City Center shops strut their stuff

Models displayed the spring/summer collections of major outlets at the City Center mall at a fashion show over the weekend.The two-day annual fashion show organised by Lana Group International included clothes for adults, children and traditional Abayas.
The participating shops included Debenhams, Top Shop, Identity, Lasenza, A to Z, Optifashion and Bidoun Esm. The catwalk attracted a large crowd. The show’s theme was ‘Infinity Fashion’.
Adding colour were trapeze artistes. Children also displayed a colourful collection, and the fashion show’s second day yesterday featured a different theme ‘The Moon Castle’.
Lana Group project manager Alexandra told Gulf Times that the fashion show was an annual event to launch the spring/ summer collection and this edition also included Belarus designer Lina Dreko’s techno- romantic collection.

Rain floods street

A man waiting to cross a waterlogged street in Doha. Rains accompanied by thunderstorms lashed most parts of Qatar yesterday morning.

Ducks are chased away at the Doha Golf Club during the third round of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters yesterday. See also Pages 38 and 40, Picture: Jayaram.

Air show at Al Khor draws thousands

THOUSANDS of aviation enthusiasts thronged an airfield at Al Khor yesterday for the second private air show that began at 9am. Dubbed by the organisers as the ‘Fly-in Open Day at Al Khor Airfield’, the event, that had no formal opening, turned out to be just what had been promised last year: bigger and better. The show was expanded this time with some 13 privately-owned aircraft of various makes and price tags on display. Remote control planes, courtesy of the Qatar Scientific Club (QSC), and para glider equipment, a first for the event, were also on show.Ahmed Abdul Rahman, who along with his paragliding-enthusiast friend had brought out the massive equipment, put flight plans on hold because of high winds in the morning.In another first, three private planes from a Saudi owner, and one from a Kuwaiti national, were also flown in. But like last year the $7mn Cessna Citation Jet CJ1+ belonging to Shaikh Ahmed bin Hammad al-Thani, who happens to be the chairman of the organising committee of the event, stole the limelight once again. The luxury plane has a maximum cruise speed of 720km/h that offers its leather-seated passengers views from as high as 41,000ft (12,497m). Also ‘strutting’ on the ‘strip’ were a Cessna T182 Sky lane, a Cessna Grand Caravan, a Diamond DA-40tdi, a Piper Archer II, a Cirrus SR22 Turbo and a Twin Star.Because of the large number of visitors, registration for a free ride in one of the aircraft ended as early as 11.30am. Many left disappointed. “Going by this, we will have to consider expanding this annual feature to two days next time,” organising committee manager Mohamed al-Mohannadi said. A private pilot licence holder himself, al-Mohannadi explained that the event served to introduce the general public to the broader world of aviation, educate them about history and development of the aviation industry and to get them to know about the Al Khor/Al Thakira region. “We were lucky to get Qatar Airways, Qatar Steel, Qatar Foundation, Qafco, Ras Gas, Civil Aviation Authority, Qatar Aeronautical College and others on board for the event, thus enabling us to expand it,” he added.

Students carrying the Qatari flag and banners march at the rally organised to raise awareness against drug abuse in Doha yesterday.

The march was organised by the Permanent Committee for Drugs and Alcohol Affairs at the Ministry of Interior.

6-new-doha-airport

EVEN as Qatar surges ahead with its modernisation plans in terms of ultra modern malls, state-of-the-art airport and ports, contemporary road systems and the latest gadgets, there are certain places where time may sometimes seem to stand still in Doha – and in some cases it actually does.
We are not talking about Souq Waqif where the clock seemed to have been turned a few decades back, in a manner of speaking, to make it a showpiece destination for the local population as well as tourists with its traditional architecture, conventional shops and age-old ambience.
We are referring to a couple of examples of public clocks in the city where the time seems to stand still, literally and figuratively.
In a random check of public clocks in the city, Gulf Times discovered that at least two of them at prominent places were telling the wrong time - not by minutes, but by hours.
For instance, the public clocks on the tower near the most important address in the country, the Emiri Diwan, showed different times on its two faces: 12.48 and 12.20, respectively, when the actual time was 9.55am.
The same is the status of the time-piece at yet another prominent junction in the city: near the Toyota Tower. When our photographer took a picture at 10.18am, the time on the dial read 6.30!
But, it must be said in all fairness that these clocks indeed show accurate time, down to the millisecond, at least twice a day. That is a service they have been doing for a long time now, observers insist.
But, another chronometer from a prestigious world brand can’t even claim that: it has no hands. Still it adorns a college wall.
As if to reinforce Qatar’s intentions of marching forward with the digital era, the authorities have installed a number of eye-catching state-of-the-art clocks on many of the country’s impressive thoroughfares, which, alas show different times, albeit slightly, at any given time.
Clocks or no clocks, no one doubts that Qatar will charge ahead determinedly to keep its appointment with destiny among the modern countries of the world.