'Political parties have appropriated our military victories -- the Kargil war is the BJP's and the Bangladesh war is the Congress's -- what is going on?' As Uttarakhand -- where faujis number nearly 40% of the state's population -- prepares to vote, Rediff.com's Archana Masih discovers what upsets retired soldiers in Uttarakhand the most is a forgotten protest in the heart of Delhi.
RSS head Mohan Bhagwat will be present through the exercise in which issues like census figures and OROP are likely to come up for discussion.
Given the importance of equipment modernisation, the overall defence budget should rise at least at the same pace as salaries and pensions, so that equipment modernisation is not hit.
Targeting parties who are opposing the note ban, he claimed some people are upset as his decision has struck the "ring leader of thieves".
Another veteran Havildar Saheb Singh (retired) took his place and began the fast-unto-death.
I am fulfilling the promise that I have made, said the PM on One Rank One Pension.
Sheela Bhatt recounts the tension, suspense and disruptions during P Chidambaram's interim budget in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Expecting fireworks in both Houses during the Winter Session of Parliament starting from Wednesday -- with the opposition planning to target the government on several issues, including demonetisation -- the Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary Party Executive will go into a huddle on Monday to chalk out strategy to counter the opposition which is divided over how to take on the government on the issue.
The Congress vice president wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he was saddened at the decisions of the government taken in the last few weeks
"I want to know from the Congress as to why it is agitated and telling lies repeatedly. Is it because there is no Quattrocchi mama or Christian Michel in defence deals done by the BJP government," Modi said.
Defence Minister Parrikar was in favour of granting OROP to ex-servicemen but pressure was exerted on him by his cabinet colleagues on the issue, Ram Jethmalani claimed.
The recommendations will benefit 47 lakh central government employees and 52 lakh pensioners.
"The country has suffered a lot due to selfish interests earlier and now politics over Rafale," he said.
"Our armed forces have shown utmost restraint in tackling terrorists in Kashmir Valley despite grave provocations," he said in his address on the All India Radio on the eve of Independence Day.
Hundreds of army veterans held a 'Sainik Ekta' rally to press for "honest and truthful justice" as they rejected the One Rank One Pension scheme announced by the government even as some ex-servicemen groups dissociated themselves from the demonstration.
The government is considering appointing a committee under a judge to go into the issue of equalisation of pension, Major General Satbir Singh (retd), who has been leading the 'One Rank One Pension' protest in Jantar Mantar for the last 80 days, said after a meeting with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
'Whatever happens in any part of the world affects us.'
Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not fulfilling his promises, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on demanded a definite date for implementing the long-pending One-Rank-One-Pension for ex-servicemen as he joined their agitation in New Delhi.
Government is looking at a "middle path" in resolving the "ticklish issue" of 'One Rank One Pension' demand of ex-servicemen, officials sources said.
'The only credible explanation for the niggardly approach to defence expenditure must be that the government does not expect a war.' 'But wars can happen when you don't expect them, and re-arming at the last minute is not possible,' says T N Ninan.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, while addressing a rally in Jaipur Rural on Monday, attacked the BJP and Narendra Modi and said they are not seeing the achievements of the UPA government. She also sought to point out, in a barb at Modi, that running a state and a country are two different things. Shanawaz Akhtar reports.
With no announcement on One Rank One Pension coming from Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his nearly 90-minute speech at the Red Fort on the 69th Independence Day, ex-servicemen who have been protesting at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi say they have been betrayed by the BJP-led government.
BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Saturday attacked Congress for its decision to give tickets to "tainted" leaders, saying "Adarsh candidates" including Ashok Chavan and Pawan Kumar Bansal have been "rewarded".
The government on Saturday asked the ex-servicemen to end their 84-day agitation as their basic demand for 'One Rank and One Pension' has been accepted and asserted it was open to talks after the veterans voiced their dissatisfaction over key provisions.
Presiding over the meeting of the Congress Working Committee in the absence of party chief Sonia Gandhi, the party vice president charged that, "hiding behind the cloak of national security, civil society is being intimidated for asking questions."
The armed forces are quite happy with the attention paid to their concerns, reports R S Chauhan.
Havildar Abhilash Singh (retired) has been taken to hospital. He was on relay hunger strike.
On the revenue front, the finance ministry was expecting higher proceeds from non-tax revenue.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her deputy Rahul Gandhi on Saturday refrained from commenting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech.
'If Modi is talking to every Tom, Dick and Harry, why is he afraid of talking to ex-servicemen?'
'There were tears in my eyes when I parted with my medals. I thought was it for this moment did I become a soldier?' In 2008, Captain H Balakrishnan (retd) of the Indian Navy returned all his medals to the President of India to protest the government's failure to implement the One Rank One Pension scheme.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrkar ruled out the possibility of deploying the Indian Army in anti-Naxal operations.
'It seems to us that bureaucracy is again at its best machination to delay, dilute and finally destroy our most legitimate, already sanctioned scheme of OROP.' The letter the Veterans sent the prime minister.
Firing yet another salvo at Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi on Monday claimed that the PM is scripting his own "downfall", as he has "failed" to fulfil promises made to the people.
Attacking Congress for disrupting Lok Sabha proceedings in the Monsoon session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said 40 members of Parliament are "conspiring" and "playing" with democracy by "blocking" parliamentary process.
The agitating ex-servicemen are accusing the government of "constantly shifting the goalpost" and not coming out with any "concrete proposal" to resolve the issue.
Whilst politicians promise to uphold the honour and interests of our soldiers, the very opposite is being done, says Karan Thapar.
Slamming Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Monday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party leader's attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the purported dehati aurat (village woman) remark shows that he does not like village women and likened him to a "parrot" who makes utterances without verifying facts.
"One was 'AP' and the other was 'Fam'. 'AP' stands for Ahmed Patel and 'Fam' stands for family. Have you heard of Ahmed Patel? Which family is he close to?" Modi asked the crowd at a rally in Dehradun.
Shah claimed that BJP was sensitive to the problems being faced by people queuing up outside the banks and ATMs but said they must realise that the step had hurt 'those sleeping over hoards of black money three thousand times more than the people on the streets'.
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