times by sando pa

28 PAGES . BAISAS 200 VOLUME 41 NO. 261 FOUNDED 1975

RATAN TATA HANDS OVER VER REINS TO CYRUS MISTRY TRY The head of India’s Tata Group, Ratan Tata, warned staff of the ‘difficult economic omic environment’ while handing over the reins eins of the business empire on his 75th birthday yesterday esterday to successor Cyrus Pallonji Mistry. >B11

SATURDAY, December 29, 2012 / 15 SAFAR 1434 AH

timesofoman.com

facebook.com/timesofoman

twitter.com/timesofoman

blog.timesofoman.com

Road accidents claim a life every 7.5 hours WHAT CAUSES ACCIDENTS? Latest official statistics show no signs of improvement in Oman’s appalling

Multitasking while driving

Youngsters seeking the thrills of speeding

Carelessness of drivers

Traffic lights violations

Stunt driving that goes terribly wrong

road record

US commander in Gulf war dies

A10

SALEH AL SHAIBANY

Saleh@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: One person is killed in a road accident every 7.5 hours in Oman and the appalling record shows no sign of abating, according to the latest official statistics. In the ﬁrst 10 months of this year, 960 people died on the roads compared to 867 during the same period in 2011. The number of accidents also shows no sign of receding either. There were 6,567 road accidents between January and October this year compared to 6,335 during the same period last year, the traffic statistics show. Again, carelessness is to blame. Most of the accidents are caused by the thrills of speeding as more young people are now obsessed with driving at a break-neck speed. Young people also take to stunt driving that goes terribly wrong. “They would pass you between cars or overtake from the wrong side at 160km per hour just for a thrill. Another favourite car game they play is to go around a bend at top speed and make the

car spin. It is scary just to watch them,” Darwish Al Hooti, who was a witness to a car stunt that killed three young people at Al Azaiba last year, told Times of Oman. Now, multitasking while driving, is also causing fatal accidents. Texting, talking on mobile phones or eating, unnecessarily take away the lives of many people. Long drive during the weekends across the borders to Dubai or Abu Dhabi is another cause for accidents. Commuters who go back to their hometowns during weekends are among those who die on the roads due to fatigue. Supercharged cars But young people lured by a fast car with a powerful engine often succumb to temptation, ignoring the risks. “They would come to the showroom and ask for turbo engines such as the GTR Nissan or su-

960

people died on roads in the ﬁrst ten months of this year

6,567 road accidents were recorded in Oman between January and October this year

percharged engines. These are fast cars that make an explosive noise when revved up at the trafﬁc lights,” Talal Al Balushi, a car salesman, told Times of Oman. Fitting a car with ﬁlters and adding supercharge facilities may

The ﬁve best tech toys of 2012

OMAN

SPORTS

MARKET

IT frauds continue to rise, caution advised

Yuvraj helps India level T20 series

Opportunity for SME entrepreneurs

India squared the two-match Twenty20 International series 1-1, beating Pakistan by 11 runs in the second encounter at Motera, yesterday. A careerbest 72 by Yuvraj Singh, who was also adjudged the Man of the Match, helped India post a formidable 192 for ﬁve. >A11

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) entrepreneurs in Oman will soon have the opportunity to expand their businesses in a rapid way. The PEIE has announced the setting up of a National Business Centre (NBC) by the beginning of 2013. >B1

A L K H U WA I R P I P E B U R S T

Shura, PAEW chief discuss plan to tide over water crisis FAHAD AL MUKRASHI

fahad@timesof oman.com MUSCAT: In a meeting with Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Mahrouqi, Chairman of the Public Authority for Electricity and Water (PAEW) on Wednesday, the Majlis Al Shura discussed the recent water crisis in the Muscat governorate and ways to avert its recurrence, said Sultan Al Abri, member of the Shura Economic Committee. Al Abri said that there were plans to connect Muscat with Wadi Diqah Dam and Quriyat water desalination plant by pipelines to prevent water shortage in the future. The chairman of the Public Authority for Electricity and Water said that 50 per cent of Muscat residents are receiving water through pipelines and by 2032 the company plans to supply water to 90 per cent of city residents through pipelines. “The budget will have sufficient funds in the next ﬁve-year plan to carry out the expansion project. It will also take into account the projected population growth,” said Al Mahrouqi. Al Abri told Times of Oman that the contractor was responsible for the recent water pipe burst at Al Khuwair. It was also found during tests at a laboratory that the pipe also had some manufacturing

By 2032, the Public Authority for Electricity and Water plans to supply water to 90 per cent of city residents through pipelines Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Mahrouqi Chairman of PAEW

defects, he said, adding the Public Authority for Electricity and Water will send the damaged pipes to France for further analysis. He wondered the mechanism behind selecting contractors for laying underground pipelines and the residents who have to bear the brunt in case of water shortage. The Public Authority for Electricity and Water is facing problem in extending underground pipes as most of the lands allocated to them in Muscat have

been ‘occupied’, said Mustafa Al Lawati, another Shura member of the Economic Committee. “Stringent action should be taken against those encroaching on land allocated for utility services,” Al Lawati added. He stressed the need for tapping other sources of drinking water. It’s worth mentioning that RO130million was allocated to the PAEW to build water networks during the next ﬁve-year plan in the Sultanate.

increase the cost of the car by as much as 25 per cent, Al Balushi added, not to mention the risks involved in driving these cars on the roads. For such drivers, speeding tickets are not a deterrent, either. “I get those all the time,” boasted Said Al Hanai, a 26-year-old gas engineer,” what’s the point in buying a fast car when you cannot afford to pay for a speeding ticket?” Traffic lights violation is the other cause for tragic accidents, especially in Muscat, with drivers driving past the red light. Last month, two people died in Bausher when a pickup van did not stop at the red light and ploughed into a saloon car. Despite’s regular warnings from both the Royal Oman Police and the Oman Road Safety Association, drivers pay no heed to road safety rules and continue to risk their lives and the lives of others on the road. T O S TAY I N H O S P I TA L

TOP THREE INSIDE STORIES

An official of the Directorate General of Inquiries and Criminal Investigations at the ROP has warned citizens against frauds involving hacking of sites and misuse of emails. The official said the complaints of online fraud had witnessed an increase in recent months. >A3

Supercharged Su upe perch cars

FIGHT FOR INALIENABLE RIGHTS A Palestinian protestor throws a stone towards an Israeli bulldozer during clashes against the expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel at the village of Kfar Qaddum, in Nablus, yesterday. — AFP

Mubarak suffers from cracked ribs, fluid in lungs CAIRO: Ousted president Hosni Mubarak has a build-up of fluid in his lungs and cracked ribs, Egypt’s official news agency Mena reported after he was transferred from prison to military hospital for treatment. The state prosecutor ordered Mubarak’s transfer on Thursday after his health deteriorated, a prosecution source had said, more than a week after he was briefly hospitalised after slipping in a prison bathroom and hurting his head. Mena reported late on Thursday that X-rays showed that Mubarak fractured several ribs in the fall and also had a buildup of fluid in the membranes lining his lungs. The agency cited a medical report prepared at the prosecutor’s request. Mubarak, who is serving a life sentence for his role in the killing of protestors during the uprising that led to his resignation in February 2011, will return to jail after treatment, the prosecution source said. A court sentenced the veteran strongman to life in June for failing to prevent the killings of protestors during the 18-day revolt that ended his three-decade rule. Some 850 people died in the uprising. Since his fall from power, Mubarak’s health has appeared to worsen significantly, and he has had repeated health scares. He spent nearly a month in hospital after falling unconscious on June 19, with state media declaring him clinically dead on arrival. Medical sources, however, said he appeared to have fallen into a temporary coma. During his time in power, the subject of Mubarak’s health was very much off limits. In 2004, he underwent surgery in Germany for a slipped disc, and he returned to Germany in March 2010 for the removal of his gall bladder. - AFP

S AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 29, 2 0 1 2

OMAN I TA P R O G R A M M E

C O M M E N TA RY

Islamic nations to discuss IT emergency readiness MUSCAT: The Sultanate, represented by the National Computer Emergency Readiness Team (OCERT) of the Information Technology Authority (ITA), will host from today the three-day annual meeting of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s Computer Emergency Readiness Teams (OIC-CERT). More than 55 members states of the OIC will be participating in the meeting. The conference comes after the Sultanate was selected to serve as the regional centre for cyber security for the Arab region, in recognition of the leading role and regional and international contributions

of OCERT in the domain of electronic security. The OCERT seeks to strengthen regional cooperation with countries in the region by conducting such conferences. The ﬁrst day would include workshops on dealing with information security and challenges facing the cyber world. The second day will include the convening of an International Conference that includes a series of sessions, the ﬁrst will deal with shaping the future of information security and the risks accompanying it. The second session will discuss the new generation of cyber threats and risks and obstacles

ensuing from them, while the third session will discuss developing human capacities in the management of the effects and consequences of the new generation of cyber threats and risks. The conference concludes on Monday with a meeting of the main committee that acts as a Board of Directors of OIC-CERT, with the Sultanate as its member. The representatives of the member states would also participate in the conference to discuss some of the projects dealing with cyber security implemented by participating states and the exchange of expertise in this area.-ONA G C C C O O P E R AT I O N

Economic Forum on January 21 DOHA: The Federation of GCC Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FGCC Chambers) will organise the second Gulf Economic Forum in the Qatari capital, Doha, on January 21. The forum will be held under the patronage of Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, and will have the participation of a number of ofﬁcials, senior Gulf investors and foreign delegations. Dr Abdulrahim Hasan Naqi, Secretary-General of FGCC Chambers, said that the forum aims to encourage investment in the GCC countries and opening new horizons for partnership. He added that the forum also aims at attracting regional and international investments through showcasing the investment opportunities available in the industrial, tourism, real estate and agricultural sectors. -ONA

When Oman and Korea ﬁrst met?

iplomats sometimes have to answer the question of when their country and the host country to which they are accredited first met; that is, when the first contact took place or when the two peoples came to know each other. Although I majored in international relations in college I have also had a deep interest in history, the history of every corner of the world. So, with my deep interest in history, even before I came to the Sultanate of Oman, I was aware of the general understanding in Korea of when the first contact between the Korean people and the Arab world took place. As is widely known, starting from the 8th century, Arabs advanced to many parts of the world by sea. Accordingly, from the middle of the 8th century, many Arabs sailed to China from ports located in what is today Oman. And according to Chinese records, there was a large Arab community, especially in Canton Province. In fact, it reached the level of almost ten thousand people. In the year 828 Jang Bogo, who was half Korean half Chinese, sponsored by the king of the Korean kingdom (the Silla Dynasty) opened a naval and trading base at Wan-do (‘do’ means island) in southwestern Korea, and named the base Chunghaejin. ‘Chunghae’ means a blue sea, and ‘jin’ means a fort. It is almost certain that he traded with Arab merchants or traders from Canton Province. I would now like to bring to the attention of Omani readers a hypothesis well known in Korea. Between 1281 and 1283, a Buddhist monk compiled the ‘Samguk Yusa’ which means a Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms. It is a collection of legends, folktales, and historical accounts relating to the three ancient kingdoms of Korea, as well as to periods in history other than that of the Three Kingdoms. (*From some two thousand years ago until the year 676, the Korean people comprised three kingdoms, namely Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, the last of which defeated the other two in 676. The expanded Silla kingdom lasted until 935. ) And one of the folktales relates to a son of the Dragon King. The story goes as follows. In the year 879 King Heongang of the Silla Kingdom went on an excursion to a beach in the southeastern city of Ulsan. On his way back home, the king felt strange when he looked at the sky which was covered with dark clouds and fog and asked his retainers the reason. The court astronomer replied that as it had been caused by the Dragon King in the East Sea, and could be resolved by doing good deeds. And when the King ordered a temple to be built for the Dragon King, the dark clouds disappeared and the Dragon King, along with

ENVOY SPEAK JONGHYUN CHOE

The contact between the Korean people and Oman dates back to as early as the 9th century. Indeed, many of those Arab traders who came to East Asia at the time are believed to have been Omanis, or at least to have left from what is today Oman

his seven sons, emerged from the East Sea and danced in front of King Heonkang. One of the Dragon King’s sons, named Cheoyong, followed King Heongang to the capital, married a beautiful woman and held an official rank. One day when Cheoyong came back home late at night he found his wife with a man. But he did not do much about it. Cheoyong kind of ignored it and tried to leave the scene. The man who was with his wife stopped Cheoyong, wondering why Cheoyong did not protest at least. Cheoyong’s answer was “What can I do if she is not my woman anymore?” The man, overwhelmed by Cheoyong’s generosity,

kneeled in front of Cheoyong, asked for forgiveness, and made a confession that he was not human, but a devil spreading disease. He told Cheoyong that from now he would not enter any house which had a picture of Cheoyong at its gate. And from that time Cheoyong became a most revered icon in Korea and the dance honouring him developed into a court dance and a much loved Korean mask dance. It was performed to drive off evil spirits at the end of the year. It was designated in 1971 by the Korean Government as Important Intangible Cultural Heritage of Korea No. 39. In 1969 one Korean university professor, Yongbeom Lee, in his contribution to an academic journal, presented a hypothesis that Cheoyong may have been an Arab (or Muslim) who happened to land or was shipwrecked off the coast of the Shilla Kingdom. Since then that hypothesis has been increasingly known amongst the public. Today, many people in Korea believe that it is more than a possibility. So it seems that the contact between the Korean people and Oman dates back to as early as the 9th century. Indeed, many of those Arab traders who came to East Asia at the time are believed to have been Omanis, or at least to have left from what is today Oman, that is Sohar or Sur. We all know that Oman was a place from which many Sindbads embarked on their journeys. In the Koryo Dynasty which followed the Silla Dynasty and lasted from 918 to1392, the contact between us was clear. According to Korean records, the trade with the Arab world was very active. And such Arab or Muslim writers as Ibn Khurdadbeh (9th century), Al-Idrisi (12th century) and Rashid Al Din (13th century) referred to a Korean kingdom in their books. As Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Sultanate, I would therefore like to emphasise once again that we are very old friends! Jonghyun Choe is ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Sultanate of Oman

R E A L E S TAT E S E C T O R

Construction Forum to focus on major growth projects MUSCAT: The Sultanate, represented by the Ministry of Housing in conjunction with Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), will organise Oman Construction Forum on January 27, next year. The second session of the conference will focus on mega projects in vital sectors, such as tourism, health, transportation, education and housing, in addition to showcasing models for projects namely the International Medical City and Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre-Salalah. Key specialists in this vital

sector will present their opinion during the event. These experts include Dr Ali bin Talib Al Hinai, Health Ministry’s Undersecretary for Planning Affairs, Eng. Salim bin Nasser Al Oﬁ, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA), Dr Na’eema Aziz, project director for the International Medical City and Chief Operating Officer of Apex Medical Group, Chandra Lahiri, CEO and Managing Director of Muriya Tourism Development and a number of other officials. The three-day forum will discuss on major topics pertaining to

developing this sector in the Sultanate, including future projects and the timeline for construction and expansion of Salalah Airport. In addition it will review the International Medical City project, investment opportunities in the healthcare sector, building and repairing utilities and major infrastructure projects in educational utilities in the Sultanate. The event will identify major real estate projects in the Sultanate and discuss the latest and upcoming business opportunities, besides the Islamic ﬁnance to infrastructure projects in the Sultanate. -ONA

S AT U R DAY, DE C E M B E R 2 9, 2 01 2

A weekly page published by ‘Times of Oman’ in cooperation with public relations department of Royal Oman Police To contact the public relations department of ROP, you can send an e-mail to the following: press@rop.gov.om

AIRPORT SEIZURE

hacking of sites and misuse of emails and ATM cards are

Drugs recovered from expat’s guts

C I V I L S TAT U S

5,367 ID cards renewed THE General Directorate of Civil Status of ROP issued and renewed more than 5,367 national identity cards, and more than 187,062 resident cards from December 15 to 19. Mobile phone thief held Al Khoudh police station arrested A.S.H for stealing 28 mobile phones from mobile phones shops. Following investigations and search, the accused was arrested and sent to the Public Prosecution for further investigation and trial. ADVENTURE

Gearing up for Antarctica

BATTLING THE ELEMENTS:

The multi-layered jackets and gloves to take on the icy cold and winds.

Times News Service MUSCAT: Have you ever spent two weeks in extreme sub-zero temperatures whilst enduring Antarctic winds? Most of us haven’t, but on the February 28, 30 Antarctic Youth Ambassadors from around the world will set off on a journey to the great, white continent. Amongst them are Ameer Abdulhussain and Bader Al Lawati. The duo will take part in the expedition organised by the 2041 organisation with a goal of raising global awareness about climate change and its effect on local communities. As two Omanis who were born and raised in desert-like conditions and climates, where summer temperatures easily hit 40°C, a certain amount of precautionary measures will need to be taken before transitioning into an environment where the temperatures reach -30°C. However, sub-zero temperatures are not the only concern that the two will need to take into consideration, as Antarctica is known to be the windiest place on earth, high winds can make -5°C feel like -15°C. In order to ease the transition, with the assistance of their sponsor, the distribution ﬁrm ‘Enhance Oman’, has begun spending substantial amounts of time in industrialsised freezers.

OMAN

IT frauds continue to rise, caution advised Frauds involving

THE ROP has arrested a man at Muscat International Airport (MIA) recently while he was trying to smuggle drugs into the country by swallowing them. The ROP received information about a man trying to smuggle capsules containing narcotics in

his intestines, and immediately coordinated with the Department of Drug Control at MIA and caught the accused who was coming from an Asian country. The man was later taken to a hospital where an X-ray revealed 55 capsules packed with heroin.

on the rise

AN official of the DirectorateGeneral of Inquiries and Criminal Investigations at the Royal Oman Police (ROP) has warned citizens and residents against frauds involving hacking of sites and misuse of emails. The official informed that despite earlier warnings issued by the ROP, the complaints of online fraud received by the competent

authorities at the ROP had witnessed an increase over the recent months. ATM card holders should check their bank accounts regularly and keep changing the PIN numbers; they should subscribe to the SMS service which most commercial banks provide where customers get notiﬁcations of bank transactions; and never give their card information to others online. The ROP has urged citizens and residents to take utmost caution in electronic trading, and check with their banks whenever they receive an email asking to update personal account data. Tyre pressure ROP has called upon motorists to make sure that they have the correct tyre pressure in all the tyres, including the spare one. The drivers should follow the recommendations of the vehicle manufacturer about the correct tyre pressure,

SAFETY FIRST: Tyres have to be frequently monitored and veriﬁed

to check the pressure and wear and tear.–ROP

which is listed on the side of the driver’s door, on the glove compartment door, or in the owner’s manual. Tyres have to be frequently checked and veriﬁed to check for any wear and tear. The expiry date of all tyres can be known from the date and year mentioned on the sides of the tyre.

Training programme The Institute of Traffic Safety conducted a training course in safe driving for a number of light police truck drivers. The course included topics such as the details of the tyres, the risks of speeding, wrong overtaking, safe distance rule, the priorities and ﬁrst aid.

S AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 29, 2 0 1 2

REGION SAUDI ARABIA

Protestor shot dead RIYADH: Saudi Arabian police shot dead a Shiite protestor in the country’s oil-producing east late on Thursday, local activists said yesterday, bringing the death toll from clashes in the restive area to 12 this year. They said police had opened fire on protestors demonstrating about the detention of people from the Qatif district, killing 18-yearold Ali Al Marar and injuring six others. The authorities confirmed in a statement that a man had died but contradicted the activists’ account, saying a security patrol had come under fire and shot back in self defence. The spokesman for the Eastern Province police said the routine

patrol was attempting to intercept rioters who had blocked a road with burning tyres when it came under ﬁre from several sources, including the man they shot dead. Police said he had a handgun. Activists said security forces in two sports-utility vehicles had shot “indiscriminately” at the demonstrators in central Qatif and ﬁred at people on rooftops. Qatif, one of two large Shiite population centres in the kingdom, has suffered unrest since early 2011, with protestors complaining of persistent discrimination in the Sunni-dominated state, and at the arrest of local people. Saudi Shiites complain that their neighbourhoods receive inadequate state investment.– Reuters

Netanyahu, allies ‘losing ground’ ahead of election A new survey predicted the joint list

If there is no progress even after the election, I will hand full responsibility for the occupied West Bank to the Israeli government

of Netanyahu’s Likud and former foreign minister Lieberman’s Yisrael Beitenu would win 33 seats against 35-37 predicted two weeks ago

Mahmoud Abbas Palestinian President OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: The rightwing Likud-Beitenu list and Labour have lost ground ahead of Israel’s January 22 general election, a poll published yesterday showed, also conﬁrming a rise for nationalist and religious parties. The Dahaf Polling Institute survey predicted the joint list of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beitenu would win 33 seats.

