Muslim leaders today generally suck, whether they be arab or pakistani or afghan etc... Maybe once a while we get someone good but the good guys are a minority in our time. Whilst your leadership system isn't perfect, I believe that it's superor to democracy, I have problems with the actions of your ruler rather him being the ruler.
Well I'm simply going off the trend - when Muslims get a tyrant ruling over their countr, they country tends to go downhill due to said tyrants bad decisions. I mean look at your international standing, it's taken so much damage due to MBS, currently you have something that people need (oil) so many countries o condemn but otherwise carry on doing business. But who's going to tolerate him when he loses his ace card in oil?
MBS openly promotes sin in society. The oppression from him has started and it affects pretty much anyone who disagrees with him. Sooner or later, if you people carry on supporting him, then the punishment of Allah may follow.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm no perfect Muslim, I do wrong things etc... But I don't openly support these things in society and what I see him doing is literally promoting open sins. And if your claim is true, that the majority support him in this, then the future is bleak for you.
There is no such thing as Islamism, that's just become a word to oppose certain parts of Islam without saying it outright. Either a society follows Islam or it doesn't bro. If you're talking about extremes then we judge them by Islam too. For example, I remember reading a story in which some companions (a handful) took to staying away from their wives and fasting all the time. This behaviour was termed to not be right and so they were rebuked. That would be going to an extreme. Likewise liberalism at the other end would may be someone something haram outright and openly etc... Of course we have to keep in the middle but that middle is dictated by Islam. A person can't do bad things and say they're trying to stay in the middle.
I agree with that. Evidence on the ground proves it. However the GCC is the exception since the leaders have done well overall in particular compared to the standards of the Muslim and developing world. Evidence on the ground proves it as well.
Calling MbS a tyrant is not something that makes sense in my eyes.
KSA is the richest country in the Muslim world and one of the richest countries on the planet in terms of natural resources (much more than just oil) and minerals. KSA's incredibly strategic position in the world too. Hajj and Umrah. The non-oil sector of the economy is booming. Our scientific and educational output is also great.
"Openly promotes sin"? Elaborate.
KSA is already Islamic. Dare I say more Islamic than most if not all countries. However KSA has rightly reformed and returned to the pre-Sahwa and original path (pre-1979) and there is nothing "un-Islamic" about it. What is un-Islamic about allowing women to drive? Or for them to enter football stadiums. Men and women prayed together at the time of Prophet Muhammad (saws). What is un-Islamic in removing some of the un-Islamic and retarded laws of the past?
Islamism is a nonsense word indeed but so are many of the aspects that we are discussing. Let us use ISIS as an example. What would we call that? It is just words. The reality on the ground matters and what is just or unjust and what makes sense and what makes no sense. To not have women drive in the year 2019 when they are a productive part of our society (more women university graduates than men, women in all positions of power and influence) is unjust. Covering such a moronic law under some "Islamic garb" is the work of retarded "Islamists" or whatever you want to call them.
As for science and education, I already posted it but it seems you missed it so posting it again:
Oiling the wheels on a road to success
Nature volume 532, pages S13–S15 (28 April 2016) |
Download Citation
With the benefit of a sustainable plan and the funds to back it, Saudi Arabia is aiming high.
Saudi Arabia's scientific development may be in its infancy, but the oil-rich Kingdom is making strides in terms of research investment and publication — with a clear ambition to one day join those in the highest echelons.
KAUST students embark on a new school year with a commencement ceremony. The relatively new university has quickly made an impact on the Nature Index.
Image: KAUST
In 2012, Saudi Arabia had a weighted fractional count (WFC) of 52.84 in the index, sitting behind Turkey, Iran,
Mexico,
Chile and
South Africa. In four years it rose 86.8% to reach a WFC of 98.67, leapfrogging all these countries to compete with Chile and
Argentina globally. Saudi Arabia ranks at number 31 in the world in terms of WFC — up from 39 in 2012.
The country has risen even higher in specific subject areas. In chemistry, for example, it has surpassed countries with a strong scientific impact like Finland and Ireland, with its WFC rising to 66.54, achieving almost a three-fold increase from its position in 2012.
