Week #39 {27 Sep - 4 Oct '21}
- The Bulletin Buzz
- Oct 4, 2021
- 7 min read
Happy Monday! Scroll to read this week's articles that are eagerly waiting for you :) We hope you enjoy this week's issue of The Bulletin Buzz.
Articles written by Misaki Tomiyama & Ananya Nayar - (she/her) x2
Articles:
Kids Corner:
Other:
The Abortion Rights March
By Misaki Tomiyama
The Texas abortion ban, a law went into effect in Texa two months ago, banned abortion, after six weeks of pregnancy. The law allows people to sue people who provide abortion, and people who help a woman in an abortion- which can be in the form of helping financially, or even giving the woman a ride to the abortion clinic.
Many U.S. citizens are against this law, and tens of thousands of people, held rallies last week across the state to advocate for abortion rights.
Many people also marched near the U.S. Supreme Court, holding signs that read “Make Abortion Legal” and “My body, my choice”, in Washington DC. In opposition to this, counter-demonstrators disrupted the marches, claiming "The blood of innocent babies is on your hands!”
What is the Swacch Bharat Mission?
Article by Ananya Nayar
Many of you may already know of the Swachh Bharat mission, a country-wide campaign organised and being carried out by the Government of India. Swacch Bharat directly translates to ‘clean India,’ this has been an effort since 2014 to improve waste management, make India cleaner (removing litter of roads,) making the air cleaner (eliminating pollution to the highest extent and planting trees) and overall making India a sustainable and uncontaminated place along with introducing a sense of hygiene in people.
This mission was initiated by Prime Minister Narender Modi who said people ‘should not litter, nor let others litter.’
The logo contains an image of Mahatma Gandhi’s spectacles with the bridge in the National Tricolour, it signifies that the entire country is united in achieving the visions Gandhiji had for a clean and green India.
So far, the mission has been successful, in fact, according to the government’s data, it’s achieved over 105% of the target in constructing individual household toilets and 118% in building safe public restrooms and community bathrooms.
Indore, in Madhya Pradesh, is the cleanest city in India and is declared as the first ‘water plus’ city as of this year.
Photo via India Today
Gandhinagar, on the banks of the Sabarmati river in Gujarat, is known as the ‘Green City of India,’ purely due to the fact that it has a ‘surplus’ of greenery- which is wonderful!
Australia Covid Border Ban Reopen
By Misaki Tomiyama
Ever since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, Australia has had the most strict rules regarding borders. Because of this border rule, Australian citizens were not allowed to leave their country. Although this had helped the covid situation in their country, and to the rest of the world, it wasn’t the easiest rule to follow for citizens, as many people were separated from their families.
After two years of isolation from the world, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, “It's time to give Australians their lives back," and announced borders are to be reopened for vaccinated citizens, after 80% of the population gets vaccinated. Tourists will not be able to visit Australia at this point, yet, governments are working on welcoming tourists when situations get better.
There is still going to be a 2 week hotel quarantine for unvaccinated travellers, but each vaccinated citizen will only need to be quarantined at home for a week.
The UN General Assembly
Article by Ananya Nayar
Just a couple of weeks ago, the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 76) was held in New York from the 14th of September to the 30th of September.
During this important summit, the General Assembly is held to discuss, debate and recommend things on different subjects concerning international peace and security which include border disputes, human rights, development, disarmament, sustainability, international law and much more. This assembly is where the Model United Nations club that is often a choice in schools came from, so if you’ve attended a MUN before, you may have an idea of the structures, delegates etc.
The General Debate is held for 9 working days without interruption, although 7 days is sufficient to ensure each representative has had the floor to air opinions or issues.
If you’re interested in watching the assembly live stream, you can visit the YouTube links at the bottom of this page -> https://www.unep.org/events/summit/unep-un-general-assembly-76th-session-general-debate
There are 193 members in the United Nations, and this summit calls for the meeting to voice issues and work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Although the general assemblies have no ‘legally binding force for governments,’ they speak for millions and change lives of billions, and actions are surveyed by the world and other countries. It’s basically the representative organ and a unique forum.
In total, the UN consists of the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council and the Secretariat which are all based in New York, USA. However, in the Netherlands, there is the International Court of Justice.
Kids Corner:
Kids Corner: L’Arc de Triomphe- Wrapped?
Article by Ananya Nayar
The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, and was inaugurated in 1836 by Louis-Philippe who was King at the time. Earlier this week, many were surprised, and shocked to see the historical, prestigious, ‘star of the show’ monument... wrapped?
