Citizens elect municipal councils - Oman Observer

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THE last day for receiving this year’s 

Ramadhan coupons will be on December 31, 

2012. Coupons can be sent to PO Box 974, 

PC 100, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. 

 

 

SUNDAY, December 23, 2012/Safar 9, 1434 AH 

Business 

High-speed rail route 

CHINA yesterday showed off the final 

link of the world’s longest high-speed rail 

route set to begin whisking passengers 

from Beijing to Guangzhou next week 

in a third of the time required. P21 

HM greets 

Japanese 

Emperor 

HIS Majesty Sultan 

Qaboos has sent a cable 

of greetings to Emperor 

Akihito of Japan on the 

occasion of his birthday. In 

his cable, His Majesty the 

Sultan expressed his sincere 

greetings along with his 

best wishes of good health 

and happiness to Emperor 

Akihito and the friendly 

people of Japan further 

progress and prosperity. 

New Korean 

president 

greeted 

HIS Majesty Sultan 

Qaboos has sent a cable 

of greetings to President 

Park Geun-hye of Korea on 

the occasion of her being 

elected as a new President 

of the republic. His Majesty 

expressed his sincere 

congratulations along with 

his best wishes of success 

to President Geun-hye to 

achieve aspirations of the 

friendly people of Korea 

towards further progress and 

prosperity. — ONA 

Oman to 

host sailing 

contest 

FOLLOWING the ISAF 

Annual Conference held last 

month in Dun Laoghaire, 

Ireland, Oman has beaten 

bids from others to host 

the ISAF Youth Sailing 

World Championships in 

2016. Held annually, the 

ISAF Youth Sailing World 

Championships is open to 

sailors aged 14-19. 

Philippines 

typhoon 

toll 1,500 

THE death toll from a 

typhoon that devastated 

the Philippines earlier 

this month will likely hit 

1,500, making it the second 

deadliest since the country 

began keeping records, the 

civil defence chief said. 

Benito Ramos said that so 

far they had counted 1,067 

dead with more than 800 

still missing after Tyhoon 

Bopha hit the country. 

India mulls 

death over 

abuse 

P6 

P7 

INDIA yesterday said it 

may consider using the 

death penalty to punish the 

abusers as police fired tear 

gas to quell the most violent 

day of demonstrations 

against the brutal action on 

a young woman. Struggling 

to subdue mounting 

protests, Home Minister 

Sushil Kumar Shinde said 

the government would look 

at ‘enhanced punishment.’ 

P9 

CAIRO — Egypt’s vice-president resigned 

yesterday as the country voted 

in a referendum that is expected to approve 

a new constitution that lays the 

foundations for transition to democracy 

but will strip him of his role. 

Authorities extended voting by 

four hours in the second and decisive 

round of the plebiscite on the constitution 

that the opposition has opposed. 

A SYRIAN refugee baby cries as she arrives with her family at Bib 

Salam refugee camp near the Turkish border. International envoy 

Lakhdar Brahimi will visit Syria in the next few days. Details, P12 

Features Sport 

Butterflies fly high 

INDIA has managed to protect nearly 

1,504 species of butterflies discovered 

in the subcontinent despite threats to 

their survival by sporadic forest fires and 

depleting green cover. P25 

Just hours before polls closed, 

Vice-President Mahmoud Mekky announced 

his resignation, saying he 

wanted to quit last month but stayed 

on to help President Mohamed Mursi 

tackle a crisis. 

Mekky, a prominent judge who 

said he was uncomfortable in politics, 

disclosed earlier he had not been informed 

of Mursi’s decree. See P12 

ISLAMABAD — A Taliban bomber 

killed a regional minister and eight 

others in Pakistan’s main northwestern 

town of Peshawar yesterday, 

police and officials said. 

Bashir Ahmad Bilour was targeted 

when he was leaving a meeting 

of the Awami National Party (ANP), 

a group that strongly opposes the 

Taliban. The 69-year-old political 

veteran suffered fatal wounds to 

his chest and he went into a shock, 

health authorities said. 

“Mr Bilour was put on a ventilator 

and doctors tried to revive him 

for one-and-a-half hours, but he 

never regained a heartbeat,” said 

Ishrad Javed, head of Peshawar’s 

Lahdy Reading Hospital. 

Peshawar police spokesman 

Morgan’s six stuns India 

A CAPTAIN’S innings of unbeaten 49 

off 26 balls by Eoin Morgan helped 

England beat India by six wickets in a 

last-ball finish in the second Twenty20 

international in Mumbai yesterday. P18 

A FOUR-page colour supplement on 

the occasion of the birthday of 

the Emperor of Japan is being 

distributed today. 

Citizens elect municipal councils 

 

MUSCAT — The Main Committee 

for the Municipal Councils first 

term elections announced primary 

results of elections, which were held 

yesterday. 

The full list of the winners from 

all the wilayats will be announced 

by the Ministry of Interior today at 

a press conference. 

Meanwhile, the elections for the 

Municipal Councils evoked good response, 

as impressive voter turnout 

was witnessed at all polling stations 

in the Sultanate, yesterday. 

At most of the voting centres, 

voters started coming with the opening 

of the polling at 7 am and they 

were seen waiting for their turn to 

cast vote. 

“The voting at all the 104 polling 

stations started on time at 7 am. 

Keeping in mind the number of registered 

voters at 546,000, adequate 

arrangements have been made to 

elect 192 members to the first term 

council from among 1,475 candidates,” 

said a member of Head 

Committee of the Municipal Council 

elections. 

Voter turnout at all the centres in 

Muscat Governorate was impressive 

with more than 35 to 45 per cent 

turnout between 9 am to 10.30 am. 

In the North Al Batinah, voters 

turned out at the polling stations early 

in the morning, notably seen are 

women who cast their vote for their 

candidates. In the Wilayat of Al Suwaiq, 

around 60 per cent of the voters 

were women who voted between 

10 am to 11 am. 

Khamis bin Nasser, expressed 

happiness over the arrangements 

at the polling centres. According to 

him, the technology adopted by the 

authorities involved in the electoral 

process is quite effective and convenient 

for both the candidates and 

the voters, said after casting his vote 

at the Asma bint Omar School for 

Basic Education in the wilayat. 

Many voters exercised their right 

Annual Royal tours 

Fahmi bin Khalid al Harthy, Editor-in-Chief 

 

THE annual Royal Meet-the-People Tour of His Majesty Sultan 

Qaboos, announced recently, has been heartily welcomed by 

the people. 

The widespread welcome which greets the announcement of His Majesty 

the Sultan’s annual tour of different wilayats highlights the mutual 

respect that exists between the subjects and the leader of this country. 

Since 1970, when His Majesty the Sultan started his annual Meet-the- 

People Tour, it has been a resounding success each year. 

The annual Meet-the-People Tour is important from several points of 

view. First and foremost, the tour is an example for the officials of the 

country that they too need to meet the people in all regions to know their 

hopes and aspirations, their concerns and challenges and their needs and 

requirements. To page 2 

CITIZENS turned up in large numbers to vote in the Municipal Council elections in various wilayats yesterday. 

to franchise for the first time at various 

polling booths. For 22-year-old 

Abdullah bin Hamed, who works in 

a private company, voting was first 

experience and he was very delighted 

after casting the vote. 

Similar was the case with Nasser 

bin Khalfan, 25, who cast his vote 

with the hope that after the victory 

the elected candidate will work as 

true representative of the community 

and solves prevailing problems 

after listening directly to the people. 

The election evoked good response 

in Salalah yesterday, as im- 

pressive voter turnout was witnessed 

at all the four polling centres in the 

city. Voters started pouring at various 

polling stations before the actual 

voting time of 7 am and were seen 

quietly waiting for their turn to cast 

the vote. 

The peak voting was seen at all 

the centres in Salalah between 9-12 

am, while sporadic voting was seen 

till the end of the vote timing at 7 pm. 

Out of total number of 26,966 voters, 

female voters constitute 12,188, 

while the rest 14,788 are men. 

A large number of journalists 

representing various media covered 

this important democratic event in 

the Sultanate. 

Many of the journalists expressed 

admiration for the good management 

of the polling stations in all 

wilayats. 

Lubna Nassar, an editor at 

Egypt’s Middle East News Agency 

said that the idea of having municipal 

elections is important because 

it emphasises communication between 

the citizen and the state and 

affirms the concern of the state for 

its citizens. 

New healthcare strategy 

 

MUSCAT — Strengthening and 

enforcing the legislation and laws 

governing the private health sector 

and developing their inspection and 

monitoring system is one of the key 

strategic goals of the Ministry of 

Health (MoH). 

The aim is to reach the target of 

100 per cent technical and administrator 

personnel who are trained in 

inspection and monitoring by 2015 

from zero per cent in 2005 and 

2010. 

The percentage of private health 

establishments that had been inspected 

by the regional and central 

inspection teams on average of 

three times more per year is to increase 

to 100 per cent by 2015 from 

Egypt vice-president quits Minister dies in Pakistan attack 

EU nations get 

time on deficit 

MADRID — The European Commission will 

propose giving Spain, France and several other 

euro zone states more time to cut their public 

deficits below the target limit of 3 per cent 

of GDP, newspaper El Pais said yesterday. 

Citing senior Spanish and European Union 

sources, the daily said France could get an 

extra year, allowing it to narrow its fiscal gap 

by 2014, while Spain would be given one or 

two more years beyond that date. 

France said that it would maintain its deficit-reduction 

goal for 2013 regardless of any 

softer line from Brussels. A European Commission 

spokeswoman declined to comment 

on the report. 

Spain’s fiscal targets are to be reassessed 

in February, EU Economic and Monetary Affairs 

Commissioner Olli Rehn said last month. 

No additional austerity efforts are needed until 

2014, he added, when more structural reforms 

are likely to be required. — AFP 

10 and 60 per cent in 2005 and 2010 

respectively. Strengthening legislation 

and monitoring is important 

because during the past 10 years the 

growth of the private health sector 

has gone up rapidly throughout the 

Sultanate, thanks to the incentives 

provided by the government to encourage 

its growth. 

More than 1,000 health institutions 

are now registered with the 

Department of Private Health Establishments, 

according to the MoH 

sources. These private institutions 

vary between hospitals, specialist 

and general clinics, covering all 

kinds of major and minor specialists 

as well as diagnostic labs and radiology 

services. 

Since private healthcare institutions 

have become one of the main 

stakeholders of the country’s health 

system, strengthening legislation 

for this sector and its development 

has become the main concern of the 

Sultanate’s health authorities, says 

the ministry. 

The aim is to protect patients 

and their family’s safety and to raise 

the efficiency of professional staff 

to deliver good quality of health 

services. One of the strategic objectives 

for the private health sector is 

to incorporate its services with the 

government health sector to form an 

integrated health system to meet the 

growing needs for health services 

and to achieve this strategy. 

The private health sector needs 

to get solid infrastructure of accurate 

data upon which to build strategic 

plans with the To page 2 

Jalaluddin said an assistant of the 

minister and a police officer in his 

security detail were among those 

killed in the explosion, which left 

17 people injured, some critically. 

In a message, Prime Minister 

Raja Pervez Ashraf paid rich tribute 

to Bilour’s services and reiterated 

the resolve to rid the country of 

militancy. — AFP 

She added that municipal councils 

will help the government knowing 

the different needs of the wilayats 

in terms of schools, roads, health 

centres and other services. 

Sultan al Hattab, Director of Al 

Orouba House for Political Studies, 

hailed the success of the elections 

for the municipal councils. 

He added that the experience of 

the Sultanate represents an advanced 

stage of progress and gives voters 

opportunity to choose their representatives 

in a democratic manner. 

See also pages 3, 4 and 5 

Italy sets 

polls for 

February 

ROME — Italy will go 

to the polls in February, 

officials said yesterday, 

amid uncertainty over 

whether Prime Minister 

Mario Monti will enter 

the political fray and 

fight Silvio Berlusconi 

for the top job. 

Monti’s resignation 

last Friday brought to a 

head weeks of speculation 

over whether the 

former eurocrat will play 

a major role in the February 

election, either as 

a candidate or a figurehead 

for centrist parties 

that pledge to continue 

his reforms. 

“On the eve of the 

most important decision 

of his political 

life, the premier halts 

on the threshold. He’s 

gripped by doubts, he’s 

tormented,” the leftwing 

Repubblica daily 

said, reflecting a flurry 

of press headlines over 

Monti’s apparent indecision. 

— Agencies 

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2 OMAN 

OMAN DAILY Observer 

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2012 

MUSCAT — The Qatari Embassy marked the National Day of Qatar at the Grand Hyatt 

Muscat Hotel, yesterday. The ceremony was attended by top Omani officials, heads of the 

diplomatic missions and officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. — ONA 

New healthcare strategy 

From page 1 

existing channels of communication 

between private and 

government health institutions, 

according to MoH’s National 

Strategic Plan outlined in the 

Eighth Five-Year Health Development 

Plan (2011-2015). 

The plan says the most 

prominent challenges facing 

the private health sector 

in Oman is lack of adequate 

legislation and laws to legalise 

and organise the work of these 

institutions to ensure provision 

of quality health services and 

safety of patients. 

The second key challenge 

is the inadequacy of trained inspectors 

among the technical 

and administrative personnel 

who hold legitimate authority. 

The MoH provides the 

private sector with all technical 

support they need to start 

their hospitals or clinics. The 

MoH’s consultants are allowed 

to work part-time with the private 

sector. This has helped 

private hospitals and clinics to 

cut down on their expenditure. 

Moreover, the MoH has 

privatised most of its support 

services in hospitals and health 

institutions. 

The pharmaceutical sector 

and a large part of the dentistry 

services are almost exclusively 

left for the private 

sector to cover. The government 

provides soft loans (and 

free or subsidised sites in some 

cases) to private entrepreneurs 

desirous of setting up clinics 

and hospitals. 

Therefore, incorporating 

private health sector’s services 

with the government health 

sector to form an integrated 

health system and strengthening 

legislation and monitoring 

is the need of the hour so as 

to meet the growing needs for 

health services of the people. 

RIALS 

Annual Royal tours 

From page 1 

This will allow them to make sure that the programmes 

and policies are tailored to meet the hopes and aspirations 

of the people and also to eliminate malpractices, if any, 

from the system, which is a major concern of the people. 

Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon 

Him), has said: “Anyone who intends to do something, and 

he takes that action after consultation, Allah would guide 

him towards the best possible option.” 

The Prophet has also said: “When a nation takes an action 

after mutual consultation, it is surely guided towards 

the correct course.” 

The practice of mutual consultation, which His Majesty 

the Sultan has established in the country through his annual 

Meet-the-People Tour since the dawn of the Blessed Omani 

Renaissance, has gone a long way in ascertaining people’s 

view on key issues. 

In much the same manner, we hope all departments of 

the government and all high ranking officials would act 

after ascertaining the needs of the people following their 

visits to different towns and villages from time to time. 

Undoubtedly, if our ministers follow in the footsteps of 

His Majesty the Sultan and undertake regular tours to meet 

the people, they would gain more insights into what the 

people need, and they will certainly do their best to help 

them and this will be an excellent and proactive way of 

meeting challenges even before raise their head. 

His Majesty meets and listens to citizens during the annual 

Royal tour in different parts of the country and instantly 

issues directives to launch new schemes and projects in 

accordance with the people’s needs and requirements. 

Once in an interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper Al 

Siyasa, His Majesty the Sultan said: “During these tours I 

meet the people, listen to their requirements and they listen 

to my views. Inspecting situation of the subjects is an affair 

which existed throughout Islam’s history and is considered 

as one of the leader’s duties. There are some citizens 

whose circumstances may not allow them to knock at certain 

doors, so I go to them directly and I feel psychologically 

relaxed during these tours. I feel delighted when I see 

my subjects listening to my directives with attention. This 

develops a culture of discipline and interaction between the 

leader and his subjects and leads to mutual loyalty.” 

The transformation of the country that people see today 

is a testament to the political, economic, social and institutional 

changes that have taken place in the Sultanate under 

the wise leadership of His Majesty the Sultan. 

What is needed to sustain this tempo of development 

as also to build on it is that high-ranking authorities of the 

country take a lesson from His Majesty the Sultan’s annual 

tour to know what the people want and what are their 

challenges. 

Last year His Highness Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmood al 

Said, Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers, 

said: “There is no doubt that His Majesty the Sultan undertakes 

annual meet-the-people tours through various wilayats 

of the Sultanate along with ministers as part of his ardent 

devotion and dedication to the welfare of the citizens 

and the development of the country as a whole. 

“The annual tours help identify people’s problems and 

concerns. In the light of these tours, His Majesty the Sultan 

announces new programmes and projects to improve the 

conditions of people in different wilayats. 

“He has toured all wilayats of the country and communicated 

with the citizens, listening keenly to their concerns 

and complaints. 

“The Sultanate, during the blessed reign of His Majesty 

the Sultan, has witnessed all-round development, thus 

putting in place a world-class infrastructure of roads, highways, 

healthcare and educational institutions and a robust 

economy. Every Omani must be proud of the country’s remarkable 

development, its culture, heritage and history,” 

added HH Sayyid Fahd. 

Significantly, in response to the Royal directives of His 

Majesty the Sultan, a symposium is held each year on some 

very important topic during the Royal Meet-the-People 

tour. This year as per the Royal directives, a symposium on 

development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will 

be held at Seih al Shamikhat in the Wilayat of Bahla. 

It will be in the fitness of things to say that the decision 

to put the spotlight on SMEs could not have come at a better 

time. This is the time to give a bug push to the SMEs in 

the country as the best means to promote the economy and 

to resolve unemployment issue. 

The Sultanate has the right economic environment and 

conditions, very good infrastructure and huge business opportunities. 

Business start-up ventures of young Omanis 

will start coming in huge numbers provided bureaucratic 

red tape and hurdles are eliminated. 

The symposium will shed light on the importance of 

assisting these enterprises to achieve the prospective economic 

growth, enhancing their capability to generate sustainable 

job opportunities and encouraging youths to have 

their own businesses. 

The symposium will also focus on discussing the challenges 

facing the entrepreneurs while trying to develop 

their enterprises, activating the role of these enterprises 

in increasing the contribution of the private sector in the 

development process, enhancing the initiative-taking spirit 

in identifying feasible investment opportunities, promoting 

entrepreneurship culture, enhancing individual and group 

participation by joining the labour market and focusing 

more on adding value to economic activities. 

Importantly, as per the Royal Directives of His Majesty 

the Sultan the outcomes of the SME symposium will be 

part of the government action plan while implementing the 

current and future five-year development plans. 

Child rights workshop held 

MUSCAT — The Ministry of Social Development, represented 

by the Department of Child Affairs, organised yesterday in 

co-operation with the Office of the United Nations Children's 

Fund (Unicef), a workshop on "Training of Trainers on the 

Convention on Child Rights and the Optional Protocols to the 

Convention." 

The opening session was patronised over by Brig Dr Sayyid 

Sultan bin Yarib al Busaidy, Director-General of ROP Medical 

Services, Deputy Head of the Committee to follow up the implementation 

of the Convention on child rights. 

Brig Dr Al Busaidy said as part of the committee's plan to 

communicate with groups closer to children so as to communicate 

with the greatest possible number of decision makers at 

their places of work, in particular those related to the implementation 

of the Convention, although almost all institutions 

are really relevant to this Convention. 

Sahiha bint Mubarak al Azariyah, Director of the Department 

of Child Affairs, in her speech called for preparing Omani 

staff on training, research and work in the areas of child 

rights, training of Omani teams on child rights, familiarising 

them with the basic principles, the graduation of a group of 

trainers who can train the local community and to allocate part 

of the training to theoretical knowledge. — ONA

MUSCAT — The Municipal 

Councils Elections are enjoying 

a significant coverage by 

various Gulf, Arab and international 

media means. 

A big number of journalists 

are currently in the Sultanate, 

representing various 

media who cover this important 

democratic event. 

Many of those visiting 

journalists who represent 

about 75 media organization 

expressed their admiration 

for the good management 

of the polling stations in all 

Wilayats of the Sultanate to 

elect representatives of the 

municipal councils which 

is the first experiment of 

its kind in the country, after 

the experience of Majlis 

Ash’shura elections which 

was a great success. 

Lubna Nassar, an editor 

at Egypt’s Middle East News 

Agency (Mena) said that the 

idea of having municipal 

elections is important because 

it emphasizes communication 

between the citizen 

and the State and affirms the 

concern of the State to the 

citizen everywhere. 

She added in an interview 

with Oman News Agency 

(ONA) that the municipal 

councils will help the Government 

knowing the different 

needs of the wilayats 

in terms of schools, roads, 

health centres and other municipal 

services of interest to 

the citizen. 

Sultan al Hattab, Director 

of Al Orouba House for Political 

Studies and the writer 

at the Jordanian Al Rai Daily 

asserted the success of the 

Omani elections of Municipal 

councils. 

He added that the experience 

of the Sultanate represents 

an advanced stage 

in the progressive stages of 

the elections that gives voters 

the opportunity to choose 

their representatives in the 

municipal councils in pure 

democratic manner. 

Mehdi Aziz, Editor-in- 

Chief of Iranian Islamic 

Media website, said that 

this election has been con- 

ducted in a democratic and 

fair process and the electoral 

scene has been characterised 

by order and accuracy in 

voting and entry of voters, 

expressing his admiration by 

the current election system, 

especially, in the voting form 

which contains the name and 

picture of the candidate allowing 

all groups, especially 

the illiterate, to freely, easily 

and clearly select without 

the intervention of any other 

person. 

He also commended the 

general atmosphere of the 

elections and the voters’ 

complying with election instructions, 

saying that these 

are evident that the election 

process is quite clear to the 

Omani people. 

Randa Fouda from the 

Egyptian Soot Al Arab Radio 

described the electoral process 

as “free and democratic”, 

saying it allowed the Omani 

people the opportunity to 

choose their representatives 

in these councils to be a link 

between them and the Gov- 

ernment. 

She confirmed that the 

election was “smooth” applied 

through the best techniques, 

showing admiration 

for intense presence of women 

in the voting to choose 

their representatives and this 

is an evident of partnership 

between men and women in 

the service of the nation”. 

Tariq Ashqar Al Jazira 

Net reporter said that the 

municipal elections are characterized 

by precision in organization, 

smoothness of 

procedures and voter’s keenness 

on casting their votes to 

confirm their participation in 

the development process in 

the Sultanate, adding that he 

was impressed by the Omani 

e-election, applied in Dhofar 

and Musandum Governorates. 

He added that the Municipal 

Councils elections are 

advanced and commendable 

as they shows the Sultanate’s 

keenness on using state-ofthe-art 

technology, wishing 

that the results of the evalu- 

3 OMAN 



Results of municipal council elections 

MUSCAT — The Main 

Committee for the Municipal 

Councils' first term elections 

announced primary results of 

elections, which were conducted 

yesterday in all wilayats of 

the Sultanate. 

Wilayat of Al Sinainah in 

the Governrate of the Al Buraimi, 

the winners are: 

Nassir bin Ali bin Musabah 

al Shamsi 

Mohammed bin Hamad bin 

Mufalah al-Shamsi 

Wilayat of Al Jazir in the 

Governorate of the Al Wusta: 

Said bin Rabe'a bin Bashir 

al Ghazeeli al Junaibi 

Zayid bin Abdoon bin Mussallam 

al Junaibi 

Wilayat of Daba Musandam 

Governorate: 

Salih bin Abdallah bin 

Mohammed al Dhahouri and 

Ahmed bin Ibrahim bin Ali al 

Dhahouri 

Wilayat of Mahdha in 

Buraimi Governorate 

Mohammed bin Saif bin Jumaa 

al Kaabi and Khamis bin 

Salim bin Said al Kaabi 

Wilayat of Wadi al Maawil 

in South Al Batinah Governorate: 

Badr bin Malik bin Saif al 

Maawali and Salim bin Ali bin 

Said al Naebi 

Wilayat of Duqm in Wosta 

Governorate: 

Sabeeh bin Rashid bin Said 

al Jeneibi and Said bin Salih 

bin Hamdoun al Jeneibi 

Wilayat of Dhalkout in 

Dhofar Governorate: 

Ahmed bin Samlim bin Bakheet 

Hardan and Mohammed 

bin Saad bin Sankour Rafeet 

Wilayat of Shaleem and 

Halaniyat in Dhofar Governorate: 

Sultan bin Zayid bin Mohammed 

al Bathari and Mohammed 

bin Dalakam bin Suhail 

al Mahri 

Meanwhile, the Main 

Committee for the Municipal 

Councils Elections in its first 

term announced yesterday the 

closing of all polling stations 

in various wilayats of the Sultanate 

and the end of the voting 

process. 

An official source from the 

committee told ONA that committees 

will start the sorting out 

process and the results will be 

unveiled respectively. 

The source confirmed that 

the ballot boxes are now being 

transferred to the counting 

centres at the Walis' Offices 

to start sorting out the votes, 

adding that in the case of two 

candidates getting the equal 

number of votes a draw will 

be conducted to determine the 

winner. 

Khalid bin Hilal bin Saud 

al Busaidy, Under-Secretary 

of the Interior Ministry and 

Chairman of the Main Committee 

for Municipal Councils 

Elections for the First Term 

said that the elections process 

for the members of the municipal 

councils for the first term 

started smoothly at the different 

wilayats in the Sultanate. 

He pointed out that as per the 

communications made with 

the election centres, the voters 

started pouring into the election 

centres since 7 am. 

He added in a statement to 

ONA, that this election witnessed 

the introduction of the 

e-voting system, which was 

used last on December 15 in 

the voting at the Sultanate's 

embassies in the GCC capitals 

and with the workers in the 

election committees. 

The system has also been 

used at the election centre 

which was established in Muscat 

Governorate for Dhofar and 

Musandam Governorates electors 

residing in Muscat. Voters 

from these two governorates 

cast their votes in this centre 

to select their candidates. He 

affirmed that the e-voting has 

proved to be efficient and accurate 

and that the trend is to use 

this system more in the future 

elections. 

He affirmed that all circumstances 

are in place to ensure 

the success of the elections 

as all election committees are 

ready for this event. 

He pointed out that the mobile 

electronic units have been 

availed at the election centres 

during the voting period to enable 

voters who have not fixed 

the e-system at their ID cards 

to fix the system. 

This will enable them to 

cast their votes. All voters who 

cast their votes will be given 

fully paid leave of work. 

He added that the initial 

Significant coverage by international media 

ation of the technological experience 

will recommend it 

for the coming elections. 

Sergio Oates from the 

Brazilian Television was 

impressed by the electoral 

scene of Oman and said that 

it was a democratic election 

that allows voters the opportunity 

to select their representatives, 

and that joy and 

happiness takes shape on the 

faces of all participants for 

the successful process. 

The Brazilian journalist 

hailed the good organization 

of electoral committees, saying 

that he saw through his 

visits to the election centres 

in Sur a wonderful organization 

for voting and entry and 

exit of voters, adding that 

what distinguishes electoral 

centres is the big turnout of 

women who participate in 

the voting, along with the 

designation of special places 

in these centres for the voting 

of the disabled, to allow 

them to take part in the election 

and casting their votes. 

— ONA 

indicators of the sorting out 

process will be aired live at the 

website of the municipal councils 

elections, 

Smartphones holders may 

also review these indicators 

through the direct link www. 

voting.election.gov.om. The 

Sultanate of Oman TV will also 

provide live transmission of the 

election process and through 

the link at the YouTube. 

Khalid bin Hilal praised the 

co-operation of all voters with 

the committees working in the 

election process and thanked 

all workers at the Municipal 

Councils elections for the First 

Term for their contribution 

to the success of the election 

process. 

He commended their efforts 

during the past period and also 

thanked local and international 

print, audio and visual me- 

dia that covered this process. 

— ONA (Pictures by ONA, 

Mohammed Mahjoub, Salim 

al Moharbi, Saeed al Harrassi)

MUSCAT — Omani voters 

started cast their votes to elect 

their representatives in the 1st 

term of the Municipal Councils 

in a historic day witnessed by 

the Sultanate. Since 7 am, the 

104 election centres in the different 

wilayats of the Sultanate 

received male and female citizens 

to cast their votes as these 

centres were open till 7 pm yesterday. 

The number of voters who 

are registered in the electoral 

register stood at 546,000 male 

and female voters who will elect 

192 members for the Municipal 

Councils in the wilayats out of 

1,475 candidates, including 46 

female candidates. 

Members of the elections 

committees in the 104 centres 

help the voters to cast their 

votes in the ballet boxes which 

closed at 7 pm yesterday. 

Wilayat of Manah in the 

Governorate of Al Dakhiliyah, 

the number of voters registered 

in the electoral register stood at 

4057 who are casting their votes 

at the election centre in Al Shahama 

Basic Education School to 

elect two members to represent 

them in the first term of the Municipal 

Council in the wilayat 

out of 13 candidates. 

Regarding the election process 

in the wilayatt of Manah, 

Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdullah 

al Malik al Shuhi, Wali of 

Manah and Head of the Elections 

Committee in the wilayat 

said that every Omani citizen 

has the right to take part in this 

national event, a wise policy 

adopted by His Majesty Sultan 

Qaboos to gradually practice the 

electoral right and involve the 

citizens in the decision making 

process. 

In a statement to ONA, he 

affirmed that the election process 

in the Wilayatt of Manah is 

being run easily according to the 

outlined plan as all committees 

started their work since early 

morning of the day to ensure the 

success of this national event. 

Wilayat of Quriyat in the 

Governorate of Muscat, the voters 

started casting their votes in 

the 3 election centres, namely 

Zainab bint Abi Sufyan School, 

Al Ghadeer School and Fins 

School. 

Wilayat of Al Khabourah 

in the Governorate of North 

Al Batinah, 1,5191 male and 

female voters registered in the 

electoral register started casting 

their voters in the elections 

centres in Al Farooq School and 

Durat Al Elm School to elect 4 

members out of 30 candidates. 

Shaikh Said bin Muhana al 

Hinaei, Wali of Al Khabourah 

and Head of the Elections Committee 

in the wilayat said that 

this national event will be added 

to the democratic history of the 

Sultanate affirming that these 

councils will contribute in outlining 

the developmental policies 

in the Sultanate. 

In a statement to ONA, he 

said that the e-voting reflects 

the government's interest for 

the continuous upgrading in the 

electoral processes. 

Wilayat of Al A'amirat 

in the Governorate of Muscat, 

7,748 male and female voters 

started casting their votes in the 

elections centre in Al Sahba'a 

Basic Education School to elect 

4 members for the Municipal 

Council out of 22 candidates, 

including 4 female candidates. 

Shaikh Muhana bin Saif al 

Mewaali, Wali of Al Aemarat 



the elections process is being 

run easily due to the co-operation 

between the voters and 

members of the elections committee. 

He affirmed that this came as 

a result of the early preparations 

to select the good and effective 

members for the elections committee. 

In the Wilayat of Saham in 

the North Al Batinah Governorate, 

4 election centres were 

specified for this purpose as 

these centres received 18719 

voters to cast their votes and 

elect members for the Municipal 

Council out of the 64 male 

and female candidates. 

The election centres in the 

wilayatt of Al Mudhaibi and the 

Niyabats of Sinaw and Samad 

A Shaan in the Wilayat of Al 

Mudhaibi in the Governorate of 

North Al Sharqiyah received the 

voters who casted their votes 

to elect 6 members for the Municipal 

Council out of 45 candidates. 

Shaikh Salim bin Rabea al 

Sunaidi, Wali of Al Mudhaibi 


in the wilayat expressed 

his delight for the elections 

process, wishing the Municipal 

Councils in all wilayats success 

to support the march of development 

in the country. 

Wilayat of Al Awabi in the 

Governorate of South Al Batinah, 

the male and female voters 

started casting their votes in the 

election centre in Salma bint 

Qais Basic Education School 

in the presence of Shaikh Abdulaziz 

bin Salim bin Said al 

Abdulsalam, Wali of Al Awabi 

to elect members for the Municipal 


Shaikh Hilal bin Said al- 

Hajri, Governor of South Al 

Batinah paid a visit to the election 

centre in the wilayat of Al 

Awabi to familiarise himself 

with the election process. 

He said that the elections 

process is being run easily according 

to the plan, pointing out 

that this day is considered to be 

as another national festival in 

the Omani democracy. 

On his turn, Shaikh Abdulaziz 

bin Salim bin Said al 

Abdulsalam, Wali of Al Awabi 

said in a statement to ONA that 

the election process in the wilayat 

is being run easily due to the 

co-operation between the voters 

and members of the elections 

committee. 

In Wilayats of the Governorate 

of Dhofar voters turned 

up to cast their votes and select 

their candidates for membership 

in the municipal councils, in the 

Wilayat of Salalah 22550 voters 

since early morning headed to 

ballot boxes to take part in the 

election process and select their 

representatives out of 17 candidates 

in the municipal council 

for the first term 2012. 

Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohsen 

al Shanfari, Director-General of 

Local Affairs at the Office of the 

Minister of State and Governor 

of Dhofar Head of the Elections 

Committee in the Wilayat 

of Salalah said that there are 4 

elections centres in the wilayat, 

namely Khawla bint Hakeem 

Post-Basic Education School 

and ASaadah Basic Education 

School in A'Saadah, where two 

more centres are in the mountain, 

namely Ghadu Basic Education 

School and Zaik Basic 

Education School. 

Al Shanfari thanked the 

Royal Oman Police for opening 

4 outlets for those who want to 

fix the e-system on their IDs' in 

the election centres which had 

attracted more citizens to join 

the election process. 

Wilayat of Taqah, more 

than 6,000 male and female voters 

poured into the election centre 

in A'Sayyidah Mizoon bin 

Ahmed al Mashani School to 

cast their votes and elect members 

for the Municipal Council 


In a statement to ONA, 

Shaikh Bakheet bin Said Masn 

al Kathiri, Wali of Taqah and 

Head of the Elections Committee 


the voters started casting their 

votes to elect the members for 

the Municipal Council in the 

wilayat which is expected to 

contribute in the development 

and enhancing the service aspects 

in the wilayat. 

Wilayat of Maqshan, Mabkhoot 

bin Salim Khuwaitam 

Masn Bait Katheer and Suhail 

bin Said bin Mayah al-Mashali 

were selected by acclimation for 

the membership of the Municipal 

Council in the wilayat out of 

4 candidates. 

Shaikh Abdullah bin Nasser 

al Hamar, Wali of Maqshan said 

in a statement to ONA that by 

this the Wilayat of Maqshan had 

selected its representatives in 

the Municipal Council for the 

first term which also reflects the 

citizens awareness in the wilayat 

candidates and voters alike of 

the importance of selecting their 

representatives in away that 

meets the concerns and aspirations 

of the wilayat. 

Wilayat of Muttrah in the 

Governorate of Muscat, the voters 

started casting their votes 

in the election centres in Jabir 

bin Zaid Post-Basic Education 

School and Al Qurum Basic 


Shaikh Yahya bin Nassir al 

Harrasi, Wali of Muttrah said 

that the number of male and 

female voters stood at 16116 

who started casting their votes 


Council in the wilayat 

out of 24 candidates. The population 

of Muttrah is estimated at 

48,487 citizens. 

Wilayat of Adam in the 



poured into the election centre 

in Adam Basic Education 

School to elect members for the 

Municipal Council in the wilayat 


Shaikh Awadh bin Abdullah 

al Manthri, Wali of Adam and 

Head of the Elections CommittEe 

in the wilayat said that the 

elections process in the Wilayat 

of Adam is being run easily 

thanks to the early preparations 

and the current cooperation between 

the voters and members 

of the elections committee. 

Wilayat of Mirbat, the vot- 

4 


OMAN 


Brisk voting in 104 poll centres in wilayats 

ers started casting their votes in 

the elections centre in Mirbat 


Saif bin Ahmed al Ghuraibi, 

Wali of Mirbat and Head of 

the Elections Committee in the 

wilayat said that the number of 

candidates stood at 28 /, affirming 

that the election process will 

be run easily due to the early 

preparation by the committee. 

In the Wilayat of Bidiyah, 

6471 male and female voters 

poured into the elections centre 

in Bidiyah Basic Education 

School to cast their votes and 


Council in the wilayat out 

of 11 candidates including 1 female 

candidate. 

In the Wilayat of Nizwa in the 

Governorate of A'Dakhiliyah, 

the male and female voters 

poured into the elections centres 

in Al Basheer bin Al Munthir 

Basic Education School and 

Robooa Al Jabal Al Akdhar 

Basic Education School to cast 

their votes and elect 6 members 

for the municipal Council of the 

wilayat out of 55 candidates including 

1 female candidate. 

Shaikh Hamad bin Salim 

al Aghbari, Wali of Nizwa and 


in the wilayat said the election 

centres received the voters 

yesterday affirming that the 

elections process is being run 

easily. 

In the Wilayat of Diba in 

the Governorate of Musandam, 

1531male and female voters 

poured into the elections centre 

in Amr Ibin Al A'as Basic Education 

School to cast their votes 

and elect two members for the 

Municipal Council of the wilayat 

out of 9candidates. 

Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa al 

Abri, Wali of Diba and Head of 

the Elections Committee in the 

wilayat said that the committee 

prepared for this national event 

long time ago, urging the voters 

to elect the best of those who 

can contribute in developing the 

wilayat. 

Wilayat of Bausher in the 

Governorate of Muscat, male 

and female voters poured into 

the ballot boxes to cast their 

votes and elect 6 members for 

the Municipal Council of the 

wilayat out of 38 candidates including 

4 female candidates to 

represent the wilayat the population 

of 150000 in the elections 

of the municipal councils for the 

first term 

Shaikh Ibrahim al Rawahi, 

Wali of Bausher and Head of 

the Elections Committee in 

the wilayat said that the voting 

process went smoothly due to 

the good previous preparation. 

Wilayat of Al Kamil Wa 

al Wafi in the Governorate of 

South Al Sharqiyah, male and 

female voters poured into the 

election centre in Al Abbas bin 

Abdulmutalib School to elect 

their representatives in the Municipal 


Wilayat of Samayil in the 


male and female voters poured 

into the election centre in Mariyah 

Al Qibtiyah Basic Education 

School as Shaikh Ahmed 

bin Abdullah al Kindi, Wali of 

Samayil and Head of the Elec- 

tions Committee in the wilayat 

met with the 42 candidates to 

show them the ballot boxes. 

Wali of Samayil said that the 

voting process is going smoothly 

as the 9,969 male and female 

voters continue casting their 

votes. 

Wilayat of Al Buraimi in 

the Governorate of Al Buraimi, 

Sayyid Hamoud bin Faisal al 

Busaidy, Interior Minister paid a 

visit to the elections committees 

as he was received by Sayyid Ibrahim 

bin Said al Busaidy, Governor 

of Al Buraimi and Shaikh 

Khalaf bin Salim al Ishaqi, Wali 

of Al Buraimi. 

During the visit, Sayyid al 

Busaidy met with heads and 

members of the elections committees 

to view work progress 

in the elections centres. 

In a statement, the Governor 

of Al Buraimi said that the elections 

process is going smoothly 

as there are four election centres 

in the governorate, 2 in the 

Wilayat of Al Buraimi, 1 in the 

Wilayat of Mahda and 1 in the 

Wilayat of Al Sunainah. 

The Minister of Interior was 

accompanied during the visit by 

Shaikh Saad bin Mohammed al 

Braiki, Adviser of the Ministry 

of Interior and Lawyer Jihad bin 

Abdullah al Ta'ae, Secretary- 

General of The National Human 

Rights Commission (NHRC). 

Wilayat of Jaalan Bani 

Bu Hassan, 8,156 male and 


ballot boxes to elect 2 members 

to represent the wilayat in the 

Municipal Council out of 18 

candidates. 

Shaikh Hamad bin Rashid 

al Muqbali, Wali of Jaalan Bani 

Bu Hassan Head of the Elections 

Committee in the wilayat 

paid an inspection visit to the 

ballot boxes before the commencement 

of the election. 

Shaikh al Muqbali said that 

due to the good organisation, 

the voting process is going 

smoothly and easily. 

Wilayat of Dhank in the 

Governorate of Al Dahirah, 


poured into the elections centres 

to elect their representatives in 

the Municipal Council out of 18 

candidates. 

Shaikh Hamad bin Hamoud 

al Mahrouqi, Wali of Dhank 



voting process went smoothly 

just like the rest of the Sultanate's 

wilayats. 

Wilayat of Mahout in the 

Governorate of Al Wusta, male 

and female voters started pouring 

into the ballot boxes as 

Shaikh Meathid bin Mohammed 

al Yaqoubi, Governor of the Al 

Wusta paid an inspection visit 

to the election centre to view the 

voting process. 

Wilayat of Wadi al Maawil 

in the Governorate of South Al 

Batinah, 3,576 male and female 

voters poured into the ballot 

boxes in Wadi Al Mawil Basic 

Education School to elect two 

members for the Municipal 

Council out of 12 candidates including 

1 female candidate. 

The ballet boxes were 

opened at 7 am in the presence 

of Shaikh Khalifa bin Hilal al 

Alawi, Wali of Wadi al Maawil 


in the wilayat who later 

stated that the election process 

is going smoothly and easily. 

Wilayat of Rakhyut, male 


the ballot boxes in Shahab 

Aseeb Basic Education School 

to cast their votes and elect their 

representatives in the Municipal 

Council. 

Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed 

al Shukili, Wali of Rakhyut said 

that 3,734 male and female voters 

are casting their votes to elect 

two members for the Municipal 


In the Wilayat of Shaleem 

and Al Halaniyat Islands, male 


the ballot boxes in Shaleem 


their votes and elect their representatives 

in the Municipal 

Council for the first term. 

Shaikh Bakheet bin Salim al 

Mashani, Wali of Shaleem and 

Al Halaniyat Islands said that 

the election centre is open since 

7 am to receive 1,519 male and 

female voters who cast their 

votes to elect members for the 

Municipal Council out of 20 

candidates. 

Wilayat of Thumrait, male 


the ballot boxes to cast their 

votes and elect their representatives 

in the Municipal Council. 

Shaikh Amir bin Salim Ka- 

shoob, Wali of Thumrait said 

that 4,917 male and female voters 

started casting their votes to 



Wilayat of Sadah, male and 


ballot boxes in Abdullah bin al 

Jarrah School to cast their votes 

and elect their representatives 

in the Municipal Council out 

of 14 candidates in the presence 

of Shaikh Abdulsalam bin 

Mohammed al Rowas, Wali of 

Sadah Head of the Elections 

Committee in the wilayat. 

Wilayat of Al Mazyounah, 

male and female voters poured 

into the ballot boxes in Omar 

bin Abdulaziz Boys School to 

cast their votes and elect their 



Shaikh Salim bin Suhail Zidi 

Tabook, Wali of Al Mazyounah 



wilayat has prepared for this 

national event, pointing out 

that the voting process is going 

smoothly. 

Wilayat of Dhalkhut, male 


the ballot boxes in Dhalkhut 

Girls School to cast their votes 

and elect their representatives in 

the Municipal Council out of 16 

candidates. 

Shaikh Ghazi bin Salim al 

Shanfari, Wali of Dhalkhut said 

preparations for this event began 

earlier which made the voting a 

lot easier for more than 2,990 

male and female voters who 

started casting their votes. 

In the Wilayat of Barka in 

the Governorate of South Al 

Batinah, male and female voters 

poured into the ballot boxes to 

cast their votes and elect their 


Council. 

Shaikh Majid bin Khalifa al 

Harthy, Wali of Barka Head of 

the Elections Committee said 

that 22,152 male and female 

voters started casting their votes 



Meanwhile, Shaikh Hilal bin 

Said al Hajri, Governor of the 

Al Batinah South inspected the 

election centres to view work 

progress as he commended the 

great role being played by the 

elections committees in the 

wilayat and affiliated wilayatts 

to the Governorate. 

Wilayat of Al Hamra, male 


the election centres in Al Hamra 


their votes and elect their representatives 

in the Municipal 


Shaikh Mohsen bin Hamad 

al Maskari, Wali of Al Hamra 

said that the voting process is 

being run easily and smoothly. 

Wilayat of Sohar in the 

Governorate of North Al Batinah, 

25000 male and female voters 

poured into the ballot boxes 

to cast their votes and elect their 


Council out of 55candidates including 

two female candidates. 

Wilayat of Shinas in the 

Governorate of North Al Batinah, 

more than 15,000 male 


the election centres to cast their 

votes and elect their representatives 

in the Municipal Council 

out of 52 candidates including 1 

female candidate. 

Meanwhile, Shaikh Muhana 

bin Saif al Lamki, Governor of 

North Al Batinah visited the 

elections centres in the Wilayat 

of Shinas to view work progress 

accompanied by Shaikh Hamoud 

bin Mohammed al Wahshi, Wali 

of Shinas Head of the Elections 

Committee in the wilayat.

By Kaushalendra Singh 

SALALAH — The municipal 

election evoked good response 

in Salalah yesterday, as impressive 

voters’ turnout was 

witnessed at all the four polling 

stations in the city. 

Voters started pouring at 

the polling stations before the 

actual voting time of 7 am and 

were seen quietly waiting for 

their turn to cast the vote. 

The peak voting at all the 

centres in Salalah was between 

9 am to 12 am, while sporadic 

voting was seen till the end of 

the vote timing at 7 pm. 

Out of total number of 

26,966 voters, the female voters 

constitute 12,188, while the 

rest 14,788 are male voters in 

Salalah. There are candidates 

in fray in Salalah. Voters turn 

out at all the voting stations in 

Salalah was impressive with 

more than 30 to 35 per cent 

votes cast by 10.15 am. 

Terming this to very good 

response from people in general, 

Abdulrahman Ali al Hinai, 

Supervisor at the Governor’s 

Office in Salalah, said: “The 

voting is going on smoothly 

mainly due to system in place. 

Due to application of the best 

possible technology to conduct 

the election, it is not taking 

more than 30 seconds to 35 

seconds per person to cast the 

vote. Maximum time taken for 

one person to cast the vote is 1 

minute.” 

“The beauty of the whole 

process is transparency during 

voting and counting. We have 

adopted such a mechanism that 

the counting process can be 

seen live via Internet or on the 

television, as all the counting 

centres are linked through Internet 

and television cameras,” 

he said. 

There were many voters at 

the polling booths who were 

exercising their right to franchise 

for the first time. For 

Imad al Murazza, who works 

in a construction company, voting 

gives the voters a chance 

to choose candidates of their 

choice and impress upon them 

to fulfil the day-to-day requirements 

of the common man. 

He termed this to be the direct 

participation people in the 

municipal policymaking. 

Abdullah Thabit Abdullah 

al Yafai, Poll Supervisor at 

Khoula School polling centres, 

was elated over the election. 

“Now it is easy for us to 

5 OMAN 



Impressive voter turnout in wilayats 

communicate with higher ups 

in the municipality. We can 

communicate our grievances 

through our elected representatives,” 

he said. 

Another voter, Dabdullha 

Sanajoor al Madawi, said: I 

cast my vote with a hope that 

after the victory the elected 

person would work as true representative 

of the community 

and solve prevailing problems 

after listening directly to the 

people.” 

“Every society has some 

day-to-day issues and the election 

gives us an opportunity 

to elect a man who represents 

the society in true sense. As he 

happens to be one among us, it 

is easy for us to approach him 

and convince him about the issues 

concerning us,” he said. 

There were many young 

voters at the polling station, 

who took leave to exercise 

their right to franchise. They 

were seen enthusiastic to cast 

vote and elated after coming 

out of the polling stations. 

Equal enthusiasm was seen 

among senior voters. Khalifa 

(55), brought his 33-year-old 

son to ensure that both of them 

cast vote. 

When asked what difference 

this election would make 

in policy making, Khalifa said: 

“This will give the policy makers 

a chance to get feedback 

from the grassroots. And since 

we send our representative to 

municipality, he knows our 

problems. This will help the 

government in coming out with 

better policies for the people.” 

Another voter, Salim expressed 

happiness over the 

arrangements at the polling 

stations. 

According to him, the technology 

adopted by the authorities 

involved in the electoral 

process is quite effective and 

convenient for both, the candidates 

and the voters. 

— Pictures by 

Abdulrahim Subait

6 OMAN 



Oman prepares to host 2016 Youth Sailing Championships 

By A Staff Reporter 

MUSCAT — Following the 

ISAF Annual Conference held 

last month in Dun Laoghaire, 

Ireland, Oman has beaten bids 

from Buenos Aires (ARG), 

Medemblik (NED) and Gydnia 

(POL) to host the ISAF Youth 

Sailing World Championships 

in 2016. 

Held annually, the ISAF 

Youth Sailing World Championships 

is open to sailors aged 

14-19. 

At this year’s event, also 

held in Dun Laoghaire, 350 

competitors took part from 63 

nations. 

The ISAF Youth Sailing 

World Championships are 

traditionally where top racing 

sailors first get the chance to 

prove themselves on the international 

stage. 

Past ISAF Youth World 

champions can now be found 

across all the pinnacle events 

in competitive sailing, including: 

America's Cup legend 

Russell Coutts (Laser winner 

in 1981); Volvo Ocean Race 

watch leader, Stu Bannatyne, 

(1989); Emirates Team New 

Zealand America’s Cup skipper 

Dean Barker (1990), Brazilian 

multiple Olympic medallist 

Robert Scheidt (1991), 

and Ben Ainslie (1995) who 

this year became the most successful 

Olympic sailor of all 

time. 

Coming off the back of successfully 

winning the right to 

hold the Laser World Championships 

in 2013, the bid to host 

the ISAF Youth Sailing World 

Championships was presented 

by Oman Sail, a governmentbacked 

initiative that harnesses 

the power of sailing to 

contribute to the development 

of Oman and its people. 

It particularly aims to rejuvenate 

Oman’s rich maritime 

heritage and to this end has 

set up sailing schools with 

the target of getting 30,000 

Omanis afloat over a five year 

period (they recently reached 

10,000). 

For the International Sailing 

Federation (ISAF) the attractions 

of holding the Youth 

Scientific Research Day at OMSB 

MUSCAT — Oman Medical 

Specialty Board (OMSB) will 

organise tomorrow the competition 

of the 3rd scientific open 

day for resident doctors under 

the auspices of Dr Hilal bin 

Ali al Hinai, Secretary-General 

of The Research Council 

(TRC). 

The ceremony is divided 

into two categories: the first 

category contains 15 researches 

and the second category includes 

28 posters in different 

specialised medical fields. 

The ceremony will also 

include lectures about how to 

conduct scientific research during 

training and the opening of 

the accompanying exhibition, 

which includes 28 posters in 

different specialised medical 

fields. 

The presentation session 

follows, in which 15 resident 

doctors present their researches 

to the audience and the Evaluation 

Committee in the com- 


MUSCAT — Oman Oil Company 

(OOC) launched its first 

workshop of the awareness 

programme, My Job My Oath, 

in co-operation with Oman Society 

for Petroleum Services 

(OPAL) for the second year after 

the first launch in 2011. 

The initiative is organised 

by OOC’s Corporate Social 

Responsibility and plays a significant 

role in developing and 

involving the Omani youth 

into various work fields and industries, 

especially in Oil and 

Gas Sectors, and insuring their 

promising and advantageous 

participation within the local 

market growth. 

In line with His Majesty the 

Sultan’s vision and the Sultanate’s 

objectives in providing 

adequate and operational work 

environment in many industrial 

sectors, My Job My Oath ef- 

petition to win the first places, 

followed by comments of the 

Evaluation Committee on these 

researches. 

The ceremony aims at encouraging 

the resident doctors 

and prove their merit in 

the future and to pay more 

fectively contributes in distributing 

tactical career awareness 

all over the Sultanate’s Governorates 

and regions. The Programme 

is displayed through a 

number of workshops planned 

in Muscat, Dhofar, North and 

South Al Batinah and Al Dakhiliya 

Governorates, and 

presented by Khalfan Mohammed 

al Esry, CEO of the Coach 

Company. 

Specifically, the workshop 

discusses relevant issues such 

as work communication, career 

responsibility, economic 

aspects and Omani Labour 

Law. 

OOC and OPAL provides 

the workshop to achieve and 

meet requirements of Oil and 

Gas sectors and other related 

sectors as well as local societies 

and communities within 

the framework of the Sultanate’s 

approaches in building 

productive generations. 

attention to the scientific 

method while presenting their 

research. 

OMSB is an academic institution 

for the training of Omani 

doctors who have graduated 

from Sultan Qaboos University, 

Oman Medical College 

This year, the Programme 

is presented in two categories. 

The first category, entitled 

Reyada (junior staff), includes 

1 -3 year work experience employees, 

while Qiyada (leadership) 

delivers for managers 

and supervisors. Comparing 

to the previous year, the Programme 

is extended to cover 

more participants in Muscat, 

Sohar, Dhofar and Nizwa (two 

workshops in each governorate). 

Commenting on the initiative, 

Al Mu’tasim al Sariri, 

Social Responsibility Manager 

in OOC said: “Feedback 

of the past year’s participants 

were considered to improve 

the workshop. In addition, we 

have opened the door for participants 

to apply online.” 

Mohammed al Harthy, 

CEO of Oman Society for Petroleum 

Services (OPAL) was 

pleased to share this success 

or any recognised college by 

OMSB, to train them in one 

of the 18 medical programmes 

in a period of four to six years 

to get OMSB specialisation 

certificate which equals international 

fellowship certificate. 

— ONA 

OOC, OPAL launch My Job My Oath 

with OOC again. 

“The value in combining 

the workshops is to form a 

comprehensive learning package 

targeting two separate 

categories of staff. The first 

is the youth and newcomers 

in the work environment and 

the second is the more experienced 

management staff and 

supervisors. 

The goal is to create a common 

language for communication 

to enable them to understand 

certain difficult issues, 

and enhance their awareness of 

issues, such as work ethics and 

business realities, and its impact 

on the national economy, 

company profitability and staff 

rewards. When a dialogue is 

based on common terminology 

the chances of closing the gap 

between different perspectives 

is optimised, leading to better 

performance and production,” 

he said. 

Worlds in Oman were multiple. 

It is always keen to support 

emerging nations and, 

thanks to Oman Sail’s initiative 

in the sultanate, there are 

few other places in the world 

where sailing is promoted so 

strongly to its population, in 

particular young people. 

Fiona Kidd, Chair of the 

ISAF World Youth Sailing 

sub-committee, which voted 

to go to Oman, explained their 

reasoning: “We had four excellent 

bids to host the championship, 

but one of the strongest 

things that came through in the 

Oman bid, was the legacy that 

would be left behind after the 

Worlds.” 

In addition to the ‘hard’ 

legacy such as equipment and 

infrastructure, the committee 

was particularly impressed 

with the ‘soft’ legacy left by 

staging the event in Oman. 

“That it will inspire a whole 

generation of young people 

into sailing, was for me the 

overriding issue,” said Kidd. 

“Obviously they have the 

next four years and it can be 

the cornerstone of their own 

development, getting sailors 

to participate in every one of 

the events — they want to 

have multihull sailors and they 

want to have windsurfers — 

now they have a goal in front 

of them and they can develop 

their sailors to achieve that 

goal.” 

The committee was also 

impressed by how much Oman 

Family Night 

show at 

ROHM 


MUSCAT — Keen to offer 

its audience a good chance to 

attend various shows, namely 

the family-oriented ones, 

which are well received by 

children and all family members, 

the Royal Opera House 

Muscat decided to add a new 

show to its programme entitled 

“A Family Night at the 

Opera House”, foreseen to 

take place on January 30 and 

31, 2014. 

The new show determined 

will be a Matinée 

held at 2 pm on Thursday, 

January 31 to offer students 

and children a bigger chance 

to attend and enjoy the programme 

dedicated to them in 

the first place. 

This family-friendly 

programme includes a variety 

of numbers featuring exceptionally 

talented young 

performers from Oman and 

abroad who play with a level 

of skill and joy that will undoubtedly 

inspire audience 

members of all ages. 

Then, Austria’s Salzburg 

Marionette Theatre will 

present Peter and the Wolf 

in a clever and visually stunning 

puppetry adaptation of 

the beloved Russian tale. 

The show will see the 

participation of Omani actor, 

Issam al Zadjali, who 

will play the role of the Arabic 

narrator. This will be the 

first time for an Omani actor 

to participate in one of the 

Royal Opera House Muscat 

performances. 

Regarding this event, 

Prof Dr Issam el Mallah, 

Adviser to the Board of Directors 

for Programming & 

Events stated: “The Family 

Night at the Royal Opera 

House was planned for since 

the very beginning when we 

were preparing for the Royal 

Opera House Muscat performances 

programme for 

the current season. We have 

witnessed during last season 

great attendance from Omani 

and resident families. 

We care about children 

and youth in particular because 

they are the segment 

of people we bet on for the 

future to get familiar with 

and experiment the various 

forms of refined arts staged 

by the Royal Opera House 

Muscat. 

Considering the ages of 

our dearest children, youth 

and student audience members, 

we have added a Matinée 

show to enable everyone 

to attend and enjoy such 

exciting programme, which 

is especially designed for 

everyone who watches it to 

like it.” 

Sail had achieved in the relatively 

short time it has existed. 

“It is an incredible model what 

they have done. It should be 

replicated in other areas of the 

region, in terms of how they 

are getting children into water 

sports, and their women in 

sailing programme is fantastic. 

That energy all came across in 

their presentation.” 

Hosting the event in Oman 

it is hoped will also attract and 

inspire sailors to take part from 

other nations around the Gulf 

area and Middle East. 

In addition to inspiring 

its future sailing champions, 

hosting the ISAF Youth Sailing 

World Championships will 

also provide local race officials 

and organisers with additional 

experience in hosting international 

sailing events and the 

economic benefits these events 

in turn bring to the country. 

The 2016 ISAF Youth Sailing 

World Championships will 

be held at the Mussanah Sports 

City, situated on the coast of 

the Wilayat of Al Mussanah, 

100km northwest of the Omani 

capital, Muscat. Purpose-built 

to host the 2010 Asian Beach 

Games, this Olympic-standard 

venue spans one million square 

metres and is based around a 

marina. 

Among its facilities are a 4 

star hotel, apartments, an athletes’ 

village, food halls, a state 

of the art media centre as well 

as launching and landing zones 

for boats. This venue will also 

host the Laser World Championships 

at the end of 2013. 

Oman Sail will manage the 

Championships, both on and 

off the water. 

Its staff now holds a wealth 

of expertise in event management, 

having twice hosted 

the Extreme Sailing Series 

in Muscat as well as running 

their own events such as Sailing 

Arabia — The Tour and 

Mussanah Race Week. 

In 2013, in addition to the 

Laser World Championships, 

the Extreme Sailing Series is 

due to return while the RC44 

class is to hold its first 2013 

season regatta in Muscat, both 

classes attracted by the pros- 

Manuscripts, documents seminar 

MUSCAT — Omani Manuscripts and 

Documents Seminar and its associated exhibition 

kicked off at the Cultural Centre 

of Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) yesterday 

under the auspices of Habib bin 

Mohammed al Riyami, Secretary-General 

of Sultan Qaboos Higher Centre for Culture 

and Sciences. The Seminar which includes 

a number of working papers will run 

through till December 26. 

Al Riyami said in a statement that these 

events help in immortalising the culture, 

art and heritage of this country, that is rich 

MUSCAT — Royal Oman 

Police (ROP) arrested last 

week in co-operation with a 

number of military and secu- 

MUSCAT — Knowledge 

Oman, the leading knowledge-based 

community 

platform in the country, participated 

with a delegation 

in the 3rd Annual Global 

Entrepreneurship Summit 

(GES-EVA) held recently in 

Dubai. 

Knowledge Oman, with 

the presence of Founder 

& CEO Tariq al Barwani, 

joined other public and private 

sector delegates from 

Oman to interact with leading 

individuals from the regional 

industry. 

“The summit highlighted 

the role of entrepreneurs 

as the creative minds who 

are not afraid to dream the 

change they would like to see 

in the world and to be potential 

job creators and economic 

drivers of our future. Our 

participation in the Global 


MUSCAT — Crowne Plaza 

Duqm is gearing up for the 

opening of its new property 

nestled between surf and sand 

in the very heart of Duqm city, 

just 600km away from Muscat. 

Duqm is currently at the 

centre of a major development 

to establish itself as a commercial 

and industrial centre of the 

Wusta Governorate. 

The development includes 

an international airport and expansion 

of the docks with the 

goal of attracting businesses 

and holidaymakers. 

Ali Salih, General Manger 

of Crowne Plaza Duqm, said: 

We are very excited about the 

opening of the first luxury hotel 

in Al Wusta Governorate, 

which is an integral part of 

the economic development of 

rity authorities 257 infiltrators 

of various nationalities in 

a number of Wilayats of the 

Sultanate. ROP deported 240 

Entrepreneurship Summit 

paved our way to establishing 

ties with these entrepreneurs 

and regional entities to 

mutually roll out initiatives 

that benefit the community 

in Oman,” shared Raif al 

Harthy, a member of the 

Knowledge Oman delegation 

at the summit. 

Duqm. The team at Crowne 

Plaza Duqm is looking forward 

to welcoming guests to our first 

class facilities.” Crowne Plaza 

Duqm features unique and elegant 

décor inspired by Omani 

architecture. 

pect of extending their seasons 

into the ‘winter’ months, when 

in Oman the temperature is 

still around 20-30 deg C and 

the water temperature 25 deg 

C — no wet suits required. 

The exact date of the ISAF 

Youth Sailing World Championship 

has yet to be finalised 

but it is expected to be in December 

2016 or January 2017. 

Oman Sail CEO David 

Graham concludes: “The ISAF 

Youth Worlds is an opportunity 

to inspire our youth, as well as 

showcase Oman in all its natural 

beauty to an international 

audience through sport, aligning 

perfectly with Oman Sail’s 

strategy.” 

in its culture and thought in art and heritage. 

Dr Mohammed bin Hamoud al Kindi, 

Director of Omani Studies Centre at SQU 

and Chairman of the Preparatory Committee 

for the Seminar and its associated exhibition 

said that the Seminar is part of the 

interest of intellectuals and writers. 

The first day included a working paper 

by Shaikh Ahmed bin Saud al Siyabi, 

Secretary-General of the Iftaa Office on 

documenting the Omani manuscripts. 

— ONA 

ROP detains 257, deports 240 intruders 

intruders after following the 

formal legal procedures and 

co-ordination with their embassies. 

— ONA 

Knowledge Oman participates in 

Global Entrepreneurship Summit 

RAIF AL HARTHY 

The 3rd Annual Global 

Entrepreneurship Summit, 

presented in association with 

Entrepreneurial Ventures of 

Arabia, was first launched in 

2010 as the premier gathering 

to promote prosperity 

through innovation and entrepreneurship 

featuring entrepreneurs, 

investors, policymakers, 

academics and 

ecosystem players from all 

over the world. 

Knowledge Oman, established 

in April 2008, is 

a platform that specifically 

connects people in the community 

to create, share and 

promote knowledge through 

online-based and community 

driven initiatives. The 

platform was launched as 

a mission to solidify the vision 

of His Majesty the Sultan 

to transform Oman into a 

knowledge-based society. 

Crowne Plaza Duqm set for soft opening 

ALI SALIH 

It is designed to allow expansive 

views of the undisturbed 

coastline from each of 

the 213 spacious rooms. 

With comprehensive first 

class business facilities Crowne 

Plaza Duqm creates a seamless 

combination of commerce and 

relaxation. All guests have 

access to the fully equipped 

fitness centre as well as the 

adults’ and kids’ pools. Also on 

offer is a wealth of fine dining 

options, from a quiet beverage 

and snack at the frontier outlet 

to a fresh seafood dinner available 

at the stylish Al Safi restaurant. 

With the beach just a short 

stroll away, Crowne Plaza 

Duqm takes full advantage of 

the unique and breathtaking 

natural beauty available for 

both executives and vacationers 

alike.

A GIRL placing a flower over the portrait of her missing grandfather during a memorial for victims of abductions in Manila. 

Lanka arrests 114 Chinese 

for online currency fraud 

COLOMBO — Police in Sri 

Lanka arrested at least 114 

Chinese nationals over an alleged 

Internet currency fraud, 

during a string of raids in and 

around Colombo, officials 

said yesterday. 

The arrests were made after 

Chinese police sought assistance 

from their Sri Lankan 

counterparts in cracking the 

alleged fraud ring. 

“They were charged under 

the Cyber Crime Act,” a lawyer 

who assisted the inquiry 

but did not wish to be named 

said 

The accused were arrested 

following a joint investigation 

by Sri Lankan and Chinese 

police, senior superintendent 

Prishantha Jayakodi said. 

MANILA — The death toll 

from a typhoon that devastated 

the Philippines earlier this 

month will likely hit 1,500, 

making it the second deadliest 

since the country began keeping 

records, the civil defence 

chief said yesterday. 

Benito Ramos said that so 

far they had counted 1,067 

dead with more than 800 still 

missing after Tyhoon Bopha 

hit the southern island of 

Mindanao on December 4. 

“It (the death toll) will go 

“They have defrauded their 

countrymen by making them... 

transfer money to accounts 

maintained in Sri Lanka in 

the names of those arrested,” 

Jayakodi said. 

The Chinese police requested 

help after identifying 

several call centres in the tropical 

island nation involved in 

the alleged fraud, Sri Lankan 

police said. 

“The fraud-affected people 

(live) in China,” Jayakodi 

said. “The fraud was carried 

out in Sri Lanka through the 

Internet.” 

Police said the Chinese 

nationals arrested were in the 

country on tourist visas. 

Thousands of Chinese 

work in China-funded devel- 

Typhoon death toll likely to hit 1,500 

higher. But let us not assume 

the missing are already dead,” 

said, estimating fatalities at 

“about 1,500” but adding that 

the search for the missing continued. 

The toll from Typhoon 

Bopha is expected to easily exceed 

the 1,268 confirmed dead 

after Typhoon Washi struck 

the southern Philippines in 

December 2011, he said. 

If the toll reaches 1,500 

it would make it the second 

deadliest storm to hit the Phil- 

7 

THE PHILIPPINES/SUBCONTINENT 


opment projects across the 

island. Many more arrive on 

tourist visas and work in the 

hospitality industry. 

The arrests come as China 

invests heavily in Sri Lanka, 

as it strengthens its presence 

in South Asia. 

In June, Sri Lanka opened 

its first Chinese-built port, for 

which Beijing loaned money. 

The port is regarded as a 

strong symbol of Beijing’s 

investment and interest in the 

region. 

China is also building a 

second port in Colombo and 

Chinese firms have pledged 

investments totalling $50 billion 

spread over the next 10 to 

15 years, according to Sri Lanka’s 

trade ministry. — AFP 

ARRESTED Chinese nationals are escorted by police to a prison in Colombo yesterday. 

ippines since 1947, when the 

Philippines began keeping 

records a year after independence. 

Typhoon Thelma, which 

killed at least 5,101 in 1991, 

remains the deadliest on 

record, the government statistics 

bureau said. Typhoon Ike, 

which claimed 1,363 lives in 

1984, is listed as second. 

Thousands of people remain 

homeless after Typhoon 

Bopha brought flash floods 

that wiped out whole towns. 

However Ramos expressed 

confidence there would be 

no rise in health problems as 

the government had brought 

enough food and medicine to 

care for those affected. 

“It will be contained. The 

government presence is felt by 

the people already,” he said. 

The Philippines is hit by 

about 20 major storms or typhoons 

each year that occur 

mainly during the rainy season 

between June and October. 

— AFP 


Nato soldier missing in 

southern Afghanistan 

KABUL — A Georgian 

soldier serving for Nato 

in Afghanistan has gone 

missing, prompting a 

search and rescue operation, 

the military coalition 


“I can confirm 

that the Georgian soldier, 

who was an ISAF 

(International Security 

Assistance Force) service 

member serving in 

southern Afghanistan, 

has gone missing for the 

last three days,” Lieutenant 

Colonel Lester Carroll, 

an ISAF spokesman, 

said. 

He did not provide 

further details about the 

missing soldier’s identity, 

but confirmed that a 

search operation was un- 

der way. 

“We are doing our best 

to find him and bring him 

back,” Carroll said. 

Georgia has more than 

1,500 soldiers in Afghanistan, 

most of whom are 

based in Helmand Province. 

The Georgian Defence 

Ministry has confirmed 

that one of their soldiers 

in Afghanistan has disappeared. 

A year ago, a British 

soldier went missing in 

Helmand and was later 

killed during an exchange 

of fire between insurgents 

and Nato forces. 

A US soldier, Bowe 

Bergdahl, has been held 

by the Taliban since 

2009. — dpa 

Spanish prime minister 

on unannounced visit 

MADRID — Spain’s 

Prime Minister Mariano 

Rajoy was in Afghanistan 

yesterday for talks with 

President Hamid Karzai 

and for Christmas celebrations 

with Spanish 

troops, media reported. 

The unannounced visit 

by Rajoy, accompanied 

by his Defence Minister 

Pedro Morenes, is his 

first to the country since 

his right-wing government 

came to power a 

year ago. 

The number of Spanish 

soldiers deployed in 

INDIAN Army Chief General Bikram Singh and Sri Lankan Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath 

Jayasuriya inspect a guard of honour during a graduation ceremony for some 157 Sri Lankan army 

officers in the island nation’s central district town of Diyatalawa yesterday. — AFP 

Philippines criminalises 

forced disappearances 

MANILA — The Philippines 

has passed landmark 

legislation that criminalises 

state abductions, a presidential 

spokeswoman said yesterday, 

in a move hailed by 

human rights groups. 

Under the new law “enforced 

disappearances” 

— abductions carried out 

by security forces usually 

targeting anti-government 

activists and critics — will 

be treated separately to kidnapping 

and offenders could 

face life in prison. 

Human Rights Watch welcomed 

the new law, saying it 

was “the first of its kind in 

Asia and a major milestone 

in ending this horrific human 

rights violation”. 

Under the legislation the 

military can no longer cite 

the so-called “order of battle” 

— a list of supposed 

communist insurgents that 

Afghanistan stands at 

521, with the process of 

withdrawal already under 

way, the Spanish daily 

El Pais reported. All Nato 

combat forces are due to 

leave the country by the 

end of 2014. 

After visiting Spanish 

troops stationed at 

the Nato headquarters in 

Kabul, Rajoy was due to 

head to Herat in eastern 

Afghanistan where there 

is a Spanish logistics base 

before heading on to the 

Qala-i-naw base in the 

northeast. — AFP 

until now was used to justify 

holding a person. 

The law also prohibits secret 

detention facilities and 

authorises the government 

to conduct “regular, unannounced... 

inspections of all 

places of detention and confinement”. 

Human rights group Karapatan 

says on its website it 

has documented 12 enforced 

disappearances since Aquino 

became president in July 

2010, with more than 200 recorded 

during the rule of his 

predecessor Gloria Arroyo. 

President Benigno Aquino 

approved the legislation 

late on Friday, spokeswoman 

Abigail Valte said, amid 

a growing outcry over the 

abductions. 

She said both government 

employees and ordinary 

people were now required to 

report cases of enforced dis- 

Afghan president blames 

foreigners for corruption 

KABUL — President Hamid 

Karzai yesterday blamed foreigners 

for most of the corruption 

in Afghanistan and said 

the withdrawal of Nato troops 

in 2014 would help rid the 

country of graft. 

More than 11 years after 

a US-led invasion led to billions 

of dollars in aid flowing 

into one of the world’s poorest 

countries, Afghanistan ranks 

among the most corrupt nations 

in the world. 

The issue has been brought 

into focus by the Kabul Bank 

scandal, which saw the nation’s 

once-biggest lender 

pushed to the point of collapse 

by a fraud running into hundreds 

of millions of dollars. 

In a speech to mark International 

Anti-Corruption Day, 

Karzai said: “The corruption 

in our administration is small, 

appearances. 

“The important thing is 

that we now have a duty to 

report if we know of any 

case of enforced disappearances. 

It also provides for 

the formation of an updated 

list of all the people held in 

our detention facilities,” she 

said. 

Human Rights Watch 

said: “This law is a testament 

to the thousands of ‘disappearance’ 

victims since the 

Marcos rule, whose longsuffering 

families are still 

searching for justice.” 

Congressman Edcel Lagman, 

who authored the bill, 

said the new law would 

force government officials 

who are accused of enforced 

disappearances, to report if 

they are holding anyone. 

“The law seeks to end impunity 

of offenders even as 

it envisions a new... breed of 

the major corruption that involves 

hundreds of millions of 

dollars is not ours... it has been 

imposed on us”. 

“The big corruption is in 

transactions and contracts involving 

outsiders in Afghanistan... 

these contracts are given 

to senior government officials 

or their relatives,” he said. 

The Afghan government 

has previously pointed the 

finger at the contract systems 

of the international community 

for spreading corruption, 

although it admits graft is rife 

within its own ranks. 

Karzai said that in 2014 

when “foreign forces have left 

Afghanistan... their contracts, 

their administration will gradually 

disappear”. 

“This will help Afghanistan 

get rid of corruption, and 

it will be good for Afghani- 

military, police and civilian 

officials and employees who 

respect and defend the human 

rights and civil liberties 

of the people,” he said. 

“Disappearances” of activists 

rose sharply after 

then-president Ferdinand 

Marcos declared martial law 

in 1972. Although Marcos 

was toppled in a popular revolt 

in 1986, activist groups 

say the abductions still continue. 

Communist guerrillas 

have been waging an armed 

rebellion in the Philippines 

since 1969 and more than 

30,000 people have died in 

the conflict, according to the 

government. 

The military estimates the 

current strength of the guerrillas 

at about 4,000 fighters, 

significantly down from 

more than 26,000 at its peak 

in the late 1980s. — AFP 

PRESIDENT Hamid Karzai talks during an anti-corruption ceremony in Kabul yesterday. 

stan,” he added. 

Nato has around 100,000 

troops in the country fighting 

an insurgency by the Taliban 

fighters, but they are due to 

withdraw by the end of 2014. 

There are widespread fears 

that civil war could follow 

their departure. 

Donors have pledged billions 

of dollars in aid after 

Nato combat troops withdraw 

from Afghanistan, but have 

conditioned payment on corruption 

being brought under 

control. 

In the Kabul Bank scandal, 

Afghanistan’s biggest for 

years, a foreign-funded inquiry 

reported recently that a 

staggering $900 million fraud 

had ruined the bank and top 

politicians had dictated who 

should be prosecuted over the 

theft. — AFP

By Ashraf Padanna 

KOCHI — Two Italian marines 

detained in the southern Indian 

state of Kerala 10 months back 

for killing two fishermen while 

guarding an Italian oil tanker 

left home early yesterday 

morning for celebrating Christmas. 

The two have been at the 

centre of a diplomatic row between 

Rome and New Delhi. 

Amid heightened diplomatic 

pressure, the Kerala 

High Court had on Thursday 

allowed Massimiliano Latorre 

and Salvatore Girone to take 

a break and come back before 

January 10 for trial. Italian officials 

took the two home on a 

chartered flight. 

The passports of the duo 

were released after submitting 

an unconditional joint undertaking 

to return to the state by 

January 10 and appear before 

the trial court on January 15. 

The Italians also executed a 

bail bond of Rs 60 million each, 

in addition to the Rs 10 million 

bond they executed while being 

released from prison seven 

months back, as directed by the 

court. 

The marines guarding MV 

Enrica Lexie were arrested on 

February 19 after they shot and 

killed two Indian fishermen - 

Ajesh Binki (25) and Jelestine 

(45) - on February 15. Though 

such incidents of offshore killings 

were reported in the past, 

it was the first time the security 

guards were being prosecuted. 

Italian Defence Minister, 

Giampaolo Di Paolo was here 

last week to meet the marines 

while Italian President Girgio 

Napolitano spoke to them 

through video conferencing 

two days ago. 

The President has assured 

India that his country would 

honour its commitment to return 

the two marines after their 

two-week visit. The Italian diplomatic 

mission in India had 

also guaranteed their return on 

record. 

“You were not in the Indian 

Ocean on holiday, but to protect 

navigation from the attacks 

of piracy. You have done your 

duty, and in any case, your behaviour 

can only be judged by 

8 INDIA 



VILLAGERS run as a herd of wild elephants run towards them at Kurkuria village near Digaru, about 45 km from Guwahati yesterday. At least 20 

wild elephants from the nearby Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary were sighted foraging for food in farms near the village. — AFP 

Current economic model skewed 

NEW DELHI — India needs 

well-balanced growth in 

which service, industrial and 

agricultural sectors reinforce 

each other as the present economic 

model is skewed with 

insufficient employment opportunities 

for the poor, businesswoman 

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 


Delivering the 25th Intelligence 

Bureau centenary 

endowment lecture on “The 

Role of Biotechnology in 

Inclusive Economic Development”, 

Mazumdar-Shaw, 

head of biotechnology enter- 

Cong summons 

Kiran Kumar 

to Delhi 

HYDERABAD — Amid 

speculations of a possible 

leadership change in Andhra 

Pradesh, Chief Minister 

N Kira Kumar Reddy yesterday 

rushed to Delhi on 

summons from the Congress 

leadership. 

The chief minister cancelled 

all his scheduled programmes 

for yesterday to 

leave for the national capital, 

where Governor E S L Narasimhan 

and state Congress 

chief Botsa Satyanarayana 

are already camping. They 

are likely to meet Congress 

president Sonia Gandhi and 

other top leaders separately. 

Visiting Delhi for the second 

time in a week, the governor 

is likely to brief Sonia 

Gandhi, Union Home Minister 

Sushilkumar Shinde and 

others about the latest political 

situation in the state. 

prise Biocon, said that agriculture 

accounts for about 52 

per cent of employment but 

contributes 14 per cent to 

the Gross Domestic Product 

(GDP). 

“Today we have a skewed 

economic model wherein 

India’s service industry accounts 

for nearly 58 per cent 

of the country’s GDP while 

the industrial and agricultural 

sectors contribute 28 per 

cent and 14 per cent respectively... 

clearly, the sectoral 

structure of India’s growth 

has provided insufficient 

CHANDIGARH — Moderate 

to thick fog engulfed many 

parts of Punjab, Haryana and 

Chandigarh yesterday, affecting 

normal life and movement 

of vehicles. 

Road, rail and air services 

were affected in the region due 

to the fog, officials said here. 

The New Delhi-Chandigarh 

Shatabdi Express reached 

Chandigarh over 90 minutes 

later than its scheduled time. 

Other trains were also running 

late, railway officials said. 

Flights to and from Chandigarh 

were also affected. 

Motorists had to face a 

tough time on highways and 

even city roads in some parts 

of both states due to foggy 

conditions through the day. 

“The fog was continuous 

from Panipat to Ambala. Traffic 

was moving a lot slower,” 

entrepreneur Sandeep Brar, 

employment opportunities to 

the poor,” she said. 

She said the country was 

passing through turbulent 

and transformational times 

as it was transitioning from 

rural, agrarian economy to a 

urban, modern economy. 

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 

said aspirations were burning 

across the sections of society 

fuelled by urbanisation and 

access to technology. 

“When these are not realised, 

resentment stokes 

the yearnings of the disadvantaged. 

In this disruptive 

Fog engulfs parts of Punjab, 

Haryana and Uttar Pradesh 

who was travelling from Gurgaon 

to Chandigarh yesterday, 

said. 

Adampur in Punjab, 160 

km from here, recorded a 

minimum temperature of 1.2 

degrees yesterday. 

The minimum temperature 

in Amritsar (2.4 degrees), 

Patiala (4.1) and Ludhiana 

(5.2) was much lower than 

the minimum in the hill station 

of Shimla in neighbouring 

Himachal Pradesh (6.9). 

Met officials here said that 

the region will experience dry 

weather today and tomorrow 

with moderate to thick fog in 

several parts of both states. 

Meanwhile, more than 84 

trains were delayed due to the 

thick fog that enveloped the 

Uttar Pradesh capital and most 

parts of the state early yesterday, 

officials here said. 

A Railway spokesper- 

phase of India’s history, we 

must, therefore, ensure that 

the benefits of growth reach 

every single citizen of India. 

“If not, if inequity reigns 

and hopes die, our efforts to 

develop a prosperous India 

will not bear fruit,” she said. 

The technocrat, who has 

been conferred the Padma 

Bhushan, said India’s economy 

was facing strains due to 

external and internal factors 

and was reflective of pain 

enveloping the country. 

She said basic needs of 

the majority of Indian popu- 

son said the thick fog, which 

started on Friday and became 

denser yesterday, threw the 

train schedule haywire and 

more than 84 trains were running 

late by several hours. 

The long-distance trains 

were most effected due to 

the thick fog cover in Uttar 

Pradesh and parts of Bihar, he 

added. 

Chilly weather conditions 

prevailed in the state with the 

mercury dipping to about five 

degrees Celsius in Lucknow, 

Kanpur and Allahabad Saturday. 

The weather office here 

has forecast sub-zero temperatures 

in some regions by the 

year end. 

Yesterday’s minimum temperature 

in Lucknow was five 

degrees Celsius, while it was 

5.4 and 5.2 degrees Celsius in 

Allahabad and Kanpur, respectively, 

a weather official said. 

Italian marines in shooting case fly home 

ITALIAN marines Massimiliano Latorre (C) and Salvatore Girone (L) arrives together 

with Admiral Luigi Binelli Mantelli arrive at Ciampino airport near Rome, yesterday. 

lation remain unsatisfied 

with unacceptable levels of 

hunger, illiteracy and jobless 

existence, making a vicious 

cycle of poverty and 

despair. 

Mazumdar-Shaw said the 

country should have a clear 

roadmap of “where we want 

our economy to be in 2050”. 

She said bio-technology 

can usher in a second green 

revolution with unprecedented 

opportunities to ensure 

food security along with the 

economic well-being of the 

farmer. — IANS 

CM: Kerala 

emerging as 

hub of SMEs 

KOCHI — Kerala is fast 

emerging as a hub for small 

and medium enterprises 

thanks to the state’s vibrant 

tertiary sector, Chief Minister 

Ommen Chandy has 

said. 

Inaugurating the ‘India 

SME Summit 2012’ organised 

by Confederation of 

Indian Industry (CII) in association 

with the state government 

here yesterday, the 

chief minister said it’s was 

a silver lining for the state’s 

economic growth. 

“We firmly believe that 

enhanced standards in quality 

and promotion aided by 

the right government policies 

will help SMEs sector to 

gallop forward,” he said, assuring 

a proactive approach 

and support in making Kerala 

India’s SME hub. 

the Italian justice system,” Italian 

newspaper Courriere della 

Sera quoted the President as 

telling the marines during the 

videoconferencing. 

He also expressed the hope 

that the Supreme Court of India 

would rule on the jurisdiction 

question in Italy’s favour. 