Institutionally, the country's leading science hub King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) made an impressive leap in its WFC between 2012 and 2015, carving a place for itself to compete with American and European research powerhouses.
In just four years, its WFC has risen to become higher than those of prestigious institutions including the
European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN),
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), the
University of Georgia, United States, and
Dresden University of Technology, Germany, to name a few. The output of all of these institutions dwarfed KAUST's in 2012, but KAUST's impressive trajectory since then has seen its WFC shoot to 72 in 2015, overtaking these heavy-hitters.
The country's science development ambitions have been backed by action. Since 2008, the country has embarked on a multi-tiered strategy that will see the Kingdom overhaul its science infrastructure, build high-spec labs, secure grants for research in priority areas in applied science, and link science to industries that drive the economy.
The strategy, broken into four stages to be implemented by 2030, aims to eventually “see Saudi Arabia become a leader in Asia and give it an economic power based on science,” says Abdulaziz Al-Swailem, vice president of scientific research support at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST).
The Saudi Human Genome Project will sequence 100,000 human genomes to conduct biomedical research in the Saudi population.
Image: Fayez Nureldine/AFP/Getty Images
Saudi Arabia's march to the top Saudi Arabia's efforts to boost its scientific research have been paying off, with its output in the Nature Index (WFC) rising steadily over the years. The two graphs below highlight Saudi Arabia's rise compared to other nations, both overall and for chemistry.
Overall output In 2012 Saudi Arabia's overall output in the index was below all the countries shown, but continuous efforts have seen the Kingdom's WFC rise to overtake them all in 2015.
Chemistry More marked than its overall rise, Saudi Arabia has made great strides in chemistry. After accelerated growth, which saw the Kingdom's chemistry WFC triple since 2012, it has outshone many larger players in the field in 2015.
The Kingdom's science investments focus on applied research that feeds directly into the country's industrial interests, particularly the oil and energy sector. But even in its strong subjects, chemistry and the physical sciences, Saudi Arabia's WFC remains modest compared to big players in Asia like
China,
Japan and South Korea.
“Saudi Arabia could look to some successful emerging economies for inspiration.”
To truly swim comfortably with these bigger fish, Saudi Arabia may benefit from looking at successful emerging economies in Asia.
One inspiration could be
India. In addition to multi-disciplinary scientific and technical advancements that have improved its output in the index from 736.5 to 901.4 in the past four years, the subcontinental giant has joined the exclusive club of countries that have launched successful space missions.
Like Saudi Arabia, India's leading research institutes focus on chemistry, and their total output currently outstrips their Saudi Arabian counterparts by almost a factor of seven (the latter surpassing 472 in 2015, while the former is 66.5).
India's prowess in chemistry is something that Saudi Arabia can aspire to, considering that working conditions for researchers in the Kingdom are more conducive.
India's science ecosystem is far from perfect. Research funding cannot keep up with inflation and a general slowdown in the country's economy. In addition, commentators from the research community say the funding processes are lengthy, bureaucratic, and provide little feedback when applications for grants are turned down. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's healthy stream of oil revenue provides assured funding for the country's state-of-the-art research facilities.
While India has slightly increased spending and dedicated US$1.19 billion for the next fiscal year (2016–2017) for science, it has around 700 universities and 200,000 full-time researchers drawing on the same funding pot. By contrast, Saudi Arabia has pledged an education and training budget of US$50.9 billion for next year, which includes higher education and scientific research. With a total population of just 30 million, it has a much lower number of full-time researchers competing for the available resources.
Another impressive trajectory that Saudi Arabia might look to emulate is that of Singapore, which has a smaller population as well and has managed to climb high in the index. Like the Kingdom,
Singapore also has a focus on chemistry research, and it has put together a similar top-down national science strategy for research institutes across the country. Both countries have strong collaborations with top universities around the world and are welcoming of foreign researchers in their efforts to drive innovation.
