[gallery td_select_gallery_slide="slide" size="medium" td_gallery_title_input="A year of achievements" ids="27209,27205,27206,27207,27208,27210"] RIYADH — Exactly a year ago today, (3 Rabul Thani 1436 Hijri), King Salman became the seventh monarch of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Today as the nation celebrates the first anniversary of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman's ascension to the throne, the Kingdom is more stable, powerful, peaceful and moving on the path of constructive reforms and development. Just after assuming power, King Salman gave a bonus of two months' salary to all Saudi state employees and military personnel, including pensioners and students, and told citizens: "Don't forget me in your prayers." Among the first things King Salman did was to streamline the government and bureaucracy. He abolished 12 committees and councils and replaced them with the Council of Political and Security Affairs (CPSA) headed by Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, and the Council for Economic and Development Affairs (CEDA) headed by Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman. After assuming power, King Salman made it clear that he wanted to infuse new blood. On January 30, 2015, he reshuffled the Cabinet and appointed new emirs. In July 2015, the King again reshuffled the Cabinet, and said that it was undertaken to support the "path to development." In April 2015, King Salman strengthened second generation leadership by appointing Prince Muhammad Bin Naif as crown prince, deputy premier and minister of interior and Prince Muhammad Bin Salman as deputy crown prince, second deputy premier and minister of defense. Inaugurating the 4th year of the 6th session of the Shoura Council in December, the King said that security and economic development will remain top priorities for the Kingdom. He said Saudi Arabia's foreign policies are aimed at serving Arab and Islamic causes and fighting terrorism. The King took a bold decision to help Yemen at the request of President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi by leading Operation Decisive Storm and launching Operation Restoration of Hope. Under King Salman, Saudi Arabia has stood firmly in solidarity with the Syrian people. The Kingdom has received nearly 2.5 million Syrians since the conflict erupted in their country. Saudi Arabia has also provided more than $700 million in humanitarian aid to Syrians and has set up clinics in various refugee camps. More than 100,000 Syrian students are receiving free education in the Kingdom. On the domestic front, King Salman's focus has been to diversify sources of income and improve the efficiency of government spending to reduce dependence on oil revenue. Under King Salman, the government's economic vision is to focus on increasing the efficiency of government spending as well as increasing returns on investments. King Salman has been steadfast in his approach to fight terrorism. A key indicator in this fight has been the establishment of a 34-nation Islamic Military Alliance with joint operations center based in Riyadh.
