The central government's move to cap the stent prices may backfire and affect medical tourism potential, former Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said on Friday.

Ramadoss said making doctors prescribe drugs by their generic names was a good move but the issue of drug quality check had to be strengthened.

Ramadoss, a qualified medical doctor, told IANS that "capping the prices of stents may make manufacturers exit the Indian market which in turn would affect the patients".

"The government should have stipulated prices on slab basis. The capping of stent prices will also affect in-bound medical tourism (foreign patients coming to India for sugeries/treatment) into India," he said.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority capped the prices of drug eluting stents (DES) and bioresorbable stents at Rs 29,600, and that of bare metal stents at Rs 7,260 in February-excluding local taxes.

Ramadoss, a Lok Sabha member of the PMK representing the Dharmapuri constituency in Tamil Nadu, agreed with the industry's fear that companies may reduce their research and development (R&D) spend and exit the Indian market if the revised prices do not cover even the cost.

Terming the Centre's move to make doctors prescribe drugs by their generic name and not by their brand name as "good", Ramadoss said quality checks of drugs made in India have to beefed up.

"The drug quality is a state subject in India. In India checking drug quality is an issue," the PMK leader said.

According to him, the chemist will now try to push products of those manufacturers who give him higher margin.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Pravin Togadia on Friday demanded that the government carry out “carpet bombing” in Kashmir Valley to stop the attacks on security forces by militants.

“After attacks on Army camps in Uri and Kupwara, our government should carry out carpet bombing in Kashmir Vally area to stop such attacks. The attacks on Army camps and the incidents of stone-pelting should be considered as a war and the government should carpet bomb these areas,” Togadia said on the sidelines of an event here on the occasion of Lord Parshuram Jayanti.

Togadia, the international working president of VHP, urged the government to crack down on the militants who were “at war” with security forces.

He said hostility between the civilians and Army personnel was on the rise in Kashmir.

“It was time that we should not show any leniency and carpet bomb them, or else the enemy will spread to other states and talk of breaking the country into pieces,” he said.

He demanded review of the Rs 80,000 crore special development package for Jammu and Kashmir, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015.

“This money should be used for welfare of farmers in the country as the condition of farmers in several states is very bad. Farmers are holding protests seeking waiving of farm loans. They are committing suicide,” Togadia said.

Despite the bumper potato crop this season, farmers are forced to come out on the streets and protest against the policies of the state government. Displeased by the low price fixed by the government, the farmers in the region are demanding adequate price and storage facility for their produce. 

Farmers came out in protest against the government policy on potatoes on Friday.  Coming in tractor trolleys, farmers of Amarpur, Hasanpur,  Bhatipura, Rachauti, Paswara, Macchra and many other villages   arrived at the office of divisional commissioner in tractors laden with bags of potatoes. Throwing the potatoes at the gate of the office of the divisional commissioner here, they sat on a dharna, raising slogans.

Blaming the state government for not paying due attention to their problems, the farmers expressed their anguish during the protest. In spite of the bumper crop of potatoes, farmers are in deep trouble, quipped farmer Rajpal Singh.

 "The government has declared support price Rs.487 per quintal  to procure the produce of farmers, which is very less as the farmer spends about Rs 800-900 per quintal in its production," said Mehak Singh, farmers leader. Unfortunately, the purchase centers have also not been set up in spite of the orders of the government and the officials seem to be in slumber which has added to the problems of the farmers, he said. 

In fact, the farmers have been protesting at the district headquarter since Monday and trying to catch the attention of the officials to their problems. Almost every day the farmers are on the streets raising the issue as they are having no way out. They are facing acute storage problem because it is harvesting season of wheat crop and they can`t store it without disposing  their potato crop.
 
The farmers had  also given a memorandum in the commissioner`s office on Thursday  in search of a  resolve to the problems of potato farmers. "We will continue the agitation unless we get some respite for the government," Mithan Tyagi said, adding that the support price is already so less and the government is not purchasing small size potatoes than where should we throw them now. Most of the farmers complained that officials are not paying heed to their request to provide them storage facility of their crops because cold storage owners have refused to accept their produce. 

