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.

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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.

MASSACRE IN GAZA

GAZA: Israeli warplanes pounded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip yesterday, killing at least 225 people in one of the bloodiest days for the Palestinians in 60 years of conflict with the Jewish state.
Prospects for progress in peace talks seemed as good as dead.
Israel said the strikes were in response to rocket fire by Gaza militants, which intensified after Hamas ended a six-month-old ceasefire a week ago.
The rockets caused few injuries, but goaded Israelis as they gear up for a February election. Yesterday one man was killed by a rocket fired after the Israeli strikes began.
“There is a time for calm and a time for fighting, and now the time has come to fight,” Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said. Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned that “it may take time, and each and every one of us must be patient so we can complete the mission”.
The head the Hamas government in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh said: “Palestine has never seen an uglier massacre” and in Damascus, Hamas leader Khalid Mishal called for a new Palestinian uprising against Israel. “We will not leave our land, we will not raise white flags and we will not kneel except before God,” Haniyeh said.
Black smoke billowed over Gaza City, where the dead and wounded lay scattered on the ground after Israel bombed more than 40 security compounds, including two where Hamas was hosting graduation ceremonies for new recruits.
At the main Gaza City graduation ceremony, uniformed bodies lay in a pile and the wounded writhed in pain. Some rescue workers beat their heads and shouted “God is Greatest”. One badly wounded man quietly recited verses from the Qur’an.
More than 700 Palestinians were wounded in all, medics said.
Israel instructed hundreds of thousands of Israelis living up to 30km from the Gaza border to remain in “safe areas” indoors in case of retaliatory rocket fire.
Backing Israel, the administration of US President George W Bush, in its final weeks in office, put the onus on Hamas to prevent a further escalation.
“The US ... holds Hamas responsible for breaking the cease-fire and for the renewal of violence in Gaza,” US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement. “The ceasefire should be restored immediately.”
The UN and the European Union, in contrast, simply called for an immediate halt to all violence.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the Israeli air campaign was “criminal” and urged world powers to intervene.
Egypt said it would keep trying to restore the truce.
A five-day Israeli offensive in March killed more than 120 people, but yesterday’s death toll was the highest for a single day in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 1948, when the Jewish state was established.
“I call upon you to carry out a third intifada (uprising),” Hamas leader Mishal said on Al Jazeera television. The first Palestinian intifada began in 1987 and the second in 2000 after peace talks failed.
Hamas estimated that at least 100 members of its security forces had been killed, including police chief Tawfiq Jabber and the head of Hamas’s security and protection unit, along with at least 15 women and some children.
Morgues across the Gaza Strip ran out of space for bodies.
Hamas, which won a 2006 parliamentary election but was shunned by Western powers over its refusal to renounce violence and recognise Israel, said all of its security compounds in the Gaza Strip were destroyed or seriously damaged. - Reutersamas-ruled Gaza Strip yesterday, killing at least 225 people in one of the bloodiest days for the Palestinians in 60 years of conflict with the Jewish state.

TAMIM MEETS ABEGS PARTICIPANTS

TAMIM MEETS ABEGS PARTICIPANTS: HH the Deputy Emir and Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani received at his Emiri Diwan office their excellencies the participants at the 20th General Conference of the Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States (ABEGS) who called on him to greet him. The Deputy Emir wished their excellencies success in their meeting. The meeting was attended by Minister of Education and Higher Education HE Sheikha Ahmad al-Mahmoud, and director of HH the Heir Apparent's Office HE Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz al-Thani. – QNA

GULF TIMES WISHES ITS CHRISTIAN READERS A MERRY XMAS

Fountains dance to the tune of music near the entrance of the La Cigale hotel in Doha.

The musical spouts that also bloom into colourful patterns presented a fitting scenario to the festive season. Related reports – Page 6 nPICTURE: Jayan Orma

HOMING IN ON HERITAGE SITE

Feral pigeons have set up a thriving colony in the heritage site of Souq Waqif in downtown Doha.

The pigeons have made the renovated souq their new home after they were “displaced” from Souq Faleh. Visitors can buy grains from the shops in the souq to feed the birds. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil