8 JUNE 2014: UAE introduces compulsory military training for all men

Ø  The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project’s first unit attained its maximum capacity of 1,000 MWe.

Ø  The Naresh Chandra committee on defence reforms, which submitted its classified recommendations to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2011, recommended that civil service bureaucrats be obliged to serve terms at the military service headquarters before being assigned to the Defence Ministry in New Delhi. The committee headed by Mr. Chandra, a former Cabinet Secretary, also suggested that a course in the College of Defence Management in Secunderabad be made mandatory for civilian bureaucrats involved in defence administration. In addition, the committee recommended making amendments to anti-corruption laws to protect officials making good-faith defence procurement decisions against prosecution. No decision was made on the committee’s recommendations.

Ø  The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Saturday introduced military service, compulsory for men aged between 18 and 30, state news agency WAM announced. A law on military service was brought in under the UAE Constitution, which stipulates “the defence of the federation is a sacred duty for every citizen,” WAM said. Emirati nationals account for only around 20 per cent of the population of oil-rich UAE, a seven-member federation. Emirati men who have finished secondary school will serve for nine months, while others will have to enrol in the armed forces for two years.