Two weeks ago, a similar opinion poll predicted 35 for LikudBeitenu, and two weeks before that they were predicted to take 37 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, or parliament. The Labour party, led by Shelly Yachimovich, would take 17 seats compared with 19 and 19 in the previous polls, according to the results published in the mass-cir-

culation daily Yediot Ahronot. The centre-right HaTnuah party of former foreign minister Tzipi Livni would win 11 seats, Yesh Atid headed by former journalist Yair Lapid would take 11, United Torah Judaism six, leftwing Meretz four, extreme rightwing Otzmah two, moderate religious Am Shalem party two, and Arab lists 11. There was no margin of

error given for the poll, in which 1,250 people were interviewed. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned Thursday that he would disband his Palestinian Authority if there was no Israeli movement toward renewing peace talks after Israel’s elections on January 22. Talks after Abbas goes The head of Israel’s ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, ex-foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, lashed out yesterday against Abbas, saying new peace talks would be possible only if he leaves office. “Only after his disappearance from the leadership of the Palestinian Authority will it be possible to renew the diplomatic process,” Haaretz daily’s website quoted him as saying in a statement. Abbas, in an interview with the Israeli daily Haaretz, said that if such a situation arose he would hand full responsibility for the occupied West Bank to the Israeli government. “If there is no progress even after the election I will take the phone and call (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu,” Abbas said. “I’ll tell him... Sit in the chair here instead of me, take the keys, and you will be responsible for the Palestinian Authority.” – Agencies

PAT C H - U P

Fatah to mark anniversary in Gaza RAMALLAH: The Gaza branch of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party said yesterday it will mark its anniversary in the Hamas-ruled enclave after an accord between the two factions. “We have agreed with (Hamas) prime minister Ismail Haniya that Fatah will celebrate its 48th anniversary on January 1 at the site of the Saraya” complex where

its security forces were based, Fatah official Yehiye Rabba said. The last time that Fatah, which governs the West Bank, held celebrations in the Gaza Strip to mark its foundation was in 2007. At loggerheads Hamas and Fatah had been at loggerheads since the Islamist movement seized control of Gaza in June 2007, following its victory in

Palestinian parliamentary elections the previous year. Under Egyptian mediation, the two groups reached a unity agreement in April 2011, although it has so far not been implemented. The Fatah anniversary commemorates the ﬁrst operation against Israel claimed by its armed wing then known as Al Assifa (The Thunderstorm in Arabic) on January 1, 1965. – Agencies SHOW OF STRENGTH

Iran starts naval drills DUBAI: Iran started yesterday six days of naval drills in the Strait of Hormuz, the official Irna news agency reported, manoeuvres aimed at showcasing its military capabilities in what is a vital oil and gas shipping route. Naval commander Habibollah Sayyari said the “Velayat 91” drills would last until Wednesday across an area of about 1 million square kilometres in the Strait of Hormuz and northern parts of the Indian Ocean, Irna said. Sayyari said the goal of the manoeuvres were to show “the armed forces’ military capabilities” in defending Iran’s borders as well as sending a message of peace and friendship to neighbouring countries. Iranian officials have often said Iran could block the strait if it came under military attack over its disputed nuclear programme. Iran held a similar 10-day drill last December and sent a submarine and a destroyer into the Gulf four months ago just as US and allied navies were conducting exercises in the same waters to practise keeping oil shipping lanes open. Sayyari was quoted as saying on Tuesday that the new drill would test the navy’s missile systems, combat ships, submarines and patrol and reconnaissance methods. – Reuters

S AT U R DAY, DE C E M B E R 2 9, 2 01 2

REGION ANTI-MALIKI DEMO

Protestors block Iraq highway

TROUBLED TIMES: A family walks past a damaged mosque and tank at Azaz city, north Aleppo,

yesterday. – Reuters

Assad urged to talk to rebels Russia invites the head of the (Syrian) opposition National Coalition for talks in either Moscow or a regional capital

MOSCOW: Russia, the only world power with close ties to the Syrian regime, urged President Bashar Al Assad yesterday to talk to the opposition as Moscow itself put out feelers to the rebels. The new pressure on Assad came as Moscow revved up its bid to save a tattered peace process by ﬁrst hosting a top Damascus envoy and then planning for a meeting today with Syria peace mediator Lakhdar Brahimi. Russia also invited the head of the opposition National Coalition for talks in either Moscow or a regional capital — the Kremlin’s ﬁrst contact with a group formed in November and recognised by the West as the legitimate representative of all Syrians. But Moscow still views Assad as the legitimate leader, and its outreach to the regime’s opponents found a cool response from the National Coalition chief. Western and Arab nations have YEMEN

Two killed in drone strike SANAA: A US drone strike in the Yemeni town of Shehr in the eastern province of Hadramawt killed two suspected members of Al Qaeda yesterday, a local official said. “Two members of Al Qaeda on a motorcycle died on the spot when targeted by a missile fired by a US drone,” the official said on condition of anonymity. On Monday, four other members of Al Qaeda were killed and another wounded by three missiles fired at motorbikes in the same town. Those missiles were also fired by an “American drone” in the centre of Shehr, a town east of the provincial capital Mukalla, an official had said. US drones have backed Yemeni forces combating militants of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the group’s Yemen branch, considered by Washington to be the most active and deadliest franchise of the global jihadist network. AQAP took advantage of the weakness of Yemen’s central government during an uprising last year against now ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, seizing large swathes of territory across the south. But after a month-long offensive launched in May by Yemeni troops, most militants fled to the more lawless desert regions of the east. – AFP

‘US keeping Assad in power’ BEIRUT: Syrian rebel group the Al Nusra Front, blacklisted by Washington as a terror outﬁt, has accused the United States of seeking to keep President Bashar Al Assad in power. “The continued US and international support for prolonging the regime’s lifespan by giving extensions (for a political transi-

chastised Russia for continuing to supply Damascus with weapons and refusing to accept that no solution was possible with the regime still in power. Rebuffs invitation Syria’s opposition leader Moaz Alkhatib has rejected the Russian invitation, dealing another blow to international hopes that diplomacy can be resurrected to end a 21-month civil war. But in an interview on Al Jazeera television, Alkhatib said he had already ruled out such a trip and wanted an apology from Moscow for its support for Assad. “We have clearly said we will not go to Moscow. We could meet in an Arab country if there was a clear agenda,” he said. Russia’s Foreign Minister

tion), sending observers and trying to negotiate peace is clear to everyone,” the group’s leader, Abu Mohammed Al Jawlani, said in a voice recording posted online. “The United States is expressing its failure in the region by putting the Al Nusra Front on its terror list (merely) for helping the (Syrian) people,” he added. – AFP

Sergei Lavrov said Moscow still refused to back international calls on Assad to step down and expected the Syrian people to decide their own country’s fate. But he made explicit that Russia wanted Assad to put all options on the table after 21 months of violence that has claimed more than 45,000 lives. The fast-paced but tricky diplomacy came against the backdrop of air raids by Syrian warplanes on a Damascus province from which Assad’s forces had to withdraw the night before. “The air force for the ﬁrst time attacked the Assal Al Ward area, killing one civilian, wounding dozens and destroying several homes,” the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog said.– Agencies

BAGHDAD: Iraqi protestors demonstrating against Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki blocked a key highway to Syria and Jordan for the sixth consecutive day yesterday, which the premier slammed as unacceptable. Demonstrators called for Maliki to resign after he called for dialogue, while security forces barred Baghdad-based journalists from entering the province where the biggest protests were being held. Major demonstrations have taken place this week in the mostlySunni provinces of Nineveh and Salaheddin, but the biggest rallies have been in Anbar, west of Baghdad, following the arrest of at least nine of Sunni Finance Minister Rafa Al Essawi’s guards. Yesterday, protestors in Ramadi, Anbar’s provincial capital, called for the release of prisoners they allege were arrested on sectarian grounds by Iraq’s Shiite-led authorities, while some held banners that read, “Get out, Maliki”. “The Iraqi people are united,” read a statement issued by one of the groups organising the protest,

SHOW OF STRENGTH: Protestors in Ramadi, Anbar’s provincial

capital, block the main highway to Syria and Jordan, yesterday. – AFP

the Coordination Committees of the Revolution. “They do not need a conference for reconciliation supervised by a sectarian prime minister.” Protestors have been demonstrating in Ramadi since Sunday, steadfastly blocking the main highway to Syria and Jordan for the past six days. Though local police were at

the scene of the Friday protest, searches of those entering the rally site were carried out by organisers, and no soldiers appeared to be present. Iraqi army units did, however, bar Baghdad-based journalists from entering Anbar province, holding them at a checkpoint between Baghdad and Ramadi for more than ﬁve hours. – AFP

S AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 29, 2 0 1 2

INDIA BRIEFS

Decision on Telangana in a month, says Shinde NEW DELHI: The government will take a decision on the issue of carving out a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh in a month, union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said yesterday. “A decision will be taken within a month... we have heard the members of various parties... we have noted their views and will brief the government about it,” Shinde told reporters after an all-party meet on the issue. Noting that the people of Andhra Pradesh were suffering, the home minister appealed to the youth for calm and said the government was taking a decision.

Kerala bus mishap kills eight KOLLAM: Eight persons, including two children, were killed and 25 others injured when a car collided with a KSRTC bus at Nilamel in Kerala yesterday. The tragedy struck the family while returning home in the car after reaching Thiruvananthapuram in the wee hours by train from Mookambika, in Karnataka. They belonged to Bharathannur in Thiruvananthapuram district. - Agencies

FREEZING COLD A view of the frozen Kamrunag Lake, about 65km from Mandi, yesterday. In the higher reaches in Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur, Kullu and Shimla districts, there was light snowfall on Thursday. The weatherman said western disturbances are expected to recede today, and Himachal would see drier days. - PTI

Gang-rape victim’s condition worsens Kelvin Loh, chief executive officer of Mount Elizabeth Hospital said her vital signs are deteriorating with signs of severe organ failure DEMANDING JUSTICE: Demonstrators sit in front of a barricade

NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE: Delhi gang-rape victim is showing signs of severe organ failure after taking a turn for the worse, the hospital treating her said yesterday after medics criticised a decision to fly her to Singapore. The 23-year-old was airlifted to Singapore on Thursday after the attack on a bus in New Delhi on December 16, a crime which has prompted widespread street protests in India amid simmering anger at the level of violence against women. “Her vital signs are deteriorating with signs of severe organ failure,” Kelvin Loh, the chief executive of Mount Elizabeth Hospital, said in a statement. “As of 9pm (1300 GMT) on 28 December, the patient’s condition has taken a turn for the worse. “This is despite doctors fighting for her life including putting her on maximum artificial ventilation support, optimal antibiotic doses as well as stimulants which maximise her body’s capability to fight infections.” The hospital had informed the victim’s family of her worsening condition and “they are currently by her side to encourage and comfort her”, Loh said. Earlier yesterday the victim

as they listen to a speaker addressing them in New Delhi, yesterday, during a protest called for better safety for women following the rape of a student in the capital. – AFP

Our only wish today is that the victim recovers and culprits are punished and no time is lost in bringing perpetrators of such barbarous and heinous crimes to book Sonia Gandhi Congress president

No logic in shifting the victim, say doctors NEW DELHI: As the 23-yearold gang-rape victim struggles for life in Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital, doctors in the national capital said moving her abroad in such a condition was “unusual”. There was “no logic” behind it, they said.

was described by doctors in Singapore as “struggling against the odds, and ﬁghting for her life” after she was found to have a lung infection and brain injury. While still in India she had suffered a heart attack. She had also been diagnosed with severe intestinal injuries as a result of being attacked with an iron bar during the assault. The decision to ﬂy her out of the country by air ambulance was

“I can’t understand the logic behind it, or rather it is unusual to transfer the girl from Delhi to Singapore when the patient has suffered a cardiac arrest, as I have been informed by the media,” Samiran Nundy, chairman, department of sur-

taken at a meeting of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s cabinet on Wednesday. Singh has ordered an official inquiry into the gang-rape and promised new laws to protect women as well as stiffer penalties for the worst sex crimes. “Our prayers are with the brave young girl. The best possible medical care is being provided to her,” the premier told reporters yesterday. “You have my assurance that

gical gastroenterology and organ transplantation, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said. “My suggestion would have been to stabilise her in India and get her out of the crisis; then do her intestinal transplant later,” Nundy said. -IANS

our government is committed to bring the guilty to justice as soon as possible.” His comments were echoed by Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the main ruling Congress party and India’s most powerful politician. “Our only wish today is that the victim recovers and culprits are punished and no time is lost in bringing perpetrators of such barbarous and heinous crimes to book,” she said alongside Singh. - AFP

M I L I TA N C Y

Two militants killed in Kashmir SRINAGAR: Two militants were killed and three security personnel injured yesterday in a gunﬁght between separatist rebels and security forces in Kashmir’s district headquarters town of Pulwama, police said. The slain militants have been identiﬁed as Imtiyaz Ahmed Teli alias Fahadullah Kashmiri, a resident of Pulwama, and Mohammad Aamir Bhat alias Khalid alias

Khursheed, a resident of Shopian. “Imtiyaz Ahmed Teli was involved in a grenade attack at Narwal (in Jammu) in November this year, in which one person was killed and ﬁve others were injured,” Deputy Inspector-General (south Kashmir) Vijay Kumar said. “The two killed militants were also involved in the killing of four tourists, all women, in a grenade attack in Bijbehara of Anantnag

district in July this year,” the DIG added. “An army major, a captain and a policeman were injured in the gunﬁght,” Kumar said, adding that when the major was being taken to hospital for treatment, a mob attacked the ambulance with stones. At least seven people were injured in retaliatory action by the security forces, police said. -IANS

S AT U R DAY, DE C E M B E R 2 9, 2 01 2

PAKISTAN Govt set to relaunch anti-polio drive soon The representatives of major international agencies including WHO, the Unicef and the USAid assured of their cooperation to provide ﬁnancial and consultative aid for the anti-polio drive

The vaccination campaign was being organised ‘to compensate for children who have missed the vaccine’

ISLAMABAD A senior aide to the prime minister vowed on Thursday to relaunch the drive to eradicate polio from the country and use all necessary resources for the purpose, despite multiple attacks on vaccinators. Shahnaz Wazir Ali, the special assistant to the prime minister on social sectors and focal person of the monitoring cell on polio, told The Express Tribune that “the vaccination campaign” was being organised “to compensate for children who have missed the vaccine.” She insisted that the government would not brook any attempt by militant groups to sabotage the struggle against polio.

The campaign was temporarily suspended after a series of deadly attacks on anti-polio drive staffers in Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) provinces. Schedule An anti-polio campaign official said that, the schedule for the campaign will be announced soon and that all the provinces have now been directed to chalk out a comprehensive plan for the security arrangements of staffers. A steering committee of the

government on polio vaccination in its meeting has also issued directions to the provincial governments to devise a strategy aimed at administering polio drops to the children who were deprived of the vaccination. Following the meeting, the deputy commissioners of all cities were instructed through written orders to prepare a security plan to provide fool proof protection to the workers of polio vaccination campaign to avoid any untoward incident during the campaigns.

S O F T E N I N G S TA N C E

Taleban ‘willing’ to negotiate DERA ISMAIL KHAN: The head of Pakistan’s Taleban said his militia is willing to negotiate with the government but not disarm, a message delivered in a video given to Reuters yesterday. The release of the 40-minute video follows three high-proﬁle Taleban attacks in the northern city of Peshawar this month: an attack by multiple suicide bombers on the airport, the

killing of a senior politician and eight others in a bombing and the kidnap of 22 paramilitary forces on Thursday. The attacks underline the Taleban’s ability to strike high-proﬁle, well protected targets even as the amount of territory it controls has shrunk and its leaders are picked off by US drones. “We believe in dialogue but it should not be frivolous,”

Hakimullah Mehsud said. “Asking us to lay down arms is a joke.” Pakistani officials did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment. The Taleban said in a letter released on Thursday that they wanted Pakistan to rewite its laws and constitution to conform with Islamic law, break its alliance with the US and stop interfering in the war in Afghanistan. - Reuters

Wazir, who convened the meeting to address the concerns of various organisations on poliocampaign, directed the concerned authorities to undertake measures to ensure safety of polio immunisation drive staffers and access to the children. Meanwhile, the representatives of major international agencies including World Health Organisation (WHO), The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef ), and the US Agency for International Development (USAid) assured of their cooperation to provide ﬁnancial and consultative aid for the anti-polio drive. Over 3.4 million children not immunised According to a report issued by Prime Minister Polio Monitoring Cell and Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), over 3.4 million children could not be immunised for polio across the country following the killing of polio workers in Sindh and K-P. The report said that the government had set a target to vaccinate 4.5 million children in Sindh, however the drops were administered only to 2.7 million, depriving 1.8 million children of the vaccine. - In exclusive arrangement Tribune

with The Express

A B D U C T E D B Y FAT H E R

UK girl returning home LONDON: A six-year-old girl is on her way home to Britain more than three years after she was abducted by her father and taken to Pakistan, police said yesterday. Atiya Anjum-Wilkinson disappeared in November 2009 after going to stay with her father, Razwan Ali Anjum. The former insurance salesman told the girl’s mother, Gemma Wilkinson, that he was tak-

ing Atiya to Southport in England but instead took her to Lahore. He told his former partner that she was “never going to see Atiya again”. Anjum is currently serving a prison sentence in Britain for refusing to reveal his daughter’s whereabouts despite a court order. Just last month her 32-year-old mother launched a fresh appeal for information about her daughter. - AFP

T I M E S O F O M AN

S AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 9, 2 0 1 2

COMMEN ARY Founder, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief: Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali Deputy Editor-in-Chief:Anees bin Essa Al Zedjali Vice-Chairman: Mohamed Issa Al Zadjali Chief Executive Officer: Ahmed Essa Al Zedjali Editorial: 24726666, Fax: 24813153; E-mail: editor@timesofoman.com Advertising: 24726666, Fax: 24812624 Circulation: 24726600, Fax: 24818270; E-mail: circulation@timesofoman.com Printed and published by: Muscat Press & Publishing House P.O. Box 770, Ruwi, Postal Code: 112, Sultanate of Oman. Subscription: RO70 per year.