The apex court is expected to 

look into the jurisdiction question 

three months later. 

Meanwhile, Kerala Chief 

Minister Oommen Chandy said 

his government had opposed 

bail to the marines and it was 

the federal government’s assurance 

that they would come 

back and stand trial here. 

Leader of Opposition V S 

Achuthanandan came down 

heavily on the government saying 

several under-trial prisoners, 

including People’s Democratic 

Party leader Abdunnasar 

Ma’adani were being denied 

such an opportunity. 

Welcoming the decision, 

Major Archbishop Susai Pakiam 

of the Latin archdiocese of 

Thiruvananthapuram said there 

was nothing wrong in the decision 

to allow the two Italian 

marines, accused of having shot 

dead two Kerala fishermen, to 

go home for Christmas. 

West Bengal government’s 

run-ins with the judiciary 

KOLKATA — Mamata Banerjee’s 

government in West 

Bengal seems to be having 

some uneasy moments with 

the judiciary. While some of its 

key policy decisions have been 

frowned upon by the courts, 

Banerjee and her ministers 

have launched scathing attacks 

against the judiciary. 

A few months ago, Banerjee 

had alleged that there 

were instances where court 

judgments were bought. Following 

her allegations, newly 

appointed Minister of State for 

Agriculture Becharam Manna 

— leader of the Singur agitation 

that played a key role in 

bringing Banerjee to power 

— made some derogatory remarks 

against the judiciary regarding 

the pending land case 

between the state government 

and automobile major Tata 

Motors. 

Banerjee got a reprieve this 

week with the Calcutta High 

Court declining to initiate suo 

motto contempt proceedings 

against her by observing “the 

chief minister’s speech is not 

GHAZIABAD — A special 

court here yesterday held 

domestic help Surender Koli 

guilty of the abuse and murder 

of a five-year-old girl, one 

of the 19 young women and 

children from Noida’s Nithari 

village whose body parts 

were found in a drain. 

Special Judge S Lal would 

announce the quantum of 

punishment tomorrow, said 

Central Bureau of Investigation 

lawyer Jai Prakash 

one which transcends the Lakshmana 

rekha of scandalising 

the court”. 

But Manna was not that 

lucky. The Calcutta High 

Court issued a contempt notice 

against him on Wednesday. He 

has been asked to file an affidavit 

detailing his side of the 

matter. 

The latest to slam the judiciary 

is minister Subrata 

Mukerjee. Speaking at a rally 

in Hooghly district in Singur, 

Mukherjee alleged that courts 

were trying to “run the government”. 

Mukherjee, who holds the 

panchayat and public health 

engineering portfolios, echoed 

Banerjee by saying “good 

justice” could be availed for 

“good money”. 

The Banerjee-led Trinamool 

Congress government 

has been stumbling in legal corridors 

ever since it formulated 

the Singur Land Act seeking to 

return 400 acres to peasants in 

the rural belt from whom land 

for the Tata Motors’ small car 

Nano project had been taken 

Sharma. 

In a 73-page judgment, the 

court said that Koli was guilty 

of murder, abuse, kidnap and 

causing disappearance of evidence. 

The court observed that to 

hide the identity of the victim, 

her name in the documents 

had been changed to Kavita, 

instead of her original name. 

Of the 19 Nithari cases of 

abduction, abuse and murder, 

the CBI filed chargesheets in 

by the erstwhile Left Front 

government in 2006. 

When Tata Motors moved a 

court calling the act “unconstitutional”, 

the government won 

the case in a single-judge bench 

of the Calcutta High Court, but 

lost out in a division bench. 

The case is now in the Supreme 

Court, and the state 

government seems to be on a 

sticky wicket in Singur, where 

“unwilling” farmers — who 

had backed Banerjee’s party 

to the hilt during the ani-Nano 

movement — are restive at not 

getting back their land. 

Besides Singur, the government’s 

bid to recruit over 

34,000 primary teachers in 

the state also hit legal hurdles 

twice in the last two weeks. 

First, a single-judge bench 

stayed the recruitment tests 

slated to begin today on a 

petition that the government 

was not giving preference to 

trained candidates. However, 

the stay was vacated when 

the state primary school board 

moved an appeal before a division 

bench. — IANS 

Nithari case: Koli guilty of 

five-year-old girl’s murder 

PANAJI — Congress general 

secretary Rahul Gandhi’s 

one-day visit to Goa failed to 

resolve bickering within the 

state Congress after its defeat 

in the March assembly elections, 

a party member said. 

“There were charges and 

counter charges. Rahul Gandhi 

heard the leaders patiently, 

but nothing concrete came 

out of the four to five-hour 

meeting,” an AICC member 

said on the condition of anonymity. 

State Congress president 

Subhash Shirodkar’s said 

that the All India Congress 

Committee (AICC) general 

secretary’s visit to Goa on 

Thursday was aimed at “galvanising” 

the party, which 

had suffered one of its worst 

electoral defeats in recent 

times. 

Congress leaders are still 

smarting from the humiliating 

loss. 

Former public works department 

(PWD) minister 

Churchill Alemao, his brother 

Joaquim (also a minister in 

the last government) and his 

daughter had contested on 

Congress tickets during the 

March assembly elections. 

All of them lost the polls. 

Now, now Churchill blames 

his rivals within the party as 

well as former chief minister 

Digambar Kamat for his defeat. 

“I told Rahul Gandhi that 

it is because of Digambar 

Kamat that the Congress has 

been defected in the assembly 

elections,” he told reporters in 

Margao on Friday. 

Sources in the Congress 

16 cases, which shocked the 

nation with the brutality and 

hints of cannibalism. 

Sharma said Kavita’s case 

was the fifth out of the 16 

cases in which the formal set 

of charges were filed. 

In four earlier cases Koli 

was awarded capital punishment. 

His employer and businessman 

Maninder Singh 

Pandher is a co-accused in six 

cases. — IANS 

SAND artist Sudersan Pattnaik works on a sand sculpture with over 500 Santa Claus statues 

at Golden Beach in Puri, about 65 km, away from Bhubaneswar yesterday. — AFP 

Rahul Gandhi fails to resolve 

bickering in Goa Congress 

also said that the meeting with 

Gandhi had more to do with 

bickering and bad blood than 

with any movement towards 

a constructive mechanism to 

stem the rot. 

Several Congressmen said 

there was no accountability 

for the loss in the polls when 

the Congress was reduced 

from a strength of 21 to nine 

in the 40-member assembly. 

“He was also here to gauge 

the effects of the mining ban 

on the people of Goa. But he 

did not even visit Goa’s mining 

belt,” said a Congress 

leader, who had joined another 

national party a few years 

ago before switching back to 

his original roots. 

Former Congress minister 

Babu Azgaonkar said: “The 

discussion was healthy and a 

lot of issues were cleared.” 

Goa’s massive illegal mining 

scam, rampant corruption 

and allotment of 33 per cent 

of tickets to the kin of Congress 

leaders are some of the 

key reasons attributed for the 

party’s loss in the last assembly 

polls. — IANS

9 INDIA 



DEMONSTRATORS near the presidential palace during a protest rally in New Delhi yesterday. Right: Protesters react as police unleash water cannon. — Reuters/AFP 

Police resort to tear gas, lathicharge on anti-abuse protesters 

NEW DELHI — The government 

yesterday faced the full 

blast of youth power as young 

men and women laid siege 

around Raisina Hill, the seat 

of power, demanding justice 

for a 23-year-old abuse victim, 

forcing police to use canes, 

tear gas and water cannons on 

the undeterred crowd of thousands. 

The aggression of the 

youngsters and the mass outpouring 

since early yesterday 

morning, led Prime Minister 

Manmohan Singh to ask Home 

Minister Sushilkumar Shinde 

to ensure that people feel safe 

in Delhi and incidents like the 

brutal abuse of the physiotherapist 

are not repeated. 

Shinde met Manmohan 

Singh and briefed him about 

the measures taken by his min- 

MUMBAI — Myanmar offers 

great opportunities for Indian 

business community to invest 

in infrastructure and power 

projects, visiting Myanmar 

President U Thein Sein said 

here. 

In a closed-door session, 

organised by Confederation of 

Indian Industry (CII) late on 

Friday, President Sein invited 

Indian businesses to also explore 

options in agriculture. 

“The India-Myanmar-Thailand 

trilateral highway project, 

which will be extended to Laos 

and Cambodia with the assistance 

of the Indian government, 

will truly enhance regional 

connectivity and trade,” Sein 

said. 

He urged the captains of Indian 

industry to invest in Myanmar’s 

energy sector and pointed 

out the huge deposits of oil and 

gas in the south Asian country. 

Reciprocating Sein’s call, 

CII President Adi Godrej proposed 

a five-point agenda to 

strengthen India-Myanmar 

business relations. 

“I propose enhancing connectivity 

in culture and commerce 

between the two coun- 

NEW DELHI — Cracking 

jokes, loudly singing songs, 

laughing together at meal 

time — it was a reinventing 

of their age-old cultural and 

civilisational links as Indian 

and Asean car rally drivers 

vroomed their way through 

nine countries to highlight 

their close ties. 

Bharatiya Janata Party 

Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Vijay, 

an enthusiastic member of 

the rally that was flagged in 

at a ceremony in New Delhi 

yesterday, drove nearly 5,000 

km of the 8,000-km long rally 

route. 

"We were driving from 6 

am till 9 pm — for 15 hours 

— almost daily. We would 

only stop mid way for biobreaks, 

or to answer nature's 

istry to ensure safety of women 

in the national capital. 

A concerned Congress 

chief Sonia Gandhi also spoke 

to the prime minister and home 

minister and asked them to 

take appropriate and immediate 

action to protect women in 

the city. 

The Indian capital has registered 

over 600 incidents of 

abuse this year, police records 

say. 

A shaken Shinde later told 

reporters that the government 

will set up a commission to 

probe the incident that has 

shocked the nation. 

“A probe will be conducted 

to look into the incident and 

suggest measures to check 

such crimes in Delhi... the 

Criminal Procedure Code will 

be amended to enhance pun- 

tries; promoting integration and 

synergy in power and railway 

sectors; appropriate banking arrangements 

to foster trade and 

investment; enhancing bilateral 

engagement in trade protection, 

co-operation and collaboration 

in industries like tourism and 

software; and inviting managers 

from Myanmar to Indian industry’s 

centres of excellence,” 

Godrej said. 

The Myanmar-India trade 

call," Vijay said here, adding: 

"I myself drove almost 5,000 

km." 

The rally of 32 Mahindra 

XUV500s kicked off on 

November 26 at Yogyakarta, 

Indonesia, and traversed 

through eight of the 10 Association 

of South East Asian 

countries before entering India 

on December 17 at Guwahati. 

"The best thing about the 

rally is that we explored, or 

rather reinvented the tracks 

of connectivity binding the 

Asean countries and India 

into one cultural family," said 

Vijay. 

"Our ages old civilisational 

links were evident throughout 

the rally route and present 

a solid foundation for richer 

ishment in such rarest of rare 

cases,” Shinde, who said he is 

also a father of three daughters, 

told reporters in a hurriedly 

convened press conference. 

Doctors at Safdarjung Hospital, 

where the woman is being 

treated, said that she has 

shown some “improvement” 

and that she is “psychologically 

stable, optimistic and hopes 

to having a good future”. 

The young woman also 

recorded her statement to the 

magistrate about last Sunday 

night when she was tortured 

and brutally abused by six men 

and then stripped, robbed and 

thrown off a moving bus along 

with her boyfriend on the roadside. 

Bharatiya Janata Party 

(BJP) leader L K Advani said 

that the anger of people was 

has been steadily increasing. 

India stands as the fourthlargest 

trading partner with 

Myanmar with a trade volume 

of $1347.40 in 2011-12, according 

to CII. 

In 2011-12, Myanmar’s exports 

to India were $1,046 million, 

a 20 per cent increase over 

the previous year. 

In the same period, Indian 

exports to Myanmar stood at 

$324.5 million, an increase of 

Reinventing ties with SE 

Asia through a car rally 

economic and people-to-people 

connectivity," he added. 

Recalling the rally, the BJP 

leader said the SUVs were in 

touch with each other on their 

ham radios. "We were cracking 

jokes, singing loudly, 

Vietnami and Malay songs, 

even Indian movie songs. It 

was a great experience." 

The Indian team was in 

two vehicles — two drivers 

in each. They were accompanied 

by a media team. The 

rally was accompanied by 

a Mahindra service team, a 

CII team and a social media 

team, he said. 

The rally stopped in cities 

— like Putrajaya, Bangkok, 

Phuket, Phnom Penh — for 

business marker events and 

cultural shows. — IANS 

“justified” and the government 

needs to “appreciate their concern”. 

His party leader Sushma 

Swaraj also asked the prime 

minister to call a special session 

of parliament to frame a 

law providing for exemplary 

punishment for crimes against 

women. 

But the day belonged to the 

youth, especially women. 

The country’s highest seat 

of power was turned into a 

virtual battlefield as thousands 

of furious and determined 

youngsters marched towards 

Rashtrapati Bhavan, the president’s 

house, raising slogans 

and demanding justice for the 

abuse victim and tougher laws 

against culprits. 

While the entire stretch of 

about 2.5 km from India Gate 

Myanmar invites investment in infrastructure 

66.5 per cent over the previous 

year. 

Myanmar exports agriculture 

and forest products to India 

and imports metal ores and 

products, medicines, transport 

equipment, machines and machinery 

parts and electrical appliances. 

Myanmar has introduced tax 

reforms and took initiatives to 

make its banking system more 

customer-friendly. 

Foreign reserves 

up $1.63 billion 

Mumbai — India’s foreign exchange 

(forex) reserves went 

up by $1.63 billion to $296.63 

billion for the week ended on 

December 14, data released 

by the Reserve Bank of India 

(RBI) said yesterday. 

The reserves had gone up 

by $484.2 million to $294.99 

billion in the week ending on 

December 7. 

The foreign currency assets 

(FCA) — the biggest component 

of the forex reserves — 

increased by $1.61 billion at 

$262.11 billion, according to 

the weekly statistical supplement 

released by the RBI. 

The FCA was up 492.7 million 

to $260.50 billion in the 

week ending on December 7. 

The central bank said FCA 

in US dollar terms included 

to Raisina Hill was packed 

with protesters, the fury towards 

authorities was palpable 

miles away. 

Raisina Hill is home to the 

Rashtrapati Bhavan presidential 

palace that is flanked by 

the South Block and North 

Block with the prime minister’s 

office and the home finance, 

defence and external 

affairs ministries. 

The numbers kept on swelling 

as all roads literally led to 

the president’s house in an unprecedented 

protest rarely seen 

earlier. 

The mass outpouring for 

the young woman even overwhelmed 

the securitymen, 

who found themselves outnumbered. 

Matters came to a 

head when the protesters tried 

a repeat of Friday when a large 

PRESIDENT Thein Sein during a visit to Thibaw Palace in Ratnagiri district, some 330 km south of Mumbai, yesterday. 

Among those present at the 

meeting included S Ramadorai, 

adviser to Prime Minister 

on skill development and vicechairman 

of Tata Consultancy 

Services; B Muthuraman, vicechairman 

of Tata Steel; Arun 

Nanda, director of Mahindra 

& Mahindra; Ravi Kant, vicechairman 

of Tata Motors; and 

Ganesh Natarajan, chief executive 

officer of Zensar Technologies. 

— IANS 

the effect of appreciation or 

depreciation of non-US currencies 

held in reserve, such 

as the pound sterling, euro and 

yen. 

Gold reserves value remained 

the same at $27.80 

billion. Their value had dipped 

by $386.2 million in the week 

ended on November 30. The 

value had remained unchanged 

at $28.18 billion since the 

week ended on November 

2, when the value of gold reserves 

rose by $56.4 million. 

The special drawing rights 

(SDRs) increased by $15.4 

million to $4.43 billion during 

the week under review, while 

reserves with the International 

Monetary Fund (IMF) were up 

by $7.8 million to $2.27 billion. 

— IANS 

number of people tried to enter 

Rashtrapati Bhavan. 

But despite the police barricades, 

the surging crowd kept 

pushing ahead. 

The police then resorted to 

caning, threw tear gas shells 

and sprayed the crowd with 

water in the winter chill. Police 

resorted to canning at least 

three times. 

The sight of police chasing 

youngsters and beating them 

with canes, aired live by television 

channels, led to widespread 

condemnation. 

Armed with banners, posters, 

placards, the crowd, which 

stayed put at the entire stretch 

from morning till late evening, 

raised slogans like “We 

want justice”. Many of them 

climbed atop police buses and 

waved the tri-colour. 

FDI will eliminate farmers, 

small traders: Buddhadeb 

KOLKATA — In a pointby-point 

rebuttal of the Congress-led 

UPA government’s 

reasons for inviting overseas 

investment in retail, former 

West Bengal chief minister 

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee 

said yesterday it would 

eliminate farmers and small 

traders. 

“The (central) government 

says the farmer will be 

benefited by FDI (Foreign 

Direct Investment) but then, 

multinational companies 

(MNCs) will not develop 

any production infrastructure. 

They are solely concerned 

with post-production; 

so how will FDI help farmers?” 

Bhattacharjee said at a 

programme here. 

“They say it will eliminate 

middlemen. Yes the middle- 

In a unique way of protest, 

many young girls and boys 

climbed the flagpoles that dot 

Rajpath, which leads to India 

Gate, the memorial of the unknown 

soldiers. 

“They can try their best to 

stop us but lets’ see who gives 

up first,” said a fuming Shikha 

Verma, a Delhi University student. 

But Minister of State in 

the Prime Minister’s Office V 

Narayanasamy said “agitation 

is not the solution” and “when 

they defy law and order, government 

has to use force”. 

Minister of State for Home 

R P N Singh said that there 

were attempts to break barricades 

in the sensitive area 

close to the president’s house 

and other key government offices. 

men will be eliminated. But 

they would only be replaced 

by those appointed by the 

MNCs. So this argument 

also doesn’t stand,” said the 

Communist Party of India- 

Marxist politburo member. 

Faced with stiff opposition 

to the reform, the UPA 

has been advocating FDI, 

saying the beneficiaries will 

be farmers, small traders and 

the consumers. 

However, Bhattacharjee 

rubbished all those arguments 

and claimed the measure 

would benefit neither; 

rather it would drive out 90 

per cent of farmers and traders. 

“The MNCs would invest 

here for their own needs. 

Nearly 90 per cent of small 

and marginal farmers and 

The BJP and the Left supported 

the agitators and condemned 

the baton charge. 

“If the prime minister can 

address the nation on the issue 

of FDI retail, why can’t he find 

time to do so when such horrendous 

crimes against women 

are taking place,” Communist 

Party of India leader D Raja 

said. 

Advani, who called up 

Shinde, told him that there was 

need to appreciate the concern 

of the protesters and their anger 

was justified. 

In many neighbourhoods 

in the capital, people took out 

protest rallies. As the evening 

set in, many marched to India 

Gate to hold candle light vigil. 

Protests were also witnessed 

in Kanpur, Jhansi, Lucknow, 

Meerut and Kolkata. — IANS 

Virbhadra named next 

Himachal chief minister 

SHIMLA — Virbhadra Singh 

will be the next chief minister 

of Himachal Pradesh, a senior 

Congress leader announced 

here yesterday. This will be his 

sixth term in the post. 

The Congress leadership 

yesterday evening cleared his 

name to head the government 

in the state, party general secretary 

Janardhan Dwivedi said 

here. 

He said Virbhadra Singh's 

name was cleared by party 

president Sonia Gandhi after 

a resolution was sent to her by 

the newly-elected legislators 

authorising her to announce the 

next chief minister of the state. 

"After the resolution was 

adopted, then views of all the 

legislators were taken and 

these were conveyed further to 

Sonia Gandhi. She later gave 

her consent on the name of Virbhadra 

Singh," Dwivedi told 

reporters. 

Party sources said the resolution 

was moved by Virbhadra 

Singh, and seconded by Vidya 

Stokes, who won the polls the 

eighth time, and Kaul Singh, a 

seven-time legislator. 

The Congress Legislature 

Party (CLP) meeting was attended 

by 34 out of 36 newlyelected 

party legislators. 

Two legislators — former 

minister G S Bali and Ram 

Kumar Chaudhary — were not 

present. While Bali, who was 

admitted to the AIIMS Hospital 

in New Delhi, couldn't reach 

Shimla, Chaudhary, who was 

booked in a murder case by 

Haryana Police, has been evading 

arrest. 

"The CLP (Congress Legislative 

Party) leader will now 

further discuss (on the formation 

of the government) with 

the high command in Delhi," 

Dwivedi added. 

Besides Dwivedi, Delhi 

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, 

AICC secretary Anees Ahmed 

and party's state in charge Birender 

Chaudhary attended the 

meeting as central observers. 

"He is a mass leader and 

played a crucial role in bringing 

the party back to power," 

Stokes told reporters after 

Virbhadra Singh's name was 

cleared. 

Sources in the Congress 

said the septuagenarian leader 

has bargained hard with the 

party leadership to get at the 

helm. 

Even seven-time legislator 

Kaul Singh, and confidante of 

Commerce Minister Anand 

Sharma, lobbied hard for the 

chief ministerial post. — IANS 

traders would be eliminated. 

The small markets where 

these people trade will vanish 

and only a few would 

flourish, the investors would 

flourish,” he said. 

“Small and big traders 

cannot coexist; the big fish 

will always eat the small 

fish,” he said. 

Bhattacharjee also rebutted 

the centre’s argument that 

it will benefit the consumers, 

saying investors would regulate 

the prices of products to 

increase their profits rather 

than think of the interests of 

the common man. 

“Only because we Leftists 

understand the plight of 

the farmers and the common 

man do we oppose FDI,” 

Bhattacharjee said. — IANS

Former 

PM mulls 

future 

By Gavin Jones 

ITALIAN caretaker 

Prime Minister Mario 

Monti is mulling 

his political future after 

resigning but a source 

close to him said he was 

unlikely to commit soon 

to any active role in the 

national election expected 

in February. 

President Giorgio 

Napolitano was expected to 

dissolve parliament and call 

an election for February 24. 

For weeks, speculation 

has swirled over what 

role Monti would play in 

the election. The former 

European commissioner, 

appointed to lead an 

unelected government to 

save Italy from financial 

crisis a year ago, has faced 

growing pressure to seek a 

second term and earlier this 

week Italian media widely 

reported he would do so. 

That now seems far less 

certain, as Monti has had 

to digest opinion polls that 

suggest a centrist group 

headed by him would 

probably come a distant 

third or even fourth in 

the election, expected to 

be won by the centre-left 

Democratic party (PD). 

“The outcome of the 

election may well not be 

all that favourable and 

the question is where 

that would leave his own 

credibility and also his 

reform agenda,” a person 

close to Monti said. 

Italy’s main newspapers 

also widely reported 

yesterday that he was 

inclined not to run, partly 

because of disappointing 

opinion polls and partly 

because of doubts about 

the quality of the centrist 

parties that would be using 

his name. 

European leaders 

including German 

Chancellor Angela Merkel 

and European Commission 

President Jose Manuel 

Barroso have called for 

Monti’s economic reform 

agenda to continue but 

Italy’s two main parties 

insist he should stay out of 

the race. 

Italians are weary of 

repeated tax hikes and 

spending cuts and opinion 

polls offer little evidence 

they are ready to give Monti 

a second term. A survey last 

week showed 61 per cent 

saying he should not stand. 

Silvio Berlusconi, who 

was forced to make way 

for Monti in November last 

year as Italian borrowing 

costs surged, has stepped up 

attacks on his successor. 

By Stephen Collinson 

DEMOCRATIC and 

Republican leaders 

traded blame as they 

left for the holiday amid fading 

hope of an agreement to 

avert a year-end fiscal crisis 

that could lead to stiff tax 

hikes and drastic budget cuts. 

In the weekly Republican 

Party radio address yesterday, 

House Speaker John Boehner, 

the top Republican in 

Congress, said that President 

Barack Obama’s proposal to 

solve the crisis by raising taxes 

“would still leave red ink as 

far as the eye can see.” 

“What the president has offered 

so far simply won’t do 

anything to solve our spending 

problem and begin to address 

our nation’s crippling debt,” 

Boehner said. 

“Instead, he wants more 

spending and more tax hikes 

that will hurt our economy. 

And he refuses to challenge 

the members of his party to 

deal honestly with entitlement 

reform and the big issues facing 

our nation. That is why we 

find ourselves here today.” 

Boehner has made an offer 

to Obama that would raise $1 

trillion in tax revenue — mostly 

through closing loopholes 

and ending certain deductions 

— and another $1 trillion in 

spending cuts, including in 

10 

ANALYSIS/OPINION 



SENATOR John Kerry speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. — Reuters 

Credentials fit new role 

By Anne K Walters 

JOHN Kerry may have just been 

handed his largest-ever Christmas 

gift — a new job as secretary 

of state. If all goes as planned, 

with the Senate approving President 

Barack Obama’s nomination, Kerry 

will take over as the nation’s top diplomat 

from Hillary Rodham Clinton 

early next year. 

“John’s entire life has prepared him 

for this role,” Obama said last Friday 

in announcing Kerry as his pick for 

the cabinet post. The president cited 

Kerry’s pedigree as the son of a US 

diplomat as well as to his military experience 

in Vietnam and his nearly 30 

years in the Senate. 

Most recently in his role as chairman 

of the Senate Foreign Relations 

Committee, Kerry has been active in 

policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

Obama also pointed to Kerry’s 

efforts to push the New Start nuclear 

arms reduction treaty with Russia 

through the Senate and his engagement 

on Sudan and South Sudan. 

In a hearing last week, Kerry gave 

hints to the importance he places on 

diplomacy even in dangerous parts of 

the world. 

“We do not want to concertina-wire 

America off from the world,” he said in 

a hearing on the attack this year on the 

US consulate in Benghazi. “Our challenge 

is to strike a balance between the 

necessity of the mission, available resources 

and tolerance for risk.” 

Kerry had renewed his attention 

to international policy since his failed 

bid for the presidency in 2004, when 

some social programmes like 

Medicare. 

“I told the president on 

Monday these were my bottom 

lines,” Boehner said earlier. 

The White House has described 

its own offer as $1.2 

trillion in tax revenues and 

nearly $1 trillion in spending 

cuts, although Republicans 

dispute whether all of the austerity 

measures are real. 

Last Friday, President 

Obama seemed frustrated that 

Republicans were not willing 

to offer him a compromise after, 

in his eyes, he made major 

concessions to his opponents. 

“Nobody gets 100 per cent of 

what they want,” he said. 

With just over a week to 

go before automatic and mas- 

John Kerry’s entire life 

has prepared him for this 

role and he being the son 

of a US diplomat as well 

as his military experience 

makes him right choice 

he was defeated by then-president 

George W Bush. 

The campaign had ugly moments, 

including the questioning of Kerry’s 

Vietnam service by fellow veterans 

and allegations he had frequently 

changed positions on issues, which 

Republicans used to derisively label 

him a flip-flopper. Kerry attended Yale 

University in Connecticut, one of the 

United States’ top schools. As he was 

graduating, Kerry volunteered to serve 

in Vietnam. 

“It was the right thing to do,” he 

later said. He served two tours of duty 

and volunteered to serve on a swift 

boat on the Mekong River delta. The 

political attacks on his service later 

generated a new verb, “swiftboating.” 

He earned a Silver Star, a Bronze 

Star and three Purple Hearts for his 

service and wounds, but returned 

home to become a leader in the anti- 

sive spending cuts and tax 

increases due to kick in for 

all Americans on January 1, 

Obama urged lawmakers to 

pass a scaled-down tax package 

to avoid the so-called fiscal 

cliff. 

Obama said he still wanted 

a comprehensive and large 

deficit-cutting bill to put the 

US economy on the path to 

long-term prosperity, but in 

the meantime, he called for a 

stop-gap bill to protect middle-class 

taxpayers. 

“There is absolutely no reason, 

none, not to protect these 

Americans from a tax hike. At 

the very least, let’s agree right 

now on what we already agree 

on. Let’s get that done.” 

Obama said he met Demo- 

cratic Senate leader Harry 

Reid and spoke to Republican 

House Speaker John Boehner 

on the phone to discuss a fallback 

plan, while stressing he 

still believed a big compromise 

was possible. 

He asked Congress to produce 

a package at a minimum 

prevents a tax hike on the middle 

class, would extend unemployment 

insurance and lays 

the groundwork for further 

deficit reduction next year. 

The move would still satisfy 

his demand to raise taxes 

on the richest Americans, as 

all Bush-era taxes will go up 

on January 1, and Obama only 

envisions extending the lower 

rates for middle class earners. 

“Everybody can cool off, 

Vietnam war movement. 

“How do you ask a man to be the 

last man to die for a mistake?” Kerry, 

who was 27 at the time, asked during 

testimony before the Senate Foreign 

Relations Committee in 1971. 

One of Kerry’s main achievements 

as a senator in the 1990s was a bipartisan 

effort with Republican Senator 

John McCain, who had been a prisoner 

of war in Vietnam, to reopen diplomatic 

relations with Vietnam by resolving 

outstanding US prisoner-of-war issues 

with the country. Clinton noted Kerry 

had much to share even from his lost 

presidential bid. 

“He has forged strong relationships 

with leaders around the world,” she 

said. “As I have learned, being able 

to talk candidly as someone who has 

won elections and also lost them is an 

enormous asset when engaging with 

emerging or fragile democracies.” 

everybody can drink some 

egg nog, have some Christmas 

cookies, sing some Christmas 

carols,” Obama said. 

“Call me a hopeless optimist, 

but I actually still think 

that we can get it done,” 

said Obama, who will spend 

Christmas in his native Hawaii, 

but told reporters he 

would be back in Washington 

next week. Obama’s sugges- 

Obama nominated Kerry after UN 

Ambassador Susan Rice withdrew 

from consideration for the post. She 

had been considered the favourite, but 

opposition from Republican senators 

over remarks she made following the 

attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, 

Libya sank her chances. 

But Kerry and Obama also have a 

long history. They served together in 

the Senate, and Obama’s national political 

ascent began at the Democratic 

National Convention in 2004 as Kerry 

sought the presidency. Kerry also 

helped prepare Obama for this year’s 

presidential debates against Republican 

challenger Mitt Romney. 

At the party’s convention earlier 

this year, Kerry praised Obama for 

rebuilding the US role on the international 

stage by focussing on alliances 

he said were damaged by Bush, ending 

the war in Iraq and refocussing efforts 

in Afghanistan. 

“It took President Obama to make 

America lead like America again. It 

took President Obama to restore our 

moral authority — and to ban torture,” 

he said. “This president understands 

that our values do not limit our power 

— they magnify it.” Kerry earned 

a law degree from Boston College in 

1976 and went to work in Massachusetts, 

his home state. He was elected 

lieutenant governor in 1982 and two 

years later he won a seat in the Senate, 

where he has served five terms. 

Kerry married his second wife, Teresa 

Heinz, in 1995, 12 years after he 

and his first wife, Julia Thorne, separated. 

He has two daughters from his 

first marriage. 

tion would extend tax breaks 

to 98 per cent of Americans — 

those earning below $250,000 

a year. In talks with Boehner 

on a larger compromise, the 

president had offered to raise 

that threshold to $400,000. 

Last Thursday, Republicans 

rejected a bid by Boehner to 

pass a backup bill to solve the 

crisis, leaving Washington in 

turmoil, markets spooked and 

In search of a 

better living 

By Scott Malone 

DIEGO Canil 

Ordonez was just 

16 years old when 

he realised he needed to get 

out of Guatemala after gang 

members arrived at the store 

where he worked to shake 

down his boss for money. 

His boss didn’t show up 

for work the next day, but 

the gang members did. They 

demanded cash from Canil 

Ordonez, who had seen his 

job at the store as a step up 

after spending years shining 

shoes to support his family, 

starting at age 9. 

“They took me out of 

the store, and they took 

the money and they beat 

me up,” Canil Ordonez, 

now 21, recounted in a 

recent interview at a social 

service centre in Worcester, 

Massachusetts. “They were 

following me everywhere.” 

Fearing for his life, Canil 

Ordonez joined the ranks of a 

growing number of children 

from Central America to risk 

all on a hazardous journey 

to the United States, driven 

in part by widespread gang 

violence and grinding 

poverty. 

During a harrowing trek 

across Mexico, his traveling 

companion, an 18-year-old 

male, was briefly kidnapped 

and held for ransom. The 

journey ended when the pair 

surrendered to immigration 

authorities in Texas; Canil 

Ordonez’s friend could no 

longer walk because of 

injuries to his feet. 

The number of such 

young migrants taken into 

custody by US officials 

has risen dramatically in 

the past year, and while 

most are sent home, those 

who are fleeing abusive 

parents or gang-dominated 

communities can be granted 

refugee status, an October 

report from the Women’s 

Refugee Commission 

found. The commission is 

a part of the International 

Rescue Committee, 

a nongovernmental 

organisation founded in 

1933 and based in the United 

States. 

Some 13,625 such 

children were taken into 

custody and referred to 

children’s services in the 

12 months that ended in 

September, according 

to updated figures the 

commission provided to 

Reuters. That marks a sharp 

rise from the roughly 6,000 

to 8,000 they served in each 

renewing fears that America’s 

political gridlock could spark 

a recession. 

Obama’s aides privately 

say they doubt that conservative 

deficit hawks, who oppose 

raising taxes as a matter of 

principle, will ever back a deal 

agreed with the president. 

In that case, Boehner could 

opt to pass a compromise in the 

House with the help of votes 

of the prior five years. 

Most of these children 

come from Guatemala, 

Honduras and El Salvador, 

the study found. They 

are fleeing street gangs 

such as MS-13, which has 

been accused of human 

trafficking, kidnapping, 

rape and murder, as well as 

crushing poverty, it said. 

Central American 

children are caught between 

gang members who threaten 

to kill those who will not 

join their ranks and police 

who assume they already 

are gang-affiliated, the study 

found. 

Most of the 151 people 

— 129 boys and 22 girls 

— interviewed by the 

researchers of the report, 

titled “Forced from Home: 

The Lost Boys and Girls of 

Central America,” said they 

would make the dangerous 

trek again rather than remain 

in their homelands. 

“These children exhibited 

both an urgent need to 

escape and an incredible 

will to survive,” the report 

said. “Until conditions for 

children in these countries 

change substantially, it is 

expected that this trend will 

become the new norm.” 

The rise in arrivals over 

the past year comes as the 

overall number of arrests on 

the US border with Mexico 

is at its lowest level since the 

early 1970s. A US Customs 

and Border Protection 

official disagreed with the 

report’s conclusion, saying 

the surge may not represent a 

long-term trend. 

“This increase, however, 

is not inconsistent with 

historic migration trends and 

patterns, which are cyclical 

and vary month by month 

over a year,” said the official, 

who declined to have his 

name published citing 

department policy. 

The journey poses a 

host of dangers all its own, 

according to the report 

and interviews with five 

young men who made the 

illegal trip as minors. Many 

migrants travel across 

Mexico atop freight trains, 

with the constant risk of 

falling. They are also easy 

targets for robberies and 

kidnappings. 

Franklin Chavarria was 

kidnapped and held for 

ransom by members of the 

violent Zetas drug cartel 

in Mexico when he was 16 

years old and making his 

second attempt to enter the 

United States. 

Politicians trade blame for weak progress 

Congress was asked to come 

out with package at the earliest 

that at a minimum prevents a tax 

hike on the middle class, would 

extend unemployment insurance 

and lays groundwork for further 

deficit reduction next year 

DRIVEN BY POVERTY 

SPEAKER of the House John Boehner during a press conference in Washington, DC. — AFP 

from minority Democrats — 

a move that could undermine 

his position as speaker with 

his own party. 

Experts, however, say one 

way to make a tax hike on the 

wealthy more palatable for Republicans 

is to not make them 

vote for one at all. Should the 

new year arrive with no deal, 

taxes will automatically rise 

for everyone.

Freedom 

of travel 

By Isaac Risco, dpa 

THE year 2013 could 

bring more freedom 

for Cubans after the 

government promised to lift 

travel restrictions starting 

January 14. But Cubans are 

feeling increasingly sceptical 

about the reform, which they 

initially received with enthusiasm. 

“We need to wait 

until we see the small print,” 

opposition activist Elizardo 

Sanchez, who heads the illegal 

Cuban Commission of 

Human Rights and National 

Reconciliation, said. 

Despite major events such 

as the visit of Pope Benedict 

XVI or the passage of hurricane 

Sandy through the east 

of the Caribbean island, it is 

the travel reform that many 

Cubans regard as the most 

important event in 2012. 

The reform announced in 

October eliminates the need 

for the travel permit known 

as the white card, which had 

been required of travellers 

since 1976, and for a letter of 

invitation from someone in 

the country of destination. 

Cubans will only need 

a valid passport and a visa 

granted by the country they 

want to travel to, the Foreign 

Ministry said. 

Private trips may last 

for 24 months, up from 11 

months until now. 

However, Cuba wants to 

avoid a brain drain — the 

massive departures of medical 

doctors and other professionals 

critical of the Castrist 

regime. 

“Measures will be maintained 

to preserve the human 

capital created by the Revolution,” 

according to the announcement 

published in the 

government daily Granma. 

The authorities may 

refuse to grant passports for 

“reasons of defence and national 

security” and to people 

who “have obligations 

with the Cuban state or civil 

responsibility.” The new migration 

law also mentions 

“other reasons of public interest.” 

The regime was expected 

to limit travel by opposition 

activists, in addition 

to professional groups. 

“It seems that the filter 

will be in the process of giving 

the passport, and not in 

the so-called white card as 

until now,” blogger Yoani 

Sanchez said. 

“I have been refused a 

travel permit 20 times in 

five years. Will I get one after 

January 14?” she asked 

when the new rules were 

made public. 

“If (the authorities) think 

that (people) should not 

leave the country, they will 

not leave,” said Berta Soler 

from the opposition group 

Ladies in White. 

By Frankie Taggart 

HE may not be much of a 

doctor but the children’s 

faces light up when Dush 

The Clown shuffles onto their 

ward in his floppy shoes and red 

nose to prescribe his unique brand 

of medical care. 

Dush — alias 36-year-old Israeli 

David Barashi — is in Nepal to 

teach doctors and nurses that laughter 

really can be the best medicine, 

with the latest evidence suggesting 

clowning around in hospitals can 

boost patient care. 

“Everyone can take something 

from the clown,” said Barashi, who 

has worked as a qualified medical 

clown for ten years. 

“When you are in a hospital, 

you shouldn’t just see the sick and 

the painful side of the patient, you 

should see the healthy side, the 

side that wants to be a kid. 

“We all have a child inside of us 

and clowning in hospital is about 

empowering childhood.” 

Studies have shown that clowning 

programmes can reduce pain 

and anxiety in children and adults, 

increase the success rate of in-vitro 

fertilisation, lower blood pressure 

and improve the care of elderly 

suffering from dementia. 

Barashi, who holds a degree in 

medical clowning from the University 

of Haifa, shows doctors, nurses 

and lecturers how he is able to use 

clowning with children to make 

them feel better ahead of surgery. 

He worked with orphans in 

11 

ANALYSIS/OPINION 



NOELEEN Lumby teaches Aboriginal languages to children at St Johns High School, in Sydney. — AFP 

Reviving Aboriginal languages 

By Madeleine Coorey 

IN a high-school classroom in western Sydney, 

teacher Noeleen Lumby is asking her 

pupils to recall the Aboriginal name for animals 

that indigenous Wiradjuri people have used 

for hundreds of years. 

As she holds up stuffed toys representing 

some of Australia’s native wildlife, including a 

kangaroo, an emu and a cockatoo, the class of 

about 25 — many from Vietnamese and Cambodian 

backgrounds — come to grips with the 

ancient tongue. 

“I like this because you get to learn new skills 

and you can speak some indigenous language,” 

said 12-year-old Tien Nguyen. 

Lumby, who oversees the students as they use 

their new knowledge to create projects on computers 

and iPads, is passionate about filling a 

gaping hole in Australian education — the study 

of Aboriginal languages. 

“I think it’s important that the kids learn language 

and culture at the same time,” she told 

AFP. 

“And because most of the students that I teach 

are non-Aboriginal, we look at culture across the 

whole of Australia and look at the diversity of 

culture.” 

Only a small handful of the 1,110 students at 

St. John’s Park High School are indigenous, but 

for Lumby one of the joys of teaching is when 

students were “talking in language with me”. 

Australia’s Aborigines once spoke 250 to 270 

different languages but best estimates now suggest 

less than 70 are still being spoken on a daily 

basis, with even fewer passed on to younger generations. 

“We’re losing languages as we speak because 

kids are increasingly not learning their parents’ 

language or languages; they are learning a form 

of Aboriginal English,” said Sydney University 

lecturer John Hobson. 

“Australia is kind of close to holding the 

world record for the extinction of indigenous 

Ethiopia, tsunami survivors in Asia 

and children in quake-hit Haiti before 

he was invited by the Israeli 

embassy in Nepal to visit Dhulikhel 

Hospital, 30 kilometres (20 

miles) southeast of Kathmandu. 

“It’s not about making doctors 

and nurses into clowns. We work 

We’re losing 

languages 

as we speak 

because kids 

are increasingly 

not learning 

their parents’ 

language or 

languages 

languages; we haven’t just wiped out the mammals, 

we’re doing pretty well on indigenous heritage 

as well.” 