Earlier the farmers of Bulandshahar had also staged a similar protest under the banner of Bhartiya Kisan Union and thrown their potato crop on the main crossing of the city . They too had handed over a memorandum to the district magistrate to provide adequate price of their produce and proper storage facility.

Delhi Daredevils' English recruit Sam Billings hopes a dominating performance with the willow in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017, will keep him in good stead whenever he gets a chance to represent his national cricket side.

Playing his second IPL, Billings feels the intensity of the tournament is much more this year, as he himself has become an important cog in the wheel for the Delhi franchise.

Acknowledging the kind of pressure while playing in front of an 80,000 odd crowd at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, the 25-year-old said it only helps in developing the mental aspect of performing at the highest level.

"This is my second year in the IPL, but it feels even more intense than last year. I was here last year as a squad player, but this year I feel like a senior member of the team for the Delhi Daredevils, even though I'm only 25," Billings was quoted from his column at ecb.co.uk.

"I've enjoyed taking on the extra responsibility, it's been great to bat at the top of the order and to get this experience in such a quality tournament and such different conditions."

"It has not been the easiest tournament so far for the Daredevils but I think you are seeing again this year that the quality of the IPL is as close as you can get to international cricket."

"Playing against 80,000 people at Eden Gardens certainly helps with the mental aspect of performing at the highest level, when the pressure is on," he added.

Commenting on his own form, Billings wrote: "As for my own form, I feel like I'm hitting the ball really well and I like I'm in good nick. I would like to have built more on a couple of starts but I think showed with my half century against Kings XI Punjab that I am ready to do a job for the team at the top of the order."

"I want to play on the biggest stage and perform to my best at that level. It's a whirlwind to play in the IPL, but it's an amazing experience and hopefully it will make me a better player for England."

Besides Billings, Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan, the year's IPL witnessed a rapid surge in demand for England regulars like Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Jason Roy and Tymal Mills.

Billings feels the growing number of England players in the IPL only speaks about the kind of standing in which English cricket is held.

"It's great to play against my mates from the England team. I've now crossed paths with all of them except Jason Roy and the fact that there are so many of us out here shows the standing in which English cricket is currently held."

"I am playing with several internationals and everyone says that the England players are exceptional. You can tell that other teams fear the prospect of coming up against England at the moment, which bodes well for us," he added.

Commenting on his interactions with his national side's teammates, Billings said: "I speak to Jos Buttler a lot and we had a few beers and a catch up after our game against Mumbai Indians the other night."

"I also had a chance to see Ben Stokes and we played a round of golf together which was good fun. It was the most expensive player in the IPL against the cheapest — but somehow I still ended up buying him lunch!," he added on a lighter note.

Mizoram has banned the import of pigs and cattle from Myanmar, Bangladesh and north-eastern Indian states amid fears of a viral disease, an official said on Friday.

"We have asked District Magistrates to take suitable steps to stop import of cattle and pigs from Myanmar, Bangladesh and adjoining north-eastern states," an Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department official said.

He said the order was issued following reports from certain parts of the state that pigs and piglets were getting infected with the dreaded Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) and swine fever.

PRRS hit Mizoram in 2013, resulting in the death of over 3,000 pigs and piglets, and more than 4,000 last year.

The government has ordered a ban on sale of all domestic animals from other villages within and outside the disease-affected districts in Mizoram.

The government has also asked people not to sell or consume pork and cattle meat in disease-affected and adjoining areas.

Mizos are traditionally fond of animal meat, especially pork.

Mizoram shares an unfenced border of 404 km with Myanmar and 318 km with Bangladesh, providing smugglers an opportunity to illegally bring in animals, drugs, arms and ammunition.

The commerce ministry will modify certain portions of the foreign trade policy (FTP) to align it with the Goods and Services tax, which is to be rolled out from July 1.

The ministry also proposes to come out with the mid-year review of FTP, a few months ahead of the schedule, before the GST rollout.