US introduces smarter immigration policy

THE INDEPENDENT

he Obama administration has announced a policy change that — if it works — should lead to smarter enforcement of the immigration laws, with greater effort spent on deporting dangerous felons and less on minor offenders who pose no threat. The new policy places stricter conditions on when Immigration and Customs Enforcement sends requests, known as detainers, to local law-enforcement agencies asking them to hold suspected immigration violators in jail until the government can pick them up. Detainers will be issued for serious offenders — those who have been convicted or charged with a felony, who have three or more misdemeanour convictions, or have one conviction or charge for misdemeanour crimes like sexual abuse, drunken driving, weapons possession or drug trafficking. Those who illegally re-entered the country after having been deported or posing a national-security threat would also be detained. But there would be no detainers for those with no convictions or records of only petty offences like traffic violations. John Morton, the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, said this was a case of “setting priorities” to “maximize public safety.” But wait, you ask, shouldn’t ICE have been doing this all along? Didn’t Morton say in a memo two years ago that ICE would use its “prosecutorial discretion” to focus on the most dangerous illegal immigrants? He did. But for nearly as long as President Obama has been in office, ICE has been vastly expanding its deportation efforts, enlisting state and local agencies to expel people at a record pace of 400,000 a year — tens of thousands of them non-criminals or minor offenders. By outsourcing “discretion” to local cops through a ﬁngerprinting program called Secure Communities, it has greatly increased the number of small fry caught in an ever-wider national dragnet. Some cities and states have resisted cooperating with ICE detainers for the very reasons of proportionality and public safety that Morton cited on Friday. California’s attorney general, Kamala Harris, told her state’s law enforcement agencies this month that ICE had no authority to force them to jail minor offenders who pose no threat. Secure Communities and indiscriminate detainers have caused no end of frustration for many police officials, who rely on trust and cooperation in immigrant communities to do their jobs. They know that crime victims and witnesses will not cooperate if every encounter with the law carries the danger of deportation. They have shied away from a federal role that is not theirs to take. ICE’s announcement seems to make those efforts unnecessary. It puts the Obama administration on the same page as states and cities that have tried to draw a brighter line between their jobs and the federal government’s. A stricter detainer policy is better for police and sheriffs, who can focus more on public safety. It makes people less vulnerable to pretextual arrests by cops who troll for immigrants with broken taillights. And it helps restore some sanity and proportion to an immigration system that has long been in danger of losing both. — The New York Times News Service

The perilous pivot that challenges America WIKIPEDIA

JAVIER SOLANA

Balochistan killings

NDTV.COM

he cold-blooded shooting in Gwadar of 11 people trying to cross the Iranian border in search of work, once again, highlights the precarious law-and-order situation in Balochistan. Right now we have no idea who is responsible. Indeed, the nature of the attack makes it seem likely that this was the work of a criminal gang since there seems to be no political reason to kill these people. The questions raised by these attacks have nothing to do with autonomy or independence for Balochistan; rather, they emphasise just how ineffective security forces are in the province and the country at large. The attack also raises the issue of human smuggling as a problem. It is likely that these prospective migrants paid a criminal gang significant amounts of money to flee the country. It is also believed that law-enforcement officials are in cahoots with the gangs and get their cut of the money, too. Despite this protection money, those fleeing have no guarantee of safety. In addition to finding out who is responsible for the attack, there also needs to be an investigation of security officials to find out if they profit off the human smuggling trade. There has previously been some evidence that there was official involvement or, at best, negligence in the smuggling of camel jockeys and there is every possibility of that being the case in Balochistan, too. The best way to put an end to human smuggling is by simply providing enough opportunities at home that no one feels the need to take the risky journey to another country just to find employment. This is where there are lots of scope for improvement in Balochistan. The vast reserve of natural resources in the province should make it a haven for locals but they have been systematically excluded from the bounty at home. Balochistan’s resources should belong to its people and this includes allowing them to work on projects that seek to tap these resources. To prevent future massacres of economic migrants, this figure needs to be lowered immediately. — The Express Tribune

Of the two geopolitical focal points demanding America’s attention, one represents the future and the other the past. Asia played an important role in a US presidential election campaign that was marked by oftenheated references to China’s rise. The Middle East has kept the US bogged down for decades

READERS’ FORUM

government and the Congressruled Delhi administration. The decision to institute proper probe against a few leaders of the opposition parties is welcome. The nation too wants to know to what extent these leaders incited mob frenzy. Sumit Chatterjee Al Khuwair

Mob frenzy responsible for constable’s death

“Insure with New India and be secure”

India has been steady in putting up poor show

One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalised and cruelly mocked, but cannot be taken away unless it is surrendered THEHINDU.COM

The death of Delhi Police constable Subhash Tomar, who had suffered serious injuries when a protest against the gang-rape of a young medical student turned violent at India Gate on Sunday, shows the extent to which the popular outrage had been hijacked by political parties opposed to the Congress. A popular resentment was used by these parties to malign the UPA

he Pacific or the Middle East? For the United States, that is now the primary strategic question. The violence in Gaza, coming as President Barack Obama was meeting Asia’s leaders in Phnom Penh, perfectly encapsulates America’s dilemma. Instead of being able to focus on US foreign policy’s “pivot” to Asia, Obama was forced to spend many hours in conversation with the leaders of Egypt and Israel, and to dispatch Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from Asia, in order to facilitate a cease-fire in Gaza. Of the two geopolitical focal points demanding America’s attention, one represents the future and the other the past. Whereas Asia played an important role in a US presidential election campaign that was marked by often-heated references to China’s rise, the Middle East has kept the US bogged down for decades. In addition to the eternal Israel-Palestine conflict, Iraq’s instability, the Arab Spring, Syria’s civil war, and the ongoing nuclear standoff with Iran all demand America’s attention. If the Iran crisis were to boil over, the pivot to Asia would no longer be America’s main foreign-policy priority. But if the dispute with Iran is resolved diplomatically, the Middle East might, perhaps, be relegated to a position of lesser importance, as Obama clearly desires. The question, therefore, is whether the US will find itself drawn into another war in a region on which it depends less and less for energy. Indeed, the revolution in non-conventional hydrocarbons, particularly shale gas and oil, which the International Energy Agency recently predicted would make the US the world’s largest oil producer by 2020, and the top energy producer overall by 2030, will have enormous global repercussions. For the US, energy self-sufficiency is the perfect excuse for a phased withdrawal from the Middle East; freed from energy dependency, America should be able to concentrate on the Pacific. Although maintaining stable global energy prices and its alliance with Israel means that the US cannot cut itself off completely from the Middle East’s troubles, the shift in focus to Asia began early in Obama’s first administration, with Clinton announcing America’s strategic reorientation even before US troops began withdrawing from Iraq. Following his re-election, Obama’s first foreign visit was to Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia – a choice that cannot have pleased China, as all three are ASEAN members, while Myanmar was, until it began its democratic transition, a close Chinese ally. Asia is, of course, experiencing rapid economic growth, but managing the region’s strong national-

MICHAEL J. FOX

ist tensions calls for the creation of regional security structures, together with closer economic integration. Complicating matters even more is what US scholar Kenneth Lieberthal and Wang Jisi, the dean of international studies at Peking University, called in a recent paper for the Brookings Institution “strategic distrust.” Cultivating strategic trust between the twentyfirst century’s leading powers will be fundamental to the international system’s harmonious functioning. But how can this be achieved? As China will be importing three-quarters of its oil from the Middle East by 2020, one step forward would be China’s cooperation in finding solutions to the region’s problems. After the January 2013 Israeli elections, Iran will again move to the top of Obama’s foreign-policy agenda. Military intervention in Iran – which itself will be holding a presidential election in June – would incite not only regional, but global, instability. The Arab world, Russia, and China would be forced to take sides, straining global relations between the different poles of power and raising tensions in the Pacific. So China has a large strategic interest in working with the US to avoid a showdown. Beyond Iran, the volatile situation throughout the Middle East urgently demands solutions. The latest eruption of violent conflict between Hamas and Israel underscores the importance of reviving the peace process. Syria’s civil war, in which a growing number of regional players have become involved, is beginning to look increasingly like a trial run for all-out sectarian war for regional dominance. Iran’s leaders appear to believe that the US, having incurred extremely high economic and human costs from more than a decade of war, would rather avoid another military intervention. US public opinion seems to confirm this. A recent survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs indicated that 67 per cent of Americans believe that the Iraq war was not worthwhile. Moreover, 69 per cent do not believe that the US is safer from terrorism since the war in Afghanistan, and 71 per cent say that the experience in Iraq shows that the US should take greater care in how it uses force. Peaceful resolution of the Iranian question would help the US to complete its shift toward Asia. China may not wish for that outcome, but its own vital interest in the security of Middle East energy supplies should compel it to cooperate. After all, another Middle East conflict would poison and distort relations in the region for decades, which would be the worst of all possible consequences – for the US and China alike. - Project Syndicate

No, we are not terribly disappointed by the dismal performance of the Indian cricket team. In this age of inﬂation, the Indian team’s performance is really ‘stable‘. It keeps on losing. We wonder what is the magic behind India’s such steadfast performance. It is time for the Indian coporates to take a lesson or two from Dhoni on how to beat market ﬂuctuations. Ashok Panicker Seeb

Team India needs total overhaul

The pathetic display by batsmen and bowlers shows that the team has reached its nadir and needs complete overhaul. Mohammed Ejaz Ruwi

Tendulkar’s retirement has created a vacuum Tendulkar’s sudden decision of quitting from the One-Day matches has badly shaken his fans in India and around the world. He has left a huge vacuum. P. Jayachandran Nambiar Fahud

The slide in the Indian team’s performance started just after the World Cup victory. Men in Blues were whitewashed in England, Australia and even on the home turf they got a severe beating at the hands of England.

Letters, containing not more than 200 words with full name, address and telephone number, may be sent by mail (Times of Oman, P.O. Box 770, P.C. 112, Ruwi), by fax (24813153) or by e-mail (times@omantel.net.om)

S AT U R DAY, DE C E M B E R 2 9, 2 01 2

WORLD S AT E L L I T E P H O T O S

‘North Korea may conduct nuclear test’

BRIEFS

WORLD’S OLDEST MAN One-hundred-and-ﬁfteen-year-old Jiroemon Kimura, right, receives a ﬂower bouquet from a nurse at a hospital in Kyotango, Kyoto prefecture in western Japan as he becomes the world’s oldest man at 115 years, 253 days. Kimura became the oldest living man after a US woman died at age 115 on December 17 this year. — AFP

PYONGYANG: North Korea has repaired extensive rain damage at its nuclear test facility and could conduct a detonation on two weeks notice, a US thinktank said yesterday, citing satellite imagery analysis. With the UN Security Council debating possible sanctions against the North following the launch of a long-range rocket, there has been widespread speculation that Pyongyang may carry out its third nuclear test. Satellite photos as recent as December 13 show that Pyongyang is determined to maintain a state of readiness at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said. “They continue to maintain the test site at a state of readiness that could allow them to conduct a detonation as soon as two weeks after such a decision is made,” it reported. - AFP

Berlusconi to pay 36m euros a year to Veronica ROME: Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has agreed to pay his estranged wife Veronica Lario $132,200 (100,000 euros) a day as part of a divorce settlement, the daily Corriere della Sera said yesterday. The newspaper said the 36 million-euro-a-year settlement, reached after three years of negotiations, was ﬁled with a court in Milan around Christmas. No comment was immediately available from the court or from lawyers for either Berlusconi or Lario following emailed and telephoned requests for conﬁrmation. Lario, a former actor who was married to Berlusconi for more than 22 years, asked for a divorce from the 76-year-old billionaire in 2009, accusing him of having an affair with a 17-year-old girl.

Jumper knitted by Suu Kyi fetches $50,000 in auction YANGON: A colourful woolly jumper knitted by Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has fetched nearly $50,000 at a charity auction in Yangon, aides of the Nobel laureate said yesterday. The red, green and blue V-neck was bought by private radio station Shwe FM late on Thursday as part of a fundraising event, organised by Suu Kyi’s opposition party, for education projects. Those close to Suu Kyi gave conﬂicting views on whether she knitted the garment during her long years of house arrest in Yangon, or while overseas before she returned to Myanmar to embark on her freedom struggle. - Agencies

Putin signs anti-US adoption law The law will come into

US expresses ‘deep regret’, says spokesman

force on January 1, the Kremlin said in a statement

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin yesterday signed into law a ban on the adoption of Russian children by American families that activists slammed for making orphans pawns in a diplomatic row between Moscow and Washington. The law — retaliation for a US law punishing Russian officials implicated in the 2009 prison death of the whistle-blowing attorney Sergei Magnitsky — will come into force on January 1, the Kremlin said in a statement. The highly contentious law is seen as the toughest piece of antiUS legislation during Putin’s 13year rule and has prompted objec-

WASHINGTON: The United States yesterday expressed deep regret after President Vladimir Putin signed a tough anti-US adoption law, and said it hoped cases already under way would not be affected. “We deeply regret Russia’s

tions not just from activists but even some cabinet ministers. Subject of concern A particular subject of concern are the dozens of Russian children who are now in an agonising limbo. Having been prepared for US adoption they are now effectively banned from leaving for their new lives. The Kremlin children’s rights envoy Pavel Astakhov said a total of 52 Russian children who

passage of a law ending inter-country adoptions between the United States and Russia,” State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in a statement, decrying the move as “politically motivated”.

had been prepared for US adoption should now go to Russian parents specially selected by regional governors. “I believe they should be adopted in Russia,” Astakhov, a key backer of the legislation, told Interfax. The law had been passed in three readings by the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, and then at a session on Wednesday held by the Federation Council or upper house. Putin had said on Thursday that

Ventrell said Washington hopes Moscow will “allow those children who have already met and bonded with their future parents to ﬁnish the necessary legal procedures so that they can join their families.” - AFP

he intended to sign it, ending days of speculation about his position. Rights activists and the Russian opposition slammed the law, accusing Putin of using children as hostages in a political disagreement. “Our poor children, orphans, will suffer because they are used as token coins in a political game between two countries,” veteran rights campaigner Lyudmila Alexeyeva told Ria-Novosti. “That is immoral, it’s cannibalism.”

Pro-Kremlin lawmakers put together the bill in a matter of days in response to a new US law sanctioning Russian officials implicated in Magnitsky’s death. At first it was directed against Americans deemed guilty of violating the rights of Russians. However, the Duma later added two tough amendments, one banning US adoptions, and the other banning Russian NGOs that have members with US citizenship or financing from the US. Its passage revealed cracks in the Russian leadership between those who would prefer to get tough with the United States and ministers who back a more cautious approach. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the cabinet’s social affairs chief, Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets, both spoke out against it. Reports have said that the law was authored by Vyacheslav Volodin, the hawkish first deputy chief of Putin’s Kremlin staff who headed his presidential campaign. By apparent coincidence, a Moscow court also acquitted the former deputy chief of a Moscow

prison where Magnitsky was held over causing his death by negligence. Dmitry Kratov was the only Russian official to still be facing charges over the Magnitsky case. Putin had mounted a ﬁrm defence of the ban on US adoptions while accusing the United States of “acting brazenly and arrogantly” towards Russia. He said those who believed the law limited the opportunities of orphans failed to see the threats to Russian society posed by a steady outﬂow of children. “There are lots of places in the world where living standards are higher than they are here,” said Putin. “And what — are we going to send all our children there? Perhaps we should move there ourselves?” He also raised the spectre of Russia going to “ruin” if it continued to allow foreigners to take care of its young. US families adopted nearly 1,000 Russian children last year and are the number one foreign destination of the country’s orphans. - AFP

A10

S AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 29, 2 0 1 2

WORLD R E V E L AT I O N

Invasion of Falklands Islands took Thatcher ‘by surprise’ LONDON: The invasion of the Falklands Islands by Argentina in 1982 took the then prime minister Margaret Thatcher by surprise, previously secret government papers revealed yesterday. Thatcher said she “never, never expected” the Argentines to invade the islands in the South Atlantic, according to the papers released by the National Archives. She only saw it was likely after receiving “raw intelligence” two days before the Argentine forces landed. Thatcher sent a British naval task force which retook the islands after a short war that left 649 Argentines and 255 British soldiers dead. The documents also show that Thatcher rejected an appeal by

US president Ronald Reagan to allow the islands to be handed over to international peacekeepers so that the Argentines were not completely humiliated. The defiant prime minister insisted that she had not sent British forces across the globe just “to hand over the Queen’s islands to a contact group”. The files, released 30 years after the events, reveal the dramatic testimony that Thatcher gave to a committee reviewing the war in October 1982, a few months after the conflict ended. “I never, never expected the Argentines to invade the Falklands head-on. It was such a stupid thing to do, as events happened, such a stupid thing even to contemplate doing”, Thatcher

Former British prime minister rejected an appeal by US president Ronald Reagan to allow the islands to be handed over to international peacekeepers so that the Argentines were not completely humiliated

told the committee. Britain had made some contingency planning for an invasion, and on March 26, 1982, Ministry of Defence officials came to her with a plan to prevent a full-scale invasion. She said one sentence in the officials’ report

shocked her, and she wrote it in her diary: “Moreover, if faced with Argentine occupation on arrival there would be no certainty that such a force would be able to retake the dependency.” She told the committee: “You can

imagine that turned a knife in my heart, that lot.” On March 31, 1982, she was shown intelligence suggesting that an invasion of the British-held islands was imminent. The declassiﬁed ﬁles reveal she said: “It was the worst, I think, moment of my life.” Thatcher also told the committee: “That night no-one could tell me whether we could retake the Falklands — no-one. We did not know — we did not know.” Argentine troops landed on the windswept islands on April 2, 1982. Reagan made his call to Thatcher in her Downing Street offices at 11.30pm London time on May 31, 1982, as British forces were beginning the battle for Port

Stanley, the capital of the Falklands. The Americans had already proposed dispatching a joint US-Brazilian peacekeeping mission, and the president suggested that the time had come to show magnanimity. “The best chance for peace was before complete Argentine humiliation,” he told her. “As the UK now had the upper hand militarily, it should strike a deal now.” But Thatcher said Britain could not contemplate a ceaseﬁre without the Argentines withdrawing ﬁrst withdrawal. According to the official note, she told Reagan: “Britain had not lost precious lives in battle and sent an enormous task force to hand over the Queen’s islands to a contact group. - AFP

US commander in Gulf War dies Norman Schwarzkopf Jr, led 100-hour ground war that routed Iraqi army in 1991 Norman Schwarzkopf Jr

WASHINGTON: Norman Schwarzkopf Jr, the hard-charging US Army general whose forces smashed the Iraqi army in the 1991 Gulf War, has died at the age of 78, a US official has said. The highly decorated four-star general died at 2:22pm EST (1922 GMT) at his home in Tampa, Florida, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, on Thursday. The cause of death was not immediately known. Schwarzkopf, a burly Vietnam War veteran known to his troops as Stormin’ Norman, commanded more than 540,000 US troops and 200,000 allied forces in a six-week war that routed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s army from Kuwait in 1991, capping his 34-year military career. Some experts hailed Schwarzkopf’s plan to trick and outﬂank Hussein’s forces with a sweeping armoured movement as one of the great accomplishments in military history. The maneouver ended the ground war in only 100 hours. True patriot In a statement released by the White House, President Barack Obama called Schwarzkopf “an American original” whose “legacy will endure in a nation that is more secure because of his patriotic service”. Former US President George H.W. Bush, who built the international coalition against Iraq after

the invasion of Kuwait, said he and his wife “mourn the loss of a true American patriot and one of the great military leaders of his generation”, according to a statement released by his spokesman. Bush has been hospitalised in Houston since late November. Schwarzkopf was a familiar sight on international television during the war, clad in camouflage fatigues and a cap. He conducted fast-paced briefings and reviewed his troops with a purposeful stride and a physical presence of the sort that clears bar rooms. Schwarzkopf returned from the war a hero and there was talk of him running for public office. Instead, he wrote an autobiography — It Doesn’t Take a Hero — and served as a military analyst. He also acted as a spokesman for the fight against prostate cancer, with which he was diagnosed in 1993. Schwarzkopf was born August 22, 1934, in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of Colonel H. Norman Schwarzkopf Sr, the head of the New Jersey State Police. At the time, the older Schwarzkopf was leading the investigation of the kidnapping and murder of aviator Charles Lindbergh’s infant son, one of the most infamous crimes of the 20th century. The younger Schwarzkopf graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1956. He earned a mas-

ter’s degree in guided-missile engineering from the University of Southern California and later taught engineering at West Point. Schwarzkopf saw combat twice — in Vietnam and Grenada — in a career that included command of units from platoon to theater size, training as a paratrooper and stints at Army staff colleges. He led his men in firefights in two tours of Vietnam and commanded all US ground forces in the 1983 Grenada invasion. His chestful of medals included three Silver and three Bronze Stars for valour and two Purple Hearts for Vietnam wounds. A soldier’s soldier in an era of polished, politically conscious military technocrats, Schwarzkopf’s mouth sometimes got him in trouble. In one interview, he said he had recommended to Bush that allied forces destroy Iraq’s military instead of stopping the war after a clear victory. Schwarzkopf later apologised after both Bush and defence secretary Dick Cheney fired back that there was no contradiction among military leaders to Bush’s decision to leave some of Saddam’s military intact. After retirement, Schwarzkopf spoke his mind on military matters. In 2003, when the United States was on the verge of invading Iraq under President George W. Bush, Schwarzkopf said he was unsure whether there was sufficient evidence that Iraq had nuclear weapons. He also criticised Donald Rumsfeld, the secretary of defence at the time, telling The Washington Post that during war-time television appearances “he almost sometimes seems to be enjoying it”. Schwarzkopf and his wife, Brenda, who he married in 1968, had two daughters and one son. In a statement, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta praised Schwarzkopf as “one of the great military giants of the 20th century”. - Reuters

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2012

SECTION

SPOR YOUR GAME

BRETT LEE FACES DISCIPLINARY HEARING

SYDNEY: Veteran Brett Lee faces a disciplinary hearing after criticising the New South Wales cricket administration and its chief executive David Gilbert, Cricket Australia said yesterday. Lee is in trouble over comments he made that Anthony Stuart had lost his job as New South Wales coach because he was made the scapegoat for the alleged deﬁciencies of Gilbert and the Cricket NSW hierarchy. — AFP