Hobson said that while a small number of 

schools in remote Aboriginal areas held classes 

in indigenous languages, by and large the language 

of instruction in Australia — settled by the 

British more than 200 years ago — is English. 

Although indigenous language teaching is 

undergoing a revival, many Aboriginal communities 

are geographically isolated making it 

a struggle for those working to keep such languages 

alive. 

A crucial problem is the lack of resources 

— both in terms of text books and resources as 

Clowns in a new role: helping young patients 

A MEDICAL clown with a patient during at the Dhulikhel hospital on the outskirts of Kathmandu. 

together. It doesn’t work in the 

hospital if the doctors and nurses 

do not see me as part of the medical 

team,” he said. 

So Barashi doesn’t ask medics 

to learn juggling or wear clown 

costumes, but instead encourages 

them to customise their white coats 

with a badge or scarf to which a 

young patient might relate. 

“Find a very nice icon which 

works as a rope you throw to the 

child. They hold the rope and then 

you start to build a connection and 

the environment of a playground,” 

he said. 

well as teachers. Hobson, who in 2006 began a 

masters course instructing teachers how to teach 

their own indigenous languages in schools, said 

in many cases his students created the resources 

they needed for the classroom. 

“Our gang have to start from scratch for pretty 

much everything. They have to produce their 

own,” he said, adding it was a far cry from the 

French or Mandarin teacher who could easily access 

dictionaries and other resources. 

Hobson said his students were mostly teachers 

from an indigenous background who were 

involved in the revitalisation movement. 

“Some of them would have ambitions to restore 

those languages to vernacular use... but 

others would be simply working, at this stage 

anyway, on having language back as a badge of 

honour,” he said. 

The revival movement is making some 

progress; some languages which would have 

once been referred to as “extinct” are now more 

likely to be seen as “sleeping”. 

“We’d like to think that people could restore 

languages to full use,” Hobson said. 

“But even if they do, one of the issues that 

invariably has to be dealt with is the fact that the 

records of the language either in living memory 

or in recordings or paper records... are not complete. 

“So people would need to embrace the 

idea of reconstruction... which you might think 

of in terms of some language engineering.” 

Hobson sees the course he offers, believed to 

be the only one of its kind in Australia, as a “kind 

of stop-gap measure” to try and build a supply of 

trained teachers to keep up with demand. 

“The underlying issue is that Aboriginal 

people do want to bring their languages back... 

people increasingly talk about how to reawaken 

their language,” he said. 

Jodi Edwards, one of the masters students in 

Hobson’s class, is one such person. 

“Your own language is a part of your soul, it’s 

a part of who you are and to not have your language 

is to not have your right arm,” she said. 

Nepal is one of the world’s 

poorest countries, with more than 

half the population living on less 

than $1.25 a day. 

In 2007 the government endorsed 

health care as a basic human 

right in the interim constitution, 

introducing a policy of free 

treatment for the poorest and most 

vulnerable. 

But development agencies say 

nearly one in four people in Nepal 

still has no access to even basic 

healthcare. 

Employing doctors can be an 

expensive business so teaching 

existing staff new tricks is a way 

of getting value for money, says 

Adam Levene, deputy chief of 

mission at the Israeli embassy in 

Kathmandu. 

More than 10 years after the 

Robin Williams movie “Patch 

Adams” told the real-life story 

of a doctor who believed humour 

should be major part of patient 

care, Nepal is discovering clowning 

around really does work. 

Levene said research had shown 

that pre and post-operative medical 

clowning could yield up to 30 percent 

quicker recovery rates, with 

the effect particularly accentuated 

among children. 

“The training uses what is defined 

locally as ‘funny’, not what is 

defined as funny in Israel,” Levene 

said. 

Barashi trained 30 Nepalese 

hospital staff a year ago and returned 

from Israel to train another 

20 or so, with courses oversubscribed. 

Magical effects of Human 

Resource Management 

By Shabeer Jawad 

THE importance of Human 

Resource Management is being 

appreciated throughout 

the professional circles of Oman. 

Strategic Human Resource Management 

is essential to the long 

term growth of an organisation. 

“People are our greatest asset”, said 

an Australian expert on the subject 

in an interview. Selecting and recruiting, 

training, developing talent, 

monitoring well being, facilitating 

change, ensuring decent salary and 

resolving grievances and providing 

performance advice is the responsibility 

of the human resource department 

of an organisation in order to 

address the concerns and requirements 

of all the departments. 

The efficient management of 

people and human resource leads 

to smooth working in the most productive 

manner. Treating employees 

right eventually works in favour 

of the organisation. I took a course 

where we were taught about the 

Japanese Philosophy of boosting the 

employee morale. It is called “Pet 

on the back” wherein an employee 

is directly appreciated saying he/ 

she has done a good work. I believe 

this really works in motivating the 

employee and boosting morale. A 

few words of appreciation on the 

job done by a junior staff go a long 

way. Positive reinforcement is one 

of the best ways to ensure steady 

improvement in the performance 

of an employee. Human resource 

management makes sure that the 

right candidates are hired in line 

of the company’s requirements and 

takes care of the objective criteria 

and the processes needed to hire, 

monitor and fire (if necessary). The 

department also makes sure that the 

organisation is complying with laws 

of the country. 

Selection of the right candidate 

for a job should be in line with the 

requirements of the department. 

Written tests at the junior level and 

high profile interviews at senior 

levels conducted by experts from 

the concerned department and Human 

resource department come 

handy. In Oman skilled labour is 

available in plenty. It is wonderful 

to see Omani graduates are available 

in every field like accountancy, 

finance, logistics, information 

technology, marketing and public 

relations. Prompt decision making 

is must in human resource management. 

The time should be minimised 

between the final interview and the 

feedback to the candidate. 

Perhaps, in Oman, presently the 

most important aspect of human 

resource management apparently is 

monitoring performance and giving 

correct feedback. Sound monitoring 

will help in retention of a good employee 

and improving the performance 

of the staff. While positive 

reinforcement on the job well done 

is important, giving an honest feedback 

to an employee whose work 

needs to be improved is equally 

important. The comment should be 

specific and constructive. The pa- 

Breadlines, fuel shortages 

By Yara Bayoumy 

IN Syria’s once-affluent merchant 

city of Aleppo, a 60-yearold 

man wrapped in several layers 

of clothes queues alongside his 

shivering grandchildren for bread 

— a daily and often fruitless ritual 

that consumes most of his day. 

Shielding himself from rain in Bustan 

al Qasr, a district in south-west 

of Syria’s biggest city, Alaa el Din 

Hout says shortage of food and fuel 

are driving his family and many 

others to desperation. 

“We’re starving. I can bear it but 

what about my children? I stand 

from 3 in the afternoon until 11 

at night and you can’t always get 

bread,” said Hout, wearing a winter 

hat and scarf to keep out the cold. 

“We’re reduced to begging or stealing.” 

Five months after rebels brought 

their fight against President Bashar 

al Assad into the heart of Aleppo, 

the eastern and southern swathes 

of the city are a mishmash of deserted 

districts and no-man’s land. 

Rebel fighters have hunkered down 

in warehouses to halt offensives by 

government forces. The few lucky 

bakeries in Aleppo that have supplies 

often have hundreds standing 

in line, hoping for a few loaves. 

Abu Abdo, Hout’s son-in-law, 

has three children, the youngest a 

2-month-old baby shivering underneath 

wraps of blankets. “This is 

the hardest period I’ve ever gone 

through. There’s no work, no industry, 

no electricity, no diesel. How 

will people live?” said the former 

stonemason. “The people have 

A few words 

of appreciation 

on the job done 

by a junior 

staff go a long 

way. Positive 

reinforcement 

is one of the 

best ways to 

ensure steady 

improvement 

in the 

performance of 

an employee 

rameters of measuring performance 

will have to stem from nature of the 

organisation and within the department 

of the concerned employee. 

An employee’s seniority in the organisation 

enhances his effectiveness 

as the person knows a lot about 

the company. It is the function of 

human resource management to 

ensure that good work is appreciated 

morally as well as through financial 

remuneration to retain such 

staff. Also, the packages offered to 

new candidates should be attractive 

enough to create an incentive in the 

minds of candidates especially the 

young graduates. Cost management 

is a part of managing business but 

not at the expense of missing out on 

competent candidates. If you do not 

hire the right people who deserve 

appropriate remuneration packages 

then the very cost cutting can result 

in lower productivity and hence 

lower profits. Training and development 

are part of the monitoring 

aspect of human resource management 

and currently in the country is 

necessary to elevate young Omanis 

to higher levels. There are many 

training and development materials 

and techniques available in the 

market. Courses and seminars are 

also being conducted. Young people 

should take initiative to ask the 

management to send them to such 

events and human resource management 

should also take initiative 

to send staff to such courses and 

seminars . 

Human resource management is 

needed in all the professional fields. 

Oman is beautiful country with 

steady well balanced growth. This 

is all being achieved by labour, the 

people. No amount of automation 

or technology can work without the 

proper supervision of human beings. 

So lets hope the we would see even 

more improved and focused human 

resource management in coming 

years in Oman to contribute to the 

national growth of the country. 

a right to demand their freedom, 

that’s the least of the demands — I 

am for the downfall of the regime.” 

The summer battles around 

Aleppo have subsided but Syrians 

in this city, whose peacetime 

population of 2.5 million has been 

reduced by an exodus of hundreds 

of thousands, are facing new challenges 

of winter cold and wartime 

shortages. 

Some districts are faring better, 

with vegetable sellers laying out 

tomatoes and tangerines and falafel 

shops frying the ubiquitous bean 

food. But many are too poor to afford 

it. “We can’t find any bread. 

People are dying, half the bakeries 

are closed. There’s no flour,” said 

one man in al-Sha’ar district. 

Ahmed, a 42-year-old man with 

six children, said he queued from 8 

in the morning. “Sometimes we get 

bread, sometimes we don’t. There’s 

no water, no gas, no electricity. The 

water supply runs out every two 

days.” 

Not all the city’s residents hold 

the government responsible for 

their suffering. Aleppo has traditionally 

been a city with divided 

loyalties and even in areas controlled 

by the rebels, some people have 

had enough of the daily shortages 

and blame them on the president’s 

opponents. 

“We don’t leave our homes after 

6 p.m. We just want peace again,” 

said Um Saleh, a woman wearing 

a face veil and a full-length black 

wool coat. She blamed the Free 

Syrian Army rebels for hijacking 

bread lines to take loaves for their 

family.

12 

THE WORLD 



EGYPTIAN men queue outside a polling station during the second round of a referendum on a new draft constitution in Giza, south of Cairo, yesterday 

Syrian govt controls chem arms: Russia 

BBEIRUT — Fighting continued 

in and around Damascus 

yesterday, as Russia said the 

Syrian government remained in 

control of the country’s chemical 

weapons and Turkey agreed 

with its Nato allies on location 

upon which to deploy Patriot 

missiles. 

A car bomb killed five people 

and wounded dozens in the 

eastern Damascus district of 

Qaboun yesterday, the Syrian 

Observatory for Human Rights 

said. 

Russian Foreign Minister 

Sergy Lavrov was quoted by 

the country’s Interfax news 

agency as saying that “Syrian 

authorities have concentrated 

these (chemical weapons) supplies 

in one or two centres. Before, 

they were distributed over 

HAVANA — The Colombian 

government and the country’s 

FARC rebels took a threeweek 

break from peace talks 

on Friday, saying in a joint 

statement that negotiations 

will resume in January. 

“We will continue our 

discussion and reconvene in 

Havana on January 14, 2013,” 

the two sides said in a joint 

communique, adding that the 

talks so far have unfolded in 

“a climate of respect and a 

spirit of co-operation.” 

The Revolutionary Armed 

Forces of Colombia started 

talks with Colombian officials 

on October 18 in Norway, and 

the negotiations moved to Havana 

on November 19. Both 

sides have cited progress. 

The talks are the fourth 

ROME — Italy’s election campaign kicked off 

yesterday amid uncertainty over whether Prime 

Minister Mario Monti will launch himself into 

the political fray and fight Silvio Berlusconi for 

the top job as the head of state dissolved parliament 

yesterday. “I have just signed the decree 

for the dissolution of parliament,” President 

Giorgio Napolitano told reporters after consulting 

with political leaders. 

Monti resigned on Friday, a couple of months 

ahead of the end of his term of office, after his 

the whole country,” 

Syria was doing everything 

it could to secure the weapons, 

Lavrov said, adding that even 

the United States had conceded 

that the greatest danger would 

be for the weapons to fall into 

the hands of the opposition 

fighters. 

Speaking on his way home 

from an EU-Russia summit in 

Brussels, Lavrov said neither 

side can win in Syria, and that 

China or Russia would be unable 

to persuade President 

Bashar al Assad to quit if they 

tried. 

Russia has angered the West 

and some Arab states by vetoing, 

along with China, three 

UN Security Council resolutions 

meant to put pressure on 

Assad. Moscow contends it is 

attempt to end a conflict that 

has lasted almost half a century, 

left 600,000 dead, 15,000 

missing and four million displaced 

in Latin America’s 

longest-running insurgency. 

The government’s chief negotiator, 

Humberto de la Calle, 

said that the talks would continue 

to focus on the difficult 

issue of agricultural reform. 

It was unequal distribution of 

land that led rebels to take up 

arms a half-century ago. 

Now that the two sides 

have been able to feel each 

other out, “we hope to be 

able to make progress with 

greater speed and in an expedited 

fashion” when the talks 

resume, De La Calle said. 

The goal, he said, is a bilateral 

agreement “that will 

not trying to prop Assad up, 

but Lavrov reiterated that it has 

no intention of helping remove 

him — and said it anyway 

lacks the influence to make that 

happen. 

“Assad is not going anywhere, 

no matter what anyone 

tells him, be it China or Russia,” 

he said. 

“Some regional powers 

suggested that we tell Assad 

we were ready to accommodate 

him. And we replied: ‘Why do 

we have to do it? If you have 

these plans, go to him directly 

yourselves’.” 

Lavrov suggested Moscow 

would not object “if there are 

those who are ready to give 

him some guarantees, if this 

stops the bloodshed — but only 

if it could stop the bloodshed, 

Colombia peace negotiators 

take 3-week holiday break 

allow the FARC to cease being 

an armed group operating 

outside the law and let them 

become a legal political organisation.” 

“We cannot say that extraordinary 

advances have 

been made, but we have had 

some very important talks,” 

rebel leader Ricardo Tellez 

told reporters. 

“We are going to work 

without stopping, in a balanced, 

patient way,” he said. 

Tellez expressed consternation 

that government has refused 

rebels’ call for a ceasefire 

during the negotiations. 

Bogota cites its experience 

in the last talks, for which it 

created a vast demilitarised 

zone and engaged in three 

years of negotiations. — AFP 

Italy poll campaign kicks off 

government lost the support of Silvio Berlusconi’s 

centre-right People of Freedom party. 

The date of the election, widely expected 

to be February 24, will be decided by Monti’s 

cabinet, which remains in office in a caretaker 

capacity. 

Monti’s resignation brought to a head weeks 

of speculation over whether the former eurocrat 

will play a major role in the election, either as a 

candidate or a figurehead for parties that pledge 

to continue his reforms. 

TELEMADRID public TV workers protest against job cuts during the draw for the 

world’s richest lottery, known as El Gordo or “the fat one”, in Madrid yesterday. The 

total prize money of 2.5 billion euros ($3.32 billion) is split into thousands of cash 

prizes amongst hundreds of winning numbers. — Reutes 

which does not seem to be a 

clear fact”. 

“Western intelligence services 

have serious fears and forecasts 

that the toppling of Assad 

would not resolve the problem, 

that fighting would move to a 

new stage,” he said. 

Lavrov also said that the 

international envoy for Syria, 

Lakhdar Brahimi, would travel 

to Moscow for talks soon. 

A source in the Arab League 

said Brahimi will visit Syria 

and is expected to meet Assad, 

government officials and some 

opposition factions. 

The source, who asked 

not to be named, said no date 

for such a visit had been announced 

but said he expected 

it would be “during the coming 

few days”. 

S Africa road 

accidents kill 

765 in Dec 

JOHANNESBURG — Road 

accidents in South Africa 

have killed 765 people so 

far this month as the holiday 

season gets under way, traffic 

authorities said yesterday. 

Most of the accidents 

were head-on collisions resulting 

from high speed and 

drunk driving, the Road Traffic 

Management Corporation 

(RTMC) said. 

A total of 1,771 people 

died in road accidents between 

December 1 last year 

and January 10, 2012. 

RTMC spokesman Ashref 

Ismail said negligent driving 

continued to be a problem. 

Traffic accidents in South 

Africa always peak around 

busy holiday periods like 

Christmas and Easter, as people 

head out on vacation. 

Royal hoax: Prosecutors to decide action 

LONDON — British prosecutors 

will decide whether 

to charge two Australian DJs 

after a nurse who took a hoax 

call to a hospital treating Prince 

William’s pregnant wife Catherine 

apparently killed herself, 

police said yesterday. 

Scotland Yard said officers 

had sent a file to the Crown 

WASHINGTON — Four 

people were killed on Friday 

in a rural part of the US state 

of Pennsylvania in a shooting 

rampage that apparently began 

at a church and continued 

along a road before the gunman 

was shot dead by state 

troopers. 

Police said shots were fired 

at five locations along about 

2 kilometres of the road, the 

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 

reported. Authorities said a 

woman was fatally shot at the 

church in Blair County about 

200 kilometres east of Pittsburgh. 

One man was killed at 

a residence and another was 

shot dead in his car after the 

shooter rammed it. 

Nato, meanwhile, announced 

that Germany, the 

Netherlands and the United 

States had agreed with Turkey 

on the location for siting Patriot 

missile batteries in three Turkish 

provinces. 

According to Turkish media, 

the missiles are expected 

to be operational by the end of 

January. 

Inside Syria, meanwhile, 

the government deployed additional 

forces on a road near 

Damascus airport to contain 

the opposition activists. 

“Soldiers from the elite 15th 

Army Brigade were brought 

into the area overnight and positioned 

on the road linking the 

airport to the capital,” Haytham 

al Abdullah, a Syrian activist in 

the area, said. — Agencies 

PROTESTERS wave Union Flags in front of the City Hall provoked by a decision to remove the British flag 

from Belfast's City Hall yesterday. — Reuters 

Prosecution Service over the 

prank earlier this month by 

presenters Mel Greig and 

Michael Christian, from Sydney’s 

2Day FM radio station. 

Indian-born nurse Jacintha 

Saldanha, 46, was found 

hanged in her lodgings at King 

Edward VII’s hospital in central 

London, where Kate was 

Shooting in western 

Pennsylvania kills 4 

Police said they shot and 

killed the assailant after he 

began firing at a state trooper’s 

car while driving down 

the road and rammed that vehicle 

head-on. 

Three state troopers were 

injured in the shooting. All 

were expected to be treated 

and released from hospital. 

Police were trying to determine 

whether the victims 

were targeted or shot at random. 

“I don’t believe you’re going 

to find any biological relationship 

between the suspect 

and victims,” district attorney 

Rich Consiglio was quoted by 

the Tribune-Review as saying. 

— dpa 

Egypt votes on charter 

Vice-president resigns; says not suited for politics 

CAIRO — Egypt's vice-president 

resigned yesterday as 

Egyptians voted in a referendum 

that is expected to approve 

a new constitution that lays the 

foundations for the country's 

transition to democracy. 

Authorities extended voting 

by four hours in the second and 

decisive round of the plebiscite 

on the constitution that the opposition 

has criticised as divisive 

and likely to cause more 

unrest. 

Just hours before polls 

closed, Vice President Mahmoud 

Mekky announced his 

resignation, saying he wanted 

to quit last month but stayed 

on to help President Mohamed 

Mursi. 

Mekky, a prominent judge 

said he was uncomfortable in 

politics. 

In a resignation letter, Mekky 

said that although he had 

held on in the post he had “realised 

for some time that the 

Merkel rival flays Germany’s 

soaring arms exports 

BERLIN — Peer Steinbrueck, 

set to challenge Angela Merkel 

as German leader next year, 

criticised her centre-right government 

yesterday for letting 

arms exports surge and vowed 

to end that if his centre-left 

opposition wins power. 

The former finance minister, 

nominated to lead the 

Social Democrats (SPD) into 

September’s election against 

Merkel, said it was a scandal 

that Germany has become the 

world’s third largest arms exporter 

on her watch. 

Arms exports are a sensitive 

issue in Germany with 

the role arms makers such as 

Krupp played in stoking 19th 

being treated for acute morning 

sickness, on December 7. 

“Following the death of Jacintha 

Saldanha, officers have 

liaised with the Crown Prosecution 

Service as to whether 

any criminal offences had 

been committed in relation to 

the hoax call made to King 

Edward VII Hospital in the 

Yemen prison 

fire kills 8 

SANAA — A fire in a Yemeni 

prison killed eight inmates 

yesterday, a security official 

said. 

The blaze was reported 

in several rooms of the central 

prison in the city of Ibb, 

some 200 kilometres south 

of Sanaa, the official added, 

without saying whether it 

was thought to have been 

started deliberately. 

Local officials said fire 

crews were slow in responding, 

and that several prisoners 

also suffered from smoke 

inhalation. 

Ibb prison has been the 

scene of recent protests by 

prisoners against poor conditions 

and overcrowding, the 

local officials said. — AFP 

nature of political work did 

not suit my professional background 

as a judge”. 

Queues stretched outside 

polling stations in Giza, near 

Cairo; the port city of Port 

Said; and Luxor, in southern 

Egypt, as opposing groups 

made last-minute efforts to 

woo voters. 

“I read the constitution. It 

has several good issues such as 

articles guaranteeing care for 

the poor,” said a veiled female 

voter in Giza, who gave her 

name only as Souad. “I hope 

things will settle and the country 

becomes stable after the 

referendum.” 

Backers and opponents of 

the charter, drafted by the assembly, 

have fought street battles 

about the draft. 

“They should have distributed 

copies of the constitution 

to us so that we would be better 

aware of what we are voting 

on,” said Dina, a voter waiting 

and 20th century wars with 

exports to both sides. 

After World War Two, 

successive West German and 

later united German governments 

placed tight restrictions 

on arms exports, especially 

to regions where there were 

armed conflicts or where human 

rights were poorly respected. 

“It’s a scandal and extremely 

dangerous that Germany 

has become the world’s third 

largest exporter of weapons,” 

Steinbrueck told the Passauer 

Neue Presse newspaper yesterday. 

“An SPD-Greens government 

led by me would change 

early hours of Tuesday 4 December,” 

Scotland Yard said in 

a statement. 

It said officers submitted a 

file to the CPS on Wednesday 

for it to consider whether any 

potential offences may have 

been committed. 

British media said no announcement 

had been made 

PRETORIA — Nelson Mandela 

remains in hospital and is 

responding to treatment two 

weeks after being admitted 

for a lung infection, South African 

President Jacob Zuma 

said yesterday after paying 

him a visit. 

Zuma urged the nation to 

keep praying for the 94-yearold 

revered statesman. 

“We urge South Africans 

to continue praying for our 

beloved Madiba. Our hearts 

are with the family and relatives,” 

he said in a statement. 

Mandela was admitted to 

a hospital in the capital Pretoria 

on December 8. Tests 

revealed that the country’s 

first black president had a re- 

at a women-only polling station 

in Giza. 

“I have formed my opinion 

depending on what I heard on 

TV,” she added. 

Thousands of military and 

police forces were deployed 

across the electoral districts to 

ensure order. 

More than 25 million Egyptians 

were eligible to vote in 

yesterday's round. 

Supporters of Mursi say the 

charter is vital to move towards 

democracy. It will help restore 

stability needed to fix a struggling 

economy, they say. 

But the opposition says 

the document is divisive and 

has accused Mursi of pushing 

through a text that favours his 

allies while ignoring the rights 

of others including women. 

“I'm voting 'no' because 

Egypt can't be ruled by one 

faction,” said Karim Nahas, 

35, a stockbroker, heading to a 

polling station in Giz. 

that,” said Steinbrueck, 65. 

“We’re even exporting weapons 

to regions in conflict and 

to areas where human rights 

aren’t respected.” 

The SPD and Greens would 

win a combined 43 per cent of 

the vote, according to an ARD 

TV opinion poll by the Infratest 

dimap institute published 

on Friday. That is more than 

Merkel’s conservatives but 

not enough to form a majority 

coalition. 

Merkel’s conservatives 

would win 40 per cent. Her 

Free Democrat (FDP) allies 

would win 4 per cent, failing 

to clear the 5 per cent hurdle 

needed for seats. 

because police wanted to be 

sure they had contacted all the 

family members of Saldanha. 

In England and Wales, the 

CPS is responsible for deciding 

whether charges will proceed 

in criminal cases, while 

police are responsible for investigating 

and collecting evidence. 

Mandela responding 

to treatment: Zuma 

curring lung infection and had 

developed gallstones. 

On December 15 he underwent 

surgery to remove the 

gallstones, and on Thursday 

Zuma described his condition 

as serious but improving. 

The Nobel peace laureate 

has a long history of lung 

problems dating back decades 

to when he contracted tuberculosis 

while in jail as a political 

prisoner. 

This is the longest time 

Mandela has spent in hospital 

since being release from 

prison in 1990. 

He was previously hospitalised 

for an acute respiratory 

infection in January 2011 for 

two nights. — AFP

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QUOTATIONS FOR TODAY 

If a man is not faithful to his own individuality, he 

cannot be loyal to anything. 

— Claude McKay 

Plants and minerals are bound to predestination. 

The faithful is only bound to the Divine orders. 

— Muhammad Iqbal 

Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our 

own self-fulfilling prophecy. 

— Brian Tracy 

CINEMA 

FILM INFORMATION 

www.citycinemaoman.net 

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 

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www.oman-radio.gov.om 

Omani Centre for Traditional Music: www. 

octm-folk.gov.om 

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CAPRICORN 

(December 

22-January 20) 

Following a sudden 

generous impulse will give you 

more satisfaction and please the 

recipient over and above the value 

given. 

AQUARIUS 

(January 21-Feb 19) 

After all you have been 

through recently it is 

not surprising that you are feeling 

a little depressed. You will soon be 

your old self again. 

PISCES 

(Feb 20-March 20) 

You really will have 

to start saving on a 

regular basis if you want to 

achieve your ambition. It is no 

good putting it off until tomorrow. 

ARIES 

(March 21-April 20) 

Don’t be discouraged 

by a first unsuccessful 

attempt at a test but take immediate 

steps to try again. Next time you 

will know better how to go about it. 

13 

INFORMATION/LEISURE SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2012 

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YOUR STARS 

IF IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY: New ideas and new opportunities will mean a busy time for you in the coming year. 

With your energy and drive you will be able to leave all competitors far behind and show some remarkable 

accomplishments. Don’t ever lose confidence in your ability to succeed. Your business acumen is outstanding. 

TAURUS 

(April 21-May 20) 

You have had doubts in 

the past about the loyalty 

of a colleague but you will find 

him a tower of strength at a difficult 

time and more helpful than you 

dared hope. 

GEMINI 

(May 21-June 21) 

Before long you should 

really begin to see the 

results of your endeavours at work, 

the initial difficulties are behind 

yyou and yyou 

deserve success. 

CANCER 

(June 22-July 21) 

A gentle hint to your 

partner will be all that 

is needed to remind him that charity 

begins at home and you need have 

no fears that he will neglect his responsibilities. 

p 

LEO 

(July 22-August 21) 

You have a tendency 

to accept more work 

than you can reasonably expect to 

do without losing accuracy and efficiency. 

It would be wiser to say ‘no’ 

than overburden yourself. 

CCARTOONS A R T O O N S 

VIRGO 

(August 22-Sept 22) 

If your best friend 

seems a little distant today 

you may have to ask him if you 

have offended in some way. It may 

be necessary to apologise to him. 

LIBRA 

(September 23- 

October 22) 

Your search for certain 

information is taking longer than 

you had anticipated but some of it is 

on its way to you through the post. 

SCORPIO 

(October 23- 

November 21) 

You may find a social 

occasion, which you were not looking 

forward to, turns out to be far 

more pleasurable than you had expected. 

SAGITTARIUS 

(November 22- 

December 21) 

Do your best to 

straighten out a misunderstanding 

among friends before the matter 

becomes too acrimonious. 

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 

CRYPTIC PUZZLE 

ACROSS 

3 When this is falling, 

there’s no fine promise 

(5) 

8 Possibly dooms a sinful 

city (5) 

10 Hang around waiting for 

the feathers? (5) 

11 Does dad keep her quiet? 

(3) 

12 Demonstration possibly 

poor and noisy (5) 

13 Food, that’s plain, in 

black and white (7) 

15 In which to pay the 

posse, possibly (5) 

18 Operative period? (3) 

19 Go round on the 

underground line (6) 

21 As carried by soldiers in 

battle? (7) 

22 Lash out for a valuable 

painting! (4) 

23 Wherein to live in 

endless depression (4) 

24 Picked for feather-light 

treatment? (7) 

26 When I had to enter the 

fray (6) 

29 Fool the little beast! (3) 

31 Flies around making 

tools (5) 

32 Possibly bleat about 

certain points being 

justifiable (7) 

34 It’s bad for satin (5) 

35 Less than a foot to the 

east (3) 

36 Not much of a blizzard, 

perhaps! (5) 

37 An exclusive thing to do 

(5) 

38 Peels back the rest (5) 

DOWN 

1 That’s funny, you can 

order one in a cricket 

club! (5) 

2 Very much heavier than 

air machines! (7) 

4 In a popular description, 

fat! (4) 

5 An arresting thing to say 

(4,2) 

6 Relatively able to dispel 

one’s fears (5) 

ACROSS 

1 Help (6) 

5 Invoiced (6) 

9 Adored (5) 

10 Peak (6) 

11 Tattle (6) 

12 Decoration (5) 

14 Midday (4) 

17 Fellow (3) 

18 Front (4) 

20 Adjusted (5) 

22 Declined (5) 

23 Bet (7) 

24 Kingdom (5) 

26 Beleaguer (5) 

29 Host (4) 

30 Snake (3) 

32 Challenge (4) 

33 Foul (5) 

35 Murderer (6) 

36 Yacht-station (6) 

37 Principle (5) 

38 Objective (6) 

39 Fraud (6) 

DOWN 

1 Missing (6) 

2 Call (6) 

3 Slender (4) 

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 

7 The doctor’s a bit of a 

fool to drivel so! (5) 

9 The expected ingredient 

of fondues (3) 

12 Clearly had been lying in 

the wood (7) 

14 Unit of square measure 

(3) 

16 Make too hot and wet (5) 

17 The seams are sound, it 

appears (5) 

19 Frightened bird? (7) 

20 Light banter, but it 

finishes very noisy! (5) 

21 Involved in a thrashing, I 

fall out, upset (5) 

23 Having been calmed, 

sitting around a lot (7) 

24 Like the shades of 

various petals (6) 

25 A working family? (3) 

27 Plunder like a shot? (5) 

28 Furniture to work at (5) 

30 Uncle Andy’s honest and 

innocent (5) 

32 Father’s no waiter! (4) 

33 Will he not keep still? (3) 

EASY PUZZLE 

ACROSS 

3 Velocity (5) 

8 Deserve (5) 

10 Parasite (5) 

11 Males (3) 

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. 

CROSSWORD 

12 Ship’s room (5) 

13 Implores (7) 

15 Lid (5) 

18 By way of (3) 

19 Corsair (6) 

21 Wall (7) 

22 Plunder (4) 

23 Discover (4) 

24 Sophisticated (7) 

26 Wore away (6) 

29 Total (3) 

31 Fathers (5) 

32 Particulars (7) 

34 Sacked (5) 

35 Auction item (3) 

36 Weary (5) 

37 Principle (5) 

38 Brings up (5) 

DOWN 

1 Office workers (5) 

2 Drinks barrel (4,3) 

4 Vegetables (4) 

5 Draw out (6) 

6 Benefactor (5) 

7 Thing of value (5) 

9 Agent (3) 

12 Applauded (7) 

14 Target (3) 

16 Acceptable (5) 

17 Prepared (5) 

19 Extolled (7) 

20 Insects (5) 

21 Helicopter blade (5) 

23 Women (7) 

QUICK CROSSWORD 

4 Carried (5) 

5 Started (5) 

6 Hero (4) 

7 Injury (6) 

8 Immersed (6) 

13 Bird-house (7) 

15 Exterior (5) 

16 Freshly (5) 

18 Paled (5) 

19 Allude (5) 

21 Barrier (3) 

22 Network (3) 

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 

24 Dwell (6) 

25 Kernel (3) 

27 Stiff (5) 

28 Postpone (5) 

30 Change (5) 

32 Ruminant mammal (4) 

33 Charged particle (3) 

YESTERDAY’S CRYPTIC 

SOLUTIONS 

ACROSS: 8, Ex-claim 9, 

Get-a-t-able 13, A-L-one 14, 

Horde (hoard) 15, P-O-lenta 

16, B-etw-een 17, No-tes 

(rev) 18, Ne- (he) r-ve 20, 

Lists 22, But-ton 23, Cor-net 

25, For go-od 27, Live-s on 

30, Th (en) -rive 31, Warned 

32, Liner 35, L-Aden 

36, Adder 37, M-us-ical 

39, Di-scar-d 41, Hello 42, 

Where 43, M-on-astery 44, 

Stormed. 

DOWN: 1, E-X-hort 2, Clueless 

3, With knobs on 4, 

Recep-tion 5, H-arpist 6, Fall 

in love 7, Pla (I) n 10, Gambol 

11, Granite 12, Patent 

19, Run-down 21, Scoured 

24, Wisdom tooth 26, Giving 

away 28, Card sharp 29, Angril-y 

30, To-led-o 32, Last 

word 33, Roller 34, Mandate 

38, C-lever 40, Shot. 

YESTERDAY’S EASY 

SOLUTIONS 

ACROSS: 8, Radical 9, 

Moneybags 13, Peace 14, 

Glove 15, Torpedo 16, 

Tripoli 17, Power 18, Vague 

20, Night 22, Garden 23, 

Casino 25, Gradual 27, 

Several 30, Belief 31, 

Meteor 32, Bread 35, Stand 

36, Unite 37, Nurture 39, 

Ominous 41, Idiot 42, Guess 

43, Cockroach 44, Canteen. 

DOWN: 1, Salami 2, 

Lifeboat 3, Laughing gas 4, 

Go-between 5, Century 6, 

Abbreviate 7, Ague 10, Spoton 

11, Compare 12, Bolero 

19, Grimace 21, Gorilla 24, 

Wear and tear 26, Dreadlocks 

28, Reminisce 29, Benefit 

30, Bishop 32, By rights 33, 

Dressy 34, Mug shot 38, 

Uneven 40, Iron. 

24 Din (6) 

25 Walker (6) 

27 Salty (6) 

28 Occupant (6) 

30 Cap (5) 

31 Pointed (5) 

33 Gala (4) 

34 Fruit (4) 

YESTERDAY’S QUICK 

SOLUTIONS 

ACROSS: 4, Saved 7, 

Linked 9, Dim 10, Pep 12, 

Lever 13, Chic 15, Arson 

17, Sorrel 19, Duty 20, Title 

22, Vim 24, Deleted 27, 

Fan 28, Arena 31, Grip 33, 

Stated 35, Later 37, Wing 

38, Speak 39, Dip 41, Nip 

42, Depose 43, Green. 

DOWN: 1, Elicit 2, Insist 

3, Rep 4, Silo 5, Amend 6, 

Election 8, Dear 11, Prevented 

14, Cold 16, Slit 

18, Reef 21, Improper 23, 

Meat 25, Last 26, Drew 29, 

Editor 30, Argued 32, Plane 

34, Arid 36, Akin 40, Peg.

PORTA CABINS / TURNKEY CAMPS 

Our Services Manufacturing, Erection, Mobilization. 

Our Products Camps, Kitchens, Offices, Ablutions 

Phone 24503725 Fax 24503723 

Mobile 95228450 Mobile 99277505 

e-mail info@speedhouseoman.com 

Web www.speedhouseoman.com 

SPEED HOUSE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION LLC 

R 

Latest Model Cars — Excellent Service 

Saloon Cars, 4WD, Pick-ups, Buses 

Luxury Cars with Chauffeur 

Al Khuwair: 2448 9248/9648 

Ruwi: 24707074, Qurum: 24691110 

Mct. Airport: 24521189, 

Sohar: 26845565 

Salalah: 23296246, 

Sll.Airport 99323619 

S 

ENT-A-CAR ENT-A-C 

ERVICES 

SERVICES 

1. AC, Fridge 

id & Washing 

Machine Machine Servi Servicing & 

Repairing 2P 2. Painting, 

Plumbing, Electrical & 

Carpentry Works. Contact: 

97014234/ 97123569, 

24504281. 

HOOPOE SMART 

CARD SERVICES 

Sanad Service Centre 

We provide the following 

services: Typing, clearing 

all transactions related to 

government departments 

and private sector, eg 

labour agreement for 

Omanis and expatriates, 

typing of labour card 

for expatriates, typing 

of visas and document 

clearing from immigration 

department, Ministry of 

Commerce & Industry, 

Ministry of Manpower, 

Commercial names 

reservation, renewal of 

commercial registration, 

renewal of OCCI 

membership, attestation of 

all documents from OCCI 

& Ministry of Foreign 

Affairs. Renewal of labour 

cards through electronic 

payment or cash payment. 

Please note you may 

deliver your transaction 

through our e-mail 

and our representative 

will deliver it to your 

office personally after 

completion. Our address 

is: Ruwi, near Gulf 

Transport Co. (GTC), 

Fax: 24793331, GSM: 

98793665 (Direct) 

99231500. 

E-mail: hoopoeoman@ 

gmail.com 

AL FAHAD 

TRANSLATION 

SERVICES 

Translation of all kinds 

of legal, medical, and 

other types of documents, 

Commercial Agencies, 

etc. Ruwai, near Gulf 

Transport Co (GTC), 

Fax: 24794286. GSM 

: 98793665 (Direct) 

95959838. E-mail: 

bptland@gmail.com 

LANDRAIL TRADING 

& SERVICES (Smart 

Card) Ruwi, near Gulf 

Transport Co. (GTC), Fax: 

24780244, Tel: 24789117, 

GSM 98793666 (Dir), 

96777170. E-mail: 

landrailoman@gmail.com 

G 

UEST HOUSE HO 

MURAHIB HOTEL 

APARTMENTS 

APARTME 

welcome our valuable 

GUESTS to our 

excellent location, 

AL KHUWAIR, near 

AL ZAWAWI 

MOSQUE, a single 

bedroom, a bedroom 

& majlis, two 

bedrooms & majlis. 

24478087, 

Fax: 24482454. 

QURUM BEACH 

HOTEL. 24564070. 

CLASSIFIED SECTION 

RUWI: 24785668 

P.C.O. (PEST 

CONTROL OMAN 

CO. LLC) 

Professionals who 

specialise in all types 

of Pest Control 

Services & Snake 

control and 

Guaranteed Termite 

Control. Also 

available Gel 

treatment for 

Cockroaches. 

Suppliers of UK 

Pesticides Chemicals, 

Snake Repellent, 

Cockroach Gels and 

Peripel treated 

Mosquito Nets. 

24787606, 

24787503, 

Fax: 24787607. 

MARBLE Marble 

polishing and 

crystallisation building, 

cleaning floor, floor 

polishing, carpet, sofa 

shampooing, pest 

control, anti-termite, 

shifting, maintenance. 

99504275. 

M 

ANPOWER ANPOWE 

FRIENDS 

MANPOWER: 

Filipino housemaids 

and all kinds of 

workers. 24489268 

Tel/Fax: 24478153. 

A 

CCM. AVA AVAILABLE 

SINGLE room for 

Executive bachelor or 

working lady (near ROP 

Welfare Supermarket, 

Wattayah). 93090947/ 

95729931. 

A 

CCM. WAN WANTED 

SHARING room wanted 

for a Keralite bachelor. 

99025024. 

D 

RIVING SSCHOOL 

MORNING STAR 

DRIVING 

SCHOOL — Learn 

driving manual/ 

automatic with 

professionally 

qualified male/ 

female trainees in 

brand new cars and 

flexible payments. 

Call: 99043283, 

24478589, 24478505, 

www.chamberman. 

com/member/ 

morningstar www. 

morningstar.com 

T 

OURS 

MARINE To Tourism 

92808636, 92808636 e-mail: 

info@alainain.com 

if@li i 

SPECIAL Rates on 

New Cars & 4 WDs 

RENTING & LEASING 

Tours and Airport Transfer 

Tel: 24582663 

GSM: 95859497, 

Fax: 24582664, 

abcrent@omantel.net.om 

S 

ERVICES 

DESIGNING and 

printing on the screen 

promotional gifts, ID 

cards, occasions' cards, 

designing printed materials. 

Contact 92223460 

— Amerat. 

WE at Quick Fix offer a 

wide range of superior 

services. Our new 

services are Smart 

Maintenance 

Membership & 

Attractive Internal/ 

External painting/ 

Designs. We also 

provide Membership in 

our Special maintenance 

Programme that will 

provide you with smart 

maintenance solutions 

for your building. Our 

expert Philippine 

workers are well-trained 

to meet your 

expectations. We also 

provide electrical 

repairs, A/C 

maintenance, plumbing 

repairs, cleaning 

solutions, pest control 

solutions, swimming 

pool construction & 

maintenance, gorgeous 

gardening and 

landscaping. Please call 

us on 92849838/ 

95790142. 

B 

C 

AR BUY & 

SELL 

IF you are interested i 

to sell your cars, 

send SMS, we pay 

cash. 99333088. 

U 

USINESS 

BUSINESS partner p 

required for a 

feasible 

proposal for mmarketing 

& trading building 

material/ tools/ 

equipment/ electricals/ 

solar and other hi-tech 

products. Contact: 

98559317. 

MRAH/HAJ MRAH/HA 

AL Hikmani ffor 

HAJ 

and UMRAH 

— With 

a host of services 

including the following: 

Hiring luxurious 

coaches, arranging 

weekly trips, preparing 

visas for expats at 

cost-effective price, 

including transport, 

housing, meals and visits 

to shrine locations. Land 

and air trips weekly. 

(99311310, 24566016, 

99361982, 99707248, 

99322124. 

CLASSIFIED SECTION: 

OMAN DAILY Observer SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2012 

W 

PURCHASING 

PURCHASIN 

immediately: WWe 

would 

like lik to purchase h your 

land at Maabela 

95490842, 9323957. 

F 

ANTED 

OR RENT 

FOR RENT 

SAVILLS OMAN 

QUALITY homes for 

rent throughout 

Capital Area Muscat. 

Contact: 24692151. 

www.sav-oman.com 

FURNISHED house at Al 

Amerat consists of 3 

bedrooms and 3 toilets 

next to Wadi Hattat Suq. 

Contact: 99331377. 

VILLA for rent in 

Mabella with 5 bedrooms, 

5 WC, majlis, kitchen, 

living room, car parking 

with shade. 99242357, 

99371332. 

NEW villa at Al Mawaleh 

11 near Omantel building 

for RO 600. Contact: 

99292939, 99434781. 

SHOWROOM + store 

(250 Sq m) Ruwi-Honda 

Road. Call: 99260200. 

HOME for rent, Al Jifnain 

(family only) 4 rooms, 1 

hall, 1 kitchen, 3 

bathrooms. Contact: 

99428007. 

1 BEDROOM flat at 

Wadi Kabir near Indian 

school, Sri Lankan 

school. 99319482. 

ONLY for serious 

people. Penthouse, 1 

bedroom, sitting room, 2 

WC, kitchen in Mumtaz. 

93248832, 98003444. 


people. Flat, 2 bedrooms, 

sitting room, 2 WC, 

marble flooring in 

Mumtaz. 93248832, 

98003444. 


people. Flat, 2 bedrooms, 

sitting room, 2 WC, 

marble flooring in Al 

Khuwair, ground floor. 

93248832, 98003444. 

SHOPS and showroom 

at Barka Industrial 

Estate. Contact: 

95753852, 93232929. 

G 

OOD NEWS NEW 

AYURVEDIC 

Treatment, Yoga Yo massage 

& slimming slimming. CContact: 

92504980/24475280, 

www.drsajjay.com 

OFFICES, shops, villa 

at Al Khuwair, flats 

at Al Khuwair, Wadi 

Kabir, MBD, Mumtaz, 

furnished/unfurnished. 

96596348. 

FLAT, new building, 

available 2 BHK & 1 

BHK with split A/C at 

Darsait, opposite 

Indian Nursery, 

nearby Indian School 

— Darsait: 

98989287, 

98989265. Office: 

24787275. 

2 BEDROOM flat, 3 

toilets, Al Athaiba, behind 

Zubair. RO 400. 

99213691. 

SINGLE bedroom 

available at Rex Road. 

Call: 99889590. 

VILLA at Qantab, Muscat 

next to the beach, 

furnished in European 

style, 2 storey villa 

consists of 6 bedrooms, 

garden and swimming 

pool. 92010246, 

99555450, 92366126. 

FLAT at Wadi Kabir, 5 

bedrooms with split AC 

99388994. 

10,000 m/sq a farm at Al 

Seeb, a lot of water and 

green view, 200 baiza 

per metre. Contact: 

99600909. 

Sulaiman Awlad Thani: 95181747 

Ali al Maashari: 99639264 

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

14 

Available on very GOOD prices 

HP 1000 Wireless Printer 

RO 10.500 only 

VILLA in Al Hail north, 7 

rooms + 2 kitchens 

97308773. 

FLATS at Darsait Sahil 

consists of 2 bedrooms, a 

hall, toilets and kitchen 

with store. Contact Salim 

Al Hessani 99414694. 

ONE room + bathrooom in 

PDO Road, Qurum 165. 

Call: 99654530. 

ONE bedroom flat for rent 

in Mawaleh. 92725057. 

FLAT for rent in a brand 

new building in al Hail 

north near the Waive 

consists of 1 bedroom 

equipped with AC, 2 

bathrooms, sitting hall 

and kitchen, RO 230/- 

99213341, 99387455. 

GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! 

HP 2510 3 in 1 Printer 


HP OJ 4500 4 in 1 Printer 


HP Laptop 4540 2 GB VGA 

RO 249.900 only 

AII HP, Epson, Canon, Lexmark, Samsung 

Cartridges also available 

FREE 

INFORMATION 

ABOUT ISLAM 

If you would like 

to know more 

about 

Islam, please 

call: 

Tel : 99425598, 

96050000, 

99353988, 

99253818, 

99341395, 

99379133, For 

ladies: 99415818, 

99321360, 

99730723 

Or visit: www.islamfact.com 

CLASSIFIED 

SECTION 

RUWI: 24785668 

Behind Royal Oman 

Police, Adjacent to 

Dhofar Building 

COMPUTER SUPPLIES 

Ruwi: 24792792 

GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! 

DIRECT: 24649594 - FAX : 24649590 

e-mail: classified@omandaily.om 

S 

CLASSIFIED SECTION 

RUWI: 24785668 

Behind Royal Oman Police 

Adjacent to 

Dhofar Building 

ITUATION VACANT 

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

ELECTRICAL CONTRACT 

WORKS WANTED 

WE are a reputable Electrical 

Contractors, undertaking all 

types of electrical jobs such as 

electrification of multi-storied 

buildings, factories, hospitals, 

schools, 11 KV substations, O/H 

lines, underground cabling etc. 

We are registered with MEDC, 

Civil Defence & Tender Board. 

Electrical jobs of any volume/ 

value, please contact 

Mob: 99878180 Fax: 24595388. 

REQUIRED a good 

looking and qualified 

sales woman to work 

at luxury clothes at 

Al Ghubrah, 

preferably Filipino 

lady. Contact: 

96444591. 

FILlIPINA Housemaid 

with experience in 

cooking. Contact: 

95559988. 

GENERAL Manager 

— Qurum Beach Hotel. 

24704994. 

THE following 

experienced and licenced 

personnel are urgently 

required for an 

international construction 

company operating in 

Muscat: 1. Heavy Duty 

Drivers; 2. Motor 

Grader Operators; 

3. JCB Operators; 

4. Boom Loader (Tele 

Loader) Operators. 

(968) 97630275. 

EXPERIENCED Sales 

Executive required for 

building and packaging 

materials sales. Clearance 

ready. 99470923. 

REQUIRED Sales Person 

with experience in selling 

libricants, e-mail: 

alsanad2006@yahoo.com 

REQUIRED Civil 

Engineer, 5 years 

experience with driving 

licence. 95211863, 

92779080. info@ 

growth24.com 

REQUIRED Pharmacist 

for well-estsablished 

pharmacy in Al 

Dhakhiliyah. Call 

98130597. 

al-haditha 

centre 

AUTO REPAIR 

CENTRE 

Quality Repairs & Maintenance of all 

types of Cars and Heavy vehicles 

(ROP approved Grade A Workshop) 

Telephone: 24595951/1414, Fax: 24597979. 

ILYA MANPOWER 

HOUSEMAIDS 

available from 

Philippines, Sri 

Lanka & Africa. 

All types of 

skilled workers 

(waiters, 

cooks, drivers, 

constructions, 

industrials, 

hotels & 

ministries.....) 

Tel/Fax 

22050086 — 

Hail Shimaly 

Al Jabri Bldg. 

next to 

Bahja Mall. 

S 

ITUATION WANTED 

INDIAN male male, l BA 

in marketing 

management, management 10 years 

experience in perfume 

marketing in Oman, 

seeks marketing and 

sales placement. 

Contact: 95091255. 

INDIAN male, 40 years, 

MBA employed as 

commercial manager, 

looking for suitable 

opening in supply 

chain/logistics/export/ 

import. Contact: 

91141206. 


B Tech electrical 

engineer, 9 years 

experience in electrical 

installation 

commissioning project 

coordination for 

substations, industrial, 

hospital railway 

infrastructure 

development project, 

having valid Saudi D/L, 

seeks suitable placement. 

Contact 96156324. 

ACCOUNTANT, 16 

months of Oman 

experience, B Com and 

financial accounting , 

MS Office, Tally. 

Contact: 95597647, 

92029815. 

CLASSIFIEDS 

Continued on P-15

INDIAN, 24 ye years, 

experienced El Electronics and 

Communication 

Engineering Diploma 

holder having Supervisorlevel 

experience in 

Electronics industries, seeks 

suitable opening. Presently 

and on visit visa. Please call 

GSM 95950219. 

SUPERVISOR, electronics 

and communication 

engineering diploma 

holder, superviser level 

experience in electronics 

industries, 24 years Indian, 

presently on visit visa. 

95950219. 

OMANI seeks HSE 

position. Contact: 

jeebal3000@gmail.com 


MBA with 3+ yrs Indian 

experience in HR & 

Admin, Marketing seeks 

suitable placement. 

Contact: 96033956. 

E-mail: karoludaya17@ 

yahoo.co.in 

PAKISTANI male, 36 

years, fresh on visit visa 

seeks placement as 

salesman or supervisor. 

96512464. 

ACCOUNTANT, 5 years of 

experience in Oman. 

BCom, can do accounts 

upto finalisation 

independently, knowing 

management reporting. 

Contact: 96052968. 

E-mail: salim107@gmail.com 

HSE professional, 2 years 

experience with Cochin Fire 

Guard, seeks placement 

+0091 9809959789, 

kpereira468@gmail.com 

INDIAN female, 28 years, 

MBA — Finance with 3 

years experience in 

financial services, 

knowledge in ERP (end 

user) looking out suitable 

placements in Accounts/ 

Finance/ Administration. 

Contact: 93410462/ 

94108473. 

INDIAN female, 5 years 

experience as nurse in India, 

holding Oman Ministry 

of Health licence, seeks 

placement. 93636234. 

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

Location: OEPPA HEAD OFFICE, Medinat Al Alam, 

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

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

15 

PAKISTAN/CLASSIFIEDS 


INDIAN male, 24, MBA in 

Finance & Marketing 

having 14 months 

experience, currently 

staying in Muscat on visit 

visa seeks suitable 

placement. Contact: 

95848764. E-mail: saud. 

ruk@gmail.com 

QUANTITY surveyor, 

Sri Lankan, 9 + years 

experience, with 

transferable visa, is seeking 

suitable position. GSM 

93044123 or 938969025, 

e-mail: msfarzan@gmail. 

com 

LIGHT duty driver, 

10 years experience in 

Saudi and Oman, seeks 


94025973. 

INDIAN female (28), B. 

Tech (CSE), MBA (HR) 

final sem, looking for 

suitable placement with 

good organisations in 

admin, HR, back office, 

have 2 years experience 

(Quantity Analyst, India) 6 

months (Oman) with PDO 

company as admin assistant, 

currently on family visa. 

95328330, 93653426. 

INDIAN female, Finance & 

Accounts Manager, BCom, 

CA Articleship completed, 

accounting packages, 10 

yrs in Oman, good 

communication skills, 

finalisation, audit, etc seeks 


Contact: 95607825. 

10 YEARS experience as 

HSE adviser in Oman with 

valid Omani driving licence. 

Contact: 92825053. 


HEALTH workers protest against the killing of polio vaccination workers in Islamabad yesterday. — AFP 

New trend for polio campaign 

KARACHI — The vaccinators 

cannot go to them, so they 

will go to the vaccinators. That 

is what the parents in several 

neighbourhoods in Karachi 

decided after the door-to-door 

campaign came to a grinding 

halt this week. 

“I have been following immunisation 

programme for 

last four and a half years and 

don’t want to miss this round 

and risk his future,” said Umer 

Afridi, pointing towards his 

bright faced son standing in 

line waiting for the polio vaccine 

drops. 

Like Afridi, there were 

many parents at this small hospital 

in Landhi a few minutes 

drive from the spot where two 

polio campaign lady health 

S 

workers were shot dead. 

The hospital did not want 

to be named and for good reason. 

“Print my name after the 

campaign is over,” said one of 

the doctors overseeing the vaccinations. 

“Do you want to see us shot 

down?” Yesterday, at about 10 

am six parents were standing 

in line. 

Many parents rushed to 

hospitals and clinics after the 

polio eradication campaign 

was halted for the second time 

this year in a country where 56 

cases have been reported so far 

in 2012. 

Despite last Tuesday’s attacks, 

many health workers 

across Karachi are adamant to 

continue saving children. 

“I doubled my staff’s 

strength at the vaccine counters 

to do the job as much and as 

fast as we can as it is very risky 

now,” said the administrator of 

a hospital near Sohrab Goth. 

“The response from parents 

was unexpected and it is very 

encouraging for us.” 

Here in line yesterday were 

15 parents and their children 

at 9:30 am. On average, before 

the campaign started, the 

hospital would vaccinate 25 

children a day. But over the 

last two days alone it has been 

over a hundred, he said. 

The last round of the polio 

eradication programme was 

targeting 4.4 million children 

across Sindh’s 22 districts (the 

23rd, Tharparkar, is being left 

out) and a majority of these 

children live in Karachi or 

other urban centres. 

The problem is that now 

the Sindh government hospitals 

and private institutions 

with vaccination counters for 

children feel that they are at 

risk. At the Sohrab Goth hospital, 

for example, internal security 

has been increased and 

patients have to cross two barrier 

checkpoints before entering 

the building. 

“It’s a simple choice, we 

risk ourselves or the future of 

our children,” said Amna, the 

mother of a two-year-old girl. 

“I fear it, as my first cousin 

had a polio disability when we 

were children and I don’t want 

it to happen to any child in the 

world.” 

Meanwhile, a UN official 

said more than 3.5 million 

children missed out on polio 

vaccination in a campaign 

overshadowed by the deaths of 

nine immunisation workers. 

The nation of 180 million 

people is one of only three in 

the world where the highly infectious, 

crippling disease remains 

endemic and infections 

shot up from a low of 28 in 

2005 to almost 200 last year. 

Nine people working on the 

UN-backed programme were 

shot dead in Karachi and the 

northwest this week, murdered 

for trying to protect children 

from a cruel disease that can 

leave limbs flaccid and useless 

in a matter of hours. 

INDIAN, 24 years Gulf 

experience, Civil site 

in-charge, seeks good 

position. 94265140. 

E-mail: robertsingh61@ 

yahoo.com 

11 YEARS experience in 

logistics & warehouse, 

valid GCC D/L, looking for 

a suitable job. 98676159. 

E-mail: nairviju77@gmail. 

com 

IRAQI Architect, 22 years 

experience in projects 

management & supervision, 

6 years in Oman seeks 


97608513. 

INDIAN male with 

accounting, Tally, ERP-9, 

Fire & Safety and sales 

seeks suitable placement. 

94388653 — Nashim. 

OMANI, male, 29 years, 

Higher Secondary graduate. 

Experienced as PRO, 

Teller, Call Centre, 

Customer Service, 

excellent computer skills, 

fluent Arabic, very good 

English and Hindi, over 10 

years driving 

licence, seeks suitable 


92661233, Mohed. 

ACCOUNTS & Admin 

Manager, Oman, India 

experience in finalisation, 

banking, admin, 

procurement, audit seeks 

managerial role in MNCs/ 

reputed cos. Please SMS: 

968-99283938 

91-9884488549, 

Rajansampath@hotmail. 

com 

Govt-UN deal for 

economic growth 

ISLAMABAD — The government 

of Pakistan and the 

United Nations yesterday 

signed ‘One United Nations’ 

five-year programme covering 

the period from 2013 to 2017 

for economic growth and the 

provincial and regional development 

plans. 

Led by the government of 

Pakistan and building on the 

expertise of the 18 participating 

UN agencies, the five-year 

programme will contribute towards 

the achievement of key 

national development priorities, 

a press statement said. 

The new programme has 

firm basis in the national 

framework for economic 

growth and the provincial and 

regional development plans. 

In addition, consistent 

with the spirit of the 18th 

constitutional amendment, 

the programme has been de- 

ITUATION ITUATIO WANTED SITUATION WANTED SITUATION WANTED 

MANAGER, MBA, BCom, 

pursuing CMA, total 8 

years experience in 

Accounts, Marketing 

operations having D/L. 

93665357. 

M COM with 8 years experience 

in UAE in Financial 

Accounting L/C’s and 

management Information 

System. Excellent in English 

and ERP accounting 

softwares. Present salary in 

UAE is AED 15,000/- 

97845868. 

E-mail: nowshadak@hotmail.com, 

available in 

Muscat upto 20/12/12. 

PROJECT Manager/ 

Resident Engineer, Civil 

available for large scale 

building project. 28 years 

experience, 15 years in 

UAE/ Qatar. Last 16 years 

as team leader, on visit 

visa. 00968 99570179 

— Farees Ahmed. 

fareesmasood@yahoo.com 

INDIAN male, 25 yrs, 

BTech (First Class) 

(Electronics & 

Communication Engineer) 

RF Drive Test Engineer, 

2G & 3G with 2.5 years of 

working experience, seeks 

for good job in Electronics 

field. On visit visa. 

95387995. E-mail: 

mansoorfarooqi1987@ 

gmail.com 

MBA (industrial), BE 

(mechanical), 4 years 

experience in services & 

planning of power and oil 

& gas industry. Able to 

work in techno commercial 

role. Contact: 99659343, 

23296584. 

Adeel Haider. 

veloped based on extensive 

consultations with the provincial, 

regional and federal UN 

counterparts, including civil 

society and other development 

partners. 

Economic Affairs Division 

(EAD) Secretary Javed Iqbal, 

UN Resident Co-ordinator 

Timo Pakkala and the representatives 

of UN agencies 

in Pakistan signed the programme. 

At the signing ceremony, 

Iqbal said that Pakistan was 

one of the founding members 

of the United Nations ‘Delivering 

as One’ reform process 

that led to the establishment of 

the first One UN programme 

(2009-12). 

Signing of the second generation 

One UN programme 

signifies government’s appreciation 

of the partnership 

with the UN and commitment 

FINANCE Manager, 18 

years experience project 

financing, management 

accounts, cost control ERP, 

finalisation, feasibility 

study, BPR, M.I.S etc, 

seeks suitable opportunity 

92439941 georaji9@ 

hotmail.com 

INDIAN male, 23, B Com, 

MBA (Finance & HR). 

Diploma in Islamic 

Banking and Finance, 

having computer 

knowledge seeks suitable 

placement in Accounts or 

Finance. 98195964. 

e-mail: anas.sidhi@gmail. 

com 

MARKETING manager 25 

years GCC/Oman 

experience tools and 

equipment, BLSG MAT, 

pollution control, towers, 

solar, other hetech products 

and business development 

seeks suitable opportunity. 

98559317. 

INDIAN female, 24 years, 

B Tech - IT, 3.2 years 

working experience in the 

same field. Now on visit 

visa in Oman, seeks suitable 


93056837. 

INDIAN male, IT professional, 

MBA-IT, MCSE, 

MCITP and ITIL, 12 years 

experience managing enterprise 

IT in Oman seeks 

suitable position 

99419879. 

INDIAN male (MBA), 8 

yrs Oman experience with 

D/L, seeks opportunity 

for senior position in sales 

& marketing. Contact 

93681680, sva.muscat@ 

gmail.com 

to UN reforms. The new programme 

represents an investment 

in further strengthening 

the effectiveness of our cooperation 

with the UN to ensure 

maximum benefit to the 

people of Pakistan. 

UN Resident Co-ordinator 

Pakkala said, “Through the 

next One UN Programme, UN 

continues to support social and 

economic development in Pakistan, 

including the achievement 

of millennium development 

goals, poverty reduction, 

gender equality and reduction 

of risks from disasters.” 

The six priority areas of 

this programme reflect strategic 

transformational potential 

of the UN system in Pakistan. 

The UN organisations working 

in Pakistan represent a 

wealth of technical expertise 

and global good practices at 

the disposal of the nation. 

German appeals for life 

PESHAWAR — A German aid 

worker kidnapped in Pakistan 

almost a year ago appealed for 

his life in a video made by his 

captors and broadcast on local 

television yesterday. 

It was the first proof that 

the man was alive since he 

was abducted, along with an 

Italian aid worker, by gunmen 

from Multan in central Punjab 

province on January 19. 

In the 52-second video, 

broadcast by Dunya News 

Television, the man said the 

fighters had captured him. 

“Please accept the demands 

of the fighters. They can kill 

us at any time. We don’t know 

when. Maybe today, maybe 

tomorrow, maybe at three 

days,” he said. 

There was no mention of 

the Italian in the video, although 

the German said “we”. 

He spoke in English in the 

video and said he was 59. He 

also said he works for a German 

NGO working in food security 

and other humanitarian 

assistance works. 

The German national also 

warned that no “foolish attempts” 

should be made to 

rescue him using force against 

his captors. No demand was 

made in the video. 

Meanwhile, unknown gunmen 

killed 11 people as they 

prepared to illegally leave 

Pakistan in the southwestern 

province of Baluchistan, officials 


The gunmen, riding motorcycles, 

attacked a convoy on 

Friday night in Gwadar dis- 

trict near the border with Iran, 

some 1,600 km southwest of 

Quetta. 

Officials described the dead 

as “illegal immigrants” — believed 

to be Pakistanis and Afghans 

who were attempting to 

leave the country. 

“Six gunmen riding three 

motorcycles attacked the illegal 

immigrants’ convoy in 

Suntsar Dasht area in Gwadar 

district. We have received 

11 dead bodies of the immigrants,” 

provincial home secretary 

Akbar Durrani said. 

“The immigrants were 

travelling in a convoy of three 

vehicles, however, their exact 

number is unknown,” he said. 

A local administration official 

said the victims could not 

be identified. — Agencies 

INDIAN male, 27 yrs, 

MBA Finance with 1.7 

years of banking and 2 

years of experience as accounts 

assistance, Tally 9 

ERP 95364604, 

E-mail: franciskr@gmail. 

com 

A LEBANESE national 

now in Oman for the last 

2 years is looking for an 

opening job in a reputable 

company. Age - 52, experience 

in general management, 

banking, business 

field, contracting, management, 

finance administration, 

IT & human resources. 

Known languages 

perfectly read and write 

(Arabic/French/ 

English). Reference for 

call: 0096892549511. 

E-mail: labeaa@ymail.com 

B.E. (Electronics & 

Telecom Engineer), Indian 

male, 25 years, on-going 

MBA, CCNA experience 

in India, currently 

working in Oman with 

valid D/L looking for 

suitable position. 

93807203/ 

thejus2310@gmail.com 

OPERATION manager, 

Indian, 35, male, specialised 

in finance & accounts, 

over 10 years of experience 

in Gulf (including bank in 

Bahrain), seeks job 

98519020. 

CLASSIFIED 

SECTION 

RUWI 

24785668

Herath hopes 

spin will 

trouble Aussies 

Page 18 


Clippers down Kings to keep streak 

LOS Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin goes up for a dunk on a lob play over John Salmons 

of the Sacramento Kings during their NBA game in Los Angeles on Friday. — AFP 

Brazil opens second stadium as 

World Cup fever grows 

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil 

— Brazil’s preparations 

to host the 2014 World Cup 

have gathered speed with 

the opening on Friday of the 

second of the 12 stadiums 

destined to hold matches 

during the tournament. 

President Dilma Rousseff 

formally inaugurated the 

rebuilt Mineirão stadium in 

Belo Horizonte, less than a 

week after cutting the ribbon 

at the Castelão stadium 

in Fortaleza. 

Tens of thousands of fans 

are expected to visit the Mineirão 

in the coming days 

to see a stadium that took 

almost three years to refurbish 

at a cost of 695 million 

Brazilian Reais. 

The Mineirão is one of 

Brazil’s best-known stadiums 

and in being delivered 

on time and on budget is a 

benchmark for the other 10 

stadiums under construction. 

“This is as good as 

Wembley, as good as (the Allianz 

Arena in) Munich, it’s 

up there with the best stadiums 

in the world,” Carlos 

Alberto Parreira, assistant to 

Brazil manager Luiz Felipe 

Scolari, told reporters. 

“A stadium like this is 

great news for both players 

and fans.” 

The 62,160 capacity Mineirão 

will host three games 

during the 2013 Confederations 

Cup and six during the 

2014 World Cup, including 

one of the semifinals. 

The stadium, which is 

situated alongside a complex 

featuring works by renowned 

Brazilian architect 

Oscar Niemeyer, is nevertheless 

already causing controversy 

in Belo Horizonte 

— home to clubs Atletico- 

MG and Cruzeiro. 

WHITE ELEPHANTS 

Cruzeiro are Brazil’s seventh 

biggest club in terms of 

number of fans, and Atletico 

are 11th, sports consultancy 

Pluri says. The two teams 

are due to play the inaugural 

match at the stadium in 

February. 

However, Atletico fans 

could be locked out of the 

game unless the two clubs 

reach an agreement over 

tickets. 

The match is a home one 

for Cruzeiro and they are reluctant 

to give tickets to their 

rivals, who do not welcome 

away fans when the two play 

at Atletico’s home stadium, 

the Independencia. 

Some Cruzeiro supporters 

have also voiced anger 

at the sharp rise in prices 

to watch their team in 2013. 

The cheapest tickets for the 

ground will cost 50 reais 

next year, up from 20 reais 

this term. 

Season ticket prices have 

also gone up. 

The 12 stadiums are 

scheduled to cost 6.7 billion 

reais, three times more 

than their original budget. 

Germany spent 3.64 billion 

reais to build and refurbish 

12 stadiums for the 2006 

World Cup and South Africa 

splashed out 2.7 billion 

reais on 10 arenas just two 

years ago. 

The Brazilian government’s 

own federal accounts 

court says at least four of 

the stadiums will be white 

elephants when the tournament 

is over. 

The vast majority of the 

cash being spent in Brazil is 

public money. — Reuters 

LOS ANGELES — The 

world didn’t come to an end 

on Friday, and neither did the 

Los Angeles Clippers’ winning 

streak. 

Chris Paul collected 24 

points with 13 assists, Blake 

Griffin had 21 points and 13 

rebounds, as the Clippers 

posted their franchise-record 

12th consecutive victory, 97- 

85 over the visiting Sacramento 

Kings. 

The dozen straight wins 

break the previous mark 

owned by the 1974-75 Buffalo 

Braves. 

“It’s been a great run, my 

team-mates have been doing 

an unbelievable job,” Griffin 

said. “Each game hasn’t been 

perfect, but we’ve figured it 

out.” “It’s pretty cool and it 

feels great but we can’t be satisfied. 

We have bigger sights. 

Our measurement is only the 

play-offs,” Paul added. 

Matt Barnes netted 13 

points off the bench for the 

Clippers (20-6), who haven’t 

lost since November 26 and 

now own the season’s longest 

active win streak, to move 

one game behind idle Oklahoma 

City for NBA Western 

Conference supremacy. 

Sacramento’s Jimmer Fredette 

netted a team-high 16 

points off the bench, but centre 

DeMarcus Cousins was 

ordered to stay in the locker 

room for the entire second 

half by coach Keith Smart as 

the Kings lost for the sixth 

time in their last seven contests 

overall and dropped to 

1-11 on the road. 

Chicago Bulls defeated 

New York Knicks 110-106. 

Luol Deng had 29 points with 

13 rebounds, Italy’s Marco 

Belinelli scored 22 and the 

visiting Bulls held off the 

Knicks after leading by 25 in 

physical contest marred by 

four ejections. 

Knicks centre Tyson Chandler 

and Bulls counterpart 

Joakim Noah were both tossed 

out in the fourth quarter after 

getting into a brief altercation. 

That followed the ejections of 

New York’s Carmelo Anthony 

and coach Mike Woodson, 

minutes apart. 

Anthony tallied 29 points 

while J R Smith finished 

with a season-high 26 and 

10 rebounds before fouling 

out with just over seven minutes 

remaining as the Knicks 

(19-7) lost at home for a second 

time in three games after 

opening 10-0. 

In another game Philadelphia 

76ers beat Atlanta Hawks 

98-80. Evan Turner tossed in 

21 points, Thaddeus Young 

had 18 with 11 rebounds and 

the Sixers caged the visiting 

Hawks to snap a five-game 

slide as their top scorer Jrue 

Holiday returned after missing 

four games with an ankle 

sprain. 

Toronto Raptors stretched 

their winning streak to a season-high 

five by snapping the 

four-game success of the visiting 

Orlando Magic 93-90, 

despite a game-high 26 points 

by Aaron Afflalo. 

For Raptors, DeMar 

DeRozan scored 17 points, 

Spaniard Jose Calderon had 

13 with nine assists. 

Results: Milwaukee Bucks bt 

Boston Celtics 99-94, Indiana Pacers 

bt Cleveland Cavaliers 99-89, 

Detroit Pistons bt Washington Wizards 

100-68, Memphis Grizzlies bt 

Dallas Mavericks 92-82, San Antonio 

Spurs bt New Orleans Hornets 

99-94, Golden State Warriors bt 

Charlotte Bobcats 115-100, Philadelphia 

76ers bt Atlanta Hawks 

98-80, Toronto Raptors bt Orlando 

Magic 93-90, Chicago Bulls bt New 

York Knicks 110-106, LA Clippers 

bt Sacramento Kings 97-85. — dpa 

Bills ink 

10-year 

lease to play 

in Buffalo 

BUFFALO, New York — 

The Buffalo Bills said on 

Friday they have agreed to 

play in Western New York 

for a decade, making a deal 

with state and county officials 

on a 10-year lease to 

host games at Ralph Wilson 

Stadium. 

The National Football 

League squad, which lost 

four Super Bowls in a row 

from 1991 through 1994, is 

locked into staying in Buffalo 

for at least seven years 

regardless of ownership 

under the new lease agreement. 

“The Buffalo Bills are a 

central part of the cultural, 

economic, and of the entire 

Western part of New York 

State and the state has never 

wavered in our commitment 

to keeping the Bills a 

thriving part of the Buffalo 

community,” Governor 

Andrew Cuomo said. 

The Buffalo News reported 

that the Bills would 

have to pay $400 million 

if they depart before 2020 

but that in the final three 

years of the lease, the relocation 

penalty would drop 

to only $29 million. 

Also featured in the deal 

are $130 million in renovations 

to the 73,000-seat 

stadium, which opened in 

1973. 

The Bills will contribute 

$35 million to the upgrades 

with $41 million more coming 

from the county and 

$54 million from the state 

of New York. — AFP 

Malaga to appeal exclusion from 

next European club event 

MADRID — Spanish club 

Malaga said on Friday they 

will appeal against the ban 

handed down by footballing 

governing body UEFA, calling 

the ruling “disproportionate 

and unjustified”. 

The Andalusian club said 

it was “in total disagreement 

with the ruling” because it 

imposes “an unfair punishment 

which makes our club 

a scapegoat.” Earlier on Friday, 

UEFA said Malaga were 

banned from their next European 

club event for violations 

of Financial Fair Play rules. 

Malaga were also fined 

300,000 euros, while their 

prize money from the current 

Champions League, where 

they meet Porto in the round 

of 16, has been released. 

UEFA said that Malaga 

will be ineligible for their next 

participation in the Champions 

League or Europa League 

over a four-year period. 

In addition, they will be 

banned for another European 

season if they don’t prove by 

March 31 that they have paid 

their outstanding bills. 

UEFA said in November 

that the Qatari-owned club 

did not meet a September 

deadline to prove that they 

have paid outstanding bills, 

and referred the case to its 

adjudicatory chamber, which 

announced its ruling on nine 

clubs on Friday. 

“(Malaga) are excluded 

from participating in the next 

UEFA club competition for 

which it would otherwise 

qualify in the next four seasons 

(2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 

2016-17),” UEFA said. 

“In addition, Malaga will 

be excluded from a subsequent 

UEFA competition for which 

it would otherwise qualify 

(in the next four seasons) if 

it does not prove, by March 

31, 2013, that it has no overdue 

payables towards football 

clubs or towards employees 

and/or social/tax authorities, 

in accordance with the UEFA 

Club Licensing and Financial 

Fair Play Regulations.” 

The measures are part of 

UEFA’s Financial Fair Play 

programme in which clubs 

must balance their books or 

face sanctions. 

UEFA said that Croatian 

clubs Hajduk Split and Osijek; 

Romanian clubs Rapid and 

Dynamo Bucharest; and Serbian 

club Partizan Belgrade 

will also miss their next European 

event, over a three-year 

period, while Serbia’s Vojvodina 

and Ukraine’s Arsenal 

Kiev were fined. 

The case against Lech 

Poznan of Poland was 

dropped. 

Malaga also said that it 

would “continue with the internal 

restructuration process 

started last summer, in order to 

be in compliance with UEFA’s 

Financial Fair Play policy.” 

Qatari magnate Abdullah 

al Thani bought struggling, 

debt-ridden Malaga in 2010 

and vowed to quickly make 

them a major power in European 

football. He brought in 

Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini, 

plus stars such as Santi 

Cazorla, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, 

Jeremy Toulalan, Joaquin and 

Javier Saviola. 

Last season Malaga finished 

fourth in La Liga and 

then cruised through the 

qualifying round of the Champions 

League. However, Al 

Thani seemed to have second 

thoughts about putting more 

money into the club and Cazorla 

was sold to Arsenal in an 

attempt to quickly reduce the 

club’s debts. — dpa 

Ronaldo should come home to Manchester United, says Evra 

LONDON — Manchester United defender Patrice 

Evra has told Cristiano Ronaldo to come 

home to Old Trafford if he doesn’t feel loved 

at Real Madrid. 

Ronaldo quit United in 2009 to achieve his 

boyhood dream of playing for Real, but the 

Portugal forward has never been treated with 

the same respect in Spain that he enjoyed in the 

Premier League. 

While United fans worshipped Ronaldo, in 

Madrid he has complained of feeling “sad” at 

the lack of appreciation for his devastating displays, 

which helped Real end Barcelona’s reign 

as Spanish champions last season. 

Ronaldo, who has scored 170 times in 169 

appearances for the Spanish giants, is also 

believed to be unhappy that Real’s hierarchy 

haven’t given him improved contracts in the 

same way Barcelona have rewarded their superstar 

Lionel Messi. 

And, with Ronaldo due to return to United 

for the first time when the clubs clash in the last 

16 of the Champions League later this season, 

French left-back Evra believes his old teammate 

should consider rejoining Alex Ferguson’s 

team. 

“I have been in touch with him many times,” 

Evra told MUTV. “He still loves Manchester 

United and misses Manchester United. 

“He has done some incredible things for 

FILE picture shows Cristiano Ronaldo with Patrice Evra at Manchester United. 

Real Madrid, he broke all the records, but they 

didn’t show him the respect he deserves. 

“When Ronny was here, he got the love 

from all the players, the manager and the fans. 

He is a winner. But he likes people to like him. 

He misses Manchester United because it was 

his house. 

“I always say I hope he will come back be- 

cause this is his home. If he wants to win the 

Golden Ball (Ballon d’Or) he has to come back 

to Manchester United.” 

Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or in 2008, when 

he contributed an incredible 42 goals to United’s 

Champions League and Premier League 

double season, but Messi has dominated the 

individual prizes since then. 

However, Evra is adamant Ronaldo is the 

better player because, unlike Messi, he thrives 

in a Madrid team that offers less support from 

the other attacking positions. 

“Ronny is an incredible player, the best in 

the world,” Evra said. “He is better than Messi. 

“It is not because he is my friend or that I 

played with him but he has everything. 

“Messi is unbelievable but Ronaldo does it 

on his own. In Madrid he has to score the goals 

and create them. At Barcelona, Messi has Xavi 

and Iniesta.” 

Yet Evra is not worried about facing his 

former team-mate in the Champions League 

after years of pitting his wits against the Portuguese 

star on the training ground. 

“I hope he plays on my side. He knows from 

training what a tough defender I am. I know 

how to catch him,” Evra said. 

“I know he can make the difference at any 

time but the emotion means it will be really difficult 

for him.” — AFP 

McCullum backs 

misfiring Kiwis 

after SA rout 

Page 19 

Burkina Faso docked 

World Cup points, 

fined by Fifa 

ZURICH — Burkina Faso 

have become the third African 

team to be docked points from 

their 2014 World Cup qualifying 

campaign as Fifa begin to 

get to grips with a spate of nationality 

cheating. 

Fifa have awarded Congo 

a 3-0 victory after their 0-0 

draw in June where Burkina 

Faso fielded Herve Zengue, 

a Cameroonian defender who 

they have controversially continued 

to use despite repeated 

questions over his ineligibility. 

“The Fifa Disciplinary 

Committee has decided that 

the Burkina Faso FA has 

breached the disciplinary 

code on ineligibility,” read a 

statement, adding the decision 

is subject to appeal and is 

not “final and binding.” 

“The match Burkina Faso 

v Congo of 2 June 2012 is 

declared to be lost by forfeit 

(0-3) by Burkina Faso, and 

the Burkina Faso FA have 

been fined 6,000 Swiss francs 

($6,500).” 

Namibia protested late last 

year that Burkina Faso’s use 

of Zengue in two 2012 African 

Nations Cup qualifying 

matches contravened rules on 

player eligibility. 

They were seeking to be 

awarded the points from the 

games, which would have 

qualified them for the finals 

instead, but they lost their 

protest and appeal at the Confederation 

of African Football 

(Caf) and a subsequent bid for 

redress to the Court of Arbitration 

for Sport in Switzerland. 

Zengue did not qualify 

LONDON — Triple Formula 

One world champion Sebastian 

Vettel would be Ferrari’s 

first choice should they ever 

need to replace Fernando 

Alonso, president Luca di 

Montezemolo has said. 

The Red Bull driver has 

been repeatedly linked to 

Ferrari this season, with talk 

of a pre-contract for 2014, 

although the 25-year-old German 

and his team have tried 

to put the speculation to rest. 

Speaking at Ferrari’s 

Maranello factory before 

the Christmas break, Montezemolo 

left no doubt about 

the Italian team’s admiration 

for Vettel. 

“If for whatever reason 

Fernando Alonso were to 

leave one day, maybe because 

he wants to retire in Hawaii 

with his girlfriend, then I 

want Vettel,” the Gazzetta 

dello Sport quoted him as telling 

German media. 

“Sebastian is a potential 

Ferrari driver for the future.” 

Whether Vettel and Alonso 

ever pair up at Ferrari remains 

to be seen, however, with 

Montezemolo previously saying 

he did not want to have 

“two roosters in the same hen 

to play for Burkina Faso 

because he was not born in 

the country, had no blood ties 

with and had never lived in 

Burkina Faso, the losing protest 

said. 

Burkina Faso said they 

had given Zengue a passport 

because he was married to a 

Burkinabe woman and then 

invited him to play for their 

national team. 

Fifa’s decision follows a 

similar sanction for Gabon, 

who were found to have used 

an ineligible Cameroon-born 

player against Niger in June, 

and Sudan, who forfeited 

points for fielding a suspended 

player against Zambia. 

Caf allowed Gabon to use 

defender Charly Moussono at 

the last Nations Cup, only for 

Fifa to find he had previously 

represented Cameroon in a 

Beach Soccer World Cup. 

African football’s controlling 

body have done little 

in recent years to deal with 

countries who import players 

to strengthen their national 

teams. 

Togo used a spate of Brazilians 

in recent years while 

Rwanda, Burundi and Mauritania 

have also been accused 

of giving passports to 

ineligible players so that they 

can field them in international 

matches. 

The most rampant use of 

mercenaries has been that of 

Equatorial Guinea, still to be 

sanctioned for filling their 

team with Brazilians, Cameroonians, 

Nigerians and even 

a player from the nearby Cape 

Verde Islands. — Reuters 

Ferrari prefer Vettel 

to Lewis Hamilton 

MADRID — Adrian came 

off the bench to fire secondplaced 

Atletico Madrid to a 

1-0 La Liga home win over 

Celta Vigo on Friday and secure 

a ninth victory in nine 

matches this season at their 

Calderon stadium. 

Atletico struggled to create 

chances in their final match of 

a year in which they won the 

Europa League and continued 

their resurgence under coach 

Diego Simeone. 

Adrian finally found a way 

through Celta’s defence in the 

77th minute when the Spain 

under-21 striker sent a snap 

shot arrowing into the top corner 

from just outside the area. 

Defender Miranda earned 

a second yellow card for handling 

the ball and was sent off 

four minutes from time but 

Atletico held on to close to 

within six points of unbeaten 

leaders Barcelona who play at 

Real Valladolid. 

house” but rather two drivers 

“who race for Ferrari and not 

for themselves.” 

Montezemolo said Alonso, 

Vettel and Lewis Hamilton 

were clearly a cut above 

the rest in Formula One and 

he preferred the Red Bull 

driver to the Briton “because 

he’s younger and hasn’t been 

around so many teams”. 

Hamilton, the 2008 world 

champion, will be racing for 

Mercedes next year after six 

years with McLaren — the 

team who have backed him 

since he was in go-karts. He 

will be 28 in January. 