The 5-year foreign trade policy (2015-20) provides a framework for boosting exports of goods and services besides creation of employment and increasing value addition.

The ministry was expected to complete the review by September but as the GST roll-out is scheduled from July 1, "we have to make changes in it and also prepone the completion of review", an official said.

In view of the GST, the ministry may have to make changes in chapters relating to incentives for exporters; duty exemption schemes; export promotion capital goods scheme and deemed exports.

As there is no provision of ab-initio exemption in the GST, exporters would have to pay the duties and then seek the refund.

"Due to these provision, the language of the policy requires certain changes," the official added.

FTP was announced in 2015 and it was stated that the ministry would conduct a mid-term review in September to see whether any tweaking is required in the policy to promote shipments. The policy sets a target of taking India s exports of goods and services to $900 billion by 2020.

In 2016-17, India's merchandise shipments aggregated at $275 billion.

Further, manufacturing exporters have raised certain concerns over refund of duties and according to the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) a certain portion of working capital would be blocked in the process with the government for about three months.

As per estimates, over Rs.1.85 lakh crore working capital of exporters may get stuck annually with the government under the GST.

Blocking of this amount would push up the manufacturing cost of exporters as they have to borrow more from banks.

FIEO Director General Ajay Sahai said the government should prepare a software to ensure that refunds are granted quickly.

He added that the interest rates are about 12-15 per cent in India and borrowing at this rate would push up exporters' manufacturing cost.

The commerce ministry had earlier pressed the GST Council to keep exports out of the framework of the new indirect tax regime and levy lower taxes on labour-intensive sectors like leather, cement and plantation.

Refund of taxes takes about six to eight months and hence it is necessary to give an ab-intio exemption to exporters.

Currently exporters are exempted from paying taxes. But under the GST regime, they have to pay the duties and then seek refunds.

In order to motivate teachers to give good results particularly in subjects like Maths, Science and English, Himachal Pradesh government would soon reward teachers with good academic performance in the last five years.

The teachers would be rewarded with one year extension in service and monetary rewards under ‘Mukhya Mantri Shikshak Samman Yojana’.

The main objective of the scheme is to motivate teachers (TGT, PGT, Headmasters and Principals) to give overall good results and particularly in subjects like Maths, Science and English etc.

The Higher Education Department has instructed all schools of the state to forward the names of such teachers till 30 June 2017 who would then be rewarded on the basis of their performance during the last five years.

In a notification issued on Friday, Dr Brij Lal Vinta, Director, Higher Education said the teachers including TGT, PGT, Headmasters and Principals who had given 100 per cent results, will be given one year extension in service and monetary rewards.

The ‘Mukhya Mantri Shikshak Samman Yojana’ scheme was announced by the Chief Minister in his budget speech 2016, wherein he stated that one year extension would be given to the teachers who will consistently give 100 per cent results in Board Examinations for a period of five years.

It is worthwhile to mention here that Education Department had earlier instructed all teachers of the government schools to increase enrollment rate and outlook of general public towards the government institutions to improve declining enrollment rate in government schools.

The teachers have been asked to involve local communities for improving outlook towards private schools at their own level. They have also been directed to organise activities for involvement of locals.

The Education Department officials were of the view that the private schools, in most of the cases, lack in qualified staff and still the parents are preferring them over government schools. The teachers need disseminate information on these issues at their own end so that parents could make informed decisions. Apart from this, the state government was also planning to introduce new smarter dress code so that students could feel confident.

Markets regulator Sebi on Friday expressed strong concerns over corporate governance practices, particularly those related to role of independent directors.

"Auditors committee is not working, independent directors are not independent and there is no stewardship code, then definitely there are serious issues," Sebi Chairman Ajay Tyagi told reporters here.

"This a serious issue which is engaging the attention of Sebi. We will come out with more discussion soon," he added.

The comments assume significance in the wake of recent boardroom battle at the Tata group and the controversy surrounding the reported differences between some promoters and the top management at Infosys.