Yuvraj blitzkrieg helps India level T20 series A career-best 72 by Yuvraj Singh, who was also adjudged the Man of the Match, helped India post a formidable 192 for ﬁve in 20 overs

AHMEDABAD: India squared the two-match Twenty20 International series 1-1, beating Pakistan by 11 runs in the second encounter at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, here yesterday. A career-best 72 by Yuvraj Singh, who was also adjudged the Man of the Match, helped India post a formidable 192 for ﬁve in 20 overs. Pakistan managed 181 for seven in 20 overs after skipper Mohammed Hafeez top-scored with 55, his second consecutive half-century. Hafeez was declared Man of the Series. Put in, the Indian middle-order put on a sterling show and atoned for their dismal performance in the ﬁrst Twenty20 in Bangalore. Yuvraj smashed seven sixes and four fours during his 36-ball innings. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (33), Ajinkya Rahane (28) and Virat Kohli (27) also came up with valuable knocks. Pakistan pacer Umar Gul picked up four for 37. India pacer Ashok Dinda (3/36)

bowled an excellent spell in the death overs to restrict Pakistan. Dinda picked up two wickets in the penultimate over giving away just eight runs when Pakistan needed 20 to win. Pakistan got off to a good start with Nasir Jamshed (41) and Ahmed Shehzad (31) adding 74 runs for the first wicket. The Pakistani top-order got good starts but none of the batsmen could go on to score a big innings. Earlier, Gautam Gambhir (21) and Ajinkya Rahane (28) gave India a steady start with their 44-run stand for the first wicket. Unlike the first Twenty20, Pakistani opening bowlers Sohail Tanveer and Mohammed Irfan were wayward, prompting skipper Mohammed Hafeez to introduce pacer Umar Gul in the fifth over. Gambhir greeted Gul with three consecutive fours before being trapped lbw in the fifth ball. Gul removed Rahane in the next over, taking a good catch off his own bowling. Yuvraj and Kohli were going strong with their 35-run stand for the third wicket but Kohli gifted away his wicket in the 12th over while attempting a needless single. What followed next was a blitzkrieg by Yuvraj that left the Pakistanis hapless. Yuvraj and Dhoni were involved in a 97-run stand in just 7.2 overs and took India’s score to a mammoth total. Yuvraj’s brilliant innings was ended by Gul with Shoaib Malik taking a good catch at long-off boundary.Dhoni, who hit 33 off 23 balls, became Gul’s fourth victim after he was clean bowled by a yorker in the final over. — PTI

JUBILANT: India’s Virat Kohli celebrates with Yuvraj Singh after

India beat Pakistan in the second T20 match at the Sardar Patel Stadium Motera in Ahmedabad, yesterday. – PTI

SCOREBOARD

India G Gambhir lbw Umar Gul 21 A Rahane c and b Umar Gul 28 V Kohli run out (Saeed Ajmal) 27 Y Singh c Shoaib Malik b Umar Gul 72 M Dhoni b Umar Gul 33 S Raina not out 1 R Sharma not out 4 Extras (lb 5, nb 1) 6 Total (Five wickets) 192 Fall of wickets: 1-44 (Gambhir), 2-53 (Rahane), 3-88 (Kohli), 4-185 (Yuvraj Singh), 5-187 (Dhoni) Bowling Mohammed Irfan 4-0-20-0, Sohail Tanvir 4-0-44-0, Umar Gul 4-0-37-4, Saeed Ajmal 4-0-42-0, Shahid Afridi 3-0-33-0, Mohammed Hafeez 1-0-11-0. Pakistan N Jamshed c Kohli b Ashwin 41

FOOTBALL

Oman TV gets rights to broadcast Gulf Cup live MANAMA: Bahrain TV Sports Channel and Oman TV are among the different television channels to have earned the broadcasting rights for the 21st Gulf Cup, which will take place in Bahrain next month from January 5 to 18. The announcement was made by Supreme Council for Youth and Sports General Secretary Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa at a press conference held at the National Stadium’s conference hall in Riffa yesterday. Speaking the at the conference, Shaikh Salman said the organising committee will fully pay the amount that gives the Bahrain TV Sports Channel the right to telecast the competition, noting that this was in compliance with the directives of Supreme Council chairman Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa. Shaikh Salman said the decision underlines Shaikh Nasser’s keenness to put the Kingdom’s national TV channel in the frontline along with other stations from all over the GCC that have already purchased these rights. The broadcasting rights were purchased from World Sport Group, a Singapore-based ﬁrm that has all exclusive satellite broadcast copyrights of the 21st Gulf Cup. Some of the regional channels

ALL SET: Supreme Council for Youth and Sports General Secre-

tary Shaikh Salman speaks to the media in Manama. – Supplied photo

to have bought the telecasting rights include Al Kass Channel, Abu Dhabi Sports Channel, Dubai Sports Channel, Saudi Sports Channel, Kuwait Sports Channel and Oman TV. Yesterday’s conference followed a tour visit by Shaikh Salman along with Works Minister Essam Khalaf, General Organisation of Youth and Sports President Hisham Al Jawder, members of the parliament and Shura Councils and other VIPs. On behalf of the organising committee, Shaikh Salman expressed relief on the completion of all the renovation and maintenance work at

the stadiums that will host the matches as well as the training sessions during this prestigious two-week tournament. A documentary book about the Gulf Cup, meanwhile, was written by veteran UAE media representative Mohammed Al Jokar on the occasion of the 21st edition cup in Bahrain. The book features information on all previous 20 tournaments and also contains many articles and historical pictures since the inception of the Gulf Cup tournament in 1970 in Bahrain till the most recent edition held in Yemen two years ago.

A Shehzad st Dhoni b Yuvraj Singh U Akmal b Dinda M Hafeez c Raina b Dinda S Afridi c Rohit b Kumar K Akmal c Kohli b Dinda S Malik not out U Gul c Yuvraj b Ishant Extras (lb 2, w 4) Total (Seven wickets)

31 24 55 11 5 3 5 6 181

Fall of wickets: 1-74 (Nasir Jamshed), 2-84 (Ahmed Shehzad), 3-146 (Umar Akmal), 4-163 (Shahid Afridi), 5-168 (Mohammed Hafeez), 6-172 (Kamran Akmal, 7-181 (Umar Gul) Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-0-46-1, Ishant Sharma 4-0-34-1, Ashok Dinda 4-036-3, Ravichandran Ashwin 4-0-28-1, Suresh Raina 2-0-12-0, Yuvraj Singh 2-0-23-1

CHAMPIONS TROPHY HOCKEY

Pakistan edge India for Asian pennant DOHA: India ended the year on a sordid note as they failed to defend their title, losing 4-5 to Pakistan in a high-scoring final of the second Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament on Thursday. Earlier in the playoffs for fifth and sixth places, Oman played great hockey under the guidance of coach K.K. Poonacha to register their first major win in recent times on international stage. Having showed their brilliance in earlier matches, especially against Pakistan and Malaysia in the league phase before losing, Oman rallied from one goal down to beat Japan 2-1 and rank themselves as the fifth best team in Asia. Oman saw themselves trailing in the 29th minute, when Shinji Kawauchi scored a field goal for Japan, but two minutes before the breather Anwar Saad Jumman notched the equaliser for the Gulf team. After great resistance in the second half, Samir Hulais scored the winner for Oman in the 70th minute. Malaysia, meanwhile, took the bronze beating China 3-1. In fact, China took the lead in the 19th minute through Xian Yi Liu, but Marhan Jalil (40th), Razie Rahim (60th) and an own goal settled things for Malaysia. Sans experienced players, a young Indian outfit put up a brave fight before surrendering before their much-experienced opponents, whom they had defeated 2-1 in the round robin stages of the tournament. It was a neck-and-neck battle between the two sub-continent hockey giants as both the teams scored goals at will before Pa-

In the playoffs for fifth and sixth places, Oman played great hockey under the guidance of coach K.K. Poonacha to register their first major win in recent times on international stage. Oman beat Japan 2-1 to finish fifth among six teams in the Asian Champions Trophy

kistan used their experience to good effect to emerge as the winners. By virtue of this win, Pakistan have avenged upon their loss at the hands of India in the title clash of the inaugural edition of the event last year in Ordos, China. Mohammed Waqas (7th, 57th) and Mohammed Imran (48th, 64th) scored a brace each for Pakistan while Shafqat Rasool (42nd) sounded the board once. For India S V Sunil (9th), vicecaptain V R Raguunath (21st), Gurvinder Singh Chandi (55th) and Rupinder Pal Singh (59th) scored a goal each. — Agencies

A12

S AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 9, 2 0 1 2

SPORTS CRICKET

Jayawardene demands more from team after stinging loss MELBOURNE: Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene will take an injury-ravaged and demoralised outfit into the dead rubber Test in Sydney but has demanded his team show more character after their trouncing by Australia in the second Test in Melbourne yesterday. Sri Lanka were bundled out for 103 in the second innings after managing only 156 in the first, to lose the Test by an innings and 201 runs in twoand-half days, and concede the three-match series 2-0. The insipid batting display was compounded by a woeful fielding effort littered with dropped catches and injuries to master batsman Kumar Sangakkara, seamer Chanaka Welegedara and wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene. Sangakkara, the only batsman to show defiance in both Sri Lanka’s innings, has been ruled out of Sydney with a broken finger courtesy of a Mitchell Johnson delivery, and Welegedara will also miss due to a strained hamstring. Wicketkeeper Jayawardene is also a doubt after breaking a thumb after being whacked by another ball from seamer Johnson. Jayawardene would do well to take his own advice, after failing twice at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to continue a poor series. The 35-year-old captain has not surpassed 19 runs in his past six innings and the way he threw away his wickets in Melbourne signalled a player struggling for form. After being caught behind for three wafting at a delivery he should have left alone in the first innings, Jayawardene was out for a duck in the second innings after playing onto his stumps when shaping to leave the ball. — Reuters

Aussies rout Lankans to clinch Test series

Shane Watson ruled out of third Test in Sydney

Needing 305 runs to make Australia bat again, Sri Lanka surrendered at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after adding only 103 in their second innings

MELBOURNE: Australia’s bowlers battered Sri Lanka’s batsmen to win the second Test by a humiliating innings and 201 runs before tea on day three and claim an unassailable 2-0 lead in their threematch series. Needing 305 runs to make Australia bat again, Sri Lanka surrendered at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after adding only 103 in their second innings, with a top order collapse and a raft of injuries leaving the tourists smarting ahead of Sydney’s dead rubber Test next week. Seamer Mitchell Johnson was justly named man-of-the-match after taking six wickets and making an unbeaten 92 with the bat in an outstanding return to the team after being dumped from the first Test victory in Hobart. Johnson took 4-63 in the first innings to lead the bowling as Sri Lanka were skittled for 156, but may have Australia’s selectors pondering a more permanent role for the mercurial paceman. Johnson missed out on his second Test century as Australia were bowled out for 460 in the morning session, but was immediately consoled by playing a direct hand in the first two wickets of the second

CELEBRATION TIME: Australian team members congratulate each other after they defeated Sri Lanka

on the third day of the second cricket Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). – AFP

INJURED: Shane Watson

innings, as Sri Lanka’s top order disintegrated. The tourists lost three wickets in the ﬁrst 12 balls to be ﬂailing at 3-3, and another within the next four overs.

MELBOURNE: Australia vicecaptain Shane Watson will miss the third Test in Sydney after sustaining a calf strain during his team’s series-winning rout of Sri Lanka in the second Test in Melbourne. Watson pulled up sore after bowling on day one at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and although he went on to score 83 with the bat, the all-rounder was spared from bowling duties during Sri Lanka’s brief second innings yesterday. Australia wrapped up an innings and 201run victory against the injuryravaged Sri Lankans to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Glenn Maxwell comes into a 13-man squad named by Australia captain Michael Clarke following the match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with the skipper himself still under a cloud with a hamstring strain. Clarke sustained his injury in Australia’s victory in the first Test in Hobart, but was cleared to play on the morning of the Boxing Day test and scored a sparkling 106 to cap his brilliant year. Clarke said seamer Mitchell Johnson, who was named man-of-the-match after taking six wickets and making an unbeaten 92 with the bat, would also be considered as an all-rounder for the dead rubber Test, depending on the Sydney wicket. Clarke also said seamer Mitchell Starc, who was controversially dropped for the Melbourne test despite being fit and taking a five-wicket haul to help Australia win in Hobart, would be a certain starter for the New Year’s Test. Squad: Michael Clarke (captain), David Warner, Ed Cowan, Phil Hughes, Glenn Maxwell, Mike Hussey, Matthew Wade, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Lyon, Jackson Bird, Usman Khawaja — Reuters

Smart fielding A horrible misunderstanding between openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Tillakaratne Dilshan led to the former run out for one on the third ball of the innings. Dilshan was gone for a first-ball duck off Johnson’s next delivery when he tried to fend off a short ball, only to flick an edge onto his thigh pad that rebounded for a simple catch to Cowan at short leg. Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene was heading back to the pavilion for a duck in the next over, shaping to leave the ball but playing onto his stumps to give debutant Jackson Bird his first wicket of the morning. The 26-year-old seamer struck again in the sixth over of the day, trapping Thilan Samaraweera lbw for one. Sri Lanka lurched to lunch at 43-4, and after losing Sangakkara, who retired hurt on 27, were quickly despatched. Angelo Mathews battled hard to top-score for Sri Lanka with 35, but was out-playing onto the stumps off the bowling of Johnson. — Reuters

SCOREBOARD

Sri Lanka 1st Innings 156 (K. Sangakkara 58; M.

Sri Lanka 2nd Innings

Johnson 4-63)

D. Karunaratne run out (Warner/Johnson)

Australia 1st Innings (440 for 8 overnight)

T. Dilshan c Cowan b Johnson

0 27

E. Cowan c M. Jayawardene b Prasad

K. Sangakkara retired injured

D. Warner c Prasad b Mathews

M. Jayawardene b Bird

P. Hughes run out (Dilshan)

T. Samaraweera lbw b Bird

S. Watson c Samaraweera b Prasad

A. Mathews b Johnson

D. Prasad c Hughes b Lyon

R. Herath not out

M. Clarke c M. Jayawardene b Eranga

106

M. Hussey c Herath b Dilshan

M. Wade c Eranga b Prasad

S. Eranga c Cowan b Siddle

M. Johnson not out

P. Jayawardene absent hurt

P. Siddle c M. Jayawardene b Eranga

C. Welegedara absent hurt

N. Lyon c Chandimal (sub) b Mathews J. Bird b Eranga Extras (b9, lb5, w6, nb2) Total (all out)

0 1

0 0 0

Extras (10lb, 1nb)

Total (7 wickets)

103

Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Karunaratne), 2-1 (Dilshan),

460

3-3 (M. Jayawardene), 4-13 (Samaraweera), 5-74

Fall of wickets: 1-95 (Warner), 2-117 (Hughes),

(Mathews), 6-102 (Prasad), 7-103 (Eranga)

3-117 (Cowan), 4-311 (Clarke), 5-313 (Watson),

Bowling: Johnson 8-0-16-2, Bird 9-1-29-2 (1nb),

6-315 (Wade), 7-376 (Hussey), 8-434 (Siddle), 9-451

Siddle 5.2-0-32-1, Lyon 2-0-16-1

(Lyon), 10-460 (Bird)

Man-of-the-match: Mitchell Johnson (AUS)

Bowling: Welegedara 14.4-6-38-0, Eranga 27-2-

Toss: Sri Lanka

109-3 (2nb, 5w), Prasad 26-2-106-3 (1w), Mathews

Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK), Nigel Llong (ENG)

16-3-60-2, Herath 39-7-95-0, Dilshan 12-1-38-1

Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)

TENNIS

Djokovic targets Grand Slam after 2012 heartbreaker LONDON: Novak Djokovic believes he can become only the third man in history to hold all four majors at the same time in 2013 having come so agonisingly close last season. The world number one missed out on joining Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) as just the third man to simultaneously possess the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open titles when he was beaten by Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros. Having finished number one in the world for the second successive season, the 25-year-old Serb goes into the new campaign, which gets underway officially next week, with his confidence high. “I won the last big tournament of the year in London (the ATP World Tour Finals) and I am hoping that I can continue playing well,” said Djokovic. “So my ambitions are always high. I want to win every Grand Slam that I play.” The five-time major winner added: “Roland Garros is always at the top of my priority list and ambitions. It’s the only slam I haven’t won. I played in the final, which is a step further than ever before.” Djokovic won the Australian Open in 2012, was runner-up to Nadal at the French while also losing a five-set US Open final to Andy Murray. He was a semifinal loser to Roger Federer at Wimbledon. In New York and London he had been defending champion. Federer captured a 17th major when he claimed a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon, coming from a set down to defeat a tearful Murray. With his 32nd birthday coming in August, the great Swiss has already slashed his schedule for the new year, intending to play just 13 events. He will go into a 14th Australian Open next month — a tournament he has won four times — not having played a warmup competition. World number three Murray became the first British man since 1936 to win a major when he defeated Djokovic to clinch the US Open, with his triumph coming in the slipstream of his Olympic Games gold medal. “In the last three, four or five years there has been significant

CRICKET

ODIS

New Zealand rest Bracewell for S. Africa One-dayers

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE: Having ﬁnished No.1 in the world for the second successive season Djokovic goes into the new campaign,

which gets underway next week, with his conﬁdence high. – File photo

pressure in my mind and I feel more relaxed and more relieved after winning the US Open,” said the 25-year-old. “So I think from my side I hope to take pressure off myself and will be able to play a little bit more relaxed and hope to repeat my Grand Slam win.” Nadal, the 11-time major winner, will be the unknown quantity having been out of action since his shock second round defeat at Wimbledon to world number 100 Lukas Rosol in June. He will make his comeback in Doha next week but only expects to be at full ﬁtness once the US hardcourt and European claycourt

seasons come around. “My goal is not Doha or the Australian Open. My goal is to get ﬁt, recover all my feelings. The only thing I care about is the knee,” said the seventime French Open champion, who has battled a series of knee injuries throughout his career. “My real goal is to start in perfect condition at Indian Wells and Miami and reach Monte-Carlo with good feelings, to face the clay season in good condition.” In 2012, Serena Williams was the player of the year on the WTA Tour, with the veteran American overcoming her worst ever Grand Slam performance — a ﬁrst round defeat at the French Open — to

win Wimbledon, the Olympics, US Open and then the end-of-season WTA Championships title. “I deﬁnitely think I can improve some more,” said Williams, who now has 15 Grand Slam singles titles. That’s just three off the 18 collected by Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, with only Steffi Graf’s record of 22 looking potentially out of reach. Williams, who will be 32 in 2013, starts her season in Brisbane as does world number two and French Open champion Maria Sharapova, and the world’s top player, Victoria Azarenka. Williams has undergone toe surgery while Sharapova pulled out of

an exhibition in Seoul last week with a neck injury. Australian Open champion Azarenka, however, was sunning herself in Thailand before heading for Brisbane. The 2013 season has already started with Djokovic and Murray taking part in a three-day exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi. Today, the Hopman Cup gets underway in Perth, while Doha, Chennai and Brisbane all host ATP events at the start of next week and the WTA kicks off in Brisbane, Auckland and Shenzhen. The ﬁrst Grand Slam event of 2013, the Australian Open, gets underway on January 14. — AFP

AUCKLAND: New Zealand have left Doug Bracewell out of their 15-man squad for a One-day International series in South Africa to manage the seamer’s workload, the country’s cricket board said yesterday. The selectors had retained 11 members from the Twenty20 squad that lost the three-match series against South Africa 2-1, New Zealand Cricket said in a statement. The Brendon McCullum-led side will play a three-match ODI series after the completion of the two Tests against South Africa in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. “The decision to leave Doug Bracewell out of the ODI squad is in line with our policy to sensibly manage player workloads,” Black Caps coach Mike Hesson said. “He has a big role to play in the Test series against South Africa and will beneﬁt from the opportunity to freshen up ahead of the home series against England.” Squad: Brendon McCullum (captain), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Roneel Hira, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Rob Nicol, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson. — Reuters

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2012

MARKE

OMRAN OPENS DUQM HOTEL Sheikh Al Fadhil bin Mohammed Al Harthy, Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, inaugurated Omran’s City Hotel Duqm, a three-star business hotel equipped with comfortable rooms and business amenities. >B2

NAT I O NA L B U S I N E S S C E N T R E

Centre to develop small units to be operational by 2013 T imes News Service MUSCAT: Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) entrepreneurs in Oman will soon have the opportunity to grow and expand their businesses in a rapid way. In an initiative dedicated to reinforce dynamic, healthy and sustainable business environment, the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE) has announced the setting up of a National Business Centre (NBC) by the beginning of 2013. “This project is a milestone for entrepreneurs in Oman since the centre will act as a premier platform for developing and support-

ing Omani entrepreneurs. The centre will provide physical facilities and value added services, capitalise on linkages with industrial areas, and target budding entrepreneurs from universities and working or retired Omanis,” said Malak Al Shaibani, director of National Business Centre. “PEIE is, in fact, a pioneer to spread the culture of business incubation in Oman. It has been inspiring to witness the radical success of Knowledge Oasis Muscat’s (KOM) business incubator programme — The Knowledge Mine (TKM) — which was inaugurated in 2004,” Al Shaibani noted, adding: “Now, it is time for the Public

Establishment for Industrial Estates to expand its major role in nurturing entrepreneurs through the National Business Centre.” Multiple roles The centre seeks to facilitate and support the growth of investable ideas into successful businesses; build entrepreneurial skills through dedicated and focused training, coaching and mentoring; and provide business support facilities from office space, administrative support, ﬁnancial support and consultancy services that are crucial in ensuring the success and survival of new ventures. “NBC will play multiple roles in

counseling and guiding entrepreneurs through providing them with support in preparing feasibility studies, detailed reports and business plans. Experts at the centre will be providing intensive training, coaching and mentoring aimed at building entrepreneurial skills for incubated companies and potential entrepreneurs in such a way that would eventually create an environment that allows entrepreneurs to network, form partnerships, and have access to business mentors,” Al Shaibani pointed out. Located at the Knowledge Oasis Muscat, NBC will provide major services ranging between busi-

New Tata boss has a mountain to climb Debasis Ray declined to comment on the vision or Mistry’s plans for Tata. “Such matters are internal to the company,” Ray said in an emailed reply to a query.

