The Maharashtra government on Tuesday withdrew its lockdown relaxation norms for Mumbai and Pune regions, both coronavirus hotspots, and revised its last week's guidelines prohibiting door-to-door delivery of newspapers and magazines in the state.
The decision taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will result in an additional annual expenditure of Rs 8,450 crore, according to the defence ministry.
Leaders of agitating ex-servicemen over One Rank One Pension met Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday night after which they said the government was likely to come out with a "clarification" on its applicability to those who have opted for premature retirement.
The public agitation launched for the demand of OROP on June 6 completes 100 days.
Rejecting Bharatiya Janata Party's demand to call off the prime ministerial level talks with Pakistan in New York, the Congress on Thursday said the terror strike in Jammu is an attempt to derail the peace process and wondered whether the saffron party also wanted the same.
'Think about this: A widow of a jawan is drawing only Rs 3,500. If OROP is implemented, she will get additional Rs 1,500. These poor girls are young and have no source of income; they are trying their best to just make ends meet. It is the pain of these situations that has driven me to this.' 'We don't want to put pressure on the government -- that's not our intention. We have full faith in our prime minister. We are asking for a meeting with him, and when we get that, we are sure he will not only give us what we are asking for, but 10 per cent extra.' Major General Satbir Singh, who headed the OROP agitation at Jantar Mantar, speaks out.