The Union cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved the terms of reference for the eighth central pay commission, which has been appointed to revise the salaries and pensions of 5 million central government employees and 6.9 million pensioners. The commission will be headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai and will have petroleum secretary Pankaj Jain as member secretary and IIM Bangalore professor Pulak Ghosh as part-time member. It will submit its report within 18 months.