Cyrus Mistry succeeds Ratan Tata, who steps down on turning 75 after two decades at the helm of India’s Tata Group. He faces tough task to meet Ratan’s vision of boosting revenue ﬁvefold to $500b

CHANGE OF GUARD: Outgoing Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata, left,

with new chairman of Tata Sons, Cyrus Mistry. - AFP

MUMBAI: Cyrus Mistry, who was scheduled to take charge yesterday at the Tata Group, India’s biggest business group, may face an uphill battle if he is to meet his predecessor’s vision of boosting revenue ﬁvefold to $500 billion in the next decade. Mistry, 44, becomes chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company for the salt-to-software group, just as slower economic growth damps demand for products from steel to cars. Ratan Tata, who steps down on turning 75 after two decades at the helm, built the business into a $100 billion global conglomerate through acquisitions including the UK’s Corus Group and Jaguar Land Rover. Tata succeeded his uncle in 1991 as India’s economy was opening up. “It is not an easy task to grow ﬁvefold in this global economic scenario,” said Shishir Bajpai, senior vice-president at IIFL Wealth Management in Mumbai. “The bar is set high for Mistry to deliver. Ratan Tata took a group well known in the domestic markets global, now Mistry has to take it forward.” The change of guard marks a rare opportunity to shape the

MANAGING OVER 100 COMPANIES Cyrus Mistry, 44, becomes chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company for the salt-to-software group, just as slower economic growth damps demand for products from steel to cars. It‘s a rare opportunity to shape the group of more than 100 companies and ranks Tata above Japan’s Panasonic and Swiss food giant Nestle by sales

group of more than 100 companies, whose expansion has mirrored India’s emergence as a global economic power and ranks Tata above Japan’s Panasonic and Swiss food giant Nestle by sales. At stake is the equivalent of about 6 per cent of India’s gross domestic product (GDP), and the future of ﬁrms including Tata Steel, India’s biggest producer of the alloy, and Tata Motors, the nation’s No. 1 automaker by revenue. Biggest shareholder Mistry’s performance could also weigh on his family’s fortune: along with his father, Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry, and his brother, the chairman’s family owns about 18 per cent of Tata Sons. Little is known about the London Busi-

ness School management postgraduate’s leadership style or strategic vision, and the man chosen by a select search panel in November 2011 has so far shied away from the media and investors. “I haven’t heard from him on company plans, so I don’t know” how Mistry will lead, Koen Vanderauwera, a Luxembourg- based bond-fund manager at KBC Asset Management that holds the debt of Tata Steel and Tata Power, said in a phone interview. “I’ll wait and see what kind of announcements he makes, how he comments.” The $500 billion revenue vision for Tata in 2021 was outlined by Ratan while addressing his top executives in April, and conﬁrmed by Tata Sons director R. Gopalakrishnan. Group spokesman

Textile trading Mistry and the Tatas follow the Zoroastrian religion and belong to the small Parsi community, which originated in Persia and found sanctuary centuries ago in India. The Tata group was founded by Ratan’s great grandfather Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, who started a textile-trading business in 1868 and then built the country’s first steel mill and hydroelectric plant. He also built the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotel in Mumbai, which was damaged in the November 2008 terrorist attacks. Mistry will also need all the project-handling skills honed at running the construction business at his family’s Shapoorji Pallonji to sustain profitability even as many of Tata’s key companies battle adverse market conditions or regulatory changes. Steel and autos For a group that includes Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest software company, Tata Motors, owner of the Jaguar and Land Rover luxury marques, and Tata Global Beverages, the local partner of Starbucks, sales and profit growth is slowing at its biggest businesses. Profit growth at Tata Motors decelerated to the slowest pace in four quarters in the three months ended September 30 and sales growth slowed to the least in three years amid waning demand for luxury vehicles in Europe. Tata Steel posted an unexpected loss even as sales growth stayed below 5 per cent for the third straight quarter. “It’s not easy to grow fivefold organically, so Mistry at some point will have to pull a multibillion dollar surprise acquisition,” said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, head of research SMC Global Securities in News Selhi. - Bloomberg News

CRUDE OIL

Iraq jumps to No. 2 position in Opec BAGHDAD: Iraq jumped two places to No. 2 in Opec’s rankings this year, cementing its position among the world’s leading oil producers. Neighbouring Iran dropped three spots to ﬁfth as international sanctions took hold. Second only to Saudi Arabia within the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), Iraq’s output rose by 24 per cent this year as the BP-led Rumaila ﬁeld increased supply. Iranian production shrank by the same percentage to the lowest level since 1988, according to data, and its exports will continue to drop into 2013, according to the International Energy Agency. “Iraq will continue to produce as much crude as it can because oil is and will remain its main source of income in the next few years,” said Anas Alhajji, chief economist for NGP Energy Capital Manage-

24% Is the rise in Iraq’s output this year as the BP-led Rumaila ﬁeld increased supply. Iranian production shrank due to US and European sanctions

ment in, Texas, which oversees $13 billion in funds. “Iraq wants every penny it can get.” The turnaround illustrates the nations’ contrasting geopolitical fortunes. Iraq has become the region’s second- fastest growing economy, attracting investment from Royal Dutch Shell and Lukoil in the nine years since the

ouster of Saddam Hussein. Iran, stymied by a European Union and United States ban on oil exports, will suffer a decline in gross domestic product this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. Export reliability Iraq’s crude production averaged 3.35 million barrels a day last month, data shows. Iran’s daily output slumped to 2.7 million, less than Venezuela and Kuwait, Opec’s third- and fourth-largest producers, respectively. The reliability of Iraqi exports is still at risk as the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government fail to agree on crude revenue and contract terms. Exxon Mobil wants to sell its stake in the West Qurna-1 ﬁeld in southern Iraq, oil minister Abdul

Kareem Al-Luaibi said on November 11. “Constraints on export pipelines, government bureaucracy, and the continuing dispute with the autonomous Kurdish region will keep the country short of its ambitious goals,” Robin Mills, the head of consulting at Dubaibased Manaar Energy Consulting and Project Management and a former Middle East specialist at Shell, said in an e-mail. Global oil supply has risen this year, led by the US, where producers are using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to unlock deposits in shale formations from North Dakota to Texas and Oklahoma. Production worldwide averaged 90.8 million barrels a day in the third quarter, up 2.7 per cent on 2011, the Paris- based IEA said in its monthly report on December 12. - Bloomberg News

ness advisory, ﬁnancial and legal advisory, business facilitation, facilities support, administrative support, entrepreneurship development programmes, coaching and mentoring, and marketing and business promotion support. NBC partnerships “Our centre will undoubtedly assist entrepreneurs to work proactively with government entities and major corporate companies in identifying current and future prospects for incubated companies,” she stressed. The National Business Centre will work together with partners from public and private sectors

to support incubated companies through the support services. It is noteworthy that NBC has a network of strategic partners such as the SME department, commercial banks, Sharakah, ITA, OCCI, Ministry of Manpower, as well as major industries that form part of its advisory board. Plans are afoot to expand the National Business Centre incubators into Sohar and Nizwa.

HAVE YOUR SAY Send us your comments at facebook.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com haveyoursay@timesofoman.com

AWA R D F U N C T I O N

HM Cup for best ﬁrms to be held tomorrow MUSCAT: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry will celebrate the presentation of His Majesty the Sultan’s Cup for the Best Five Factories for 2012 under the patronage of Sheikh Abdul Malik bin Abdullah Al Khalili, minister of justice, at Al Bustan Palace Hotel, tomorrow. Eng. Sami bin Salim Al Sahib, director of Industrial Development and head of the Technical Committee for the competition said that 10 out of 47 companies that had participated in His Majesty the Sultan’s Cup for the Best Five Factories competition 2012 will be honoured. Three categories He said that the awards have been divided into three categories. The winner in the ﬁrst category, in which the investment is more than RO10 million, will get His Majesty the Sultan’s Cup and a shield from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The winner in the second category in which the investments ranging between RO2 million and RO10 million, will receive three cups and three shields., as most

of the companies come under this category. In the third category where investment is less than RO2 million, the winner will get a cup and a shield from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. New criteria As for the new developments in the competition, Eng. Al Sahib said that a host of proposals have been approved including adding new criteria related to job stability at the industrial installations, social responsibility at these installations, amending some criteria related to ﬁnancial performance, use of Omani raw materials and industrial integration. Eng. Sami bin Salim Al Sahib added that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry organises this competition since 1991 as an embodiment for His Majesty the Sultan’s declaration of 1991 and 1992 as the two years for industry. Eng. Al Sahib also said that the competition form includes the major criteria and terms based on which the participant factories will be evaluated and winner will be selected. - ONA

S AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 29, 2 0 1 2

MARKET BRIEFS

PDO to resume partial production at Yibal-A MUSCAT: The fire incident at Yibal-A station did not result in any injuries and environmental impact has been minimal with the effluent contained within the station boundary. Yibal field is located in the northern part of PDO concession area, and is about 400 Km away from Muscat. The fire was contained on the same day and the station has been fully isolated. Since then PDO has been assessing the extent of the damage to facilities and preparing recovery and resumption plans. It is expected that the station will be back in service with partial production in the coming few days.

Omran’s hotel begins operation in Duqm Three-star business hotel, City Hotel

Sur Industrial Estate to host seminar on SME funding

Duqm, comprises

MUSCAT: Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE), represented by Sur Industrial Estate, in cooperation with Directorate General of Small and Medium Enterprises at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, will host a seminar tomorrow for highlighting the significance of preparing feasibility studies and financing small and medium enterprises. The seminar will be held under the auspices of Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohamed bin Nasser Al Nadabi, wali of Sur. The seminar aims to highlight the importance of economic feasibility studies in facilitating access to funding for small and medium-sized projects. The seminar will host a number of parties involved in financing SMEs represented by Oman Development Bank and Fund for Development of Youth Projects (Sharakah). - Times News Service

twin rooms and

120 single, double, ﬁve suites. This is Omran’s ﬁrst tourism venture in Al Wusta region and caters to business travellers

Times News Service DUQM: Sheikh Al Fadhil bin Mohammed Al Harthy, secretarygeneral of the Council of Ministers, inaugurated Omran’s City Hotel Duqm, a three-star business hotel equipped with comfortable rooms and business amenities. The hotel is Omran’s ﬁrst hospitality tourism development in the Al Wusta governorate and caters to business travellers seeking affordable and contemporary Omani hospitality. Accompanied by members of the board of Duqm Special Economic Zone Authority (DSEZA) and Omran officials, Al Harthy was taken on a tour of the hotel characterised by local Omani fea-

IT’S OPEN: Sheikh Al Fadhil bin Mohammed Al Harthy, secre-

tary-general of the Council of Ministers, inaugurated Omran’s City Hotel Duqm, recently. – Supplied photo

tures that create a welcoming ambience. “Omran has demonstrated steadfast commitment to the Sultanate and its people by developing strategically located facilities that are in line with His Majesty the Sultan’s far-reaching vision of economic and social prosperity for all. With continued expansion of the DSEZ including the port, airport and other economy-driving infrastructure, the wilayat is anticipated to become a source of wealth for the nation, and it is imperative to have facilities such as City Hotel Duqm,” said Al Harthy. “The planning of the city requires a diverse offering of tourism and residential projects and we are delighted to see the progress with which these projects

are being delivered and the close coordination between the Authority and Omran has helped reduce the time required for obtaining the required permits and utilities which is a key objective of the establishment of the authority,” added Yahya bin Said Al Jabri, chairman of DSEZA. Nasser bin Khamis Al Jashmi, chairman of Omran and undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil and Gas, added, “City Hotel Duqm will serve the growing number of business travellers coming to Duqm and will address the shortage of accommodation. “Omran is dedicated to creating memorable tourism destinations that support the country’s growth, generate jobs and create direct

and indirect opportunities for local communities.” Consisting of 120 single, double, twin rooms and five suites, City Hotel Duqm was soft-launched in May 2012 with an immediate positive response in the market. The hotel is ideally fitted out with a multi-cuisine restaurant, business centre and other services expected by the modern business traveller. It is ideally located within close proximity to the Duqm Port, dry docks, airport project, oil refinery and other industrial ventures. “Omran has invested in several projects in Duqm and we are now gearing up for the opening of the first luxury hotel in Al Wusta early next year,” Al Jashmi noted. Omran is mandated by the government to deliver major projects and manage tourism assets and investments. This is in line with the government’s vision of positioning tourism as a major economic driver of the future and as a generator of employment. Omran’s growing project portfolio includes some of the largest developments in Oman such as the Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre. Having delivered the second Asian Beach Games facilities in record time and with an impressive health and safety record, it is now focusing on the delivery of its numerous projects.

HAVE YOUR SAY Send us your comments at facebook.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com haveyoursay@timesofoman.com

S AT U R DAY, DE C E M B E R 2 9, 2 01 2

FEATURE

THE FIVE BEST TECH TOYS OF 2012 Toys are fun. Especially these ﬁve, the most innovative playthings of the year.

Sifteo Cubes. $129.95 for a three-cube bundle As graduate students at MIT a few years ago, Dave Merrill and Jeevan Kalanithi were looking to build computers that develop spatial-reasoning skills. The result — as Merrill explained in a hit 2009 TED talk — are these irresistible “intelligent blocks.” Each block has an LCD screen and sensors to determine how it’s oriented and when it’s been moved. They’re also loaded with several games that take advantage of the blocks’ spatial awareness-for instance, shape- and word-matching games in which you rotate and connect sequences across different blocks. Best of all, they require no tech expertise to set up and use, and they even come packaged with batteries. Within ﬁve minutes of cracking open the box, I was deeply immersed in a game.

LittleBits electronics kits. $89 for a starter kit, $149 for an extended kit Think of these as Legos for electronics. Each littleBits block is a piece of an electrical circuit — a switch, a power source, or an endpoint like a light or a fan or a vibrating motor. It’s your job to stick them together in creative ways. The pieces snap and hold together magnetically, and because they’re color-coded and only snap in certain directions, they’re fantastically easy to learn. They’re recommended for kids 8 and above, but I bet even younger children can get the hang of these. The only problem with littleBits is that they’re expensive. I found the starter kit limited, with too few interesting parts; the extended kit, though, is a blast. If you want to try something else in the same vein, Snap Circuits — an $80 set of modular electronic parts that snap together on a plastic circuit board — are slightly more complicated but also cheaper.

LeapFrog LeapPad2 Explorer, $99 I was skeptical of a tablet computer for kids. Not because I think kids shouldn’t be using computers, but because when I give my 2-year-old my iPad, he usually navigates to the Netﬂix app and begins watching Curious George. In other words, he uses it as a TV. And that kind of explains the idea behind the LeapPad2. It gives kids all the accoutrements of a grown-up tablet — a camera, a touchscreen, apps — but everything is rendered in big, kid-friendly plastic, and all of the experiences are nominally educational. I can’t tell you whether they’ll actually make your kid smarter — “all things in moderation” is a good guideline for kids and electronics — but if you have a young child and a tablet computer, you understand how hard it is to keep the two separate. The LeapPad2 allows you to give him a taste of tablets without worrying he’ll veg out. Also, he can’t break this one as easily as he can smash your iPad Mini.

Lazer Tag Twin Pack for $52.81 These things are a blast. Picture laser guns of yore, but without the hassle of a sensor vest — the guns detect and keep track of your hits and misses by themselves. They even keep track of ammo — when you’re out, you’ve got to reload — and they alert you to other players nearby. Though I only have two, I imagine they’re really fun in large groups. (They can accommodate up to two dozen players in multiple teams.). You can also hook them up to your iPhone or iPod Touch. The companion app acts as an augmented reality viewfinder, showing you game stats as you aim your weapon. The app also lets you play a single-player video game, but that mode is kind of lame. One thing: The guns only fit older fourth-generation iPhones and iPod Touches; today’s bigger iPhone won’t fit in the weapon’s built-in cradle. — FARHAD MANJOO / Washington Post-Bloomberg News

Furby, starts at $54, costs more depending on the colour If you’ve been jonesing for the late 1990s’ cultural infatuation with virtual pets, the re-engineered Furby is for you. A cuddly alien doll stuffed with robotic guts, Furby has no real purpose other than to sit there, wiggle her ears, scrunch her belly, and talk back to you. In that way she’s like a lot of members of your family. You keep her around because she sometimes does unexpectedly cute things, and because when she doesn’t, you feel some responsibility to mold her behavior. Yeah, it’s totally weird. Unlike the old model, the new Furby is capable of developing a personality based on how you treat her. If you’re nice to her, she responds sweetly; if you jostle her, she may develop a juvenile attitude. That seems to have happened to mine; thanks to the companion iPhone app that translates Furbish to English, I gathered that a lot of her responses include the phrase “OMG!” I suppose it’s good preparation for when my kid turns 14.

S AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 29, 2 0 1 2

MARKET N E W R E G U L AT I O N S

IPOs in 2012 slump to lowest since 2008

China imposes strict control on Internet use

This year, public offers have raised $112b worldwide, the least since ﬁnancial crisis. Also, Facebook’s disappointing debut curbed demand and prompted companies to push back sales NEW YEAR PLANS: China Petrochemical to ING Groep are poised to potentially move ahead with ini-

NEW YORK: Initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2012 slumped to the lowest level since the ﬁnancial crisis as signs of an economic slowdown and Facebook’s disappointing debut curbed demand and prompted companies to push back sales. Initial public offerings have raised $112 billion worldwide this year, the least since 2008, according to data. Initial sales in western Europe dropped to one-third of last year’s level, while concern about China’s economy helped cut proceeds in Asia by almost half. United States offerings raised $41 billion, little changed from last year, as Facebook’s IPO spurred a monthlong drought in US deals. With the possibility of $600 billion in United States spending cuts and tax increases that could cause another recession also weighing on the IPO market this year, the global backlog of potential offerings has now swelled to the largest year-end size since 2007, data show. That could set the stage for a rebound if lawmakers avert the so-called ﬁscal cliff, according to Credit Suisse and Barclays, with companies from China Petrochemical to ING Groep poised to potentially move ahead with offerings. “A lot of people have been very selective,” Joe Castle, head

tial public offerings in 2013. Telefonica’s German unit Telefonica Deutschland raised €1.45b ($1.9b) in October, which was Europe’s largest IPO in 2012. – Bloomberg News

AT A GLANCE

Initial sales in western Europe dropped to one-third of last year’s level, while concern about China’s economy helped cut proceeds in Asia by almost half. United States offerings raised $41b, little changed from last year, as Facebook’s IPO spurred a month-long drought in US deals.

of equities syndicate at Barclays, said at a brieﬁng this month in New York. “If we see some deals go out early in the year that go well and trade well, then it feeds on itself for more volume to come out in the US and on a global basis.” Europe surge In the fourth quarter, IPOs in western Europe surged more than ﬁvefold from a year earlier to $5.71 billion, and US initial offerings increased 15 per cent to $8.8 billion, data shows. First-time share sales in Asia fell by 46 per cent to $10.9 billion, the data show. Globally, IPOs this quarter edged up to about $32.4 billion from $29.5 billion in the year-earlier period. The annual global IPO tally declined for a second straight year as Europe slipped back into a recession, cutting the amount raised in the region by about two-thirds to

$9.91 billion. In Asia, the biggest region for IPOs, proceeds fell by 43 per cent to $46.7 billion. The US total barely eclipsed last year’s mark, even including the $16 billion debut of Facebook, the biggest technology IPO on record. After Facebook fell as much as 32 per cent in the ﬁrst three weeks after its IPO, companies such as Party City and American International’s airplane-leasing unit pulled planned offerings in favour of private sales. Swollen backlog The global IPO backlog swelled to about $115 billion at the end of this year, including a sale by Japan Post that’s planned for 2015, according to Ipreo, a New Yorkbased provider of market data. Excluding that offering, the backlog would be about $65 billion, larger than the $52 billion a year

Indian rupee recovers

PA K I S TA N S T O C K

a dollar from overnight close of 54.94. Later, it moved side-ways in a range between 54.75 and 54.9750 before settling at 54.77, showing a rise of 17 paise or 0.31 pct. On Thursday, it had fallen by 10 paise or 0.18 per cent. The Indian benchmark sensex bounced back by 121.04 points or 0.63 per centt while Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), for the ﬁrst time in the current month,

sold shares worth $4.53 million, as per Sebi data. Pramit Brahmbhatt, chief executive of Alpari Financial Services (India) said,” The rupee regained all of its lost ground of previous session on strong equity markets which advanced higher tracking gains in Nikkei. The dollar index, a barometer of six major currencies, was up by 0.27 per cent. - PTI

PERSONAL COMPUTER

Weak Windows 8 demand saps PC sales, says Fujitsu

Karachi index rises marginally KARACHI: Pakistan’s benchmark stock index, the Karachi Stock Exchange 100 Index, rose 0.30 per cent at the close. The index of 100 companies traded on the Karachi Stock Exchange rose 50.05 to 16,942.37. Among the stocks in the index, 47 rose, 38 fell and 15 were unchanged. Gains in the Karachi Stock Exchange 100 Index were led by Unilever Pakistan Ltd, Pakistan Oilﬁelds Ltd and Karachi Electric Supply Corp. Engro Foods Ltd, which rose Rs.1.99 to Rs.98.80, was the most active stock by value in Pakistan.The next most-active issues were Fauji Fertilizer Co Ltd, which rose to Rs.117.45, and Byco Petroleum Pakistan Ltd, which rose Rs.1 to Rs.13.93. – Bloomberg News

Cash pile Unease on the part of companies and investors may give way to an increase in new-share sales as a possible rise in mergers and acquisitions prompts more fundraising for strategic takeovers, according to Alasdair Warren, co-head of investment banking in Europe at New York-based Goldman Sachs. Global mergers and acquisitions A in the fourth quarter rose to the highest since 2008 as companies started to draw on cash piles totaling more than $3.5 trillion to make acquisitions. - Bloomberg News

HAVE YOUR SAY Send us your comments at facebook.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com

Extensive censorship Chinese Internet users already cope with extensive censorship measures, especially over politically sensitive topics like human rights and elite politics, and popular foreign sites Facebook, Twitter and Google-owned YouTube are blocked. Earlier this year, the government began forcing users of Sina’s wildly successful Weibo microblogging platform to register their real names. The new rules were quickly condemned by some Weibo users. “So now they are getting Weibo to help in keeping records and reporting it to authorities. Is this the freedom of expression we are

Xi Jinping

– Bloomberg News

Service providers are required to instantly stop the transmission of illegal information once it is spotted and take relevant measures, including removing the information and saving records, before reporting to authorities Government Statement promised in the constitution?” complained one user. “We should resolutely oppose such a covert means to interfere with Internet freedom,” wrote another. The government says tighter monitoring of the Internet is needed to prevent people making malicious and anonymous accusations online, disseminating pornography and spreading panic with unfounded rumours, pointing out that many other countries already have such rules. – Reuters

INDIA STOCKS

CURRENCY

MUMBAI: The rupee recovered by 17 paise to close at one-week high of 54.77 against the Greenback on the back of smart rebound in local equities amid fresh dollar selling by exporters. However, ﬁrm dollar overseas and fresh capital outﬂows, albeit in small lots, restricted the rise. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local currency started better at 54.87

ago, the data show.“Many companies may have felt that the broader economic environment and their resultant earnings didn’t represent the true worth of their businesses,” Darrell Uden, co-head of equity capital markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Zurich-based UBS said in a phone interview. “Many chose to wait for a few more earnings cycles to ensure a better valuation.”

BEIJING: China unveiled tighter Internet controls, legalising the deletion of posts or pages which are deemed to contain ‘illegal’ information and requiring service providers to hand over such information to the authorities for punishment. The rules signal that the new leadership headed by Communist Party chief Xi Jinping will continue muzzling the often scathing, raucous online chatter in a country where the Internet offers a rare opportunity for debate. The new regulations, announced by the official Xinhua news agency, also require Internet users to register with their real names when signing up with network providers, though, in reality, this already happens. Chinese authorities and Internet companies such as Sina Corp have long since closely monitored and censored what people say online, but the government has now put measures such as deleting posts into law. “Service providers are required to instantly stop the transmission of illegal information once it is spotted and take relevant measures, including removing the information and saving records, before reporting to supervisory authorities,” the rules state. The restrictions follow a series of corruption scandals amongst lower-level ofﬁcials exposed by Internet users, something the government has said it is trying to encourage.

TOKYO: Fujitsu, Japan’s biggest provider of computer services, said the company will miss its annual shipment target for personal computers amid slow demand for Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 8 operating system. Initial appetite for the software, introduced in October, is ‘weak’, Fujitsu president Masami Yamamoto, 58, told reporters in Tokyo on Thursday. Slumping demand in Europe amid the sovereign-debt crisis will also erode sales, he said. PC deliveries for the year ending March 31 may be more than 6 million units, compared with an October estimate of 7 million, he said. Untied States retail sales of devices running Windows fell 21 per cent from a year earlier in the four weeks after Microsoft released Windows 8 on October 26, according to a report by ‘Port Washington’, New York-based NPD Group. The decrease has been fuelled by a 24 perc ent drop in sales of notebook computers as customers opt for Apple Inc.’s iPad or tablets powered by Google’s Android software. “We can’t be optimistic about the PC industry,” said Yoshihisa Toyosaki, a Tokyo-based analyst

at Architect Grand Design, an electronics research and consulting company. “PC makers’ bet on Windows 8 has failed, as cheaper tablet computers are taking away customers.” Fujitsu is focusing on information technology services, helping it weather a slump in electronics sales that contributed to record losses at Sony, Panasonic and Sharp. Yamamoto said his company doesn’t plan to lower prices for its PCs, which along with mobile phones accounted for a combined 20 per cent of Fujitsu’s revenue in the year ended March 31, according to data. “Fujitsu doesn’t plan to join its competitors that are discounting” to sustain sales, Yamamoto said. The company needs to strengthen its services in overseas markets, shifting from a product-focused approach, he said. The company had said earlier it was counting on shipments in Europe and other overseas markets to account for more than half of total PC sales in the current ﬁscal year. Fujitsu, a supplier to Samsung, fell 0.8 per cent to 360 yen at the close of trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. - Bloomberg News

SENSEX WATCH Suzlon Energy .......... 19.30.......... 1.35 Pantaloon Retl ...... 253.80........16.50 Gitanjali Gems.......510.90....... 30.50 Tata Comm ............ 236.60........ 13.65 United Phos ............128.80.......... 5.55

Piramal Ent...........535.75..........-11.20 Bayer Crop ......... 1273.00......... -22.55 TTK Prestige .....3249.60......... -56.85 National Alum .......49.30............-0.70 Idea Cellular .........103.95............-1.30

Stocks advance again MUMBAI: Indian stocks advanced, with the benchmark index completing its first weekly gain in three, led by shares of energy companies and metal producers. The BSE India Sensitive Index, or Sensex, climbed 0.6 per cent to 19,444.84 at the close in Mumbai, extending this week’s gains to 1.1 per cent. Volumes on the index were 23 per cent lower than the 30-day average. Reliance Industries Ltd and Oil & Natural Gas Corp. paced gains after NDTV Profit reported the petroleum secretary as saying that the government will gradually increase diesel prices next year to cut subsidies. Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd., the biggest copper producer, surged 2.4 per cent. The Sensex has risen 26 per cent this year, headed for its biggest annual jump since 2009, as the government responded to the threat of a credit-rating downgrade with its biggest push in a decade to open up the economy to foreign investment. Asian stocks advanced and US index futures fluctuated between gains and losses as US lawmakers arranged talks before a budget deadline, with Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate planning to meet with President Barack Obama. “Global markets are realigning to the fact that we may not have a deal in the next few days and it could possibly spin over to a good part of January,” Amit Khurana, director of research at Dolat Capital Market Ltd, said in an interview. “I don’t think it will lead to a significant correction in India.

19,444.84

Sensex

Previous close

121.04 Current sensex 19,465.74

19,450

19,400

19,346.07

19,350

19,300 9

10:00

12:00

14:00

Source: www.bseindia.com

Factors here are turning for the better and not the worse.” The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.5 per cent yesterday. The measure has advanced 14 per cent this year, poised for the biggest annual rise since 2009, as the US and Chinese economies showed signs of recovery and central banks around the world took action to shore up growth. India’s efforts to rival China as the fastest-growing major emerging nation have been hurt by budget and trade deficits and supply bottlenecks that have kept inflation above 7 per cent. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh overhauled policies in midSeptember, raising diesel prices and opening the economy to more foreign investment as he struggles to lift growth from last quarter’s 5.3 per cent pace. The policies are driving the nation’s largest money managers to

accumulate automakers, property companies and metal producers that stand to beneﬁt most from a recovery. Sunil Singhania, head of equities at Reliance Capital Asset Management Ltd, is buying property and engineering stocks, while Sampath Reddy, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co.’s chief investment officer, is selling drugmakers and telecommunications shares in favor of mining companies. The policy actions were a “trigger” for Mahesh Patil, co-chief investment officer at Birla Sun Life Asset Management Co, to switch from so-called defensives to cyclical stocks that would gain from a cut in interest rates. Birla is India’s fourth-biggest fund with $13.3 billion in assets. Reserve Bank of India governor Duvvuri Subbarao signaled higher odds on December 18 of a cut in interest rates next year. - Bloomberg News

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2012

SECTION

LIFE &

RA STYLE

PHENOMENAL YEAR FOR BOLLYWOOD With eight big-starrers joining the Rs1 billion club, Bollywood’s 2012 box office report card has set a benchmark, say trade pundits. > B8

Worldwide web of trouble Review of technology in 2012

ut if there was one emotion that characterised the year in technology, it was ‘being a bit cross’. We’re used to seeing vituperative reactions on social media to everything from human rights abuses to ejections from Strictly Come Dancing, but 2012 had more than its fair share of technology-related fury, starting back in January with the outcry over proposed legislation to curb copyright violation. The provisions contained within Sopa (Stop Online Privacy Act), Pipa (Protect Intellectual Property Act) and Acta (AntiCounterfeiting Trade Agreement) came in for sustained criticism for their vague wording and potential threat to perfectly legal activity; one commentator warned of the Internet being crippled “by greed and ignorance”. A one-day blackout by some 7,000 websites, including English Wikipedia, helped to spread the word, and today Sopa and Pipa are sitting on ice, while Acta was rejected by an EU vote in July over its perceived threat to civil liberties. Anonymous, the online group which is seen as either a bunch of righteous vigilantes or an “Internet hate machine” spent much of the year fuming angrily, and bringing down websites of organisations they deemed to be bulldozing their Internet playground. The shutdown by the US Department of Justice of Megaupload, a ﬁle-locker website used mainly – but not exclusively – for sharing pirated content, led to the “single largest Internet attack” in Anonymous’ history, with Universal, Warner Bros, the FBI and many others targeted. Attempts by law enforcement agencies to shut down sites like Megaupload are usually characterised as pointless, neverending games of Whack-A-Mole, but Megaupload’s closure did prompt similar services to either shut down or change their business model. Last week the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) deemed the action to have been a great success. Apple was furious with Samsung, and Samsung was furious with Apple. By July there were some 50 lawsuits between the two companies over alleged infringements of intellectual property, from the curve of gadgets’ corners to the ‘overscroll bounce’ we see when we swipe our screens too

Anonymous, the online group is seen as either a bunch of righteous vigilantes or an ‘Internet hate machine’ spent much of the year fuming, and bringing down websites of organisations they deemed to be bulldozing their Internet playground quickly. Who won? Well, a South Korean court said Apple, the Japanese said Samsung; British judges found in favour of Samsung and demanded that Apple ‘apologise’ – although Judge Colin Birss’ pronouncement that Samsung’s products weren’t ‘cool’ enough to be mistaken for Apple’s soured the victory somewhat. But the big win for Apple came in the USA, with $1 billion in damages awarded to the Cupertino giant by a jury who reached their decision with merciless speed. As the verdict was given, bigger arguments raged over the relentless amass-

ing of patents by technology corporations, the stifling of innovation caused by patent wars and whether lay juries should even be used in patent trials — arguments that will rumble on for years to come. Apple’s customers were miffed when they upgraded their iPhone to a brand new operating system, iOS6, only to discover that the Maps application — previously a pretty reliable product made by Google — had been replaced with Apple’s own effort, a risible piece of software that immediately came in for sustained ridicule. Whether multiple versions of the same landmark were situated in the wrong postcode, or defunct businesses were positioned 20 doors away from where they used to be, the errors within Maps represented a PR disaster for Apple. It was far from being Apple’s first turkey, but the replacement of something functioning with something malfunctioning was seen as insulting by many customers. CEO Tim Cook issued a public apology, while Scott Forstall, the head of the division responsible for the debacle, was removed from his post in October. iPhone users, meanwhile, are still wishing they could get their old Maps app back. Facebook saw its billionth user sign up to the service in October, but this was scant consolation to the shareholders who’d invested in the company back in May and had watched the share price tumble — at one point to less than 50 per cent of its original level. Some filed lawsuits, complaining that weakened growth forecasts hadn’t been disclosed, while pundits reminded us of the dotcom boom when people were throwing money at overvalued companies in the belief that it would all come good in the end. But the power and value of social media couldn’t be ignored in 2012. The Olympic Games became the ‘Social Olympics’ as the names of Bolt, Ennis, Daley and Wiggins reverberated across the Internet. President Obama, meanwhile, triumphed in the ‘Social Election’ — a picture featuring him in a post-victory embrace with the First Lady becoming the most tweeted in history, and reminding us that there is a softer side to the Internet. You just don’t see it very often. - Rhodri Marsden/The Independent

S AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 29, 2 0 1 2

ENTERTAINMENT

After presents, bridge problem

CINEMA SCHEDULE

WITH LOVE

CITY CINEMA, AL SHATTI Telephone: 24607360 (after 2pm) Santa’s Magic Crystal-3D (Animation/ Adventure) CP No: 236 Voice Overs: Jukka Nylund and Kiti Kokkonen 2:15pm Jack Reachers (Action/Crime) CP No: 107 Cast: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike and Richard 4:00, 9:00 & 11:30pm The Impossible (Action/Drama) CP No: 521 Cast: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and Tom Holland; 6:30pm Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away – 3D (Fantasy) PG – CP No: 236 Cast: Erica Linz, Igor Zaripov and Lutz Halbhubner 2:30 & 4:30pm Life of Pi -3D (Adventure/Drama) CP No: 105 Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan and Adil Hussain 6:30 & 9:00pm Storage 24 (Horror/Sci-Fi) CP No: 204 Cast: Noel Clarke, Colin O’Donoghue and Antonia Campbell-Hughes; 5:15 & 11:30pm The Reef 2: High Tide – 3D (Animation/Family) PG – CP No: 458 Voice Overs: Drake Bell, Andy Dick and Fran Drescher; 1:30 & 3:30pm Hobbit - 3D (Adventure/Fantasy) CP No: 189 (PG) 7:00pm Cast: Martin Freeman and Ian Mc Kellan Code Name Geronimo (Action/Crime) CP No: 239 Cast: Cam Gigandet, Anson Mount and Freddy Rodriguez; 10:00 & 11:45pm CITY CINEMA, RUWI Telephone: 24607360

FIRST of all, I wish all of my readers a very happy holiday season. And here is this year’s Christmas quiz. Ignore the given East-West hands; they will change when the answers to questions one and two are given in this column later and also the other answer in the following months. 1. How should South play in four hearts after West leads the club king? 2. If South is the dealer and East-West pass throughout, how would the bidding go? Look at only the West hand. 3a. If South opens one diamond, what should West do? 3b. If West opens one club and East responds one heart, what should West rebid? 3c. South opens one no-trump (15 to 17 points) and North raises to three no-trump. What should West lead? Look at only the South hand. 4. South opens one heart and North responds one spade. What should South rebid? Look at only the East hand. 5a. If West opens one spade, what should East respond? 5b. If South opens one club, West doubles, and North passes, what should East bid? — By Phillip Alder

CINEMA–1 Dabaang 2 (Hindi) CP No: 212 Cast: Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha and Prakash Raj; 3:30, 6:30 & 9:30pm CINEMA –2 Talaash (Hindi) CP No: 1050 (PG) Cast: Aamir Khan, Rani Mukerji and Kareena Kapoor; 3:30, 6:30 & 9:30pm CINEMA – 3 Khiladi 786 – (Hindi) CP No: 137 (PG) Cast: Akshay Kumar and Asin Thottumkal 3:30, 6:30 & 9:30pm CITY CINEMA, SUR Telephone: 25545544 Jack Reachers (Action/Crime) CP No: 107 Cast: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike and Richard 6:30pm

Dabaang 2 (Hindi) CP No: 212 Cast: Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha and Prakash Raj; 9:00pm Code Name Geronimo (Action/Crime) CP No: 239; 11:30pm Cast: Cam Gigandet, Anson Mount and Freddy Rodriguez The Reef 2: High Tide – 3D (Animation/Family) PG – CP No: 458 Voice Overs: Drake Bell, Andy Dick and Fran Drescher; 4:00 & 6:30pm Karmayodha (Mal –Action) CP No: 185 Cast: Mohanlal, Rajeev Pillai, Bineesh Kodiyeri and Biju Menon 8:00 & 10:30pm CITY CINEMA, SOHAR Telephone: 26840312/26843510 Storage 24 (Horror/Sci-Fi) CP No: 204 Cast: Noel Clarke, Colin O’Donoghue and Antonia Campbell-Hughes 7:00 & 11:30pm Dabaang 2 (Hindi) CP No: 212 (PG) Cast: Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha and Prakash Raj; 9:00pm The Reef 2: High Tide – 3D (Animation/Family) PG – CP No: 458 Voice Overs: Drake Bell, Andy Dick and Fran Drescher; 3:30 & 5:30pm Life of Pi - 3D (Adventure /Drama) CP No: 105; 7:00 & 9:15pm Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan and Adil Hussain Code Name Geronimo (Action/Crime) CP No: 239 Cast: Cam Gigandet, Anson Mount and Freddy Rodriguez; 3:30 & 11:30pm The Impossible (Action/Drama) CP No: 521 (PG) Cast: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and Tom Holland; 6:30pm Jack Reachers (Action/Crime) CP No: 107 Cast: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike and Richard 9:00 & 11:30pm Karmayodha (Mal –Action) CP No: 185 Cast: Mohanlal, Rajeev Pillai, Bineesh Kodiyeri and Biju Menon; 8:00 & 10:30pm MUSCAT GRAND MALL, BAUSHER Telephone: 22020002 Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away – 3D (Fantasy) PG – CP No: 236 Cast: Erica Linz, Igor Zaripov and Lutz Halbhubner 11:30am & 2:30pm The Impossible (Action/Drama) CP No:521 Cast: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and Tom Holland; 4:30pm Life of Pi - 3D (Adventure/Drama) CP No: 105 Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan and Adil Hussain 6:45pm

