeds Yekaterina Gubanova of Kazakhstan 

and Alena Vasilyeva of Russia 

3-6, 6-3 (10-4). 

Boys singles (quarterfinals): 

Christos Hadjigeorgiou (CYP x1) 

bt Baseem Mekawi (EGY) 6-1, 6-1; 

Shayan Mehdizadehfard (IRI) bt Farid 

Hajizada (AZE) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4; Michael 

Geerts (BEL x5) bt Konstantinos Ilia 

(CYP x2) 6-3, 6-1; Alexander Zverev 

(GER x3) bt Vitali Shcherba (UKR) 

6-2, 6-3. 

Girls singles (quarterfinals): 

Laura Enea (ROM) bt Anna Pomyatinskaya 

(RUS x1) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2; Sabina 

Shaydullina (RUS) bt Fiona Codino 

(FRA x3) 6-3, 6-2; Magali Kempen 

(BEL x7) bt Gulnaz Dokey (KAZ x2) 

6-3, 6-3; Teodora Radosavljevic (SRB 

x4) bt Melis Bayraktaroglu (TUR) 4-6, 

6-3, 6-2. 

Boys doubles (semifinals): Alexander 

Braun/Neven Krivokuca (GER/ 

CRO) bt Anton Djamalov/Alexander 

Zverev (UZB/GER x1) 6-4, 6-4; Daniil 

Michshenko/Chanintorn Silakul (KAZ/ 

THA) bt Bassem Mekawi/Giovani Samaha 

(EGY/LIB x2) 0-6, 6-4 (10-3). 

Girls doubles (semifinals): Linda 

Dubska/Valentina Kulikova (CZE/ 

RUS) bt Fiona Codino/Teodora Radosavljevic 

(FRA/SRB x1) 6-4, 6-1; 

Magali Kempen/Greetje Minnen 

(BEL x3) bt Yekaterina Gubanova/ 

Alena Vasilyeva (KAZ/RUS x2) 3-6, 

6-3 (10-4). 

Swann, Jayawardene head star cast for IPL auction 

was no one-off by scoring a 

44-ball hundred for Gloucestershire 

against Middlesex in a 

Twenty20 match — the same 

format as used in the lucrative 

IPL. 

Having not registered in 

the auction for last year’s IPL 

only to find out Kochi were 

interested in having him in 

their side, O’Brien made sure 

his name was on the list for the 

fifth edition. 

“It’s an exciting time, waiting 

for Saturday,” O’Brien said 

on Wednesday. 

Understandably, the memory 

of his stunning hundred is 

still vivid for the 27-year-old, 

also a useful medium-pacer, 

and O’Brien hopes it has also 

remained fresh for this weekend’s 

bidders as well. 

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Page 19 

time now and they create pressure 

on the batsmen and never 

give any opportuinty to let 

them out of that and on top of 

that England batsmen were low 

on confidence," said Misbah. 

Misbah hinted about keeping 

the same combination, 

although Pakistan have the option 

of using the bench player 

in paceman Wahab Riaz in 

place of Junaid Khan. 

"I am a firm believer in the 

balance of the team because 

the first priority is to win and I 

think we will go with whatever 

is the best combination for the 

team," said Misbah, predicting 

the Dubai stadium pitch will 

help batsmen more than in the 

first Test. 

England captain Andrew 

Strauss admitted the key would 

be countering Pakistan's spinners. 

"That's one of the crucial 

things about playing spin, you 

have to adapt your game according 

to the surfaces you 

play on. I am very optimistic, 

you'll see people a bit clearer 

in what their gameplan is and 

how they are looking to play, 

which is a good starting point," 

said Strauss. 

CHANGA BANGIAL, Pakistan 

— Disgraced Pakistan 

cricketer Mohammed Aamir 

will announce his next move 

when he returns home later 

this month after his release 

from a British prison, his 

brother said. 