Both the cases played out in a big way in full public glare and forced Sebi and the government to keep a close watch to safeguard interest of minority investors and other stakeholders.

In January, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had issued a 'guidance note' on board evaluation at listed companies.

The regulator, in its guidance note, emphasised that the role and function of chairperson in board evaluation needs to be laid out clearly in advance in order to achieve maximum benefit of the process.

Responsibilities of various persons, including independent directors, and committees for carrying out evaluation of respective boards as well as the relevant disclosure requirements under corporate governance obligations have also been touched upon in the note.

It has advised that the nomination and remuneration committee will have to formulate the criteria for evaluation of performance of independent directors and other members of the board.

With regard to upward momentum in the stock markets, Tyagi said it can be attributed to strong macro fundamentals of the country.

BSE's benchmark Sensex has crossed 30,000 mark recently, while in 2016-17 Nifty gave a return of 18.5 per cent, which is higher compared to peer group in the Asian region, — one of the highest globally.

"This is on the basis of strong macro fundamentals of the country in terms of GDP growth, in terms of inflation control ,fiscal deficit, CAD control and commodity prices (being) low.

It is based on strong fundamentals in the markets…it is not that much of bubble effect but something based on strong fundamentals," he added.

The British Muslim shot dead during a terror attack on Parliament in March had claimed he was waging jihad in revenge against Western military action in countries in the Middle East, it emerged on Friday.

UK security services have managed to decode the last message sent out by Khalid Masood before he rammed his high- speed car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge and stabbed to death a police officer at the gates of Parliament on March 22.

According to the Independent newspaper, the message on the WhatsApp messaging service reveals the 52-year-old Muslim convert's motivation behind the attack that claimed four innocent lives.

The person who received the message has been extensively questioned, but freed after the police and MI5 concluded that he was not part of the plot and had no prior knowledge of what was unfolding in March, the newspaper said.

Eleven others detained following the attack were freed and have been cleared from inquiries.

The insight into the terrorist's mindset follow the arrest of a suspected jihadist yesterday, just 100 yards from where Masood was shot by police, who was found armed with knives heading towards Downing Street when he was dramatically stopped by armed police.

The 27-year-old suspect was taken away by armed police and is being questioned by the Scotland Yard at a south London police station.

The access to Masood's message was achieved by what has been described by security sources as a use of “human and technical intelligence”.

Details of the method used cannot be disclosed for security reasons, but sources said they now have the technical expertise to repeat the process in future.

It was made possible because Masood's mobile telephone was recovered after he was shot dead.

Islamic State (ISIS) had claimed “credit” for his attack, but no evidence has emerged to back this up.

The issue of WhatsApp's encrypted service, which is closed to anyone besides the sender and recipient, had come under criticism soon after the attack.

“It's completely unacceptable. There should be no place for terrorists to hide. We need to make sure that organisations like WhatsApp, and there are plenty of others like that, dont provide a secret place for terrorists to communicate with each other,” UK home secretary Amber Rudd had said.

It is unclear whenRuddwas made aware that Masood's WhatsApp message had been retrieved.

Shares of Maruti Suzuki India rose by over 2 per cent on April 27 after the company reported 36.6 per cent jump in its annual profit for the last fiscal, while fourth-quarter net rose by 15.8 per cent.

The stock jumped 2.42 per cent to end at Rs.6,525.50 on BSE. During the day, it gained 3.35 per cent to Rs.6,585.05 — its 52-week high.

At NSE, shares of the company rose by 2.36 per cent to close at Rs.6,524.85.

The company added Rs.4,663.34 crore to Rs.1,97,122.34 crore in its market valuation.

Driven by premium models, Maruti Suzuki India yesterday reported 36.6 per cent jump in its annual profit to a record Rs.7,511 crore for the last fiscal, while fourth-quarter net rose by 15.8 per cent.

The company's net profit in 2015-16 was Rs.5,497.2 crore.

Its net sales for 2016-17 were at Rs.66,909.4 crore, up 18.5 per cent from the previous fiscal.

