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. This picture was taken at 9.55am 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. http://gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=263303&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

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