Storage 24 (Horror/Sci-Fi) CP No: 1156 Cast: Noel Clarke, Colin O’Donoghue and Antonia Campbell-Hughes 2:00, 6:00, 10:00 & 11:55pm Code Name Geronimo (Action/ Crime) CP No: 1159 Cast: Cam Gigandet, Anson Mount and Freddy Rodriguez 4:30, 8:00 & 11:55pm Jack Reacher (Action /Crime) Cast: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike and Richard Jenkins 7:00 & 9:30pm CP No: 1134 (PG) The Impossible (Action /Drama / Thriller) Cast: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and Tom Holland 2:00pm CP No: 1131 (PG) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Adventure/Fantasy) Cast: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen and Richard Armitage 4:00pm CP No: 1098 (PG)

MANAV CHABBI

ABHIGYAN BASANT KUMAR

DEIVASIGMANI ANJANA

December 29, 2010

December 29, 2008

December 27, 2001

Jack Reachers (Action/Crime) CP No: 107 Cast: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike and Richard 4:00, 6:30 & 11:30pm Dabaang 2 (Hindi) CP No: 212 Cast: Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Prakash Raj, Arbaaz Khan; 9:00pm The Reef 2: High Tide – 3D (Animation/Family) PG – CP No: 458 Voice Overs: Drake Bell, Andy Dick and Fran Drescher; 3:30 & 5:30pm Storage 24 (Horror/Sci-Fi) CP No: 204 Cast: Noel Clarke, Colin O’Donoghue and Antonia Campbell-Hughes; 7:30 & 9:30pm Code Name Geronimo (Action/Crime) CP No: 239; 3:30 & 11:30pm Cast: Cam Gigandet and Freddy Rodriguez The Impossible (Action/Drama) CP No: 521 Cast: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and Tom Holland; 6:00pm Karmayodha (Mal –Action) CP No: 185 Cast: Mohanlal, Rajeev Pillai and Biju Menon 8:00 & 10:30pm

RASHID BUILDER

BHAUMIK AMIT SINGHI

December 27, 1997

December 25, 2011

SUDOKU

5 7 9 4 2 9 3 4 8 1 3 4 6 4 8 7 5 1 3 7 9 6 2

5 3 3 4 2 1 1 8 9 3 7 2

Film information 24791641 24786776

Karmayodha (Mal –Action) 3:30, 6:30 & 9:30pm (Main Cinema) Cast: Mohanlal, Asha Sarath and Aishwarya Sarochaaru (Telugu) 3:45, 6:45 & 9:45pm (Cinema-2) Cast: Ravi Teja and Kajal Agarwal My Boss (Malayalam) 3:45, 6:45 & 9:45pm (Cinema-3) Cast: Dileep and Mamtha Mohandas CP No: 1048 Neethaane En Ponvasantham (Tamil) 3:30, 6:30 & 9:30pm (Cinema-4) Cast: Jiva and Samantha CP No: 1049

HOW TO PLAY Fill the empty cells with the numbers 1 to 9, so that each number appears once in each row, column and area. — Seven Galaxies

ALLMOVIE

Film Information - 24540856 / Advance Booking - 24540855 Website: www.albahjacinema.net

For More Information 24789032, 24786776 Website: www.isurf.co.om

MARMADUKE

ACROSS 1 Mellow, as brandy 5 “— Fiction” 9 Moon buggy (abbr.) 12 Russo or Coty 13 Chan rejoinder (2 wds.) 14 Bachelor’s last words (2 wds.) 15 Room offerers 16 Seismic sea waves 18 Mini guitars 20 Drink coolers 21 Floor beam 23 Flush 25 Harmful ray, for short 26 Jai — 28 Revival setting 32 Ship’s bottom 35 And so forth 36 “She Loves You” refrain 37 Funny Bombeck 38 Went for the gold 40 Deja — 41 No, to Helga 43 Auto-racing family 46 Gawks 49 Water, in Baja 50 Superconductors? 53 Bumpkin 56 Pixie 57 Sicilian spouter 58 Bandleader — Kenton 59 Natalie’s father 60 Gather grain 61 Underwater shockers

DOWN “Exodus” name Mil. rank Boredom Work stations Greets the dog Speech stumbles 7 Baton Rouge campus 8 Explorer — de Leon 9 Swing support, perhaps 10 Adams or Brickell 11 Shade dweller 17 Daddy’s sis 19 KLM datum 21 Feint 22 Walkie-talkie word 23 Fix supper (2 wds.) 24 Weakness 27 Name in jeans 29 Wide shoe 30 Wheel hub 31 Wed. follower 33 Type size 34 Rustic roads 39 Broke ground 42 Organic compound 44 Drink slowly 45 Stir-fry 46 Ominous sign 47 Festive celebration 48 Went away 49 Immediately (abbr.) 51 AAA suggestion 52 — — roll (lucky) 54 Checkbook amt. 55 USN rank

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 16 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/ your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to extra@ timesofoman.com

CITY CINEMA, BURAIMI

STARS CINEMA

BAHJA CINEMA

CROSSWORD

Answer to previous puzzle

Jack Reachers (Action/Crime) CP No:107 Cast: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike and Richard 9:15 & 11:45pm The Reef 2: High Tide – 3D (Animation/Family) PG – CP No: 458 Voice Overs: Drake Bell, Andy Dick and Fran Drescher; 11:30am Santa’s Magic Crystal-3D (Animation/ Family) CP No: 236 Voice Overs: Jukka Nylund, Paula Vesala and Kiti Kokkonen; 1:15pm Hobbit - 3D (Adventure/Fantasy) CP No: 189 (PG) Cast: Martin Freeman and Ian Mc Kellan 3:00pm Code Name Geronimo (Action/Crime) CP No: 239; 8:15pm Cast: Cam Gigandet and Freddy Rodriguez Dabaang 2 (Hindi) CP No: 212 Cast: Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Prakash Raj, Arbaaz Khan; 6:00pm Storage 24 (Horror/Sci-Fi) CP No: 204 Cast: Noel Clarke, Colin O’Donoghue and Antonia Campbell-Hughes; 10:00 & 11:45pm Plaza 3 – Gold Class The Reef 2: High Tide – 3D (Animation/Family) PG – CP No: 458; 1:45pm Voice Overs: Drake Bell and Fran Drescher Life of Pi - 3D (Adventure/Drama) CP No: 105 Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan and Adil Hussain 3:30pm Hobbit - 3D (Adventure/Fantasy) CP No: 189 (PG) Cast: Martin Freeman and Ian Mc Kellan; 6:00pm Jack Reachers (Action/Crime) CP No: 107 Cast: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike and Richard 9:00 & 11:30pm

1 2 3 4 5 6

B I G NAT E

BORN LOSER

KIDSPOT

Previous puzzle Solution

ACES ON BRIDGE

4 3 8 5 1 7

9 6 7 3 2 8

5 1 2 6 4 9

3 5 1 2 6 4

2 7 4 9 8 5

6 8 9 7 3 1

8 4 5 1 9 2

7 9 6 4 5 3

1 2 3 8 7 6

6 4 3 8 1 5 7 2 9 9 5 8 7 6 2 3 1 4 2 1 7 9 3 4 6 8 5

H E A LT H C A P S U L E

S AT U R DAY, DE C E M B E R 2 9, 2 01 2

PRAYER TIMINGS

Dhuhr Asr Maghrib Isha Fajr (Tomorrow)

Y O U R B I R T H D AY

BORN today, you are almost always aware of what is going on around you, what it means to you and what you must do about it in order to make things turn out well for you and everyone concerned. You have a knack for understanding what makes people tick, and you are always compelled to know as much as possible about the subtle truths of people and situations. You are never content with an overview of something; you want to understand the ﬁne points! You can be quick to make up your mind about something, but that doesn’t mean you can’t change it. You can be quite idealistic, but you never let go of your pragmatic side; you maintain a healthy balance between an understanding of what could be and what is — and working between those two notions you are able to make the best of most situations. Also born on this date are: Tracey Ullman, actress and comedian; Patti Smith, rocker; Rudyard Kipling, author; Jack Lord, actor; Bert Parks, pageant host; Michael Nesmith, musician and songwriter.

12.14pm 3.15pm 5.35pm 6.50pm 5.27am

Sunset Sunrise (Tomorrow)

5.29pm 6.48am

High tide Low tide

9.22am 4.22am

10.42pm 3.41pm

FIND-IT-ALL

W E AT H E R

AIRLINES

lear to partly cloudy skies along most of the coastal areas with chances of isolated rainshowers along governorate of south of Al Sharqiyah, governorate of Al Wusta, northern coastal areas of governorate of Dhofar and Al Hajar mountains. Mainly clear skies over the rest of the Sultanate. Continue of widespread dust with relatively decrease in temperature over the Sultanate.

EXPECTED WIND: Over most of the Sultanate wind will be northerly to northeasterly moderate to fresh. SEA STATE: Moderate to rough along most of the coasts with maximum wave height ranges between 2.5 to 3.5 metres. SURFACE VISIBILITY: Moderate to poor over most of the Sultanate.

Max

OMAN WORLD Max 24 Min 17 Max 5 Min -1

Max 21 Min 18

Max 26 Min 19 Max 12 Min 6

Max 26 Min 20

Max 2 Min -9

Max 29 Min 17

Max 24 Min 19

Max 26 Min 17

Max 27 Min 19

CAPRICORN Max 23 Min 10

[DEC. 22-JAN 19] You’re at the beginning of something big, and while your plans are solid, you may have to work on the speciﬁc tactics you will employ.

Max 29 Min 22

Max 16 Min 8

Max 31 Min 24 Max 22 Min 18

[JAN. 20-FEB. 18] Specificity is the key today; without being specific, you will be sacrificing much that you are currently working for in multiple arenas.

PISCES [Feb. 19-March 20] You may feel as though you have a long way to go, and indeed there will be certain stubborn obstacles that you must overcome.

ARIES [March 21-APRIL 19] You’ll be thanked for a good and thoughtful deed you did some days ago. Don’t neglect to give credit to others where it’s due.

TAURUS [APRIL 20-MAY 20] You’ll want to stay in touch with those who are manning the fort at home; even though you may not be far away, it feels farther.

GEMINI [MAY 21-JUNE 20] Someone may be trying to dissect your plans in order to gain a closer understanding of your motives — but they are yet unclear.

CANCER [JUNE 21-JULY 22] What pleases you today may not please a loved one with whom you wish to share something special. A change of plans is in order.

LEO [JULY 23-AUG. 22] You’ll be excited by the realisation that recent work is about to pay off handsomely. Yes, your efforts have been worth it!

VIRGO [AUG. 23-SEPT. 22] It doesn’t matter how many times you hear the same things from a certain someone; it always wins a positive reaction from you.

LIBRA L [[SEPT. [S S 23-OCT. 22] Give yourself more time than usual today to accomplish something that you could do in your sleep. Rhythm and energy may not be in sync.

SCORPIO S [[OCT. 23-NOV. 21] You’re ﬂirting with danger at this time, but you may not know just what you are risking in the process. Be conservative; play it safe.

SAGITTARIUS S [[NOV. 22-DEC. 21] You have a surprise in store, but your instincts may be telling you that now is not the time to reveal it. You can wait one more day.

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI) QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (Route 36) Dept Destination Arrival Time Time 15:00 Quriyat 16:30 15:00 Sur 18:00 15:00 Jaalan 19:30

GULF Abu Dhabi Doha Dubai Kuwait Manama Riyadh

25 23 24 18 22 18

14 18 16 11 17 9

WORLD Athens Baghdad Beijing Berlin Boston Cairo Colombo Frankfurt Hong Kong Istanbul Johannesburg Kuala Lumpur Lisbon Paris Perth Singapore Tokyo Toronto

15 17 -4 7 0 19 30 10 21 11 31 33 15 13 42 31 10 -2

11 8 -15 5 -4 11 24 6 19 4 17 24 9 6 24 25 3 -5

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41) 06:30 Sohar 06:30 Buraimi 08:00 Buraimi 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Buraimi 16.00 Sohar 16.00 Buraimi TO SINAW (Route 52) 17:30 Sinaw

TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

Operating Days Daily Daily Daily

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (Route 36) Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily 05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily 05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

08:50 11:00 14:30 15:45 17:40 18.35 20:20

Daily Daily Daily via Ibri Daily Daily Daily Daily

20:50

Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41) 07:00 Sohar 07:00 Ruwi 13:30 Ruwi 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Ruwi 13:00 Sohar 17:00 Ruwi TO SINAW (Route 52) 07:00 Ruwi

08:55 11:40 20:20 14:55 17:40 19:20 22:15

Daily Daily Daily via Ibri Daily Daily Daily Daily

10:25

Daily

08:40 11:00

Daily Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54) 14:30 Nizwa 14:30 Yanqul

16:50 19:30

Daily Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54) 06:00 Nizwa 06:00 Ruwi

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54) 08:00 Nizwa 08:00 Al Araqi

10:20 12:30

Daily Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54) 15:40 Nizwa 15:40 Ruwi

17:55 20:20

Daily Daily

TO SUR (Route 55) 07:30 Sur 14:30 Sur

12:00 18:45

Daily Daily

TO SUR (Route 55) 06:00 Ruwi 14:30 Ruwi

10:45 19:00

Daily Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (Route 62) 06:30 Fahud 06:30 Yibal

10:30 11:15

Daily Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (Route 62) 12:30 Fahud 12:30 Ruwi

13:15 17:30

Daily Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (Route 100) 07:00 Salalah 20:00 10:00 Marmul 20:30 10:00 Salalah 23:30 19:00 Salalah 07:40

Daily Daily Daily Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (Route 100) 07:00 Ruwi 19:50 10:00 Marmul 13:15 10:00 Ruwi 22:30 19:00 Ruwi 07:30

Daily Daily Daily Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101) 06:00 Marmul

16:50

Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101) 06:00 Marmul

16:30

Daily

SALALAH TO DUBAI (Route 102) 15:00 Dubai 07:00

Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (Route 102) 15:00 Salalah 07:00

Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201) 06:00 Sohar 06:00 Dubai 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Dubai 15:00 Sohar 15:00 Dubai

08:30 11:30 15:30 18:30 17:35 20:55

Daily Daily Wed,Thur Wed,Thur Daily Daily

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204) Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily 13.30 Daily L07:00 I S T I N G Sharjah S 07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily PHARMACIES Round the clock Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24783334; Appolo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24782666; Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24702542, Salalah: 23291635; Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra: 24503585; Ruwi 24811715 Muscat Region Apollo, Al Hamriya. Tel: 24787766 Muscat, A Seeb Market. Tel: 24421691 Muscat, Al Khuwair. Tel: 24485740 Muscat, Al Hail South. Tel: 24537080 Dhofar Region Muscat, Al Nahdha Road, Salalah. Tel: 23291635 HOSPITALS Al Amal Medical & Health Care Centre: 24485052 Atlas Hospital: Ruwi: 24811743/ Ghubra: 24504000 Al Musaﬁr Specialised Medical Clinic: 24706453 Hatat Polyclinic LLC, Ruwi: 24563641, Azaiba: 24499269, Sohar: 2683006 Al Raffah Hospital: 24618900/1/2 Al Massaraat Clinic & Laboratory: 24566435 Al Makook Medical Coordinance Centre: 24499434 Apollo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24787766, 24787780 Capital Polyclinic: 24707549 Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic, Ruwi: 24799760/1/2 Capital Clinic, Seeb: 24420740 Ceregem National Raak: 24485633 Dr Harub’s Clinic: 24563217 Elixir Health Centre: 24565802 Emirates Medical Centre: 24604540 1st Chiropractic Centre: 24472274 Hamdan Hospital: 23212340 International Medical Centre LLC: 24794501/2/3/4/5

Kims Oman Hospital: 24760100 24 Hrs Emergency: 24760123 Lama Polyclinic, Sohar: 26751128, MBD: 24799077, Al Khuwair: 24478818 Magrabi Eye and Ear Hospital: 24568870 Muscat Private Hospital: 24583600 Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment Centre, Al Khuwair: 24477666 Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC: 22004000 ROYAL OMAN POLICE Emergencies and inquiries: 9999 General Directorate of Passport and Residence: 24569603 Directorate General of Customs: 24521109 Traffic violations inquiries: 24510228 Public Relations Admin: 24560099 ACCOMMODATION Al Bahjah Hotel: 24424400 Al Bustan Palace: 24764000 Al Khuwair Hotel Apartments: 24478171 Al Madina Holiday Inn: 24596400 Al Maha International Hotel: 24494949 Al Fanar Hotel: 24712385 Al Falaj Hotel: 24702311 Al Qurum Resort: 24605945 Azaiba Hotel Apartments: 24490979 Beach Hotel: 24696601 Bowshar Hotel: 24491105 Coral Hotel Muscat: 24692121 Crowne Plaza Muscat: 24660660 Crystal Suites: 24826100 Golden Tulip Seeb: 24510300 Grand Hyatt Muscat: 24641234 Haffa House Hotel: 24707207 Hotel Muscat Holiday: 24487123 InterContinental Muscat: 24680000 Majan Continental Hotel: 24592900 Marina Hotel: 24711711 Midan Hotel Suites: 24499565 Mina Hotel: 24711828 Muttrah Hotel: 24798401

TO DUBAI (Route 201) 07:30 Sohar 07:30 Ruwi 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Ruwi 15:30 Sohar 15:30 Ruwi

10:50 13:40 16:15 19:10 18:45 21:35

Daily Daily Thur-Fri Thur-Fri Daily Daily

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204) Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily 16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily 16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily Nuzha Hotel Apartments: 24789199 Oman Dive Centre: 24824240 Park Inn: 24507888 Qurum Beach House Hotel: 24564070 Radisson Blu Hotel: 24487777 Ramee Dream Resort Seeb: 24453399 Ramee Guestline Hotel: 24564443 Ruwi Hotel: 24704244 Safeer Hotel Suites: 24691200 Sheraton Oman Hotel: 24772772 Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa: 24776666 The Chedi Muscat: 24524400 The Treasurebox Muscat Hotel: 24502570 AIRLINE OFFICES Muscat Airport Flight information (24 hours): 24519456/24519223 Aeroﬂot: 24704455, Air Arabia: 24700828, Air France: 24562153, Air India: 24799801, Air New Zealand: 24700732, Biman Bangladesh Airlines: 24701128, British Airways: 24568777, Cathay Paciﬁc: 24789818, Egypt Air: 24794113, Emirates Air: 24404400, Ethiopian Airlines: 24660313, Gulf Air: 80072424, Indian: 24791914, Iran Air: 24787423, Japan Airlines: 24704455, Jazeera Airways: 23294848, Jet Airways: 24787248, Kenya Airways: 24660300, KML Royal Dutch Airlines: 24566737, Kuwait Airways: 24701262, LOT Polish Airlines: 24796387, Lufthansa: 24796692, Malaysian Airlines: 24560796, Middle East Airlines: 24796680, Oman Air: 24531111, Pakistan International Airlines: 24792471, Qatar Airways: 24771900, Qantas: 24559941, Royal Jordanian: 24796693, Saudi Arabian Airlines: 24789485, Singapore Airlines: 24791233, Shaheen Air: 24816565, SriLankan Airlines:

SATURDAY

Min

L O N G D I S TA N C E B U S T I M I N G S ( O M A N NAT I O NA L T R A N S P O R T C O M PA N Y S A O C ) * S U B J E C T T O C H A N G E

AQUARIUS

24784545, Swiss International Airlines: 24796692, Thai Airways: 24705934, Turkish Airlines: 24703033 MUSEUMS Bait Al Baranda: Corniche (seafront opp ﬁsh market), Open from Saturday to Thursday 9am to 1pm and 4 to 6pm Natural History Museum: Al Khuwair, Tel: 24604957, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm; Thursday: 9am to 1pm Museum of Omani Heritage: (former Omani Museum), Madinat Al Alam, Sat-Wed 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday 9am to 1pm, Tel: 24600946 Armed Forces Museum: Bait Al Falaj, Tel: 24312651, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm; Thurs 9-12pm and 3-6pm; Fri 9-11am and 3-6pm. Al Hoota Caves 24498258; Turtle Beach 96550606/96550707 Children’s Science Museum: Shatti Al Qurum, Tel: 24605368, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pm Oman-French Museum: near Muscat Police Station, Tel: 24736613, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm, Thurs: 9am to 1pm Bait Al Zubair, Muscat: Tel: 24736688, Al Saidiya St., Muscat museum@baitalzubairmuseum.com Open from Sat to Thurs: 9:30am to 6pm. National Museum Ruwi: Tel: 24701289, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pm Sohar Fort Museum: Tel: 26844758, Open from Saturday to Wed: 8 to 1:30pm Thurs: 9am to 1pm Muscat Gate Museum: at Al Bahri Road, Muscat open from Sat to Wed 8am to 2pm

FLT NO

ARRIVALS FROM

WY676 WY916 4H581 BG021 PK259 QR172 PK225 QR170 EK866 GF560 FZ041 MS930 TK778 WY142 WY684 WY154 WY644 WY674 WY692 WY658 WY122 WY904 WY638 WY668 WY132 WY114 WY602 FZ043 WY202 WY422 WY102 WY236 WY274 G9113 EK862 EY382 QR166 9W530 IX443 WY604 WY282 PK191 WY902 WY918 WY268 WY3302 GF562 IX337 WY606 WY632 WY908 WY656 WY328 FZ045 WY434 PA450 WY204 WY3922 WY664 WY3304 WY616 MP95 WY216 WY246 GF564 WY906 WY312 G9117 WY338 FZ047 WY608 WY254 WY292 WY624 AI973 WY814 LH618 9W543 AI907 WY386 WY374 QR168 NL771 BA073 GF566 EY388 WY912 WY662 WY406 AI985 LX242 WY116 WY612 WY224 WY654 9W540 WY717 WY316 WY416 WY696 WY648 WY816 WY682

SUNDAY ETA

FLT NO

ARRIVALS FROM

JEDDAH 0005 SALALAH 0125 DACCA 0130 DACCA-CHITTAGONG 0130 ISLAM ABBAD 0135 DOHA 0145 KARACHI 0200 DOHA 0350 DUBAI 0355 BAHRAIN 0425 DUBAI 0430 CAIRO 0450 ISTANBUL-BAHRAIN 0605 MALPENSA 0615 RIYADH 0635 ZURICH 0645 KUWAIT 0655 JEDDAH 0655 DAMMAM 0700 BAHRAIN 0700 MUNICH 0700 SALALAH 0700 ABU DHABI 0700 DOHA 0700 PARIS 0720 FRANKFURT 0720 DUBAI 0800 DUBAI 0800 BOMBAY 0805 BEIRUT 0830 LONDON HEATHROW 0830 HYDERABAD 0845 JAIPUR 0845 SHARJAH 0915 DUBAI 0940 ABU DHABI 1000 DOHA 1010 TRIVANDRUM 1025 COCHIN 1050 DUBAI 1105 BANGALORE 1140 TURBAT 1145 SALALAH 1205 KHASAB 1220 LUCKNOW 1230 MUKHAIZNA 1230 BAHRAIN 1230 CALICUT 1305 DUBAI 1320 ABU DHABI 1335 SALALAH 1430 BAHRAIN 1440 LAHORE 1510 DUBAI 1545 TEHRAN 1550 LAHORE 1645 BOMBAY 1700 JAALUNI 1700 DOHA 1720 MUKHAIZNA 1730 DUBAI 1740 AMSTERDAM 1745 TRIVANDRUM 1745 DELHI 1745 BAHRAIN 1810 SALALAH 1830 CHITTAGONG 1845 SHARJAH 1915 KATHMANDU 1930 DUBAI 2020 DUBAI 2025 MADRAS 2045 CALICUT 2115 DUBAI 2120 DELHI 2125 BANGKOK 2130 FRANKFURT-ABU DHABI 2130 COCHIN 2140 MADRAS 2200 MALE 2205 COLOMBO 2210 DOHA 2220 PESHAWAR 2230 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI 2240 BAHRAIN 2240 ABU DHABI 2240 SALALAH 2245 DOHA 2305 CAIRO 2305 AHMEDABAD-BOMBAY 2310 ZURICH-DUBAI 2320 FRANKFURT 2325 DUBAI 2330 COCHIN 2330 BAHRAIN 2330 BOMBAY 2340 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 2340 KARACHI 2350 AMMAN 2350 DAMMAM 2350 KUWAIT 2355 BANGKOK 2355 RIYADH 2355

WY636 WY676 WY824 QR172 WY717 PK223 WY3912 TK776 EY384 ET624 QR170 EK866 GF560 FZ041 NL669 WY668 WY638 WY904 WY658 WY602 FZ043 WY202 WY316 WY102 WY236 NL768 WY432 G9113 WY212 WY226 WY252 EK862 EY382 QR166 9W530 WY3302 WY372 WY604 WY826 WY384 WY902 IX549 WY918 WY268 GF562 IX337 WY606 WY812 IX817 WY908 WY656 WY3304 WY312 QR6162 WY632 WY204 WY292 WY664 QR164 WY616 WY246 WY284 GF564 WY684 WY3306 G9117 WY906 TG507 WY414 FZ047 WY608 WY624 WY152 AI973 KL441 LH618 UL205 9W543 AI907 QR168 BA073 EY388 GF566 WY144 WY662 WY406 AI985 LX242 WY116 WY654 WY612 WY612 9W540 WY134 WY618 WY696 WY648 WY636

ABU DHABI 0005 JEDDAH 0005 KUALA LUMPUR 0040 DOHA 0145 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 0145 SIALKOT-PESHAWAR 0220 SALALAH 0235 ISTANBUL-BAHRAIN 0300 ABU DHABI 0330 ADDIS ABABA 0350 DOHA 0350 DUBAI 0355 BAHRAIN 0425 DUBAI 0430 SIALKOT 0630 DOHA 0700 ABU DHABI 0700 SALALAH 0700 BAHRAIN 0700 DUBAI 0800 DUBAI 0800 BOMBAY 0805 KARACHI 0825 LONDON HEATHROW 0830 HYDERABAD 0845 LAHORE 0900 TEHRAN 0910 SHARJAH 0915 TRIVANDRUM 0925 COCHIN 0930 MADRAS 0930 DUBAI 0940 ABU DHABI 1000 DOHA 1010 TRIVANDRUM 1025 MUKHAIZNA 1045 COLOMBO 1105 DUBAI 1105 KUALA LUMPUR 1125 MALE 1150 SALALAH 1205 TRIVANDRUM 1215 KHASAB 1220 LUCKNOW 1230 BAHRAIN 1230 CALICUT 1305 DUBAI 1320 BANGKOK 1340 MANGALORE-ABU DHABI 1415 SALALAH 1430 BAHRAIN 1440 MUKHAIZNA 1445 CHITTAGONG 1520 DOHA 1530 ABU DHABI 1605 BOMBAY 1700 CALICUT 1715 DOHA 1720 DOHA 1740 DUBAI 1740 DELHI 1745 BANGALORE 1750 BAHRAIN 1810 RIYADH 1830 MUKHAIZNA 1845 SHARJAH 1915 SALALAH 1930 BANGKOK-KARACHI 1935 AMMAN 2020 DUBAI 2020 DUBAI 2025 DUBAI 2120 ZURICH 2120 DELHI 2125 AMSTERDAM-DOHA 2125 FRANKFURT-ABU DHABI 2130 COLOMBO 2140 COCHIN 2140 MADRAS 2200 DOHA 2220 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI 2240 ABU DHABI 2240 BAHRAIN 2240 MALPENSA 2300 DOHA 2305 CAIRO 2310 AHMEDABAD-BOMBAY 2310 ZURICH-DUBAI 2320 FRANKFURT 2325 BAHRAIN 2330 DUBAI 2330 DUBAI 2330 BOMBAY 2340 PARIS 2345 DUBAI 2350 DAMMAM 2350 KUWAIT 2355 ABU DHABI 2355

FLT NO

DEPARTURES TO

FLT NO

DEPARTURES TO

AI986 6.00E+82 LX243 BA072 WY421 9W539 WY683 WY235 WY201 WY643 WY601 WY115 WY691 WY273 WY667 PK260 WY637 WY903 WY657 4H582 BG022 PK226 WY281 WY267 EK867 FZ042 QR171 MS931 QR173 TK779 GF561 WY813 WY901 WY311 WY3301 WY603 FZ044 WY327 WY215 WY823 WY917 WY433 G9114 WY815 WY385 WY337 WY373 WY907 WY605 WY717 WY245 WY655 WY203 WY631 EY383 EK863 QR167 9W533 IX442 WY253 PK192 WY3921 GF563 WY291 WY3303 WY101 WY405 WY663 IX350 WY905 WY615 WY223 WY415 FZ046 WY675 WY607 PA451 WY623 WY911 WY681 WY647 GF565 WY653 WY661 WY695 WY315 MP95 G9118 WY611 FZ048 WY635 WY913 WY3911 9W529 LH619 AI908 AI974 GF567 QR169 EY381 NL668

BOMBAY 0005 BOMBAY 0015 DUBAI-ZURICH 0020 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW 0025 BEIRUT 0025 BOMBAY 0040 RIYADH 0050 HYDERABAD 0120 BOMBAY 0130 KUWAIT 0135 DUBAI 0140 FRANKFURT 0140 DAMMAM 0150 JAIPUR 0210 DOHA 0230 ISLAM ABBAD-LAHORE 0235 ABU DHABI 0240 SALALAH 0240 BAHRAIN 0250 DUBAI-DACCA 0300 CHITTAGONG-DACCA 0300 KARACHI 0300 BANGALORE 0405 LUCKNOW 0435 DUBAI 0455 DUBAI 0510 DOHA 0515 CAIRO 0545 DOHA 0645 BAHRAIN-ISTANBUL 0655 BAHRAIN 0730 BANGKOK 0745 SALALAH 0800 CHITTAGONG 0800 MUKHAIZNA 0800 DUBAI 0805 DUBAI 0840 LAHORE 0850 TRIVANDRUM 0930 KUALA LUMPUR 0930 KHASAB 0940 TEHRAN 0945 SHARJAH 0955 BANGKOK 1010 MALE 1010 KATHMANDU 1010 COLOMBO 1020 SALALAH 1025 DUBAI 1030 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 1035 DELHI 1035 BAHRAIN 1040 BOMBAY 1040 ABU DHABI 1045 ABU DHABI 1050 DUBAI 1055 DOHA 1110 COCHIN 1145 COCHIN 1150 MADRAS 1230 TURBAT-GWADUR 1230 JAALUNI 1315 BAHRAIN 1315 CALICUT 1330 MUKHAIZNA 1330 LONDON HEATHROW 1340 CAIRO 1340 DOHA 1340 CALICUT 1405 SALALAH 1430 DUBAI 1445 COCHIN 1530 AMMAN 1540 DUBAI 1630 JEDDAH 1640 DUBAI 1705 LAHORE 1730 DUBAI 1810 SALALAH 1840 RIYADH 1845 KUWAIT 1850 BAHRAIN 1855 BAHRAIN 1920 DOHA 1920 DAMMAM 1930 KARACHI 1945 SHARJAH-SINGAPORE 1945 SHARJAH 1955 DUBAI 2030 DUBAI 2105 ABU DHABI 2125 SALALAH 2145 SALALAH 2225 TRIVANDRUM 2240 ABU DHABI-FRANKFURT 2250 MADRAS 2300 DELHI 2310 BAHRAIN 2325 DOHA 2330 ABU DHABI 2330 SIALKOT 2330

WY811 AI986 LX243 BA072 9W539 WY211 WY251 WY235 WY371 WY201 WY225 WY601 WY115 WY143 WY151 WY123 WY315 WY133 WY667 WY903 WY637 WY431 WY657 PK224 TK777 WY311 WY267 ET625 EK867 FZ042 QR171 EY385 QR173 WY3301 NL772 GF561 WY901 WY603 FZ044 WY291 WY917 G9114 WY907 WY283 WY605 NL769 WY245 WY717 WY203 WY655 EY383 EK863 QR167 WY3303 9W533 WY413 WY331 IX554 WY631 GF563 WY101 WY663 WY405 WY683 IX350 WY615 WY3305 IX818 WY905 WY617 WY675 QR6163 WY607 WY623 QR165 WY681 WY647 GF565 WY661 WY653 WY695 WY635 G9118 WY825 WY611 TG508 FZ048 WY915 WY3911 KL442 9W529 LH619 WY817 AI908 AI974 GF567 EY381 QR169 UL206

BANGKOK 0005 BOMBAY 0005 DUBAI-ZURICH 0020 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW 0025 BOMBAY 0040 TRIVANDRUM 0110 MADRAS 0110 HYDERABAD 0120 COLOMBO 0130 BOMBAY 0130 COCHIN 0130 DUBAI 0140 FRANKFURT 0140 MALPENSA 0145 ZURICH 0200 MUNICH 0210 KARACHI 0225 PARIS 0225 DOHA 0230 SALALAH 0240 ABU DHABI 0240 TEHRAN 0245 BAHRAIN 0250 PESHAWAR-SIALKOT 0320 BAHRAIN-ISTANBUL 0350 CHITTAGONG 0430 LUCKNOW 0435 ADDIS ABABA 0450 DUBAI 0455 DUBAI 0510 DOHA 0515 ABU DHABI 0525 DOHA 0645 MUKHAIZNA 0715 PESHAWAR 0730 BAHRAIN 0730 SALALAH 0800 DUBAI 0805 DUBAI 0840 CALICUT 0930 KHASAB 0940 SHARJAH 0955 SALALAH 1025 BANGALORE 1030 DUBAI 1030 LAHORE 1030 DELHI 1035 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 1035 BOMBAY 1040 BAHRAIN 1040 ABU DHABI 1050 DUBAI 1055 DOHA 1110 MUKHAIZNA 1115 COCHIN 1145 AMMAN 1225 KATHMANDU 1245 TRIVANDRUM 1305 ABU DHABI 1315 BAHRAIN 1315 LONDON HEATHROW 1340 DOHA 1340 CAIRO 1340 RIYADH 1340 CALICUT 1405 DUBAI 1445 MUKHAIZNA 1515 MANGALORE 1515 SALALAH 1530 DUBAI 1540 JEDDAH 1640 DOHA 1700 DUBAI 1705 DUBAI 1810 DOHA 1840 RIYADH 1845 KUWAIT 1850 BAHRAIN 1855 DOHA 1920 BAHRAIN 1920 DAMMAM 1930 ABU DHABI 1930 SHARJAH 1955 KUALA LUMPUR 2030 DUBAI 2030 KARACHI-BANGKOK 2040 DUBAI 2105 SALALAH 2120 SALALAH 2225 DOHA-AMSTERDAM 2230 TRIVANDRUM 2240 ABU DHABI-FRANKFURT 2250 BANGKOK 2250 MADRAS 2300 DELHI 2310 BAHRAIN 2325 ABU DHABI 2330 DOHA 2330 COLOMBO 2335

ETD

ETA

ETD

S AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 9, 2 0 1 2

EXTRA BRIEFS

Adnan Sami’s new album to be launched in January SINGER ADNAN SAMI, who became famous for non-film songs like Bheegi bheegi raaton mein and Kabhi to nazar milao, will be back with another album next year. “I am very excited because first half of January 2013 my new album will be released titled Press Play. I am currently busy with it and it is almost ready,” the 39-year-old said here in an interview. Sami, who has also sung songs like Salaam-e-Ishq and Noor-e-Khuda for films, returns to the playback zone. “I have started singing for films again and have recorded two-three songs. I am getting back into the playback zone also,” he said. Sami’s last private album was Ek Ladki Deewani Si in 2009 while his other private albums include Teri Kasam and Kisi Din.

Anil Kapoor, 53, wants six-pack physique HE HAS JUST TURNED 53, and he wants to work towards a six-pack physique. And as he gets older, he says wants to keep his eating habits in check and be as positive as the Dalai Lama. “I never had a paunch. But regrettably I never had a sixpack either. Hopefully with my son’s help, I’ll get there too. In the meanwhile, I’ve lost a lot more weight recently for (TV show) 24. I am more agile and ﬂexible and leaner. I’ve lost six kgs,” said Anil, who celebrated his birthday recently. He is content that he has spent many years of his life working hard. “I try my best to do the right thing. Age is just a number. Staying healthy and ﬁt is just a matter of discipline. Recently, I had the good fortune of meeting the Dalai Lama. I felt so cleansed! Just listening to him is such an enriching experience. “What he said was, ‘how you feel and choose to live are all up to you. If you lie to yourself and to others, you’re bound to be unhealthy’. Look how radiant the Dalai Lama looks. I’d love to look as radiant when I reach his age. Positivity has always been my mantra for existence,” added the actor. Anil, who has three children — daughters Sonam and Rhea, and son Harshvardhan — is careful about his eating habits. - Agencies

PHENOMENAL YEAR FOR BOLLYWOOD

ith eight bigstarrers joining the Rs1 billion club, Bollywood’s 2012 box office report card has set a benchmark, say trade pundits. They contend that with a reportedly Rs22.73 billion profit, it has been a ‘balanced’ year for the Hindi film industry, which can now look forward to more fireworks and a Rs2 billion club in the next two years. Summing up 2012 as a balanced year, Vinod Mirani says: “Be it small budget films or big films or unusual genres — all of them worked well at the box office. This year was better than the last few years because all kinds of films worked, which is a very positive sign.” In the first half, a bouquet of small-budget non-commercial films with unusual themes like Kahaani, the woman-centric thriller, Vicky Donor on sperm donation, and Ishaqzaade, rowdy romantic actioner, did exceptionally well by earning Rs75 million, Rs45 million and Rs40 million respectively. Biggies like Agneepath, Housefull 2 and Rowdy Rathore too yielded gold at the box office by joining the Rs1 billion club. Three Khans — Salman, Shah Rukh and Aamir — rule the roost and the second half was dominated by them. Their releases Ek Tha Tiger, Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Talaash respectively became pots of gold. So did Saif Ali Khan-starrer Cocktail. Distributor Rajesh Thadani of Multimedia Combine says: “The second half of 2012 was pretty good. “The Khans’ films have done pretty well. Ek Tha Tiger collected around Rs19 billion, which is outstanding.” Eight films — Agneepath, Housefull 2, Rowdy Rathore, Ek Tha Tiger, Barfi!, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Son Of Sardaar, and Bol Bachchan — joined Rs1 billion at the domestic box office. Aamir’s Talaash has so far managed to amass around Rs900 million so far in the India territory and is expected to soon enter

the Rs1 billion zone. Revealing the ballpark ﬁgure of the biggies, Thadani said that Agneepath collected Rs1.2 billion, Housefull 2 Rs1.1 billion, and Rowdy Rathore Rs1.4 billion. According to distributor Sanjay Ghai of Mukta Arts, the estimated earning of Ek Tha Tiger was around Rs1.9 billion, of Son Of Sardaar Rs1.05 billion, of Jab Tak Hai Jaan Rs1.21 billion, of Barﬁ! Rs1.1 billion and of Bol Bachchan Rs1.05 billion. At the year-end, Salman Khan once again entertained with Dabangg 2, which has set the cash registers ringing by amassing Rs6

billion over the weekend. An industry source says that total profit in 2012 comes to Rs22.73 billion. Nor were there too many box office disasters. “Besides two films — Players and Joker — none of the films can be put into the disaster zone. These are the only two films which did very poor business,” Ghai told IANS. Trade analyst Komal Nahta gives credit to increasing acceptability of the audiences and the multiplex culture for this profitable change. “Now we don’t need 1,000 seats to fill theatres. The work is done in just 215 seats with high ticket rates,” he added. Cheering Hindi

filmdom’s phenomenal year, Nahta said: “This is one of the best years. I believe the industry has pushed the envelope to the next level and in the next two years we will be talking about Rs2 billion (club) and not Rs1 billion.” Nahta hopes to see fireworks at the box office in 2013 as well. “I hope the good work keeps going in 2013 as well. We have films like Dhoom 3, Krrish 3, Chennai Express and one or two films of Salman Khan; so there is a lot to look forward to in 2013,” Nahta added. Ghai predicted that 2013 “will get crazy and now we have to see how we control this”. - IANS