NEW DELHI, July 9:
CBI today recorded the statement of former Intelligence Bureau Director and Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan as witness in connection with allegations of bribery in purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from Ango-Italian firm AgustaWestland.
A team of CBI officials recorded the statement of Narasimhan at the Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad and questions related to change in service ceiling of the helicopters were put to him, the agency sources said.
The CBI sources said Narasimhan, along with then NSA M K Narayanan and then SPG Chief B V Wanchoo, attended the March 1, 2005 meeting where the decision to reduce service ceiling –maximum height at which a helicopter can perform optimally –was taken, making AgustaWestland eligible for the deal.
Recently a CBI team had quizzed Narayanan and Wanchoo as witnesses for its probe into the allegations of bribery of Rs 360 crore in the Rs 3600-crore VVIP chopper deal with AgustaWestland.
The sources said the need to record statements of Wanchoo and Narayanan was felt as both had participated in the meeting in 2005 that allowed key changes in the technical specifications of the chopper.
They said since Narasimhan was also present in the meeting, his statement was crucial to get additional inputs about the reasons for reducing service ceiling.
CBI has alleged that reduction of the service ceiling allowed the UK-based firm to get into the fray as, otherwise, its helicopters were not even qualified for submission of bids.
CBI had registered a case against former IAF Chief S P Tyagi along with 13 others including his cousins and European middlemen in the case.
It was alleged that former Air Chief reduced flying ceiling of the helicopter so that AgustaWestland was included in the bids. Tyagi has refuted the allegation against him. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, July 9:
Heartwarming stories, including romantic ones, about Indian soldiers who fought in the First World War as part of the British Army, culled from archives and personal testimonies, feature in a new documentary.
The upcoming feature-length film “Mademoiselle France Pleure” (Miss France is in tears) attempts to piece together the lesser known fact about the 1.4 million Indian soldiers and civilian workers who came to France and Belgium to defend France’s freedom against invasion.
“The soldiers faced various hardships, casualties and diseases in the war. The feature-length documentary attempts to show their specific situations within the British Army and hospitals,” says Vijay Singh, an Indian filmmaker and novelist based in Paris.
Singh, who has shot critically acclaimed feature films like “Jaya Ganga” and “One Dollar Curry” in the past was here recently to announce the project and firm up plans to shoot in countries including India, France, Austria and Belgium.
“Everybody remembers India’s freedom struggle, but very few or in fact nobody would remember the contribution made by Indian soldiers during the World War I about the role played by Indian soldiers during the World War I,” says Singh.
The filmmaker attempts to show various tragicomic situations faced by the French and the British while feeding Indian soldiers according to their strict religious beliefs and the hospitality of French hostesses, which won the hearts of Indian soldiers during their convalescence in French barns.
With the initiative of the French government and embassy, Singh, says he has been successful in gathering testimonies from the archives and descendents, in France, India, Belgium and UK of the brave soldiers out of which 10,000 did not even return home.
There are accounts of the soldiers who fell in love with French women during their stay in France and had children with them.
“In one such camp when the Indian soldiers were going to the battlefield, the French women carried placards which read – “Miss France in Tears”, says Singh explaining the title of his documentary.
Singh’s film also features a 71-year-old woman whose grandfather was an Indian. The woman’s narrative is among the numerous interviews, which make up the documentary.
A part of the feature film was shot in Chamba, Uttarakhand where the “Gabbar Singh Negi Mela” is still held every year on April 21 for the past 94 years with assistance from the Chatwal Regiment of the Indian Army.
The filmmaker has interviewed people who recount that the
French were spellbound when they saw the Sikh soldiers combing their hair or tying their turbans and the spectacle of Indian soldiers having a bath in between two trains or even the khaki shorts they donned.
“What astonished the French was the huge cavalry and cattle that the Indian regiment had arrived with. Special costumes that were nothing but long leggings arranged for the Gorkhas made them look like minions,” Singh says.
The upcoming documentary is set to include a high profile ceremony of the Neuve Chapelle Battle Memorial (a memorial which has been set up to pay tribute to the Indian soldiers in France) in 2015.
“It would be a ceremony to commemorate 100 years of the World War I. The event would be marked by a parade and different events to commemorate the historic day (July 14) when World War 1 began” Singh says.
The soldiers wrote about their experiences in around 600 letters when they were in hospitals, records of which are maintained in the Haryana Academy of Art and Culture. “Soldiers used to send one rupee from their monthly salary to the academy, which went towards education of students,” says the filmmaker.
Singh says he researched for the past three years for the film, which is set to be made in various languages and would be produced by France Television.
The glimpses of the footage which the director showed in the programme were a product of a three-year-long research.
The footage have been obtained from the French Production House, the British Production House, the Imperial War Museum and the British Library.
“Not many pictures have been available of the Indian soldiers except the ones from the hospitals where King George V had gone to visit them,” Singh says.
Singh has used rare film footage, photographs, portraits, Indian war songs, sound recordings, interviews with the descendants of the soldiers.
“This is a remarkable example of what India and France can do together. The history of both the countries is not known in detail and this documentary will promote the relationship between both the countries,” says an official from the French Embassy, where Singh showed some photographs from his upcoming film at an event recently. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, July 9:
The urban housing shortage in the country was estimated at 18.78 million in 2012, Lok Sabha was informed today.
Out of the total urban housing shortage of 18.78 million, 10.55 million was in economically weaker section category, 7.41 million in lower income groups category and the remaining 0.82 million in the middle and above category, Urban Housing and Poverty Alleviation Minister Venkaiah Naidu said in a written reply to a question in the House.
The government has set a target of providing housing for all by 2022, Naidu said.
The Government has constituted a technical group on estimation of urban housing shortage of the country for the 12th Five-year Plan.
He said the government had launched the JNNURM in December 2005 for assisting state governments in providing housing and basic civic services like water, sanitation to urban poor under the integrated housing and slum development programme.
JNNURM has been extended up to March 2015 for completion of projects sanctioned up to March 2012.
He said the government has also launched Rajiv Awas Yojana in June 2011 for providing housing facility under the scheme. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, July 9:
The Delhi High Court today reserved its order on maintainability of a PIL seeking a court-monitored CBI probe into various land deals allegedly entered into by Robert Vadra firms.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice R S Endlaw, which had so far not issued a notice on the PIL, reserved its order after hearing brief arguments of advocate M L Sharma, who had filed the plea in his personal capacity.
“First satisfy us on the the issue of jurisdiction of this court,” the bench said.
The cause of action partially had arisen in Delhi as various offices and constitutional bodies such as Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and Ministry of Urban development are located here, the lawyer said.
“I have already given a representation to the CBI. But it neither registered an FIR nor lodged even a preliminary enquiry in the case which relates to huge loss caused to the exchequer during 2005 to 2012,” he said.
He also submitted a copy of a recent Supreme Court judgement which directs police authorities to register an FIR “mandatorily” if the allegations disclose the commission of a cognizable offences/offences.
The plea had also sought a probe into grant of licenses to change land use of agricultural plots purchased by Vadra companies in Gurgaon. (PTI)