Mansour Alghamdi, director of the general directorate of scientific awareness and publishing at KACST, is optimistic that Saudi Arabia can bridge the large gap that currently exists in the volume of scientific output between it and such countries as India and Singapore.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a clear plan to do so and it has the resources,” he says.
Future growth
An internationally rising star This graph shows KAUST's rise compared to a selection of other institutions*. *Institutions shown are those that were furthest above KAUST in 2012, have experienced overall growth in WFC by 2015 and have been overtaken by KAUST in 2015. For clarity, only 2012 and 2015 data points are shown.
In 2012, Saudi's ranking in research output, with a WFC of 52.8, meant it was comparable with countries like South Africa, Turkey and Iran, all hovering around the 60–70 mark. Its WFC stood way below countries like Mexico, Hungary, Chile, Greece and Argentina.
Saudi Arabian researchers benefit from cutting-edge labs and generous funding that has boosted the country's R&D.
Image: Top: KACST; Bottom: KAUST
Four years later, the country's research outlook is very different and it is surpassing countries like Argentina, Mexico and
Hungary in the index, and levelling the playing field with Chile. Chemistry research led the country's rapid rise to surpass these countries, but its life sciences and physical sciences WFCs of 8.5 and 31.5 still lag behind.
However, the Kingdom's AC has been steadily growing in these two fields over the past four years, hinting at the ever-increasing significance of international collaborations. It seems that Saudi Arabian researchers are casting their nets ever wider and are participating in publishing more articles, to the detriment of the WFC accredited for these articles.
Though international collaboration has proved fruitful, Saudi Arabia must keep a focus on nurturing home-grown talent, says Nasser Al-Aqeeli, dean of research at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), based in Dhahran's 'techno valley' in the eastern region of the Kingdom. In the next five years, he says, the country will focus on a programme for national capacity building.
A good first step was the Saudi government's decision to create a large scholarship programme in 2005, arguably the largest in the world, which has seen more than 200,000 young Saudi Arabians studying abroad. This makes Saudi Arabian students in the United States the fourth largest bloc of expatriate students, following those of China, India and South Korea. The government hopes these students will come back and drive a scientific culture in the country.
“Its rise up the ranks depends on a 'self-correcting mechanism' of a slow start to sustainable growth.”
Saudi Arabia is also looking to increase its applied research focus, which is an integral part of the current phase of its national science strategy, while securing good funding for basic research as well. Al-Aqeeli says that Saudi's journey involves what he termed a “self-correcting mechanism” where the country is having a slow start in high-impact research, but a more sustainable one. An eventual future move towards basic research might help Saudi Arabia's research capacity to mature.
https://www.nature.com/articles/532S13a
A few days ago Saudi Arabian students won gold medals in an international physics and science olympiad in Latvia. Will post the article in a few minutes when I find it.
Saudi foundation wins gold, bronze in European Physics Olympiad
RIYADH:
Azan Al-Majnooni and Hisham Al-Maliki, of the King Abdul Aziz and his Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), won gold and bronze medals respectively at the European Physics Olympiad (EUPHO) 2019, in Riga, Latvia.
The contest ran from May 31 to June 4, and the Saudi duo were praised for their awards by the secretary-general of Mawhiba, Dr. Saud bin Saeed Al-Mathami.
Al-Mathami stressed that the accomplishments were achieved thanks to government support for the sciences and the foundation. This was the first time the Kingdom had taken part in EUPHO, which hosted 26 other nations.
“This comes as an extension to the march toward achieving the targets of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 through improving education and building a solid base for a talented generation, capable of realizing the aspirations of a state able to rely on creativity and innovation as a means to achieve,” he said.
The secretary-general added that Saudi Arabia paid great attention to gifted and talented citizens, catering their needs and requirements, upgrading services and programs supporting them, and creating the right environment to grow and develop their abilities.
Al-Mathami underlined that this victory was the result of fruitful and constructive cooperation between Mawhiba and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu.