Vettel is now on his third 

F1 team, having made his debut 

for BMW-Sauber and then 

raced for Toro Rosso before 

joining sister team Red Bull. 

In a separate interview 

with Britain’s Sky Sports 

television, Montezemolo 

sounded more positive about 

Hamilton. 

“Alonso is in Ferrari. If tomorrow, 

and I would be very 

unhappy with this, he will decide 

to go to live in the moon 

then for sure Hamilton is a 

driver that I like very much,” 

he said. — Reuters 

Adrian keeps Atletico’s 

perfect home record 

The victory also stretched 

their advantage over thirdplaced 

Real Madrid to seven 

points ahead of Real’s game 

at Malaga. 

Atletico’s tally of 40 points 

from 17 matches is a club 

record, overhauling the previous 

best of 39 set in the 1995- 

96 season when they last won 

the title. 

They are through to the 

last 16 of the King’s Cup and 

have a 3-0 lead over Getafe 

from last week’s first leg and 

will play Russian side Rubin 

Kazan in the last 32 of the Europa 

League when the competition 

resumes in February. 

Valencia continued their 

tentative revival under new 

coach Ernesto Valverde when 

captain Roberto Soldado 

struck in the opening minute 

to set them on their way to a 

4-2 home win over Getafe in 

the earlier kick-off.

LONDON — Manchester City 

endured 93 minutes of frustration 

before Gareth Barry's 

stoppage time header earned 

the Premier League champions 

a precious 1-0 victory over 

bottom club Reading yesterday 

to keep the pressure on leaders 

Manchester United. 

Roberto Mancini's side, 

who won the title in the dying 

seconds of last season, 

displayed the handy knack of 

scoring late again as Barry's 

goal broke Reading's resistance 

and moved City to within 

three points of United who 

play at Swansea today. 

City have 39 points from 18 

games, followed by four clubs 

on 30 points after a rainswept 

opening to the busy holiday 

programme yielded a mere 10 

goals. 

A second-half penalty by 

Mikel Arteta earned Arsenal a 

1-0 victory at Wigan Athletic 

as the Gunners moved up to 

third place while north London 

rivals Tottenham Hotspur fell 

out of the top four after a 0-0 

home draw with Stoke City. 

Everton climbed to fourth, 

making light of Marouane Fellaini's 

absence through suspension, 

to win 2-1 at West Ham 

United in game in which both 

sides ended with 10 men. 

West Bromwich Albion 

also reached the 30-point mark 

after ending Norwich City's 

10-match unbeaten league run 

with Romelu Lukaku sealing 

a 2-1 victory 10 minutes from 

time after Norwich had taken 

the lead at the Hawthorns. 

Chelsea, who have 29 

points from two fewer games, 

can jump back to third position 

if they defeat Aston Villa 

today. 

There was no pre-Christmas 

cheer for the bottom four with 

Reading, Wigan, Queens Park 

Rangers and Southampton all 

losing. 

QPR's revival under new 

manager Harry Redknapp 

came to a halt with a 1-0 defeat 

at Newcastle United while 

Sunderland also edged clear 

of the bottom three after a 1-0 

win at Southampton. 

City, whose 37-match un- 

Jose Bosingwa 

fined by QPR 

after sub snub 

LONDON — Portugal defender 

Jose Bosingwa has 

reportedly been fined two 

weeks' wages by QPR after 

refusing to be a substitute for 

last weekend's victory over 

Fulham. QPR manager Harry 

Redknapp punished Bosingwa 

after taking exception 

to the former Chelsea rightback's 

angry reaction to being 

dropped from the starting 

line-up for the west London 

derby at Loftus Road. 

Bosingwa, who joined 

QPR in pre-season on a 

contract reportedly worth 

£50,000 a week, was said to 

have stormed away from the 

stadium after being dropped, 

forcing Redknapp to change 

his substitutes. 

In Bosingwa's absence, 

QPR won 2-1 to record their 

first Premier League victory 

of a troubled campaign. 

17 SPORT 



City strike late to beat Reading, Arsenal go third 

WIGAN Athletic’s Omani goalkeeper Ali al Habsi reacts as Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta (right) celebrates scoring a penalty 

during their English Premier League in Wigan yesterday. — Reuters 

Vilanova out 

of hospital 

after surgery 

MADRID — Barcelona 

coach Tito Vilanova was 

released from hospital yesterday, 

two days after undergoing 

surgery on his saliva 

glands, the La Liga club 

said. 

"Given his post-operation 

development, Tito Vilanova 

has been released from 

hospital this Saturday afternoon," 

Barca said in a brief 

statement on their website. 

"The Barca coach had 

surgery on Thursday according 

to plan," the statement 

added. 

Barca announced on 

Wednesday that Villanova 

needed a second round of 

surgery following an operation 

to remove a tumour 

from his saliva glands in November 

2011. 

The latest procedure 

would be followed by chemotherapy 

and radiotherapy 

over the next six weeks and 

assistant coach Jordi Roura 

would step in until Vilanova 

was well enough to return, 

the club said. 

The 44-year-old was 

sidelined for around three 

weeks after the surgery last 

year before returning to his 

job as assistant to Pep Guardiola 

and then taking over 

from his close friend at the 

end of last season. 

Under his leadership, 

Barca have made a recordbreaking 

start to their La 

Liga campaign and top the 

standings with a six-point 

lead over second-placed 

Atletico Madrid ahead of 

their game at Real Valladolid. 

— Reuters 

PARIS — Zlatan Ibrahimovic 

scored his 18th goal of the 

season to inspire French Ligue 

1 leaders Paris St Germain to 

a comprehensive 3-0 victory 

at 10-man Stade Brest which 

lifted them three points clear 

at the top on Friday. 

Goalkeeper Alexis Thebaux 

produced a sterling performance 

for the home team 

but could not stop Swede 

Ibrahimovic scoring from 

Christophe Jallet's cross in the 

55th minute. 

Lazio into second as 

Inter Milan slip up 

ROME — Lazio moved up to 

second place in Serie A after 

a 1-0 win at Sampdoria yesterday 

helped them leapfrog 

Inter Milan, who could only 

draw 1-1 at home to Genoa. 

Hernanes' goal half an 

hour into a scrappy match 

with struggling Samp sent 

Vladimir Petkovic's team up 

to 36 points, eight behind 

champions and league leaders 

Juventus, who won 3-1 

against Cagliari on Friday. 

Andrea Stramaccioni's 

Inter dropped to fourth place 

after Esteban Cambiasso's 

equaliser five minutes from 

time cancelled out Ciro Immobile's 

superb individual goal 

for second bottom Genoa. 

Two Stevan Jovetic goals 

either side of halftime and a 

second penalty from Gonzalo 

Rodriguez were enough for 

Fiorentina to win 3-0 at troubled 

Palermo. 

Vincenzo Montella's dark 

horses moved above Inter 

into third, on the same points 

as the Nerazzurri and one behind 

Lazio. 

Napoli, who were docked 

two points in midweek for the 

involvement of their players 

in a betting and match-fixing 

scandal from 2010, scored 

two goals in the last five minutes 

in a dramatic 2-0 win at 

bottom club Siena. 

Christian Maggio netted 

before Edinson Cavani converted 

from the spot. 

Walter Mazzarri's side 

were far from their thrilling 

best but stay in fifth and 

within two points of Lazio, 

putting pressure on the other 

challengers for the Champi- 

Substitute Kevin Gameiro 

make it 2-0 on 73 minutes and 

left back Bernard Mendy's 

stoppage-time own goal sealed 

PSG's comfortable win. 

PSG have 38 points, three 

ahead of Olympique Lyon who 

host fifth-placed Nice, and Olympique 

Marseille, who take 

on St Etienne today. 

Brest, who had midfielder 

Abdoulwhaid Sissoko sent 

off for a dangerous tackle on 

Ezequiel Lavezzi in the 33rd 

minute, are 13th on 21 points. 

GENOA’S Ciro Immobile 

celebrates after scoring a 

goal against Inter Milan. 

ons League places. 

German Denis' 40thminute 

penalty, his seventh 

goal of the season for Atalanta, 

helped the hosts draw 1-1 

with Udinese, who had taken 

the lead seven minutes previously 

through Luis Muriel's 

first of the campaign. 

Torino comfortably saw 

off Chievo 2-0 in Turin while 

Frederik Sorensen's goal for 

Bologna nine minutes into the 

second half was cancelled out 

by Jaime Valdes two minutes 

later before Nicola Sansone 

netted on 66 minutes to give 

Parma a 2-1 away win. 

The weekend's big game 

takes place at the Stadio Olimpico 

in Rome later, where 

flamboyant AS Roma take 

on a resurgent AC Milan led 

by red-hot striker Stephan El 

Shaarawy. 

Serie A then stops for a 

mid-season break until January 

5. — Reuters 

Ibrahimovic sets up leaders PSG for easy win 

Paris St Germain overpowered 

their hosts but came 

across an inspired Thebaux, 

who made his first spectacular 

save after 22 minutes when 

he parried away Thiago Silva's 

header and the following 

Ibrahimovic shot. 

Brest, who started with 

five defenders and a counterattacking 

strategy, had their 

plans ruined when Sissoko 

was shown a straight red card. 

But they did protect their goal 

as Thebaux parried away ef- 

Juventus not 

chasing Drogba 

ROME — Juventus chief 

executive Beppe Marotta has 

dismissed reports that the 

Serie A giants have signed 

a deal with former Chelsea 

striker Didier Drogba. 

Local media reported that 

a deal between the Bianconeri 

and the former Chelsea 

man were done, but Marotta 

confirmed that those stories 

were fabricated, reports 

Xinhua. "Drogba? No, we 

haven't made any contact," 

he told Sky Sport Italia. "He 

would not be available anyway 

because of the African 

Cup of Nations.” 

forts by Javier Pastore and 

Ibrahimovic just before the 

break. 

The goalkeeper made another 

great save two minutes 

into the second half before 

Ibrahimovic broke the deadlock. 

Thebaux kept his team in 

the match until Gameiro took 

advantage of slack defending 

to double Paris St Germain’s 

lead and Mendy's own-goal 

completed the rout for the visitors. 

— Reuters 

beaten sequence in the league 

was ended by United earlier 

this month, were expected to 

breeze past a Reading side 

whose defence went missing 

in a Monday night thrashing 

by Arsenal but the visitors had 

not read the script. 

Reading were heading for 

a well-deserved point after restricting 

City to a handful of 

chances and even had a reasonable 

penalty shout waved away 

but they cracked three minutes 

into stoppage time. 

David Silva crossed into 

the area as City launched one 

final assault and Barry, who 

appeared to have his hand on 

Reading defender Nicky Shorey, 

climbed to thump a header 

into the corner to the relief of 

the home fans and manager 

Mancini. 

ARSENAL WIN AGAIN 

"I hoped, always. It was 

difficult. We had lots of possession 

but if you don't score 

early it is very difficult," 

Mancini told Sky Sports. 

"You have to be patient 

but if we had scored one goal 

in the first half it would have 

changed the game. You need to 

score quickly in these games 

and sometimes you take a risk 

to score. I think we deserved 

to win. 

"Our fans know we try until 

the last seconds always." 

Luckless Reading manager 

Brian McDermott, whose side 

will be bottom at Christmas, 

was angry the goal was allowed 

to stand. 

"I cannot believe that has 

happened to us. That goal at 

the end is plain wrong," he 

said. "(Barry) is on Nicky Shorey's 

back and it is an absolutely 

certain foul. That decision 

killed us." 

Arsenal claimed a third 

consecutive victory and, although 

they remain 12 points 

behind United, the storm 

clouds that were hanging over 

Arsene Wenger appear to be 

dispersing. 

They were not as impressive 

as they were in the 5-2 

win at Reading on Monday but 

showed plenty of resilience 

to grind out three points after 

Arteta dispatched his spot kick 

following a clumsy tackle by 

Jean Beausejour on Theo Walcott 

on the hour. 

Arouna Kone had wasted a 

glorious chance to give Wigan 

the lead in the first half and 

he was denied late on by Arsenal's 

Wojciech Szczesny 

before Dave Jones thumped a 

shot narrowly wide of the upright 

with Szczesny rooted to 

the spot. 

Despite Wigan's late pressure 

Arsenal held on and will 

now get a week off after their 

Boxing Day clash with West 

Ham United was postponed 

because of a train strike next 

Tuesday. 

"We had to show nerve and 

we did it," Wenger said. 

"They had a lot of possession 

in the end but we really 

wanted it." 

Everton trailed to a Carlton 

Cole goal at Upton Park but 

levelled through Victor Anichebe 

after 64 minutes before 

Steven Pienaar scrambled in 

the winner. 

Cole was sent off for a high 

tackle on Leighton Baines 

while Darron Gibson saw red 

for Everton in the final minute. 

Both decisions were criticised 

by their respective managers. 

Gareth Bale returned after 

injury for Tottenham but 

they missed the chance to end 

the day in third spot as Stoke 

proved miserley opposition at 

White Hart Lane. 

Eighth-placed Stoke have 

kept nine clean sheets in 18 

league games and are unbeaten 

in nine matches. 

Liverpool host Fulham in a 

late game. — Reuters 

Long way to go, says Ali after 

100th appearance for Wigan 

By Our Sports Reporter 

MUSCAT — Ali al Habsi 

might have ended on a losing 

side in yesterday’s English 

Premier League match 

between Wigan and Arsenal 

but the Oman goalkeeping 

hero has achieved 

a milestone of turning up 

for the 100th time in Latics 

colours. 

It’s a remarkable 

achievement by the first 

ever Omani to play professional 

soccer in Europe 

and in the English Premier 

League, and the man 

from Al Mudhaibi, though 

thrilled with his achievement, 

believes he has a long 

way to go. 

“It is really a great 

achievement and I am 

thrilled about it,” Ali was 

quoted as saying by his 

brother Ahmed, who is a 

member of the Oman Football 

Association board. 

“I talked to him before 

and after the match. He is 

obviously delighted with 

this achievement,” said 

Ahmed speaking to the Observer 

yesterday. 

“Ali said he is happy 

that all his hard work is 

paying off and he is able 

to make the nation proud 

with his performances,” 

added Ahmed. 

“His immediate reaction 

after the match was 

to thank God for all he has 

achieved but he said he has 

to work even harder as he 

has a long way to go.” 

Ali moved to Wigan 

from Bolton Wanderers in 

2010-11 on loan and impressed 

with his perform- 

ances to earn the title of 

Player of the Season and 

following season he moved 

permanently to the DW 

Stadium. 

Before Bolton, Ali also 

played in Norway with Lyn 

Oslo. 

In yesterday’s match 

against the Gunners, the 

Omani captain made quite 

a few stunning saves, including 

shots from Alex 

Oxlade-Chamberlain and 

Mikel Arteta. 

According to reports, 

Ali also pushed out a fierce 

shot from Lukas Podolski. 

But his best came in the 

48th minute, when he made 

a ‘marvellous save’ to deny 

Theo Walcott, who fired 

from six yards. 

MESSAGE TO YOUTH 

Meanwhile, Ahmed said 

Ali’s achievements are a 

message to Omani youth. 

“With his achievements 

Ali has given a message 

to Omani youth. If they 

can believe in themselves, 

work hard and follow the 

professional path, they can 

succeed at any level,” he 

said. 

Ahmed also said: “Obviously, 

Ali is not going to 

rest on his laurels. Hundred 

appearances with Wigan 

and in Premier League are 

history now. He is looking 

ahead and for his next 

goals.” 

“He is also hoping to 

achieve more success with 

our national team. He 

wants to help the team 

succeed in the World Cup 

qualifiers and the Gulf 

Cup,” he said.

MUMBAI — A captain’s innings of unbeaten 

49 off 26 balls by Eoin Morgan 

helped England beat India by six wickets 

in a last-ball finish in the second Twenty20 

international at the Wankhede Stadium 

here yesterday. 

Morgan finished off the match in style 

with a six off the last ball as England 

squared the two-match series 1-1 and 

will head back home for the Christmas 

break. 

Having won the Test series, England 

were desperate to leave the Indian shores 

for Christmas on a high note. They certainly 

did and would be rejuvenated when 

they return back in the first week of the 

New Year for the five-match ODI series 

starting on January 11. 

At the packed Wankhede, England put 

on an all-round superb show after opting 

to field first. They were excellent on the 

field but couldn’t prevent India from posting 

a challenging total of 177 for eight in 

20 overs. 

Chasing a target of 178, England got 

off great start with Michael Lumb (50) 

and Alex Hales (42) adding 80 runs. 

Lumb smashed two sixes and six fours in 

his 34-ball knock while Hales hit a six and 

four fours during his 33-ball stay. 

Lumb and Hales scored at will and the 

butter-fingered Indian fielders also added 

to England’s cause. 

When it looked that England would 

sail easily, left-arm spinner Yuvraj Singh 

(three for 17) churned out his best per- 

18 SPORT 



Morgan’s last-ball six stuns India 

CRICKET 

By Rex Berhardt 

MUSCAT -- Al Turki NMC recorded 

a thrilling last ball win 

against Assarain ‘A’ in a Muscat 

Pharmacy & Stores LLC 

sponsored 50 overs-a-side ‘A’ 

Division match played at the 

Main Ministry Ground at Al 

Amerat on Friday. 

Electing to bat after winning 

the toss, Al Turki NMC 

were perilously placed with 

the scoreboard reading 103 

for the loss of six wickets 

at the end of 29th over. But 

Jayesh Solanki, who came in 

at the fall of the fourth wicket, 

scored 20 (42b) and Al Turki 

NMC eventually managed to 

reach 188 for the loss of nine 

wickets at the end of their 

quota of 50 overs thanks to 

valuable contributions from 

No 8 batsman Rohan Sadar 

Joshi 34 (56b, 1x4) and an 

unbeaten 23 (34b, 1x4) from 

Brijesh Patel batting at No 9. 

Shiju V S was the pick 

of the bowlers ending with 

figures of four for 23 in 10 

overs, one of which was a 

maiden. Arif Hussain and 

skipper Muhammed Nadeem 

picked up two wickets each 

conceding 24 and 46 runs respectively. 

Assarain ‘A’ in their turn 

were in a similar situation 

with the score on 80 for the 

loss of seven wickets off 28 

overs but recovered to reach 

185 off 49.5 overs to end up 

three runs short for victory. 

Sindo Michael coming in 

at the fall of the third wicket 

was ninth out for a well compiled 

57 (93b, 2x4) whilst No 

10 batsman Khalid Mughal 

31 (43b, 2x4) and Khurram 

Khan batting at No 9 scored 

MUSCAT — Tickets for the 

21st Gulf Cup football championship, 

scheduled to take place 

in Bahrain from January 5 to 

18 next month, will be soon 

on sale at different locations 

across Bahrain, says a press release 

from the media committee 

of the championship. 

“These tickets will be available 

at the National Stadium, 

Khalifa Sports City as well as 

several shopping malls in Bahrain, 

to be announced at a later 

date,” the statement said. 

According to Stadiums 

Committee head Khalid al 

Haj, the tickets have been just 

printed and are now ready to 

be distributed by Greek firm 

‘Tickethours’. 

This was announced during 

the Stadiums Committee meeting, 

chaired by Al Haj, in the 

presence of committee deputy 

head Hussain al Omari, Hamad 

al Hamad, Ahmed al A’ali, 

Reda Ali, Mohammed Ahmed, 

Hameed al Fardan, Sudhir and 

Mona al Ghatam. 

Al Haj said the committee 

has submitted a proposal to the 

organising committee to deter- 

25 (29b, 1x6 and 2x4) made 

valuable contributions. 

Brijesh Patel ended with 

tantalizing figures of three for 

26 runs off 10 overs, of which 

five were maiden overs whilst 

Ankit Joshi ended with three 

for 41 in 9.5 overs and skipper 

Ajay Lalcheta bagged two for 

29 of 10 overs, including two 

maiden overs. 

Brief scores: Al Turki NMC 

188 for 9 in 50 overs (Rohan Sadar 

Joshi 34, Brijesh Patel 23 n.o., 

Jayesh Solanki 20; Shiju V S 4/23, 

Arif Hussain 2/24 and Muhammed 

Nadeem 2/46) bt Assarain ‘A’ 185 

all out in 49.5 overs (Sindo Michael 

57, Khalid Mughal 31, Khurram 

Khan 25; Brijesh Patel 3/26, Ankit 

Joshi 3/41, Ajay Lalcheta 2/29). 

Points: Al Turki NMC 4 (7 

games, 12 pts), Assarain ‘A’ 0 (6 

games, 17 pts). 

MALIK SMASHES 

UNBEATEN TON 

In another Muscat Pharmacy 

& Stores-sponsored 

‘A’ Division 50-over match 

played at the adjoining MoS 

turf ground at Al Amerat, Abdulahad 

Malek smashed an 

unbeaten 103 (46b, 2x4 and 

19x4) to lead Passage to India 

to an easy eight-wicket win 

against Arabian Industries. 

Winning the toss and batting 

first, Arabian Industries 

were bowled out for 180 

off 41.4 overs with young 

Abishek Ramesh making a 

top score of 57 (2b, 8x4). The 

only other batsman to make 

any noteworthy contribution 

was Muhammad Khalid 45 

(39b, 4x4). 

Jaymin Tailor and Aamir 

Kaleem claimed three wickets 

each conceding 28 and 29 

runs respectively whilst Bilal 

Khan picked up two for 35. 

Passage to India in reply 

were two for 36 in 5.3 

overs before an unfinished 

third-wicket partnership of 

145 runs between Abdulahad 

Malek and opening batsman 

Arthur Kyobe 45 not out (79b, 

5x4) took the score along 181 

without further loss off 26.5 

overs. 

Zeeshan Ahmed coming in 

at the fall of the first wicket 

chipped in with 26 (32b, 3x4) 

David Samrot picked up 

both wickets conceding 30 

runs off 10 overs. 

Brief scores: Arabian Industries 

180 all out in 41.4 overs 

(Abishek Ramesh 57, Muhammad 

Khalid 45; Jaymin Tailor 3/28, 

Aamir Kaleem 3/29, Bilal Khan 

2/35) lost to Passage to India 181 

for 2 in 26.5 overs (Abdulahad 

Malek 103 n.o., Arthur Kyobe 45 

n.o., Zeeshan Ahmed 26; David 

Samrot 2/30). 

Points: Passage to India 5 (7 

games, 14 pts), Arabian Industries 

0 (5 games, 9 pts). 

formance to reduce the visitors from 80 

for no loss to 123 for three. 

Stunned with the loss of three 

quick wickets, England got its innings 

back on track — thanks to a crucial 26run 

stand between Morgan and Samit 

Patel (9). 

Patel perished in his attempt to hit 

out Ahsok Dinda (one for 44). An indomitable 

Morgan then joined forces with Jos 

Butler (15 not out) to take England home 

with their 32-run stand for the fifth wicket. 

But nonetheless it was a thrilling finish. 

England needed 23 runs off the last 

12 balls. Butler smashed a six and four off 

Parwinder Awana as 14 runs came off the 

penultimate over. 

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni 

turned to Dinda for the most crucial over 

of the match. Dinda bowled tightly leaving 

England needing three runs to win off 

the last ball. Morgan smashed the last ball 

straight over Dinda’s head to wrap up the 

match in style for England. 

Earlier put in, riding on crucial innings 

from Virat Kohli (38), Dhoni (38) 

and Suresh Raina (35) helped India get a 

challenging target on board despite a poor 

start. 

Opener Ajinkya Rahane (3) fell early 

while Gautam Gambhir struggled for his 

17 off 27 balls. 

Kohli got his act right and scored 

briskly for his 38 off 20 balls before being 

trapped leg-before by Stuart Meaker. 

MUSCAT — Muscat Cricket 

Coaching Centre ‘B’ (MCCC 

‘B’) registered their first win 

of the season when they defeated 

Sayarti by 28 runs in 

a ‘G’ Division Group ‘B 25 

overs-a-side match played at 

the Municipality Ground III at 

Al Amerat in the morning session 

on Friday . 

Winning the toss and deciding 

to bat first the MCCC ‘B’ 

playing with 10 men scored 

187 for the loss of five wick- 

BRIJESH PATEL ABDULAHAD MALEK ets at the end of the 25 allotted ASAD BAIG 

overs. A 52-run first-wicket contributions. The bowlers to 

partnership between Mayukh be amongst the wickets were 

Misra 56 (51b, 7x4) and Gi- skipper Hitesh Kumar and Romash 

Dias 17 (19b, 1x4) and han Mendon, who picked up 

a further 82 run second-wicket two wickets each conceding 

partnership between May- 19 and 39 runs respectively. 

ukh Misra and Paritosh Bhatt Brief scores: MCCC ‘B’ 187 

36 (39b, 2x4) took the score for 5 in 25 overs (Mayukh Misra 

56, Paritosh Bhatt 36, Hitesh Kumar 

to 134 runs. Hitesh Kumar 

23; Srinivasan Selvarajan 2/33) 

chipped in with 23 runs from bt Sayarti CT 159 in 24.5 overs. 

18 deliveries with four fours. (Balaji G 36, Kannan Raghavan 

Srinivasan Selvarajan 35, Imtiaz Ahmed 32, Khalid Mar- 

picked up two wickets for 33 zooq Maqtoof al Mukaini 20, Hitesh 

Kumar 2/19, Rohan Mendon 2/39). 

runs in five overs. 

Points: MCCC ‘B’ 2 (6 games, 2 

Requiring 188 for victory pts), Sayarti CT 0 (5 games, 2 pts). 

Sayarti Cricket team were ASAD BAIG SOLID 

bowled out for 159 runs in FOR PDORC 

24.5 overs. Opening the bat- PDORC crushed L&T 

ting, Balaji G scored 36 (32b, Electromech by seven wickets 

4x4) whilst skipper Kannan thanks to an excellent spell of 

Raghavan 35 (21b, 6x4), Im- bowling by Asad Baig, who 

tiaz Ahmed Shah 32 (30b, 2x4) claimed five wickets for 23 

and Omani batsman Khalid runs in five overs. The ‘D’ 

Marzooq Maqtoof al Mukaini Division Raha Poly Products- 

20 (25b, 1x4) made valuable 

mine more locations for tickets 

sales, stressing that the co-ordination 

is underway with the 

organising committee to select 

these venues and should be revealed 

the public soon. 

Al Haj also briefed the 

committee members on the 

training workshop organised 

by the Greek company for a 

group of Bahraini volunteers 

to manage tickets sales. 

He noted that the Stadiums 

Committee has started preparing 

the National Stadium and 

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, 

BANGALORE — Heavy 

security has turned the Chinnaswamy 

Stadium here into 

a fortress for the first of the 

T20 matches between archrivals 

India and Pakistan on 

December 25. 

With the Karnataka State 

besides other stadiums that 

will host GCC teams training 

sessions during the tournament. 

The committee head 

said that Bahrain’s upcoming 

friendly matches against 

Burkina Faso and Guinea on 

Cricket Association (KSCA) 

handing over the stadium 

to the city police yesterday 

for sanitising and securing it 

from any potential trouble, 

hundreds of police personnel 

moved in and around the 

venue. 

December 26 and 28 at the National 

Stadium should be a final 

rehearsal for the committee 

before tournament kick-off. 

During the meeting, the 

committee representatives 

also reviewed plans and programmes 

of ‘ifix’ and ‘Basba’ 

Yuvraj Singh (4) was Luke Wright’s (two 

for 38) second victim while Rohit Sharma 

was castled by James Tredwel despite 

having scored 24 off 19 balls. 

Suddely India were left struggling at 

five for 108. It was then left to a valuable 

60-run stand between Dhoni and Raina 

took India to a competitive total. 

SCOREBOARD 

India 

G Gambhir c Bresnan b Wright ......................... 17 

A Rahane c Root b Dernbach .............................. 3 

V Kohli lbw Meaker .......................................... 38 

Yuvraj c Root b Wright ........................................ 4 

R Sharma b Tredwell ......................................... 24 

S Raina (not out) .................................................. 3 

M S Dhoni c Patel b Bresnan ............................ 38 

R Ashwin c Lumb b Dernbach ............................ 1 

P Chawla run out .................................................. 0 

Extras: (b-2, lb-4, w-9, nb-2) ............................ 17 

Total: (8 wkts, 20 overs) ................................ 177 

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-64, 3-71, 4-88, 5-108, 

6-168, 7-171, 8-177. 

Bowling: T Bresnan 4-0-27-1; J Dernbach 4-0- 

37-2; S Meaker 4-0-42-1; L Wright 4-0-38-2; J 

Tredwell 4-0-27-1. 

England 

M Lumb st Dhoni b Yuvraj ................................ 50 

A Hales c Dinda b Yuvraj .................................. 42 

L Wright lbw Yuvraj ............................................ 5 

E Morgan (not out) ............................................ 49 

S Patel c Gambhir b Dinda .................................. 9 

J Buttler (not out) ............................................... 12 

Extras: (b-1, lb-8, w-2) ..................................... 10 

Total: (4 wkts, 20 overs) ................................. 181 

Fall of wickets: 1-80, 2-94, 3-123, 4-149. 

Bowling: A Dinda 4-0-44-1; P Awana 4-0-42-0; R 

Ashwin 4-0-38-0; P Chawla 4-0-31-0; Yuvraj 4-0- 

17-3. 

Al Turki edge Assarain ‘A’ MCCC ‘B’ register first win 

sponsored 25-overs match 

was played in the afternoon 

session at the same venue. 

Electing to bat after winning 

the toss, L&T Electromech 

made a total of 139 runs 

for the loss of nine wickets in 

25 overs. Batting at No 9 Murugunathan 

T remained unbeaten 

on 35 (28b, 3x4) whilst 

Marudhachalam S 33 (29b, 

2x4) and skipper Ram Kumar 

Chinnagounder 20 (20b, 3x4) 

helped swell the score. 

Shakeel Arshad picked up 

two wickets giving away 31 

runs in five overs. 

PDORC CT in their turn 

started off brilliantly with 

openers Salman Rashid 51 

(39b, 9x4) and his partner 

Shiv Gupta 30 (24b, 2x6 , 

2x4) putting together 50 runs 

for the first wicket. 

Humayoun Rafiq coming 

in at the fall of the first wicket 

scored a run a ball 41 (4x4) 

and together with Salman was 

associated in a second-wicket 

partnership of 56 runs. 

Brief scores: L&T Electromech 

139 for 9 in 25 overs (Muruganathan 

T 35 n.o., Murudhachalam 

S 33, Ram Kumar Chinnagounder 

20; Asad Baig 5/23, Shakeel Arshad 

2/31) lost to PDORC 140 for 3 in 18 

overs (Salman Rashid 51, Humayoun 

Rafiq 41, Shiv Gupta 30). 

Points: PDORC 2 (6 games, 8 

pts), L&T Electromech 0 (6 games, 

4 pts) 

Bangalore stadium turns fortress for Indo-Pak T20 

About 5,000 police personnel 

will be deployed from 

today in and around the stadium, 

along the 1 km route 

from the star hotel where the 

two teams will stay and the 

city centre where the venue is 

located. — IANS 

companies, which are responsible 

of maintenance and cleaning 

the stadium if needed. 

Meanwhile, more than 

2,500 visiting visas have been 

issued for some of the delegations 

coming to Bahrain next 

month. 

DHAKA — Bangladesh 

have not made a definitive 

decision to tour 

Pakistan next month, 

Bangladesh Cricket 

Board (BCB) President 

Nazmul Hasan said 

yesterday, contradicting 

statements by his counterpart 

Zaka Ashraf. 

Pakistan Cricket 

Board Chairman Ashraf 

said on Friday that the 

BCB had confirmed a 

visit in January, which 

would make Bangladesh 

the first international 

side to set foot in 

Pakistan since armed 

militants attacked the 

Sri Lanka team bus in 

Lahore in 2009. 

"They have given us 

a date, which is January 

12. We will ask the 

ICC to complete their 

security assessment for 

match officials and the 

moment they finalise 

their stance, we can 

give our confirmation," 

Nazmul told the BBC's 

Bengali service. 

Nazmul hopes the 

International Cricket 

Council (ICC) will give 

its go-ahead. 

"We have made a 

commitment to travel to 

SYDNEY — Sri Lanka's 

Rangana Herath yesterday 

said that because Australian 

batsmen have faced so little 

quality spin bowling recently 

he is a good position to take 

wickets in the upcoming Boxing 

Day Test. 

Australia struggled against 

the fast bowling attack of 

South Africa earlier this summer, 

losing the three Test series 

1-0. 

"I know that the Australians, 

playing even in domestic 

cricket, they are 80-90 percent 

playing against fast bowlers," 

the Sri Lankan orthodox leftarmer 

told reporters. 

"So with that, I have 

chances to get wickets bowling 

spin." 

Herath, who took five for 

95 in the second innings of 

the first Test against Australia 

in Hobart, which the tourists 

lost, said as the MCG pitch 

wears it could help his spin. 

The Sri Lankan said his 

team would not be daunted 

by playing in the Boxing Day 

Test but acknowledged it was 

a 'remarkable occasion' for 

the tourists. 

"In South Africa, (it was) 

the same scenario," he said of 

his team's showing a year ago 

in Durban. 

Bahrain set for final rehearsal at Gulf Cup venues 

KHALID al Haj presides over the Stadiums Committee meeting ahead of the Gulf Cup in Manama. PICTURE RIGHT: Promotional hoardings comes up across Bahrain. 

No final decision 

on Pakistan tour, 

say BCB chief 

Public Relations Committee 

head Mohammed Qassim 

said the visas were for non- 

GCC citizens, representing 

different media sources as well 

as administrative and technical 

teams officials travelling along 

with their teams. 

Pakistan. It is my understanding 

that it is even 

in the minutes of an ICC 

meeting that we will 

go," Nazmul added. 

"Since we have made 

the commitment and if 

we think the security 

arrangement is satisfactory, 

I think we should 

go." 

Bangladesh had 

agreed to send a team 

to Pakistan in April this 

year to play a Twenty20 

match and one-day 

international in Lahore. 

However, the Dhaka 

High Court issued a 

restraining order stopping 

Bangladesh from 

playing in Pakistan due 

to security concerns. 

Eight Pakistanis 

were killed and six Sri 

Lanka players wounded 

in 2009 when gunmen 

fired on their coach as 

they were being driven 

to the Gaddafi stadium 

in Lahore. 

"We will take every 

possible precaution 

before going. In my 

opinion, we can reach a 

final decision in the 

next 2-4 days," Nazmul 

said. 

— Reuters 

Sri Lanka’s Herath 

hopes spin will 

trouble Aussies 

"We lost against South 

Africa in the first Test and we 

came back strongly and we 

did well and we won against 

South Africa in that Boxing 

Day Test match. 

"That was a remarkable 

one, because that's the only 

(Test) we have won against 

South Africa on their soil." 

Sri Lanka have yet to win 

in Australia in 11 Tests. 

They play in Melbourne 

from December 26 ahead 

of the final Sydney Test on 

January 3. — AFP 

Elsewhere, the first batch 

of advertising boards promoting 

the upcoming Gulf Cup 

tournament have been fixed 

in different locations across 

Bahrain. 

Executive secretary of the 

organising committee Maryam 

Yousef said these boards were 

installed as part of the committee 

campaign to promote this 

much-awaited football competition. 

She said that more of these 

board will soon be placed in 

other areas to cover most of 

Bahrain’s five governorates 

and should be completed in 

time for the start of the championship. 

The Accommodation and 

Hospitality Committee will 

hold a joint meeting with 

the Public Relations and 

Transports Committees to coordinate 

the mechanism of 

GCC teams accommodation 

during the tournament, and in 

accordance with the available 

hotels which have been approved 

by the organising committee.

McCullum backs misfiring Kiwis 

DURBAN — New Zealand 

captain Brendon McCullum 

was unapologetic for his 

team's approach after South 

Africa trounced them by eight 

wickets with 47 balls to spare 

in the first Twenty20 international 

on Friday. 

Fast bowler Rory Kleinveldt 

took two early wickets to 

start a slide from which New 

Zealand never recovered. 

Kleinveldt took the key 

wickets of Rob Nicol and 

McCullum before he finished 

with three for 18 to capture the 

man of the match award. 

South Africa romped home 

in 12.1 overs with new captain 

Faf du Plessis making 38 not 

out, while Quinton de Kock, 

making his debut four days after 

his 20th birthday, slammed 

a quick 28 not out. 

"We played some aggressive 

cricket and missed a couple 

of fundamentals on the 

way," McCullum said of his 

team's collapse to 86 all out 

after winning the toss, with 

several of the batsmen falling 

to over-ambitious strokes. 

"That is the way we are going 

to be, that is the way we 

are going to put them under 

pressure. We were probably 

a bit too keen, we were outplayed," 

added the captain, 

who said he expected a better 

performance in the second 

match of the three-game series 

in East London on Sunday. 

Du Plessis hailed a 'fantastic' 

performance by the home 

side. 

"The bowling was fantastic, 

the energy on the field was 

awesome," he said. 

It was a disappointing start 

for New Zealand, who arrived 

as underdogs but were expected 

to put up a reasonable 

fight in the Twenty20 internationals. 

They were missing several 

key players, including former 

captain Ross Taylor, who was 

unavailable for the tour, and 

they suffered another blow 

 

SOUTH African bowler Rayn McLaren attempts to catch out New Zealand’s Robert Nicol 

during their T20 match at the Kingsmead Stadium in Durban on Friday. — AFP 

when experienced batsman 

Martin Guptill could not play 

at Kingsmead because of a 

stomach ailment. 

Fast bowler Trent Boult 

was also unavailable because 

of a similar problem. 

On a Kingsmead pitch with 

pace and bounce, the tourists 

lost three wickets inside the 

first five overs. 

Nicol charged Kleinveldt 

and was caught behind, while 

McCullum top-edged a hook 

and was caught at fine leg. In 

between Peter Fulton drove 

Dale Steyn to mid-on. 

It did not get much better 

for the Black Caps although 

left-handed newcomer Colin 

Munro, who was born in Durban 

and did his early schooling 

in the city before his family 

moved to New Zealand, 

made 23. Doug Bracewell hit 

21 not out. 

Steyn, newcomer Chris 

Morris and left-arm spinner 

Robin Peterson all took two 

wickets. 

New Zealand new cap 

Mitchell McClenaghan had 

Richard Levi caught at slip 

for a duck, bowling a wicket 

maiden at the start of the South 

African innings. 

But Henry Davids and Du 

Plessis put on 45 before the 

captain and De Kock finished 

the match. 

SCOREBOARD 

New Zealand 

R Nicol c De Kock b Kleinveldt ....3 

P Fulton c Morris b Steyn ..............9 

B McCullum c Steyn b Kleinveldt 6 

J Franklin c De Kock b McLaren ..0 

C Munro c&b Morris ...................23 

19 SPORT 



THE ROYAL DANISH BALLET 

STYLE AND ELEGANCE 

 

 

 

The Royal Danish Ballet 

and Royal Danish Orchestra 

 

 

 

 

C Anderson c Levi b Morris ..........5 

N McCullum b Peterson ................1 

J Neesham b Peterson ..................10 

D Bracewell (not out) ..................21 

R Hira c Kleinveldt b Steyn ...........5 

M McClenaghan c Peterson 

b Kleinveldt .......0 

Extras: (lb-1, w-2) ........................3 

Total: (18.2 overs) .......................86 

Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-19, 3-19, 

4-27, 5-34, 6-36, 7-54, 8-60, 9-81. 

Bowling: McLaren 4-0-27-1, Steyn 

3-0-13-2 (w-1), Kleinveldt 3.2-1- 

18-3, Morris 3.4-0-19-2 (w-1), Peterson 

4-0-8-2, Du Plessis 0.2-0-0-0. 

South Africa 

R Levi c Fulton b McClenaghan ...0 

H Davids b Hira ...........................20 

F du Plessis (not out) ...................38 

Q de Kock (not out) .....................28 

Extras: (w-1) .................................1 

Total: (2 wkts, 12.1 overs) ..........87 

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-45. 

Bowling: McClenaghan 3-1-20-1, 

Bracewell 2-0-21-0 (w-1), Hira 3-0- 

15-1, Anderson 1-0-11-0, N McCullum 

2-0-7-0, Nicol 1-0-11-0, Neesham 

0.1-0-2-0. 

20 21 

JANUARY

Zubair Auto, Gusto sign MoU 

ZUBAIR Automotive Group (Mitsubishi) and Gusto Distribution 

signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to reflect 

increased co-operation between the two organisations. The new 

agreement enables the two firms to work more closely to support 

the safe operation of nuclear power plants worldwide. Page 22 

Sunday, December 23, 2012 

Search for new WTO chief heats up 

GENEVA — The race to find a replacement 

for Frenchman Pascal Lamy 

in the World Trade Organisation's top 

post heated up with the disclosure that 

Mexico, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya and 

New Zealand had all added candidates 

to the list. Indonesia has nominated its 

BEIJING — China yesterday 

showed off the final link of 

the world's longest high-speed 

rail route set to begin whisking 

passengers from Beijing 

to Guangzhou next week in 

a third of the time currently 

required. 

The much anticipated 

opening of high-speed passenger 

service from Beijing 

to Guangzhou, a distance of 

2,298 kilometres is scheduled 

to begin on Wednesday, 

officials said. 

Travelling at an average 

speed of 300 kilometres per 

hour, the new line will slash 

the time it takes to travel by 

rail from the capital to the 

southern commercial hub 

from the current 22 hours to 

just eight. 

Authorities took journalists 

for a ride yesterday on the 

section of the route linking 

Beijing's West Station with 

the city of Zhengzhou 693 

kilometres to the south, the 

route's last link. 

Hitting speeds of over 300 

kmh, the gleaming, tubular 

train sped past frozen lakes 

and rivers as well as snowcovered 

farmland on the journey 

of approximately twoand-a-half 

hours each way. 

Though moving much 

faster than the country's conventional 

rolling stock, the 

ride on the aerodynamic bullet 

train was smooth and made 

little noise other than a lowlevel 

hum during most of the 

trip. 

The reclining seats are laid 

out in rows of three and two 

separated by an aisle, are upholstered 

in cloth and can be 

turned around so rows faced 

each other. 

Toilets on the train are of 

stainless steel squat variety, 

with slightly more bathroom 

space than would usually be 

found on an airliner, while 

ex-trade minister Mari Pangestu, 56, 

hoping she would bridge the gap between 

developing and developed countries, 

presidential spokesman Teuku 

Faizasyah said. 

He also stressed that as a woman, 

Pangestu, currently serving as tourism 

China shows off longest 

high-speed rail route 

AN attendant stands inside a high-speed train during an 

organised experience trip from Beijing to Zhengzhou. — AFP 

uniformed women were on 

hand to serve drinks and 

snacks during the trip. 

"This is the world's longest 

bullet train track," Zhou Li, a 

Ministry of Railways official 

said, describing the Beijing- 

Guangzhou route. 

"It's also one of the most 

technically advanced tracks 

in China and the world." 

The line will have 35 

stops. Besides Zhengzhou, 

they will include other major 

cities such as Wuhan and 

Changsha. Sections linking 

Zhengzhou and Wuhan and 

Wuhan and Guangzhou are 

already in service. 

China's high-speed rail 

network was only established 

in 2007, but has quickly become 

the world's largest, with 

a total of 8,358 kilometres of 

track at the end of 2010. 

That is expected to almost 

double to 16,000 kilometres 

by 2020. 

But the network has been 

plagued by graft and safety 

scandals following the rapid 

expansion. A deadly bullet 

train collision in July 2011 

killed 40 people and sparked 

a public outcry. 

The accident — China's 

worst rail disaster since 2008 

— triggered a flood of criticism 

of the government and 

accusations that authorities 

had compromised safety in its 

rush to expand. 

Authorities say that they 

have taken steps ahead of the 

new line's opening to improve 

maintenance and inspection 

of infrastructure, including 

track, rolling stock and emergency 

response measures. 

"The emergency rescue 

system and all kinds of emergency 

pre-plans are established 

to improve emergency 

response ability," according 

to a ministry booklet handed 

out to journalists. — AFP 

Sweden slashes 2012 and 

2013 growth forecasts 

STOCKHOLM — The Swedish government slashed last Friday its 

economic growth forecasts, saying it now expects business activity 

to expand by 0.9 per cent instead of by 1.6 per cent this year. 

Finance Minister Anders Borg also cut the 2013 growth 

forecast to 1.1 per cent from the 2.7 per cent level that the government 

predicted in September, blaming a weaker outlook in 

Europe and uncertainty over US fiscal policy. 

"It is becoming more and more clear that the crisis in Europe 

and the events in the United States are affecting once 

again employment and growth in Sweden," said Borg. 

The government now expects Swedish exports to rise by 

only 1.4 per cent next year instead of by 5.0 per cent as forecast 

previously. — AFP" 

and creative economy minister, would 

be a good choice. "Gender wise, surely 

it will be very good if the forum is led 

by a woman," he said. 

Mexico has nominated a former 

minister who led the country's negotiations 

on the North American Free 

Trade Agreement to take over the helm 

of the World Trade Organization, the 

WTO said yesterday. 

Herminio Blanco Mendoza is a 

62-year-old economist who served 

as Mexico's chief NAFTA negotiator 

from 1990-93, and as its trade and industry 

minister from 1994 to 2000. 

He also led Mexico's participation 

in the Uruguay round of talks that led 

to the creation of the WTO in 1995. 

His name is the seventh to be tossed 

into the hat to replace the current WTO 

Chief, Frenchman Pascal Lamy, who 

will step down when his second term 

expires on August 31. Observers say 

the next director general will most 

likely not be a European or an American 

and all but one of the current candidates 

are from developing countries. 

Three of the seven are women: 

Costa Rican Foreign Trade Minister 

Anabel Gonzales, Indonesia's former 

trade minister Mari Pangestu and Kenya's 

Amina Mohamed, who has held a 

number of high-level UN positions. 

New Zealand has nominated its 

Trade Minister Tim Groser, while 

Ghana and Jordan have nominated 

their former trade ministers Alan John 

Kwadwo Kyerematen and Ahmad 

Hindawi. 

The WTO's 158 member countries 

have until December 31 to submit candidates 

for the post, and the body will 

make its decision known by May 31. 

Jordan meanwhile nominated 

former trade minister Ahmad Hindawi 

on Friday. The race kicked off on December 

17, when Ghana nominated the 

first candidate. — AFP 

A lump of coal for ‘Fiscal Cliff-mas’ 

WALL Street traders are going to have to pack their tablets and 

work computers in their holiday luggage after all. A traditionally 

quiet week could become hellish for traders as politicians are likely 

to fall short of a pact to deal with $600 billion in tax hikes and 

spending cuts due to kick in early next year. Page 24 

French growth weak, will 

miss deficit target: IMF 

WASHINGTON — The IMF 

said that France's growth outlook 

"remains fragile" and 

warned that it would probably 

miss its target of reducing its 

public deficit to three per cent 

next year. 

"Growth remains sluggish 

and the near-term outlook is 

subject to downside risks," 

it said, saying France's 2013 

deficit would not fall below 

3.5 per cent, while growth will 

fall from 1.7 per cent in 2011 

to 0.2 per cent in 2012. 

President Francois Hollande's 

French government 

has built its 2013 budget on 

an expectation of reducing 

its annual deficit to three per 

cent of GDP, the threshold 

imposed on members of the 

euro zone single-currency 

bloc. 

But Hollande's team is hoping 

that growth will recover to 

0.8 per cent next year, a figure 

economists at the International 

Monetary Fund — the global 

lender of last resort — regard 

as over-optimistic. 

"The growth outlook for 

France remains fragile reflecting 

weak conditions in Europe," 

the IMF said, following 

its "Article IV" consultation 

with France, an annual checkup 

on the health of national 

economies. 

"In this environment, 

growth is expected to slow 

markedly from 1.7 per cent 

in 2011 to 0.2 per cent in 

2012, and to recover only 

very gradually to 0.4 per cent 

in 2013," said the body, in a 

statement issued in Washington. 

"With job creation remaining 

subdued, unemployment 

is expected to rise further," it 

said, warning efforts by European 

governments to reduce 

their deficits "will continue to 

depress demand." 

"The recovery of the 

French economy is also hampered 

by a loss of competitiveness 

which is reflected in 

a steady loss of export market 

share and low profit margins 

relative to European partners," 

it said. — AFP"


MUSCAT — Zubair Automotive 

Group (Mitsubishi) and 

Gusto Distribution signed a 

new Memorandum of Understanding 

(MoU) to reflect increased 

co-operation between 

the two organisations. 

The new agreement enables 

the two organisations to work 

more closely together to support 

the safe and reliable operation 

of nuclear power plants 

worldwide, and to enhance 

22 

OMAN/INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2012 

Zubair Auto, Gusto sign MoU on N-power plants operation 

information exchange on operations 

experience and other 

relevant areas. 

Through the new agreement, 

the two organisations are 

adopting a more co-ordinated 

approach to their respective activities 

in order to increase the 

growth of business in Oman. 

The two organisations will 

also co-operate and co-ordinate 

work on their respective 

performance and will work 

towards exchanging information 

and support in the areas of 

EU: Samsung injunctions against Apple breach rules 

BRUSSELS — The European 

Commission said that South 

Korea's Samsung Electronics 

was abusing its dominant 

market position in certain 

technologies when it took out 

injunctions against fierce rival 

Apple. 

As the two giants fight it 

out in the smartphone and 

tablet computer market, the 

Commission said that in this 

instance, Samsung appeared 

to be at fault as the injunctions 

would prevent Apple from access 

to core shared patents. 

"When companies have 

contributed their patents to 

an industry standard and have 

made a commitment to license 

the patents in return for fair remuneration, 

then the use of injunctions 

against willing licensees 

can be anti-competitive," 

EU Competition Commissioner 

Joaquin Almunia said in 

a statement. 

The Commission said it 

had informed Samsung that its 

injunctions over Apple access 

to Standard-Essential Patents 

(SEPS) "amounts to an abuse 

of a dominant market position 

prohibited by EU anti-trust 

rules." 

In response, Samsung said 

that it was "studying" the matter 

"and will firmly defend 

ourselves against any misconceived 

allegations." 

While Samsung "will continue 

to fully cooperate with 

the commission", the company 

said it "is confident that in due 

course the commission will 

conclude that we have acted 

in compliance with European 

Union competition laws." 

Brussels opened a probe in 

January after Samsung sought 

injunctions banning the sale of 

products made by its competitors 

in several European countries, 

alleging that they were 

illegally using its patents. 

Samsung said earlier this 

week it would drop a request to 

ban Apple products in Britain, 

France, Germany, Italy and 

The Netherlands but would 

proceed with suits for alleged 

patent infringement. 

Almunia said Thursday of 

the Samsung decision that he 

was "very happy ... because 

one of the most important 

objections that we have when 

dealing with holders of Standard 

Essential Patents is their 

possible abuse using their 

ownership (of patents)." 

— AFP 

logistic and transport. 

Zubair Automotive Group 

(Mitsubishi) and Gusto Distribution 

will also share the 

experience and expertise of 

employees to each other's review 

teams when appropriate, 

and will regularly exchange 

documents relating to operating 

experience. 

Gazprom to buy Kyrgyz gas 

operator for one dollar 

BISHKEK — Russia's gas giant Gazprom is taking a controlling 

stake in Kyrgyzstan's debt-ridden state gas company for 

one dollar, Kyrgyzgaz said. 

"The price has been set at one dollar" for 75 per cent of the 

company, considering its estimated debt of $38 million, said 

Kyrgyzgaz director Turgunbek Kulmurzayev. 

Gazprom is eventually planning to buy 100 per cent of 

the company and invest 20 billion roubles ($660 million) 

over five years, he said. Gazprom will be doing exploration 

in Kyrgyzstan. "The issue of Kyrgyzgaz's privatisation will be 

resolved by April 1, 2013." — AFP

NEW YORK — Fears about imminent 

tax hikes and cuts to government 

spending are taking a toll on 

US shoppers and could deprive retailers 

of a strong finish to the 2012 

holiday shopping season. 

The acrimonious debate in 

Washington over how to avoid 

the so-called fiscal cliff has cast a 

pall over shopper sentiment, retail 

experts say, as consumers head 

to the malls on the last Saturday 

before Christmas — typically one 

of the busiest shopping days of the 

year. 

Talks to avoid the fiscal cliff 

stalled on Thursday when Republican 

lawmakers rejected House 

Speaker John Boehner's proposal 

aimed at winning concessions from 

President Barack Obama. 

"The longer Congress delays 

making a decision on the fiscal cliff 

and the more uncertainty people 

feel, as we go towards Christmas, 

they would start pulling back on 

their spending," said Ron Friedman, 

retail practice leader at consulting 

firm Marcum LLP. "I don't think 

we're going to get a great pickup in 

the last few days here." 

About 17 per cent of the 1,514 

Americans who participated in a 

Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted December 

17-20 said the impending 

"fiscal cliff" was making them 

spend less this season. 

US consumer sentiment also 

plummeted in December as Americans 

were unnerved by ongoing negotiations, 

data showed. 

The Thomson Reuters/University 

of Michigan's final reading on 

the overall index on consumer sentiment 

tumbled to 72.9 from 82.7 in 

November, worse than forecasts for 

74.7. It was the lowest level since 

July. 

"What could have been a merry 

Christmas is going to turn to a hohum 

Christmas, and we can thank 

our, you know, politicians for getting 

in the middle of it all," NPD 

analyst Marshal Cohen said. "It 

is like this great unknown puts a 

big damper on the consumer feeling 

confident to go out and spend 

more." 

More than 60 per cent of US consumers 

have already finished more 

23 

INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2012 

Brazil opens two main airports to private investors 

PASSENGERS wait in line to check-in to their flights at the Antonio Carlos Jobim international airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. — AFP 

BRASILIA — Brazil opened two 

of its international airports to private 

investors and launched a plan 

to expand domestic air travel as it 

rushes to accommodate surging air 

traffic in time for the 2014 soccer 

World Cup and the 2016 Olympic 

Games. 

The plan to modernise Rio de Janeiro's 

Galeao airport, the country's 

second-largest, and Belo Horizonte's 

Confins airport should attract 

Wells Fargo agrees to proposed 

settlement on shareholder actions 

WASHINGTON — Wells Fargo 

& Co would pay up to $2.5 

million in attorneys' fees and 

implement certain corporate 

governance changes under a 

proposed settlement of lawsuits 

brought by shareholders 

on behalf of the company, according 

to a securities filing 

by Wells on Friday. The suits 

were filed in US District Court 

in Northern California in 2010 

on behalf of Wells Fargo and 

its shareholders against current 

and former directors and 

executives largely related to 

conduct at Wachovia bank, 

which Wells bought in 2008. 

The suits claim that from 

2005 to 2008 the former 

Wachovia defendants disregarded 

"their fundamental 

responsibilities" with respect 

to Wachovia's acquisition of 

mortgage lender Golden West 

Financial and other activities 

at Wachovia, according to settlement 

documents. The suits 

also allege that Wells directors 

did not pursue "valuable 

claims" that it inherited in the 

Wachovia acquisition, according 

to the documents. 

Wells bought Wachovia as 

THE logo for Wells Fargo bank is pictured in downtown Los Angeles, California. 

the lender verged on collapse 

due to ballooning mortgage 

losses and a run on its deposits. 

All the defendants denied 

wrongdoing and filed motions 

to dismiss, according to the 

documents. 

A hearing will be held on 

the settlement on March 5, 

2013 according to Friday's 

filing by Wells with the Securities 

and Exchange Commission. 

The governance changes 

include a requirement that the 

risk committee of the Wells 

Fargo board hire an outside 

11.4 billion reais ($5.48 billion) in 

bids from private companies, the 

civil aviation authority said. 

Rio de Janeiro, whose creaking 

consultant for three years. 

Under the proposed settlement, 

the defendants would 

not make any payments to 

Wells Fargo or the plaintiffs, 

according to the securities filing. 

Wells will pay any attorneys' 

fees. — Reuters 

American Air flight attendants to join talks on potential merger 

NEW YORK — The Association 

of Professional Flight Attendants 

union, which represents 

workers at AMR Corp's 

American Airlines, said it had 

been invited to take part in 

confidential talks on a potential 

merger with US Airways 

Group. 

The union said it signed 

a non-disclosure agreement 

(NDA) that will permit its in- 

volvement in discussions with 

the two airlines. 

"This non-disclosure agreement 

gives us further opportunity 

to affect the potential 

merger as we engage in direct 

and confidential discussions 

with key stakeholders," the 

flight attendants union said in 

a communications update. 

"We know from previous 

major mergers that labour 

discussions like these were 

critical milestones," the union 

added. A spokeswoman for the 

Association of Professional 

Flight Attendants declined 

further comment. 

American Airlines filed for 

Chapter 11 protection last year, 

and US Airways has been pursuing 

a merger with its larger 

rival for much of 2012. 

Merger discussions among 

US Airways, AMR and its 

creditors are at an advanced 

stage, with a decision on 

whether to pursue a combination 

or emerge as an independent 

company expected as soon 

as January, people familiar with 

the matter have said. Pilot unions 

at American and US Airways 

have also joined merger 

talks with AMR creditors and 

the companies.— Reuters 

Weidmann 

sees no big 

leap towards 

fiscal union 

FRANKFURT — European 

Central Bank Governing 

Council member Jens Weidmann 

(pictured) expects 

little progress towards a European 

fiscal union because 

there is little political will 

to relinquish national sovereignty, 

he was quoted as saying 

in an interview. 

"I do not see the big leap 

towards fiscal union," Weidmann 

said in an interview 

with German magazine 

Wirtschaftswoche published 

online. 

Weidmann, who also 

heads Germany's Bundesbank, 

warned against pooling 

risks without addressing 

the issue of sovereignty that 

a fiscal union would entail. 

Weidmann repeated previous 

objections to the ECB's 

bond-buying programme for 

crisis-struck euro zone states, 

saying, "We have embarked 

on a slippery slope." 

Once a country slips into 

crisis and requires ECB support 

through the programme, 

it would be difficult for the 

ECB to then withdraw its 

support should the country 

depart from reforms agreed 

to as a condition for the support, 

he was quoted as saying. 

— Reuters 

Galeao airport struggles to serve 

rising numbers of tourists and business 

visitors, is one of 12 Brazilian 

cities fielding World Cup matches 

in 2014 and will host the Summer 

Olympics two years later. Its capacity 

will be more than doubled 

from 15 million passengers a year 

at present to 44 million before the 

World Cup under the new plan. 

Air traffic has boomed in Brazil 

in the last decade of rapid economic 

growth and rising middle class incomes, 

overcrowding its aging airports, 

which have long been starved 

of investment. 

Private companies that win operating 

licenses to be auctioned in 

September will have control over 

the two airports, and state airport 

management company Infraero will 

have a minority 49 per cent stake, 

the same formula used in concessions 

auctioned in February for the 

airports of Brasilia, Campinas and 

Sao Paulo's Guarulhos, Brazil's 

largest. 

Seeking to draw more experienced 

airport operators, the Brazilian 

government is requiring that 

bidders for the two new concessions 

have experience managing airports 

with at least 35 million passengers 

a year, far more than the 5 million 

in the earlier auction. The operator 

must also take a minimum 25 per 

cent stake in the winning consortium. 

The government also said it 

would invest 7.3 billion reais to upgrade 

smaller regional airports and 

build 17 new terminals to increase 

NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors 

lost one opportunity 

to build a case against hedge 

fund manager Steven A Cohen 

when a grand jury indicted 

one of Cohen's former employees 

on charges related to 

an insider trading scheme, severely 

reducing the possibility 

he would cooperate as a witness 

against Cohen. 

The grand jury in New 

York returned an indictment 

against Mathew Martoma, a 

former portfolio manager at 

CR Intrinsic Investors, one of 

SAC Capital Management's 

funds, in what prosecutors 

have called the "most lucrative" 

insider trading scheme 

ever. 

Martoma, 38, of Boca Raton, 

Florida, was indicted on 

three counts of conspiracy 

to commit securities fraud 

and securities fraud related 

to trades made in Elan Corp 

Plc and Wyeth — now part 

of Pfizer Inc — based on tips 

prosecutors say he received 

from a doctor. 

The trades allegedly helped 

CR Intrinsic avoid losses and 

reap profits totalling $276 million 

in the summer of 2008. 

The indictment followed an 

earlier criminal complaint federal 

prosecutors filed November 

20. Martoma is the seventh 

former employee of Cohen's 

to be charged or implicated in 

insider trading schemes, and 

the criminal complaint against 

him is the first to refer to Cohen. 

Cohen appears as "Hedge 

Fund Owner" in the criminal 

complaint and "hedge fund 

manager A" in the corresponding 

civil complaint against 

Martoma, filed by the US Se- 

access to air travel in the interior of 

Brazil. 

The plan is part of President 

Dilma Rousseff's push to attract 

private investment to help upgrade 

a deficient transport infrastructure, 

from roads and railways to airports 

and seaports, that has made Brazil a 

costly place to do business. 

Rousseff rebuffed criticism that 

Brazil, where economic growth has 

stalled, is no longer a good place to 

invest. "We are improving the business 

environment in Brazil, triggering 

a huge advance in investment 

in productivity," she said after the 

airport announcement. 

Brazil's economy grew just 0.6 

per cent in the third quarter. Rousseff 

pointed to lower interest rates, 

a weaker currency and her goal of 

lowering the country's tax burden 

as factors that will bring about a 

solid recovery in 2013. 

Rousseff said a country the size 

of Brazil needs better internal air 

travel facilities and that improving 

these links would require publicprivate 

partnerships. 

"With the initiatives we are taking, 

we will enable regional aviation 

in our country that otherwise 

would not be viable," she said. Her 

plan is that 96 per cent of Brazilians 

should live within 100 kms (65 

miles) of an airport served by regular 

commercial flights. 

Brazil is larger than the 48 contiguous 

US states. Some communities, 

including many in the Amazon 

region, can only be reached by 

plane, for all practical purposes. 

curities and Exchange Commission, 

according to a source 

familiar with the case. 

"Though disappointing, 

today's events come as no surprise," 

said Martoma's lawyer, 

Charles Stillman, founding 

member of Stillman Friedman 

in New York. 

"The simple fact is that 

Mathew Martoma did not 

trade on inside information, is 

innocent of all these charges, 

and we look forward to his ultimate 

vindication." 

The same day as the indictment, 

investors in Elan's 

American depositary receipts 

sued SAC Capital, Cohen and 

Martoma, among others, for 

federal securities law violations 

related to the alleged the 

insider trading. 

The lawsuit, filed in the US 

District Court in New York, 

appears to be the first private 

action against SAC stemming 

from the insider trading criminal 

case. The lawsuit seeks 

class action status and unspecified 

damages. 

than three-quarters of their holiday 

shopping, according to a Reuters/ 

Ipsos poll released on Thursday. 

This means retailers will have to offer 

deeper discounts to force Americans 

to open their wallets in the last 

lap of the holiday season. 

The holiday quarter can account 

for about 30 per cent of annual sales 

and half of profit for many chains, 

and experts including Cohen and 

Friedman see retailers pulling out 

all the stops this weekend and the 

week ahead to woo last-minute 

shoppers. 

"The only way retailers now are 

going to be able to get a boost is by 

creating their own stimulus package, 

and that stimulus package is 

going to be markdowns," Cohen 

said. 

Earlier this week, research firm 

ShopperTrak lowered its sales forecast 

for November and December 

and now expects sales to be up 

2.5 per cent, rather than up 3.3 per 

cent. 

Many retailers reported record 

traffic at the beginning of the 

season, but several, including 

Besides upgrading small airports, 

Brazil will foster more regional 

flights by exempting airlines 

from paying airport fees at airports 

with less than one million passengers 

a year, a step that will help 

airlines like Azul that cater to small 

airports. 

The government will subsidize 

travel on some regional routes and 

will allow private airports to receive 

commercial flights. 

Passenger traffic more than doubled 

in the last 10 years, according 

to government figures, making Brazil 

one of the most promising aviation 

markets in the world. Some 

analysts say the volume of airline 

passengers could double again by 

2030. 

While increasing air traffic 

fuelled heady growth for a crop of 

ambitious new airlines such as Gol 

and Azul, many carriers now complain 

more growth is not possible 

without significant airport expansion. 

Delays at roads, ports, factories, 

as well as airports, have also raised 

production and distribution costs 

and contributed to the drag that 

poor infrastructure has had on the 

once-booming Brazilian economy. 

Rousseff's decision to tackle the 

problem with private investment 

is a reversal of the long-standing 

policy of her Workers' Party and of 

her predecessor and mentor, Luiz 

Inácio Lula da Silva. Lula opposed 

efforts during his two terms to allow 

private partners to manage Brazilian 

airports.— Reuters 

Ex-SAC official indicted 

in insider trading scheme 

After the Federal Bureau 

of Investigation arrested 

Martoma in late November, 

federal prosecutors filed a 

criminal complaint against 

him but did not formally 

charge him, a move widely 

seen as leaving the door open 

for Martoma to "flip." Had 

he flipped, he would have 

had to agree to a plea deal 

in exchange for becoming a 

co-operating witness for the 

government. 

"The reports have been 

that the government has made 

significant efforts to enlist Mr. 

Martoma as a cooperating 

witness and he has refused," 

said Tom Gorman, a partner at 

Dorsey & Whitney in Washington. 

"The fact that they've incited 

him probably means 

that they've given up on that, 

but he could still change his 

mind." 

Gorman added defendants 

often grow more willing 

to make a deal as the time of 

their trial nears. — Reuters 

Fiscal cliff spooks US shoppers in last lap of holiday race 

VALERIE Gonzalez, owner of Delicious Tamales, handles the Christmas rush with her daughter 

Iliana Lopez in San Antonio, Texas. — Reuters 

FORMER SAC Capital employee Mathew Martoma exits 

the Manhattan Federal court following an appearance on 

insider trading charges in New York. — Reuters 

Macy's Inc and Saks Inc, lost a lot 

of business because of Hurricane 

Sandy. 

Earlier this week, Redbook Research 

said chain-store same-store 

sales rose 2.2 per cent so far in December, 

suggesting shoppers are 

indeed cooling their heels. Sales 

for the November-December holiday 

season look set to rise 4.1 per 

cent to $586.1 billion this year after 

a 5.6 per cent increase in 2011, according 

to a National Retail Federation 

forecast. 

"Retailers are going to be pretty 

challenged this year in trying to 

get beyond all this," Cohen said, 

referring to a string of events this 

holiday season that have weighed 

on US shoppers including the hurricane, 

gridlock in Washington and 

a recent shooting at an elementary 

school in Connecticut. 

NRF sees 2013 retail sales rising 

about 2 to 2.5 per cent if the fiscal 

cliff is averted. If not, sales would 

be essentially flat for the year, the 

trade group estimated in a study 

with Macroeconomic Advisers. 

— Reuters

A lump of coal for ‘Fiscal Cliff-mas’ 

NEW YORK — Wall Street 

traders are going to have to 

pack their tablets and work 

computers in their holiday luggage 

after all. 

A traditionally quiet week 

could become hellish for traders 

as politicians in Washington 

are likely to fall short of an 

agreement to deal with $600 

billion in tax hikes and spending 

cuts due to kick in early 

next year. Many economists 

forecast that this "fiscal cliff" 

will push the economy into recession. 

Thursday's debacle in the 

US House of Representatives, 

where Speaker John Boehner 

failed to secure passage of 

his own bill that was meant 

to pressure President Obama 

and Senate Democrats. This 

only added to worry that the 

protracted budget talks will 

stretch into 2013. 

TRADERS work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. — Reuters 

WALL ST WEEK AHEAD 

Still, the market remains 

resilient. Friday's decline on 

Wall Street, triggered by Boehner's 

fiasco, was not enough 

to prevent the S&P 500 from 

posting its best week in four. 

"The markets have been 

sort of taking this in stride," 

said Sandy Lincoln, chief market 

strategist at BMO Asset 

Management US in Chicago, 

which has about $38 billion in 

assets under management. 

"The markets still basically 

believe that something will be 

done," he said. 

If something happens next 

week, it will come in a short 

time frame. Markets will be 

open for a half-day on Christmas 

Eve, when Congress will 

not be in session, and will close 

on Tuesday for Christmas. 

Wall Street will resume regular 

stock trading on Wednesday, 

but volume is expected to 

be light throughout the rest of 

the week with scores of market 

participants away on a holiday 

break. 

For the week, the three major 

US stock indexes posted 

gains, with the Dow Jones industrial 

average finance/markets/index.DJI 

up 0.4 per cent, 

the S&P 500 up 1.2 per cent 

and the Nasdaq Composite Index 

up 1.7 per cent. 

Equity volumes are expected 

to fall sharply next 

week. Last year, daily volume 

on each of the last five trading 

days dropped on average by 

about 49 per cent, compared 

24 

OMAN/INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2012 

with the rest of 2011 — to 

just over 4 billion shares a 

day exchanging hands on the 

New York Stock Exchange, 

the Nasdaq and NYSE in the 

final five sessions of the year 

from a 2011 daily average of 

7.9 billion. 

If the trend repeats, low 

volumes could generate a 

spike in volatility as traders 

keep track of any advance in 

the cliff talks in Washington. 

"I'm guessing it's going to 

be a low volume week. There's 

not a whole lot other than the 

fiscal cliff that is going to continue 

to take the headlines," 

said Joe Bell, senior equity analyst 

at Schaeffer's Investment 

Research, in Cincinnati. 

"A lot of people already 

have a foot out the door, and 

with the possibility of some 

market-moving news, you get 

the possibility of increased 

volatility." 

Economic data would have 

to be way off the mark to move 

markets next week. But if the 

recent trend of better-thanexpected 

economic data holds, 

stocks will have strong fundamental 

support that could prevent 

selling from getting overextended 

even as the fiscal cliff 

negotiations grind along. 

Small and mid-cap stocks 

have outperformed their larger 

peers in the last couple of 

months, indicating a shift in 

investor sentiment toward the 

US economy. The S&P Mid- 

Cap 400 Index .MID overcame 

a technical level by confirming 

its close above 1,000 for a second 

week. 

"We view the outperformance 

of the mid-caps and the 

break of that level as a strong 

sign for the overall market," 

Schaeffer's Bell said. 

"Whenever you have flight 

to risk, it shows investors are 

beginning to have more of a 

risk appetite." 

Evidence of that shift could 

be a spike in shares in the defence 

sector, expected to take 

a hit as defence spending is a 

key component of the budget 

talks. 

The PHLX defence sector 

index. DFX hit a historic high 

on Thursday, and far outperformed 

the market on Friday 

with a dip of just 0.26 per cent, 

while the three major US stock 

indexes finished the day down 

about 1 per cent. 

Following a half-day 

on Wall Street on Monday 

ahead of the Christmas holiday, 

Wednesday will bring 

the S&P/Case-Shiller Home 

Price Index. It is expected to 

show a ninth-straight month 

of gains. 

US jobless claims on 

Thursday are seen roughly 

in line with the previous 

week's level, with the forecast 

at 360,000 new filings 

for unemployment insurance, 

compared with the previous 

week's 361,000. — Reuters 

‘Fiscal cliff’ brings waiting game for payrolls firms 

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK 

— At payroll processing businesses 

across the United 

States, the "fiscal cliff" stalemate 

in Washington means uncertainty 

over tax-withholding 

tables just days before the start 

of 2013. 

The US Internal Revenue 

Service still has not issued the 

tables for next year that show 

how much money employers 

should hold back from workers' 

paychecks to cover federal 

income taxes. 

Payroll processors need 

the tables to get their systems 

geared up for the new year. 

The tables are set by many 

factors, including tax rates and 

annual inflation adjustments. 

In anticipation of latebreaking 

developments, Rochester, 

New York-based 

Paychex Inc will be serving 

Buffalo chicken wings for 

staffers working late on New 

Year's Eve, said Frank Fiorille, 

an executive at the payroll 

processing giant. 

"Our systems are flexible 

enough that we can wait almost 

up until the last minute 

and still make changes," 

he said. 

The IRS appreciates of the 

impact of Congress' inaction. 

"Since Congress is still 

considering changes to the tax 

law, we continue to closely 

monitor the situation," IRS 

spokesman Terry Lemons said 

in a statement. "We intend to 

issue guidance by the end of 

the year on appropriate withholding 

for 2013." 

Tax rates are slated to rise 

sharply for most Americans if 

Congress and President Barack 

Obama fail to reach an agreement 

that averts the "fiscal 

cliff" approaching at year-end. 

"The political process will 

determine one way or the other 

what" the IRS must do, said 

Scott Hodge, President of the 

Tax Foundation, a businessoriented 

tax research group. 

For now, he said, from the 

tax-collection agency's viewpoint, 

"doing nothing is probably 

the best course." This 

would be because withholding 

tables distributed now might 

only have to be revised if 

Congress acts in the next few 

days. 

Some payroll servicers are 

not waiting for formal IRS 

guidance. The American Payroll 

Association, which represents 

about 23,000 payroll 

professionals, told members 

on Friday to rely on 2012 

withholding tables until the 

IRS releases the new forms for 

2013. 

The association said its 

decision was based on a statement 

earlier this month from 

an IRS official. 

Tax preparer H&R Block 

Inc said it will use 2012 taxwithholding 

tables if the 2013 

tables are not issued.— Reuters 

TEL: 24601003, 24600586 • FAX: 24600736 

• WEBSITE: www.salalahport.com 

BIZ BRIEFS 

World Bank to hear YPF takeover complaint 

WASHINGTON — The World Bank's 

arbitration unit has agreed to hear a complaint 

by Spanish oil firm Repsol over Argentina's 

expropriation of the company's 

former energy affiliate YPF. 

On its website, the International Center 

for Settlement of Investment Disputes 

simply indicated that it had begun the arbitration 

process on Tuesday and the tribunal 

was "not yet constituted." Repsol filed its 

complaint two weeks ago. 

The two parties now must agree on the 

members of a three-person tribunal which 

will review the case. 

In May, the Argentine government seized YPF from Repsol, accusing the Spanish oil giant 

of allowing oil and gas production to lapse and forcing Argentina's oil import bill to rise 

amid growing demand. Repsol is fighting for financial compensation over the expropriation. 

It has filed suit against Argentina in a New York court, saying the government violated YPF 

bylaws with the takeover. 

The Spanish firm says its 51 per cent stake in YPF is worth $10 billion. It has also threatened 

to take to court any party investing in YPF interests, which it says were expropriated 

illegally. Earlier this month, US oil giant Chevron announced a deal to tap shale oil resources 

in western Argentina with YPF. Repsol has filed lawsuits in Spain and the United States to 

block the plan. 

News Corp files document with regulators 

NEW YORK — Media conglomerate 

News Corp announced that it had filed a 

document with US regulators detailing its 

split into two independent companies. 

The statement did not specify a date 

for the split into one company focused on 

news and publishing, to retain the News 

Corp name, and another on television and 

film, to be called Fox Group. 

The company had announced the restructuring 

in June, a move partly seen 

as a nod to shareholders angered by the 

reputational damage and costs inflicted by 

a phone hacking scandal in Britain, and 

partly because of troubles within the group's publishing arm. Friday's announcement was 

"another important step forward in the evolution of our company and in the establishment of 

two independent global leaders in Fox Group and the new News Corporation," Chairman and 

CEO Rupert Murdoch said in the statement. The company has been actively preparing for the 

restructuring. In early December, Murdoch named people to top posts for the new branches, 

and announced the end of the media group's iPad newspaper The Daily. 

According to financial data released in Friday's filing with the Securities and Exchange 

Commission, the new News Corp saw a net loss of $2.075 billion for the year ended June 30, 

compared to a profit of $678 million a year earlier. Revenues were $8.65 billion. 

The document lists business risks, including a decline in spending by advertisers and a 

possible decrease in circulation and audience share as consumers migrate elsewhere. 

The document also references investigations by UK and US regulators relating to phone 

hacking, illegal access to information, and payments to public officials at The News of the 

World and The Sun. 

Alitalia airline on verge of bankruptcy 

ROME — Italian airline Alitalia is once 

more on the verge of bankruptcy as it loses 

630,000 euros ($832,000) a day in addition 

to the 730 million euro deficit accumulated 

over four years under private ownership, 

the Repubblica daily said. 

The flagship company also risks being 

hit hard by the end of a deal with shareholders 

not to sell off their shares, which 

runs out on January 12, the report said. 

The airline has two options: either being 

re-nationalised or ceded in a cut-rate deal 

to Air France-KLM, which in 2008 had 

offered 2.5 billion euros for the troubled 

company. The take-over bid was blocked then prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. The Italian 

state absorbed most of Alitalia's debt while the profit-making part of the business was sold 

off to a consortium of Italian businessmen. The company was also merged with Italy's second 

airline, Air One. Between June and September Alitalia lost 173 million euros — some 150 

million euros more than in 2011 according to Repubblica, which said the company needs to 

be recapitalised. The company's losses deepened due to higher fuel prices and the European 

debt crisis. Air France-KLM, which already owns 25 per cent of Alitalia, is mulling another 

take-over bid, the newspaper said. Alitalia "will be one of the first political hot potatoes on 

the table of the new government," following a general election due in February, it added. The 

Italian airline was not immediately available for comment. 

GE says will buy Italian Avio for $4.3bn 

NEW YORK CITY — The US industrial 

group General Electric said that it would 

buy the aviation activities of Italian engine 

maker Avio for $4.3 billion (3.3 billion 

euros), while Avio's space unit will stay 

with the company's present owners, the investment 

fund Cinven and aerospace company 

Finmeccanica. 

A GE statement said that the acquisition 

would bolster its position in jet propulsion, 

and "will strengthen GE’s global supply 

chain capabilities as its engine production 

rates continue to rise to meet growing customer 

demand." GE also expects the deal 

to reinforce its profit margins, the statement said. It quoted GE President and Chief Executive 

David Joyce as saying: "Avio has technologies, capabilities and outstanding engineers 

to help grow our business." Avio has worked with GE since 1984, supplying components for 

several of GE's jet and helicopter engines, and the US group said it was now in a position 

to "create additional opportunities to offer Avio’s products and services beyond the aviation 

industry." Finmeccanica said that it plans to use the 260 million euros that it will make on the 

sale to pay off debt. The sum represents roughly twice what Finmeccanica paid for its Avio 

stake in 2006. The move is "an important first step in an already announced plan of holding 

sales," Finmeccanica added. Cinven and Finmeccanica also said that they would now work 

on establishing industrial alliances to ensure "the long-term competitiveness" of Avio's space 

propulsion unit, which makes components for rocket engines, including lateral boosters for 

the European Ariane 5 launcher. 

Aviva sells US life insurance unit for $1.8bn 

LONDON — British insurer Aviva has 

agreed to sell its US life insurance business 

for $1.8 billion to Bermuda-based Athene 

Holding as part of a strategic overhaul, 

it said. "Aviva plc announces that it has 

agreed to sell Aviva USA Corporation, its 

US life and annuities business and related 

asset management operations, to Athene 

Holding Ltd, for $1.8 billion," the insurance 

firm said in a statement. 

"Aviva will retain the North American 

asset management activities of Aviva Investors 

that are focused on third parties, 

and Aviva plc assets outside of the USA." The transaction, worth the equivalent of £1.1 billion, 

is expected to be completed next year subject to regulatory approvals. Athene Holding 

is a life insurance holding company that is mainly focused on the retirement market. Aviva 

had already revealed in November that it was in talks to sell its US life insurance activities 

under a large-scale restructuring programme aimed at returning the group to profit. "The sale 

of Aviva USA is an important step forward in the delivery of our strategic plan," added Aviva 

Chairman John McFarlane in the statement. 

"It considerably strengthens Aviva's financial position, increases group liquidity and improves 

our economic capital surplus whilst also reducing its volatility." 

Aviva — Britain's second-biggest insurer after Prudential — said in July that it planned to 

withdraw from 16 non-core business areas. — Agencies

By Maurice Gent 

SINCE the Royal Opera 

House Muscat opened 

I have only missed two 

or three performances. Never 

have I seen such an enthusi- 

Anushka nominated for 

Golden Kela awards 

Page 28 

astic audience. Sure there 

was a bit of American hype 

about it with the artist signing 

autographs in the lobby 

at the end. But what stays in 

mind is the beauty of a performance, 

which was both 

The Sultan’s School hosts 

Arabic symposium 

Page 26 

sensitive and superb. 

Joshua Bell plays his violin 

with a sensitive caring 

passion, which makes instrumentalist 

and instrument 

one. Inevitably he started 

very young, his parents buying 

him an instrument at the 

age of 4. Both mental health 

professionals they had noticed 

him plucking tunes 

with rubber bands he had 

stretched round the handles 

of drawers embellishing his 

dressing room table. By the 

age of 14 he had appeared as 

a soloist with the Philadelphia 

Orchestra. 

The rest as they say is 

Are you a 

shopoholic? 

Page 27 

Winged wonders stir birders’ 

competitive passions 

Page 27 

Fea ures 

Sunday, December 23, 2012 

history. Having toured many 

of the world’s most famous 

concert halls and playing 

twice before American President 

Obama, here he was 

still with a voice of youthful 

charm saying that he thought 

the idea of building an Opera 

House in Muscat was totally 

superb. 

He chose four wellknown 

works to display his 

superb skills, Schubert’s 

Rondo for Violin and Piano 

in B Minor, the Sonata in E 

Flat for Violin and Piano in 

E Flat by Richard Strauss, 

and after the interval we got 

launched into the 20th century 

with Three Preludes from 

George Gershwin and finally 

the Sonata No 2 in D Major 

by Prokofiev. 

He came over in a little 

speech at the end as a young 

man of sensitive charm, who 

cares deeply about his violin 

in particular but also music 

in general. Since 2011 has 

been Director of Music at St 

Martins in the Fields in London. 

Already on the board of 

the New York Philharmonic 

as well as achieving a worldwide 

reputation for the quality 

of his recitals, the star of 

Hathaway cried watching 

herself on screen 

Page 28 

Poet of the violin captures Muscat hearts 

INDIA has managed to protect 

nearly 1,504 species of 

butterflies discovered in the 

subcontinent despite threats to 

their survival by sporadic forest 

fires and depleting green 

cover, says leading butterfly 

researcher and environmentalist 

Peter Smetacek. 

"The most beautiful and endangered 

of the five specimens 

of butterflies collected from 

an unknown valley in Bhutan 

in 1934 have been rediscovered 

in India," said Smetacek, 

who manages the Butterfly 

Research Centre at Bhimtal in 

Uttarakhand. 

The researcher believes the 

delicate winged creatures are 

not threatened by extinction. 