The Arc de Triomphe is an arc-shaped structure and was built to commemorate French soldiers.
Well, as part of an art project, famous artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude are well-known for their public installations that are outdoors and huge!
This image shows another version of their previous projects, all their installations were temporary and lasted only a few days or just weeks!
To continue, in 2009 Jean-Claude passed and just last year in 2020 Christo also sadly passed away.
Photo via: Wolfgang Volz, ©2019 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation.
In 1988, Christo began to plan for the Arc de Triomphe, and in 2017 he was granted permission by the French government to go ahead with this idea.
Unfortunately, the pandemic and his untimely death didn’t allow the project to continue, but luckily 1,200 people volunteered to help ‘wrap’ the Arc in a silvery-blue material. This took 16 days and a lot of work.
Photo via BBC News.
On the 18th of September, the installation opened to the public and even Emmanuel Macron commended it!
25,000 square metres of material was required to cover the arc and 3,000 metres of red rope was used to tie it. What’s more is that all the chosen material was recyclable, too!
Photo via Dezeen
Other:
This Week in History
Article by Ananya Nayar
On the 29th of September 1941, the horrifying Babi Yar massacre began. This incident was part of World War 2, and when German troops landed in Kyiv ten days earlier, the squads did what they were instructed to do by Adolf Hitler which was to 'get rid of' all the Jews and Soviets. The details are gory and quite disgusting but 35,000 Jews were killed.
Now, onto a more positive note. One of the first editions of our favourite books, and a classic too, called Little Women by Luisa May Alcott on the 30th of September 1868.
Source: wikimedicommons/George Kendall Warren
The story follows Jo March and her three younger sisters, this emotional novel will surprise you in the best ways possible! Luisa May Alcott was an American novelist who dedicated her life towards writing in order to support her family, in fact, her character Jo was based upon herself. “Girls write to ask who the little women marry as if that was the only end and aim of a woman's life,” Alcott wrote in one of her journals. Luisa was part of the suffragette movement and had several publications that promoted female rights!
On October 3rd 1932, Iraq won their independence. This was their first time to control their own nation after centuries of Ottoman rule and almost 2 decades as a British colony.
Photo via: Wikipedia
Did You Know... October 4 is World Animal Day!
By Misaki Tomiyama
World Animal Day, celebrated every year on the 4th of October, is a day celebrated in order to try to improve the welfare standards of the world. Animal welfare is the quality of life an animal experiences. It is also the relationship humans have with animals, and the responsibility they have to make sure they are treated humanely.
Celebrating World Animal Day is very important because it helps us create a better future for animals.
The first World Animal Day was on the 24th of March, 1925 in Berlin. It was founded by activist Heinrich Zimmermann and over 5,000 people attended the event.
To celebrate World Animal Day, you can suggest adopting pets to people around you, donate to NGOs, acknowledge animal welfare or advocate animal rights and generally appreciate the role animals play in our lives and how much joy they bring people.
Book & Movie Reviews
Reviewed by Ananya Nayar
Book of the Week: The Person Controller by David Baddiel
I read this book a few years ago a couple of times but I enjoyed it thoroughly. The story follows Fred and Ellie, two similar-looking twins who are practically the same person as they like the same things. They’re probably good at everything, except dealing with the school bullies. There are some hilarious moments in this book!
One day, when fiddling around on rickety school computers they meet the Mystery Man, who sends a video controller their way. However, upon opening it, the two video-game-geeks are astonished to find that it doesn’t look like the average controller. Nor does it control games.
As soon as they figure out that it actually controls the holder of the bracelet (aka the other twin) the possibilities are endless or are they?. Read 'The Person Controller' to finish this thrilling story.
Age Recommendation: 9+
Rating out of 5 Stars: 5/5
Movie of the Week: Sixteen Candles
This 1984 film starring Molly Ringwald was sweet. It teaches you that family is family and always will be for the better and that problems will eventually pass and things will get better, it also tells you gently that the best way to fit in is to be you.
It has relatable teenage talk, characters and good humour.
HOWEVER, it’s important to remember that especially since this movie is older it has huge issues with sexual consent and blatant racism, so before watching keep in mind that these disturbing themes are intertwined with the plot.
Fortunately, many of the practices depicted here aren’t acceptable in modern-day society but that doesn’t mean to not keep an eye out.
It’s pretty iconic and warming but keep in mind that it may not be appropriate for younger audiences and you will need to understand or be educated on a lot of the themes. It’s perfect for sleepovers, though!
Age Recommendation: 15+
Rating out of 5 Stars: 3.5/5
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