Mohammed Ijaz said the 

family was delighted that the 

19-year-old had been freed 

after serving half a six-month 

sentence for spot-fixing in 

one of the biggest scandals to 

rock Pakistan cricket. 

"We are all very happy, 

my parents especially are 

very happy," Ijaz said by 

telephone. 

"He will be back home in 

the next two to three weeks. 

I talked to him yesterday. He 

was very happy and asked 

me to convey his best wishes 

to his parents and family 

members." 

"He will announce his 

future plans once he returns 

home. I don't know when he 

will be able to play cricket 

again for Pakistan because 

of the five-year ban," Ijaz 

added. 

Aamir was one of three 

Pakistan players jailed by 

a judge in London in November 

over their roles in a 

plan to bowl deliberate noballs 

during a Test against 

England at Lord's in August 

2010. 

He is also serving a fiveyear 

ban imposed by the International 

Cricket Council 

(ICC). 

Aamir's father suffers 

chronic stomach problems 

and is 'desperate' to see his 

son back in the humble family 

village of Changa Bangial, 

Ijaz said. 

The family house was 

closed yesterday. Neighbours 

told reporters that they had 

gone to the eastern city of 

Lahore, but other relatives 

living in the community said 

they did not want to talk to 

media. 

MISBAH SADDENED 

Meanwhile, Pakistan 

captain Misbah-ul Haq said 

"These conditions are 

slightly different, so it's more 

about adapting your game to 

the conditions than going right 

back to square one and saying 

'right, I need to change everything'. 

That's a dangerous route 

to go down. 

"It's a setback (2-0 down) in 

the sense that we didn't want it 

to happen, and we didn't want 

to lose a series. But that's gone, 

finished — and in some ways, 

maybe it's a good lesson for us 

that if you're five per cent off 

your game against the majority 

of sides you're going to come 

unstuck. 

"We desperately want to 

avoid losing the series 3-0; we 

desperately want to come back 

and show we're better than we 

have shown so far in the series. 

I think there's a feeling among 

the whole squad that we can 

come back and do that." 

Strauss added that middleorder 

batsman Ian Bell was 

fit after suffering stomach 

problem. The only question 

remaining is whether England 

will play with two spinners or 

drop one from Graeme Swann 

or Monty Panesar. — AFP 

Released Aamir ‘to 

announce plans’ 

after returning home 

yesterday he was saddened 

by the case of Aamir. 

Unsurprisingly Pakistan 

captain Misbah, bombarded 

with questions on Aamir in 

the pre-match press conference 

ahead of the third Test 

against England starting in 

the UAE today, avoided direct 

comment. 

When asked if he felt sad 

about what happened to a 

former team-mate, Misbah 

replied: “I think it feels sad 

whoever suffers that, as a 

cricketer you feel sad about 

such incidents but sometimes 

you have noting in 

your control and you can’t 

do anything.” 

Asked whether there 

would be a possibility of reducing 

Aamir’s ban on appeal, 

Misbah said: “I think 

I am not the concerned person, 

the people who are concerned 

about that will decide 

about it. We are playing here 

and we are focusing on that. 

“It’s totally up to the 

management, what the ICC 

decides and what the cricket 

board decides, I think 

it’s not my decision,” said 

Misbah, who played alongside 

Aamir in all his debut 

matches in Tests, one-day 

and Twenty20. 

“I think it’s all up to the 

people, what they think, 

what they say about him, 

we have nothing to do with 

that, we are here to play 

cricket and we are focusing 

on that.” 

When asked whether he 

would welcome Aamir back 

in the team, Misbah said: 

“I have clearly said that we 

have nothing to do with that, 

once he is cleared, once he is 

available then only we will 

see what happens, before 

that I have nothing to do 

with that. 

“You can say that it’s 

early to say anything about 

that, there are many things 

to be done by the ICC and 

the management, after that 

nobody knows what happens.”

Observer 3 Feb 2012 - Oman Observer

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