The Young Chronicle: For 4th Graders January 23rd, 2015 | Page 6

YOUNG CHRONICLE

Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Andolan
Pranks and Rambo are very happy that the Beti Bachao, Beti
Padhao andolan has been kick started in Haryana. This is
extremely important as Female Foeticide is rampant in
Haryana. The sex ratio is between 837 & 875, which means
over 800 in 1000 people, are men. This ratio is extremely
skewed. In fact this is one of the reasons why Haryana
literally has to get brides from other states.
Let’s hope that this initiative drives some awareness amongst
people, and not only do people stop female foeticide, they
start educating their girls and treating them as equals, as
well.

King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud is No More. His Brother Salman, Crowned As
The New King
As this news broke out on Friday morning, Rambo and Pranks were in the midst of
giving final touches to this week’s newspapers. They didn’t have much idea of
Saudi Arabia, but were keen to know more about the king. King Abdullah is the
son of the 8th wife (of 22 wives) of Ibn Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia.
He took over from King Fahd, who was a prominent leader. King Abdullah was
said to be 90 years old.
A slow but steady reformer, King Abdullah is said to have wanted more women
to work, he introduced a government scholarship for men and women to study
abroad in different universities across the world. He is said to have restructured
the education ministry. In fact, he also promoted the construction of the King
Abullah University of Science and Technology, which is revolutionary in their
country. He also restructured the review of judicial decisions by offering more professional training for Shari’a
judges. He overhauled the process of starting a business in Saudi.
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We all know that oil is the biggest revenue source for Saudi. However, the government under his reign also
started encouraging the development of non-hydrocarbon sectors including mining, solar energy, and religious
tourism (being home to Mecca and Medina).
He also conducted a series of crackdowns including raids by security forces, arrests, and some fundamentalist
measures. He vowed to fight terrorist ideologies within the country. He made the protection of Saudi Arabia's
critical infrastructure a top security priority.
King Abdullah announced Women’s right to vote, in 2011, which again was significant.
From whatever Rambo and Pranks could read about the King, they found that many of the measures he had
undertaken should have been there in the first place. He certainly was a progressive king, but all that they read
made them more curious about how conservative Saudi Arabia actually is.
We will cover a bit more about Sharia Law and a bit on the Saudi Arabia in the coming issues.