"There are several species 

of butterflies, believed to be on 

the verge of extinction, found 

in the inaccessible regions of 

Kumaon and Garhwal," said 

the researcher, who was in 

New Delhi to launch his new 

book on butterflies. 

Providing insights into the 

research work on butterflies 

in Asia, Smetacek said: "The 

Japanese researchers have 

identified and documented 

more than 250 new species of 

butterflies from Asia, including 

India". 

"The new species of butterfly 

found in India was the Nilgiri 

Grass Yellow. Their work 

is more than what any government 

has ever done," the naturalist 

said. 

Smetacek has written more 

than 60 papers on butterflies 

and has pioneered the use of 

lepidoptera (butterflies) as 

indicators of climate change. 

He has put his work together 

in Butterflies: On the Roof Of 

the World (Aleph Book Company). 

The writer's most fertile 

hunting ground is the Himalayan 

region, where he says 

some of the most exotic specimens 

of butterflies are found 

between the elevation of 1,200 

metres and 5,000 metres. 

"While the Swordtails oc- 

cupy the belt between 1,500 

to 2,000 metres, there are several 

groups restricted to the 

high altitude of the Himalayas. 

Among them, some sub-species 

of Clouded Yellow butterflies 

are recorded at an elevation 

of 5,000 metres." 

Exquisite 

sounds of 

the American 

masterful 

Grammy 

Award winning 

violinist 

Joshua 

Bell’s pieces 

captivated the 

audience in 

the Sultanate 

of Oman down 

to their very 

souls when he 

took the stage 

at the Royal 

Opera House 

Muscat 

"During the last 50 years, at 

least 200 species have been recorded 

in Tibet and the Himalayan 

region." he said. 

While in the high Himalayas, 

moth fend off the butterflies, 

in the lower reaches cattle 

are the traditional butterfly 

destroyers, the researcher 

said. 

"Until 1990, no cattle was 

allowed outside our home in 

Bhimtal. But after Cobras 

were discovered around the 

house we decided to let the 

cattle out to graze... Species 

like the Chocolate Pansy, Orange 

Oakleaf, Common Jester, 

Indian Fritillary, Yellow 

Coster disappeared. 

"We could link the disap- 

Jonathan Ford is set to rise 

further. 

Sam Haywood, the pianist, 

who accompanied him, 

also deserved much praise. 

He has given well acclaimed 

piano recitals in Germany, 

France, Russia, and many 

other nations such as Austria. 

Sam Haywood started his 

music career early too listening 

to crackling Beethoven 

records with his grandmother. 

By the age of 13 he had 

won the BBC Young Musician 

of the Year Competition. 

He also writes music, which 

Sam Haywood, 

the pianist, who 

accompanied him, 

also deserved 

much praise. 

He has given 

well acclaimed 

piano recitals in 

Germany, France, 

Russia, and many 

other nations 

such as Austria 

pearance of their larval posts 

to their larval host plants being 

eaten up...," Smetacek said. 

The researcher regretted 

that "a lot of work on butterflies 

has gone underground 

because no one wants to come 

out and say 'I collect butterflies' 

since the bio-diversity act 

came into force." 

The law does not allow collection 

of butterflies for com- 

he says, gives him a deeper 

insight into great music. 

The whole evening then 

was a great triumph for the 

ROHM as it prepares for 

the great Christmas/New 

Year offer with Tchaikovsky’s 

eternally popular tale 

of magic. Toy soldiers and 

snowflakes presented by the 

Moscow Novaya Opera and 

the Moscow Classical Ballet. 

Butterflies fly high on India’s wildlife conservation map 

mercial use. 

"When I predicted Predicta, 

a species discovered several 

years ago, I had to collect 117 

specimens of the butterfly to 

identify its species," Smetacek 

said. 

The butterfly tracker has 

now limited his research to 

moths as there is no law to stop 

him from collecting moths. 

—IANS

PEOPLE’S 

PLATFORM 

IWAS delighted to read the news about 

the development of a water theme park 

in Salalah. The proposed features apart 

from the water park, like restaurants, cafeterias, 

meeting places, pedestrian pathways 

and green spaces seem to be very 

exciting. Going by the report, the park 

would be spread over a total area of 35,000 

square metres with a range of water sports 

and services so that the visitors can spend 

a whole day along with family and friends 

and the park would have games available 

for all age groups. The capacity is also 

quite big — 500 people every day — is 

quite amazing. Can anyone tell me when 

the park is going to be operational, because 

sometimes I get bored in Salalah. I 

am waiting for the real fun in the town. 

— Zainab 

Editor: Your wait for fun would end 

soon, as many more developments are going 

on in Salalah. Development of parks 

and recreation centres are part of the overall 

development of the Sultanate. 

Appreciating Omani 

hospitality 

IAM writing to you because I would like 

to show my appreciation on behalf of 

myself and my father, having had the great 

opportunity to visit Oman, a wonderful 

country where we were cared for by the 

people we met. 

I encourage everyone I know to visit 

Oman as it is a beautiful country filled 

with a lot of culture and that’s very im- 

portant for a country. 

We look forward to visiting again and 

this time it is for many years as we are doing 

everything possible to set up our company 

in Oman. 

Best Regards, 

— Lidia Perez, Islas Baleares, Spain 

Editor: Oman is a wonderful country 

to visit as anyone who comes here is attracted 

by the beauty of the country, its 

heritage and culture, and all more the legendary 

hospitality of the Omani people. 

Tinted glasses in cars 

IHAVE noticed many cars with tinted 

glasses plying in the cities of Oman 

despite strict warning from the Royal 

Oman Police (ROP). While some of the 

vehicle owners use them unknowingly, 

many others do it deliberately. Sometimes, 

the owners of such vehicles honk from 

behind without any reason just to harass 

other motorists. This causes road rage and 

sometimes fatal accidents. Before handling 

with such offenders the authorities should 

book the shop owners who offer such 

services. 

— Suleiman 

Editor: This is totally an irresponsible 

behaviour. And I agree with you that shops 

offering such services should be given 

warnings and then be booked. 

New roads in Dhofar 

Knee replacement linked 

to weight gain 

BEING overweight is known to increase the risk of needing 

a knee replacement, but a new study finds that knee 

replacement surgery may also raise a person's risk of gaining 

weight, according to a US study. 

Researchers, whose findings appeared in the journal Arthritis 

Care and Research, analysed the medical records of nearly 

1,000 knee-replacement surgery patients, and found that 30 per 

cent of them gained five per cent or more of their body weight 

in the five years following surgery. 

One possible explanation for the counter-intuitive results, 

experts said, is that if people have spent years adapting to knee 

pain by taking it easy, they don't automatically change their 

habits when the pain is reduced. 

"Patients who undergo knee arthroplasty are at increased 

risk of clinically important weight gain following surgery," 

wrote study leader Daniel Riddle, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth 

University. 

"Future research should develop weight loss/maintenance 

interventions particularly for younger patients who have lost a 

substantial amount of weight prior to surgery, as they are most 

at risk for substantial post surgical weight gain." 

Riddle's group used a patient registry from the Mayo Clinic 

in Rochester, Minnesota, which collected information on 917 

knee replacement patients before and after their procedures. 

The researchers found that five years after surgery, 30 per 

cent of patients had gained at least five per cent of their weight 

at the time of the surgery — at least 5 kg or more on a 100 kg 

person, for example. 

In contrast, fewer than 20 per cent of those in a comparison 

group of similar people who had not had surgery gained 

equivalent amounts of weight in the same period. 

"After knee replacement we get them stronger and moving 

better, but they don't seem to take advantage of the functional 

gains," said Joseph Zeni, a physical therapy professor at the 

University of Delaware, who was not part of the study. 

Sadia 

Water theme park in Salalah will boost tourism 

DHOFAR Municipality’s plan to float 

tenders for 457 km of internal roads 

in Dhofar Governorate is a praiseworthy 

Sadaf 

Oman Daily Observer would like to take the lead in sharing the joy 

with its readers. Send us a colour photograph of your baby (below 10 

years) along with name, date of birth, address, telephone number 

and parents’ names. Send in your baby’s picture and other details to: 

observerfeatures@gmail.com or Kids Corner, Oman Daily 

Observer, P O Box 974, PC 100, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman 

26 SPOTLIGHT SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2012 

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: 

Tel: 24649451, Fax: 24649469; e-mail: observerfeatures@gmail.com 

The Sultan’s School hosts 

Arabic symposium 

UNDER the auspices 

of the Minister 

of Information, Dr 

Abdulmunim bin Mansour al 

Hasani, The Sultan’s School 

hosted a symposium entitled 

‘Teaching Arabic to Non-Arabic 

Speakers’. The three-day 

event highlighted the importance 

of teaching exceptional 

standards of Arabic in schools 

across the Sultanate. 

Graeme Garrett, Principal 

of The Sultan’s School, said, 

“Conferences such as these 

offer schools a platform on 

which they are able to share 

information and discuss ways 

on how best to engage non- 

Arabic speaking students with 

the language. Some of the best 

practices discussed included 

the importance of having a 

strongly established studentteacher 

relationship to ensure 

an improved understanding 

of the language and create a 

THE Millennium Resort 

Mussanah recently welcomed 

over 100 high-profile businesswomen 

from across the GCC as 

part of the First Gulf Businesswomen 

Forum Tour. Welcomed by an Omani 

traditional band, the businesswomen 

then proceeded to a guided tour of the 

facility and concluded their visit by a 

networking luncheon. 

Wael bin Ahmed al Lawati, Omran 

CEO said, “The Millennium Resort 

Mussanah is a prime example of the 

careful and considered approach we 

take to all our projects. The availability 

of the many different services and 

amenities including those that cater to 

female guests seeking privacy and leisure 

such as the women’s swimming 

pool has been a key component in attracting 

diverse national, regional and 

international events throughout the 

year. We continue to create memorable 

destinations and unique experiences 

that ensure the ongoing success 

of all our developments and the evo- 

conductive learning environment.” 

He added, “The Sultan’s 

School recognises the importance 

of students being 

fluent in their mother-tongue 

lution of Oman as a premier tourist 

destination.” 

Glenn Nobbs, Acting General 

Manager at the Millennium Resort 

Mussanah added “The First Gulf Business 

Women Forum Luncheon proved 

to be an overall success as the ladies 

experienced traditional Omani hospitality.” 

He added, “It is through the 

as it links them back to their 

roots, culture and history. The 

International Baccalaureate 

Diploma Programme we follow 

provides students a wide 

range of Arabic classes rang- 

ing from learning the basics 

to analysing Arabic literature. 

The availability of these 

courses guarantees that students 

have a firm grasp of the 

language.” 

The Directorate General of 

Private Schools at the Ministry 

of Education utilised the 

symposium to introduce plans 

that will advance the curricula 

and standardise the instruction 

methods The use of a consistent 

and modern approach to 

learning languages helps students 

progress confidently to 

higher education. 

As the only Omani school 

with the International Baccalaureate 

programme, The 

Sultan’s School continues to 

take the lead in developing 

and presenting educational 

opportunities to its students. 

The school’s mission to unlock 

the potential within each 

individual starts from early 

Kindergarten age and continues 

to the final year at school, 

opening minds for life. 

continued efforts of all our staff and 

the high quality of service that we are 

able to accommodate a great number 

of visitors and provide a warm and 

welcoming environment for guests to 

enjoy their stay and experience the resort. 

From the Muscat Youth Summit 

to our recent success of over 3,000 

hotel guests during the Eid holidays, 

the availability of our extensive services 

enables us to cater to all types of 

visitors and occasions.” 

The resort has been chosen as a 

host venue for one of the largest international 

sporting events in the Sultanate’s 

history as the Laser World Championships 

2013 comes to Al Mussanah 

Sports City in January. Oman won the 

right to hold the event after meeting 

strict criteria based on facilities and 

event management where the Millennium 

Resort Mussanah will take on a 

central role. 

Work is under way to equip the 

resort with extra sports facilities that 

will further increase the standard of 

facilities offered by the hotel. The resort 

is set to add a first of its kind 18hole 

mini golf course, three climbing 

decision. The municipality has already 

started preparing the layouts for these 

roads as per the specifications and 

standards taking into consideration of high 

quality to meet the needs of the citizens. 

I agree with the view that priority should 

be given to meet the actual need for road 

projects and their geographic location as 

per the criteria which meet the aspirations 

of the society. 

— Khalid 

Editor: The government takes great 

care in developing municipal works for 

the benefit of the citizens and for providing 

them everything which secures good 

living. 

Menace of money 

laundering 

STRONG action should be taken to 

curb money laundering and I am 

happy that the CBO has taken strong steps 

in this direction. The move of the National 

Committee for Combating Money 

Laundering and Terrorism Financing to 

adopt a national action plan to combat 

money-laundering and terror financing 

is a right step in the right direction. It is 

important to have co-ordination with the 

International Monetary Fund (IMF) to 

develop a fool proof system against money 

laundering and terror financing. 

— Roberts 

Editor: The whole world needs a mechanism 

to handle such issues. Internal and 

external co-operation is needed to achieve 

desired goals and ensure global peace. 

Sleeping pills don't work, 

their dummy effect does 

SLEEPING pills don't lull you to sleep but their placebo 

(dummy) effect does, which is psychological, reveals 

a new study. 

A placebo is a dummy treatment for a disease intended 

to deceive the recipient into believing that he is receiving 

an actual pill. It may have a perceived or actual improvement 

in one's condition, commonly called the placebo effect. 

Researchers from the UK and the US have cast doubt 

over the effectiveness of drugs for insomniacs. The placebo 

(dummy) effect produced around 50 per cent of the benefits, 

with the active ingredient, Z-drugs in sleeping pills 

making up the rest, the British Medical Journal reports. 

Sleep inducing drugs have been criticised for having 

too many side effects — such as memory loss, extreme 

tiredness and balance problems — compared with their 

benefits. 

Previous research suggests sleeping pills do not combat 

long-term sleep problems and cognitive behavioural 

therapy has been proven to work better, according to the 

Daily Mail. 

Researchers from the universities of Lincoln and Connecticut 

and the Harvard Medical School looked at trials in 

which the effects of sleeping pills were compared with placebos, 

non-active substances which supposedly have little 

effect on the condition. 

Niroshan Siriwardena, professor at Lincoln, who led 

the study, said: "Psychological treatments for insomnia can 

work as effectively as sleeping tablets in the short term and 

better in the long term, so we should pay more attention 

to increasing access to these treatments for patients who 

might benefit." 

Researchers analysed 13 clinical trials containing 65 

different comparisons and more than 4,300 participants. 

They looked at the difference between the drug response 

and placebo response, as well as the change which occurs 

after administration of a placebo — which includes factors 

such as improvement over the natural course of the 

condition. 

GCC businesswomen visit Millennium Resort Mussanah 

walls, two new tennis courts and a circuit 

training track, all of which should 

be complete in early 2013.

27 LIFESTYLE SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2012 

Winged wonders stir birders’ competitive passions 

A hummingbird flies arround a flower in the Macchu Picchu sanctuary in Cuzco. — AFP 

By Marie Sanz 

COMPETITIVE birdwatching 

might sound 

like an oxymoron. Try 

telling that to ornithologists 

from around the world racing 

around Peru on a six-day 

marathon vying to become 

best birder. 

"I am covered in bug bites, 

my legs are killing me and I 

got sick and threw up from the 

altitude," Ryan Terrill, 26, a 

member of the winning American 

team, said. 

"Despite all that, I have 

been able to see all the birds 

I have always wanted to see," 

added Terrill, all smiles. 

Twenty-four seasoned 

bird specialists from Britain, 

South Africa, Brazil, Spain 

and the United States took part 

in "Birding Rally Challenge 

Peru." 

Decked out in shorts and 

caps, binoculars and cameras 

around their necks, these guys 

Piranha’s bite most 

powerful among fishes 

THE black piranha, a native of the Amazon, has the most 

powerful bite of all carnivorous fishes, living or extinct, 

given their body size, according to new research. 

Even at their small body sizes, diet studies indicate that 

piranhas will attack and bite chunks of bony fins and flesh 

from prey many times larger than themselves. 

In spite of their fearsome reputation, no quantitative data 

or empirical estimates regarding the piranhas' biting abilities 

were available. The first bite-force measurements taken 

from wild specimens of the largest species of piranha in the 

Amazon, the black piranha, shows this creature can bite with 

a force more than 30 times greater than its weight. 

The new research, co-authored by Guillermo Orti, professor 

of biology at the George Washington University, 

highlights the piranhas' specialised jaw morphology, which 

allows them to attack and bite chunks out of much larger 

prey. 

"It was very exciting to participate in this project, travel 

one more time to the Amazon to be able to directly measure 

bite forces in the wild," said Orti. — IANS 

A piranha inside the aquarium of the Dubai Mall. 

Outsized jaw muscles allow the black piranha to exert 

bite force equivalent to 30 times its bodyweight, a feat 

unmatched in the natural world. Relative to their 

size, piranhas outperform even prehistoric monsters 

like Tyrannosaurus rex and the whale-chomping 

megalodon, a massive shark that preceded the great 

white, said the study. — AFP 

Light can drive faster computing 

CELL phones and laptops, powered by increasingly faster 

and tinier processors, are becoming sleeker and lighter. 

Now, researchers at the California Institute of Technology 

(Caltech) say light beams shrunk to a few nanometres can 

drive much faster computing. 

Light carries greater amounts of data more efficiently 

than electrical signals through copper wires. The current 

technology is increasingly based on optics. The world is already 

connected by thousands of miles of optical-fiber cables 

that deliver e-mail, images, and the latest video gone 

viral to your laptop. As we all produce and consume more 

data, computers and communication networks must be able 

to handle the deluge of information. Focusing light into tinier 

spaces can squeeze more data through optical fibres and 

increase bandwidth, the journal Nature Photonics reports. 

Moreover, by being able to control light at such small 

scales, optical devices can also be made more compact, requiring 

less energy to power them, according to a Caltech 

statement. 

But focusing light to such minute scales is inherently 

difficult. Once you reach sizes smaller than the wavelength 

of light — a few hundred nanometres in the case of visible 

light — you reach what's called the diffraction limit, and it's 

physically impossible to focus light any further. 

But now, Caltech researchers, co-led by assistant professor 

of electrical engineering Hyuck Choo, have built a new 

kind of waveguide — a tunnel-like device that channels light 

— that gets around this natural limit. 

could be mistaken for random 

outdoorsy tourists, maybe on 

Birdwatchers spot birds during the Birding Rally 

Challenge. — AFP 

By Anja Reumschuessel 

PETER-JOSEF got the kick again. 

All it took were a few clicks on 

the Internet, his bid on booze netting 

him cases of wine and other beverages 

that will soon join the other $52,000 

worth of still-packaged goods filling up 

his small flat. 

The 55-year-old Cologne resident will 

never drink the alcohol. A shopping addict, 

he has been trying for years to kick 

the habit of buying things he does not 

need. Little help is available for his illness, 

though, and many sufferers are on 

their own. 

"Shopoholism" is not officially classified 

as an addictive disorder. In the tenth 

revision of the International Classification 

of Diseases, only substance dependence 

is recognised as an addiction, but not a 

behavioural addiction such as compulsive 

shopping, which is, however, considered 

an obsessive-compulsive disorder. 

Sufferers from a shopping addiction 

come from all classes of society, both 

women and men, and tend to be on the 

young side. The actual number of addicts 

is unknown, said Astrid Mueller, a psychologist 

at Hanover Medical School. 

A person at risk is someone who repeatedly 

buys things that he or she does 

not need. It is not the products themselves 

that matter, but the thrill of buying them. 

To get a fresh kick, addicts have to make 

another purchase. 

Shopping addict Sieglinde likens the 

kick to an orgasm or a trip on drugs, a 

high bringing a rush of pleasure. The 

comedown that soon follows is similar to 

the after-effects of a drug trip: remorse, 

shame, guilt, self-loathing, depression. 

These feelings can be banished by another 

shopping binge, followed by the next 

comedown — often so steep that many 

addicts contemplate suicide. 

Sieglinde's addiction began after her 

husband died of a brain tumour in 1984. 

VITAMIN D deficiency 

increases your risk for 

diabetes, as well as 

metabolic syndrome. Experts 

suspect low blood levels of 

this vitamin cause problems 

with the cells in your pancreas 

that make insulin, called beta 

cells. Too little D may also 

lead to glucose intolerance, 

which could harm both your 

insulin and beta cells. Aside 

from diabetes, this powerhouse 

vitamin may protect 

against heart disease and rheumatoid 

arthritis and may help 

to prevent at least 13 different 

types of cancer. Vitamin D also 

increases the intestinal absorption 

of calcium, phosphate, 

maintains proper calcium and 

phosphorus levels in the serum 

and increases the reabsorption 

of calcium by the kidney. 

their way to Macchu Picchu. 

But they are super-specialists, 

indeed. Some competitors 

are among the world's best 

known and most respected authorities 

on bird life. 

They are all up, before 

five in the morning, pushing 

through brush at the Tambopata 

nature reserve with the same 

goal: identifying the greatest 

number of birds possible, as 

the clock ticks down. 

Off in the distance, a ball 

of scarlet feathers stands out 

against the verdant tropical 

jungle of the Amazon basin. 

It is the Andean cock-of-therock, 

or Rupicola Peruviana, a 

red, white and black mid-sized 

gem widely seen as Peru's national 

bird. 

And the enthusiasm for 

seeing such rare and beautiful 

wildlife, for many of the experts, 

borders on obsession. 

"Peru is one of the best 

places in the world for birdwatching 

in terms of biodiversity 

and infrastructure as well," 

said Jordi Sargatal, a Spanish 

expert who has authored several 

books on ornithology. 

Sargatal's team, "Tramuntana 

Birding," came in last, 

but had fun anyway and said 

they would have to study 

more species before next 

year's event. 

Terrell's team "Tigrisomas", 

made up of four doctoral 

students in ornithology 

at Louisiana State University 

in Baton Rouge, took the big 

feathered prize: covering the 

most terrain in six days while 

identifying a staggering 493 

bird species. 

This year the competition 

wrapped up at the foot of the 

famous Inca citadel Macchu 

Picchu, in the town of Aguas 

Calientes, in the southern re- 

The deficiency of vitamin 

D in children during the period 

of active skeletal growth 

causes rickets, which results 

from the defective mineralisation 

of the ends of the growing 

bones. As a result, the ends 

remain abnormally pliable and 

eventually assume a bent form 

resulting in bowlegs. In adults, 

the deficiency of vitamin D 

causes osteomalacia owing to 

defective mineralisation. 

gion of Cusco. 

"Normally, the birdwatching 

competition was done in 

just one day. But we really 

wanted to highlight Peru's biodiversity. 

It has 1,800 registered 

bird species including 

117 unique to Peru”, said 

contest co-ordinator Dennis 

Osorio. 

"Just in the area around 

Macchu Picchu, there are 700 

different bird species, many 

of them found nowhere else," 

Osorio said. 

A lot of change has come 

from within Peru itself, said 

American Tom Schulenberg, 

who literally wrote the book 

on birding in Peru. 

"What has changed so 

dramatically... is Peruvians' 

growing interest in their own 

environment," said Schulenberg, 

who has been visiting the 

South American nation of arid 

coastal, mountain and jungle 

terrains, for 35 years. 

The rally's turn in the 

south, where relatively little 

birding is done, brought some 

surprises. One birder spied a 

"Black Swift Apodidae," a migratory 

bird that resembles a 

swallow but is native to North 

She was 29 and alone with two small 

daughters. Her mother told her she had 

to get through it, and she wanted to be 

strong and show everyone she was doing 

fine. She bought expensive clothing 

for herself and the children, always had 

good sweets at home for guests and gave 

so many presents to her friends that they 

felt uncomfortable. 

"I started pretending that everything 

was all right," she said. 

Two years after her husband's death, 

she landed in court for fraud. She was 

committed to a forensic psychiatry facility, 

but no one there knew how to help 

her. When on day release, she continued 

to buy things she couldn't afford. 

As for Peter-Josef, in 2008 he decided 

A Scarlet Macaw is seen on a clay lick at the Manu 

Biosphere Reserve 

Most foods are low in vitamin 

D, although it is found 

in small quantities in butter, 

cream, egg-yolk and liver. The 

best food sources of vitamin D 

are fish liver oils. Milk is a poor 

source of vitamin D; therefore 

in some countries milk is fortified 

with this vitamin. If you 

can’t stand the taste of milk, 

the best way to get more of 

this incredible nutrient may be 

strolling in the sun. Vitamin D 

America. 

Tourism Deputy Minister 

Claudia Cornejo presented the 

prize to the winners: a trophy 

shaped like — what else? — a 

black-faced Cotinga (Conioptilon 

mcilhennyi). 

Cornejo says Peru aims to 

become the world's top birding 

tourism destination, which 

could earn it at least $50 million 

a year. — AFP 

Are you a shopoholic? Kick the addiction 

is known as the ‘’sunshine’’ vitamin 

because your body naturally 

makes it when ultraviolet 

B rays from the sun strike your 

skin. If you choose to play in 

the sun, follow these tips to 

get the ‘’ sunshine vitamin ‘’ 

safely. 

● Avoid burning. The same 

UVB rays that make vitamin D 

also cause skin cancer. Limit 

your sun exposure to 20 minutes 

a day if you burn easily 

and tan poorly. 

● Hold off showering, 

bathing or swimming for an 

hour after being in the sun to 

give your body time to absorb 

the vitamin. 

● Shop for cereals, milk, 

butter fortified with vitamin 

D. 

● Angle to occasionally 

eat fatty, cold water fish such 

Majid Al Suleimany 

www.majidall.com 

The Hippocratic 

Oath! 

IT is my strong belief and firm conviction that I do not 

put down into writing anything unless I have checked 

the facts first — and that is why I prefer to use personal 

examples (or those that I know clearly) to illustrate 

and demonstrate on the points being raised! 

And like I always say — there is need to say this thing 

that has come out in the society now! We are part of the 

global village and whatever happens in other parts of the 

world, especially nearer home, we cannot isolate ourselves 

from the rest of the world in things and events in 

catching up with us! Besides — as a citizen — it is my 

right to express myself here at least in this column! 

According to Wikipedia — The Hippocratic Oath is 

an oath historically taken by physicians (doctors) and 

other healthcare professionals swearing to practice medicine 

professionally, ethically and honestly. It is widely 

believed to have been written either by Hippocrates, often 

regarded as the father of western medicine, or by one 

of his students. 

The oath is written in Ionic Greek (late 5th century 

BC) — and is usually included in the Hippocratic Corpus. 

Of historic and traditional value — the oath is considered 

a rite of passage for practitioners of medicine in 

many countries — although nowadays the modernised 

version of the text varies among them. The Hippocratic 

Oath is one of the most widely known of Greek medical 

texts. It requires a new physician to swear upon a number 

of healing gods that he will uphold a number of professional 

ethical standards. 

Incidentally my late father always wanted one of his 

children to be a doctor — sorry the old man was letdown! 

Last one month my nephew’s wife got quadruplets 

(four children) at Khoula Hospital — but unfortunately 

they were premature — and one died at birth. The other 

three survived and were put in incubators. This is because 

they were underweight. After some time two were 

released — leaving one still in the hospital. 

One the day when the mother was told to go and collect 

the third child — a boy — she received the shock of 

her life to find that the baby 'had died' in the hospital — 

and the baby was left outside the incubator — probably 

some other baby needed it more now? 

No one challenges that death is in the hands of Our 

Lord The Creator — but at the same time one would be 

crazy to run fast across the road of fast flying cars — and 

say that if my time has come then it will have come! 

The problem is that we, especially Omanis, like others 

from the Interior stock are fatalistic in nature and in 

approach — and this has allowed our adversaries to take 

advantage of us — and in making us marginalised — and 

victims of our good nature, and welcoming character — 

in addition to respecting! 

In my book — quoting for example — not to trying to 

sell or advertise my books! — I wrote this loving part of 

a son to her dying Mother. Titled Goodbye, Our Mama! 

— in Memoriam! In it I said — Quote — Also if you as 

The Head of The Medical Team have already reached a 

decision with one member of the family — in this case 

me as the eldest — you should stick to that agreement — 

otherwise it causes distrust and divisions in the family 

especially when death comes in — as it did! — Unquote. 

You can read the article in the site above. 

No one knows what really happened — from coming 

to collect your live-to-go-home-child to the despair, 

doom and disaster of dead-to-go-bury-child! What really 

happened in between? Was the doctor qualified as a Paedetrician 

to handle the case? Or is it the usual 'trial-and 

error new-grounds-to-discover-and explore New Doctors 

with little — and or minimal experiences syndromes? 

There was a similar column in this same newspaper 

by one young Omani columnist — on the very same subject. 

We do not want to make the doctors to be scared 

and concerned on practicing medicine! But at the same 

time we do not want them to be careless especially when 

they see they are dealing with poor disadvantaged people 

that have no Wastah — and it does not bother or concern 

them. 

A poor disadvantaged person feels equally for his 

child — if not more — because this is the best thing that 

had happened to him. Unless some Doctors are taken to 

task — they lose their licenses — and fines and penalties 

are imposed, these things will continue unabated! Those 

in positions to look into and take care of such things must 

do their jobs — professionally, ethically and principally 

— otherwise they should quit — and let those that can 

be more responsible and accountable take over their jobs 

and responsibilities! 

I stand corrected here — with sincere apologies! 

Take Care! 

Dodge diabetes with vitamin D 

HEALTHY 

FOODS 

By Mini Padikkal 

A hummingbird flies close 

to a flower 

to open a tea shop with an attached bistro 

where guests could sip tea, read a book 

and browse second-hand items. He began 

to make purchases for his planned business, 

but was unable to secure a startup 

grant. Depression and diabetes were 

further hindrances. There is still no tea 

shop. 

Meanwhile, he's in debt and keeps 

buying. 

Mueller noted that many shopping addicts 

display low self-esteem, often coupled 

with other mental health conditions 

such as depression and anxiety. Otherwise, 

shopoholics have little in common 

— they can be rich or poor, unskilled 

workers or PhDs, traumatised or with untroubled 

as tuna, sardines, herring and 

mackerel, all rich in this nutrient. 

(The writer is a dietician 

at Atlas Medical Centre, Al 

khuwair, Muscat.)

Anne Hathaway arrives for the premiere of Les Miserables in New York. — Reuters 

Hathaway cried watching herself 

ACTRESS Anne Hathaway 

says she broke into tears 

after watching herself on big 

screen in Les Miserables. 

In the film, Hathaway plays 

the role of Fantine, an ill-fated 

prostitute dying of tuberculosis. 

And she admits she was in 

tears when she saw herself in 

the epic musical drama, reports 

usmagazine.com. 

"I cry, but I think it's because 

I'm still connected to 

the experience of making it, 

the process. For me, when 

I see it, I actually have to be 

aware when I'm doing press, 

because it brings me a lot 

closer to Fantine," she told 

MTV News. 

"She's so broken that I actually 

have to protect myself a 

little bit. So when I saw it, I did 

cry, but not because of what I 

Dr Ibrahim bin Ahmed al Kindi, 

Chief Executive Officer 

Fahmi bin Khalid al Harthy, 

Editor-in-Chief 

28 

ENTERTAINMENT SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2012 

Length of role doesn’t 

matter: Rakshanda Khan 

AFTER working continously 

for over a decade, popular 

TV actress Rakshanda 

Khan is taking it easy now and 

says the intensity of a character 

matters to her over the length of 

the role. 

"Earlier, I used to finish one 

show and start working on another. 

For years, I had been working like 

this continously. When I moved 

away and thought about it, I felt it 

is a high price to pay. Now I am 

at such a stage of my career that I 

do work at intervals," Rakshanda 

said. 

"I have never weighed what 

channel is the show going to be 

aired on, or how long would my 

role be. What matters to me most 

is the intensity and the impact that 

my role is going to have. Length 

of the role doesn't really matter to 

me," she added. 

The 37-year-old actress became 

popular after essaying the role of 

Mallika Seth in Jassi Jaisi Koi 

Nahin and Tanya Virani in Kyunki 

Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. She was 

last seen in popular mythologi- 

cal TV show Devon Ke Dev Mahadev. 

She is currently seen in Sahara 

One's Jhilmil Sitaron Ka Angan 

Hoga. 

Asked what she finds different 

and evolved about the Indian TV 

industry, Rakshanda said: "People 

are getting a fair deal in the industry 

now. It has become much more 

organised now. 

"More attention is being put 

on the look of actors and channels 

have more say in the scripting, 

storyline and production of the 

shows. There was a phase three to 

four years ago, when a character 

dictated the show. Today, the show 

itself has become supreme. Today, 

the audience decides the trend on 

TV." 

With the rise in competition 

in the Indian TV industry, a lot of 

producers decide to pull the plug 

on their shows within months. But 

Rakshanda feels a show should be 

given at least six months for the 

audience to take a liking. 

"Pulling the plug on any TV 

show is completely the call of 

channel and show executives. If a 

show is not working, they can take 

it off air any day. But I feel a show 

should be given at least six months 

as it takes time for the show to 

get on to the viewers' minds. If it 

doesn't work in the speculated period 

of time, then there is no point 

to let them run on small screen," 

she said. 

Dabangg 2: Salman all the way, holes in plot but fun watch 

By Subhash K Jha 

FOR those who thought 

Chulbul Pandey in 

Abinav Kashyap's Dabangg 

was wacky and fun 

only because Salman Khan 

played him, here is more 

spoof-proof in the sequel of 

how Salman adopts, embraces 

and assimilates the characters 

he plays until one can't tell the 

star apart from the character. 

This is not to say Salman 

was doing (on screen). It was 

because I was back in the process 

of making it," she added. 

Kristen Stewart can’t 

 

Film Review 

Film: Dabangg 2; Starring Salman Khan, Sonakshi 

Sinha, directed by Arbaaz Khan 

is a method actor. God forbid! 

He's just the opposite. Chulbul 

Pandey, if ever such a khakiclad 

law-enforcer ever, would 

want to be as chirpy and obnoxious 

as Chulbul Pandey. 

So what does Chulbul do 

in Dabangg 2 that he didn't 

do in Dabangg? Nothing, and 

everything. There's more of 

everything in the sequel and 

hence a sense of deja vu. 

The fights which begin, 

wait for Snow White... sequel: 

Actress Kristen Stewart (pictured) 

says the sequel of Snow 

White and the Huntsman will 

be “amazing”. The 22-year-old 

can’t wait to start filming the 

sequel, even though it will have 

a different director following 

her affair with Rupert Sanders, 

who helmed the original, 

reports contactmusic.com. 

Stewart had a brief fling 

with Sanders last summer, but 

reunited with her boyfriend of 

more than four years, Robert 

Pattinson, after issuing a public 

apology. 

“It’s gonna be amazing. 

No, I’m so excited about it, it’s 

crazy. The other day I said that 

there was a strong possibility 

that we’re going to make a sequel, 

and that’s very true,” she 

told Indiewire.com. 

end and bolster the plot, are 

done with that irrepressible 

mix of guffaws and grunts 

that Salman patented in 

Prabhu Deva's Wanted. Indeed 

it wouldn't be wrong to 

say that Prabhu Deva was the 

father of Chulbul Pandey, in a 

manner of speaking. 

Here of course in Dabangg 

2 Vinod Khanna is 

back as Chulbul's father. The 

scenes between Salman and 

his screen-dad are written 

with a delicious mix of irreverence 

and affection. There is 

a hilarious encounter on the 

rooftop of their Kanpur home 

where son asks his sleepy, 

annoyed father about the deceased 

mother (Dimple Kapadia, 

a mere photo on the wall 

in the sequel). 

Anushka nominated for Golden Kela awards 

ANUSHKA Sharma and Imran 

Khan have been nominated in 

the worst actor and actress category 

respectively at the fifth edition of the 

Golden Kela Awards. 

Golden Kela Awards are the Indian 

version of Hollywood's Razzies 

— Golden Raspberry Awards, popular 

in the west for awarding the worst 

of the year in the film-making industry. 

Imran has been nominated for his 

acting in Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, while 

Anushka for her work in Jab Tak Hai 

Jaan. 

Others competing in the worst 

Singer Ronnie Wood weds Sally Humphreys 

VETERAN singer Ronnie 

Wood married fiancee Sally 

Humphreys (pictured) in a 

private ceremony here. 

The Rolling Stones star exchanged 

wedding vows with Humphreys 

during a private ceremony 

in London on Friday, with his bandmate 

Keith Richards and musician 

friend Rod Stewart standing by, as 

his groomsmen. 

While Wood wore a sharp navy 

suit for the ceremony, his 34-yearold 

bride was dressed in a traditional 

white gown and a silver headband, 

according to usmagazine.com. 

Sir Paul McCartney and his wife 

Nancy Shevell were also in attendance, 

along with Wood’s two sons, 

Tyrone and Jesse. This is Wood’s 

third wedding. 

Emma Roberts finds Aniston 

a hot pole dancer: Actress Emma 

Roberts says her co-star Jennifer 

Aniston is an "amazing" pole dancer. 

Aniston plays a stripper in her 

new film We're The Millers, and 

Roberts was more than a little impressed 

by the 43-year-old's skills, 

reports contactmusic.com. 

Ahem. Save the blushes for 

a rainy day. Salman's Chulbul 

gives us no time to get bothered 

with niceties. Chulbul 

simply sweeps us along into a 

tidal wave of wackily written 

and executed action sequences 

undercut by a sharp sense 

of self-deprecating humour. 

The storytelling is breathless. 

The characters can't 

really keep pace with the 

breakneck storytelling. They 

are underveloped and largely 

kept in the shadows to accentuate 

the hero's largerthan-life 

(though blessedly 

never larger-than-laughs) 

persona. Sonakshi Sinha, of 

course, enjoys playing the 

seductress in the shadows. In 

film after film, she plays the 

dutiful beloved soul-mate to 

actor (male) category are Ajay 

Devgn for Son of Sardaar and Bol 

Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt for Agneepath, 

Siddharth Malhotra and Varun 

Dhawan for Student Of The Year. 

Akshay Kumar's name too figures 

in this list for Housefull 2, Rowdy 

Rathore, Joker and Khiladi 786. 

Apart from Anushka, those nominated 

for the worst actress trophy are 

Deepika Padukone and Diana Penty 

for Cocktail, Farah Khan for Shirin 

Farhad Ki Nikal Padi, Alia Bhatt for 

Student Of The Year and Sonakshi 

Sinha for all her films this year. 

"She's really good. I saw bits and 

pieces of it and she is amazing. It 

was unreal! She looks really hot," 

she told eonline.com. 

Asked to rate her co-star out of 

10 for her dance skills, Roberts replied: 

"(She's) like a 20!" 

Kanye West wears kilt on 

stage: Rapper Kanye West wore a 

leather skirt on stage at the Hurricane 

Sandy concert. 

A leaked video appeared online 

showing West having the garment 

fitted, reports thesun.co.uk. 

In the clip, he discusses in detail 

the pleats on the skirt, designed by 

Givenchy. 

Then looking at himself in the 

mirror, West says: "I just love this. 

I mean, I like it if I wear a kilt or 

I'm not wearing a kilt. I just like the 

silhouette — it's really modern." 

The video was later taken down. 

the macho-hero. And really, 

her sartorial styling and the 

designer sarees and backless 

blouses in a film that pays a 

lot of attention to mofussil 

modes is way-way-way over 

the top. It's hard to see her 

expressions beyond the eyeshadows. 

That reminds me... Sonakshi 

shares the shadows with 

Arbaaz Khan who as Chulbul 

Pandey's brother is delightful 

daft and goofy. 

The villains have a coherent 

voice (never mind their 

livid screaming) and more 

space to develop as characters. 

The plot goes into 

spasms of explanation as to 

why one of the villains Niktin 

Dheer needed to take off his 

shirt in the climax. 

Oman Establishment for Press, Publication and Advertising; P.O. Box 974, Postal Code 100, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman; Tel: 24649444, 24649450, 

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subscribe@omandaily.om 

Pooja Bhatt wants to 

get back in shape 

ACTRESS-turned-film-maker Pooja 

Bhatt, who has been busy making 

her films' heroines look beautiful, says 

she now wants to devote time to get 

back into shape. 

"I want to get back into shape... not 

for a film role now. At this phase of my 

life, very exciting things are happening. 

I want to focus on myself," said Pooja. 

"Since two years, my focus was outside 

me — the priority was to make Sunny 

Leone look good, to make Bipasha 

Basu look good and Pooja Bhatt was in 

the back. Now I have time. Now I have 

lost six kg and I have 12 kg more to go," 

she said. 

When Madonna 

threatened to quit 

SINGER Madonna threatened to quit 

a live performance after a group of 

people were smoking and the smoke got 

on her nerves. 

Madonna was performing at an open 

theatre in Santiago, Chile, when she 

stopped mid-way and screamed at the 

audience, reports tmz.com. 

"There are people smoking right 

now... No smoking! If you're going to 

smoke cigarettes, I'm not doing a show," 

she said. 

"You don't care about me? I don't 

care about you. All right? Are we going 

to play that game? I'm not kidding. I 

can't sing if you smoke," she added. 

Kutcher files for divorce 

from Moore 

ACTOR Ashton Kutcher has filed 

court papers to end his six-year 

marriage to Demi Moore. 

The 34-year-old, who has cited irreconcilable 

differences for parting ways, is 

not seeking any spousal support, nor is 

he asking the court to deny Moore any. 

The documents also show that since 

the couple had no children together, 

child support and visitation are not an 

issue, reports showbizspy.com. 

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for Press, Publication 

and Advertising

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