EUPHO is an international student contest, first held in 2017 in Estonia, and then in Russia 12 months later.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1506936/saudi-arabia
Here is a statistic:
As of 2018, Saudi Arabia ranks 28 worldwide in terms of high-quality research output according to the renowned scientific journal Nature.[564] This makes Saudi Arabia the best performing Middle Eastern, Arab and Muslim country.
Saudi Arabia spends 8.8 % of its gross domestic product on education, compared with the global average of 4.6%, which is nearly double the global average on education.[565]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia
Courtesy of
@The SC
Saudi Crown Prince commends $76.5bn non-oil revenue in 2018
Saudi Arabia’s non-oil revenue has more than doubled between 2014 and 2018 to $76.5bn (SAR287bn), and
Crown Prince HRH Mohammed Bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud said this growth underscores the kingdom’s economic achievements as outlined by the goals of its Vision 2030 long-term diversification programme.
The Crown Prince said Saudi Arabia’s economic and structural reforms are steadily moving to achieve the targets of
Vision 2030, which is also accounted for in the 2019 budget. The document was approved by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, HRH King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, on 18 December, 2018.
Calling financial stability a fundamental pillar of economic progress, the Crown Prince said reforms introduced in Saudi Arabia over the last two years have directly contributed to the kingdom’s steady reduction in budget deficit. The kingdom announced a budgetary shortfall for the sixth year in a row as part of its 2019 budget. On 18 December, Saudi announced that its projected 2019 deficit of $36.2bn (SAR136bn) is 32% lower than the corresponding value expected for 2018, $52bn (SAR195bn).
But it is the growth of non-oil revenues that stands out in Saudi Arabia’s 2019 budget announcement. In 2014, non-oil earnings worth $33.9bn (SAR127bn) contributed 12% to Saudi Arabia’s total revenue, and this number has surged to 32% in 2018, when the corresponding figure is valued at $76.5bn. In a statement, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Finance, Mohammed Al-Jadaan, said this growth is “largely attributed to the continued implementation of
economic reforms and initiatives such as value-added tax (VAT) and energy price reforms”.
https://www.constructionweekonline....prince-commends-765bn-non-oil-revenue-in-2018
2017 mind you..
Crowning achievements
1- Saudi Vision 2030
On April 25, 2016, then deputy crown prince put forth the ambitious Vision 2030 project, aimed at pulling Saudi's economy away from its dependence on oil, implementing structural reforms, and opening the country to diversified sources of income and investments.
2-Saudi PMO
Then deputy crown prince was also behind the launching of Saudi National Transformation Plan (NTP) 2020 across 24 government bodies operating in the economic and development sectors, and most importantly having in 2016 initiated the Project Management Office (PMO), which puts certain consultancies in position to bring more efficiency to the public sector, and mediate issues related to government services.
3- Aramco IPO
In October 2016, it was announced that Aramco was selling 5% of its shares for an estimated value of $100bn, based on a $2trn estimation that the government has put out. The sale, orchestrated by then deputy crown prince, will take place in 2018.
4- Saudi women driving
The Saudi crown prince sponsored the Saudi lifting the world's only ban on women driving, with implementation in June 2018 to allow for the proper laws and procedures to take effect. Already, many advertisers, such as Coca Cola have taken advantage of this and put their products behind the wheel as well.
5- Saudi entertainment
Keen on attracting tourists, but also on keeping Saudis in the country instead of seeing them travel away on tourism, the crown prince was behind the idea of launching a $2.7bn entertainment firm heralding a new era for the kingdom that could relax previously stringent rules on movie viewing, and theatre, among others.
6- NEOM + 50 virgin islands
Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson announced his intent to invest in a Red Sea project that turn 50 Saudi Arabian islands into luxury tourism destinations, and the $500bn 100% renewable NEOM city by the Red Sea, with SoftBank investing $$billions into the project as well. Both development projects were launched by the crown prince.
7- VOIP
The crown prince approved Saudi Arabia's lifting of its ban on voice calls such as Skype,WhatsApp and other applications, whereas this was not legally possible before, and with it, a new era of open communication was launched.
https://www.ameinfo.com/industry/finance/crown-prince-mohammed-bin-salmans-top-7-achievements