Volumes for the financial year ended March 31 were up 9.8 per cent to 15,68,603 units. Of this, exports were at 124,062 units, MSI said.

The company had posted record annual profit and sales in 2015-16 as well.

Maruti Suzuki India has also earmarked Rs.4,500 crore capex for the current financial year.

Angelique Kerber bowed out of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, after going down to French tennis player Kristina Mladenovic 2-6, 5-7 here.

The Frenchwoman on Thursday broke the world No. 2 twice in the first set by taking advantage of poor serving by the German, who put just 45 percent of her first serves in play and failed to save either of the two break points she faced, reports Efe.

Kerber, who was the tournament's defending champion and had received a bye into the second round, was a bigger threat on return in the second set, but the 19th-ranked Mladenovic saved four of the five break points she faced.

The German top seed, meanwhile, drastically improved her first-serve percentage to 85 percent in the second set, but Mladenovic remained tough on return and earned two more service breaks, the last coming in the final game when she struck a forehand winner on match point.

"I'm so happy to be back on clay. It's my favourite surface," Mladenovic, a player who has had most of her success in doubles but has stepped up her singles game this year, said in an on-court interview after her victory.

She won her second career singles title earlier this year in St. Petersburg, Russia, and reached a career high ranking of No. 18 last month.

Kerber, for her part, is still without a title in 2017 after having a career year last year, when she won the Stuttgart event and both of the year's hard-court Grand Slam titles (the Australian Open and the US Open).

Pop diva Lady Gaga has invited fans to become a part of her upcoming film, A Star Is Born.

The 30-year-old songstress took to Twitter where she has asked her admirers to come down to the Greek Theatre on May 2 and 3.

Gaga urged them to attend the filming event where the fans have the golden chance to star as the extras in the
movie, which also stars actor Bradley Cooper in the lead.
"Be a part of A Star Is Born with Bradley and me in LA!" tweeted the Joanne singer.

"All you Monsters that can attend should get decked out in your most comfortable denim and boots, throw on a Stetson (leave those pink Joanne hats at home) and come out to show your support," the website of the theatre states.

Proceeds from the ticket sales will go to Gaga's Born This Way Foundation. 

Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday called on tax practitioners and administrators to keep tax compliance in mind as India's digital economy expands.

"We are creating a big ecosystem of digital economy.

Indian digital economy is going to become a $1 trillion economy in the coming five years," Prasad said while speaking at a conference on tax system.

The digital economy includes communications services, IT and IT-enabled services, e-commerce, manufacturing and digital payments.

"In this ecosystem, surely issues of tax, compliances, border or no border will come. That is one area I would expect that sometime in future you people need to reflect, act and also give feedback as to how we can promote digital economy without disturbing innovation and enterprise while ensuring tax compliance," Prasad said.

He said that government is working very aggressively to ensure there is tax compliance in the system.

Prasad said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken lead in convincing the world that things have to be operated in a fair and transparent manner.

"If some people seek to tinker with the system there must be a mechanism available for automatic sharing of information.

America has followed it immediately. Our PM went to Switzerland, they also agreed to open up," Prasad said.

He said that India revisited whole agreement with Cyprus, Switzerland to ensure tax compliance.

"The tax practitioners and tax administrators will have to understand tempo of this change. If you are unable to understand this change I am sure something is lacking in the approach of tax practitioners and tax administrators," Prasad said.

Listed foreign funds pumped in $1.7 billion into India during March-the highest flows among the emerging countries, says a report.

As per foreign fund-flow tracker report by Kotak Institutional Equities, the strong fund flows for March were largely driven by Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) inflows of $1.1 billion. Non-ETF fund inflows stood at $620 million.

The listed funds-passive exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and active non-ETFs- generally account for a large part of foreign portfolio investor (FPI) activity in India.

For listed fund flows to emerging markets, India is followed by Taiwan and Brazil, which have seen listed foreign fund inflows to the tune $937 million and $785 million respectively.

“Listed fund flows to India remained positive in March. India has seen $1.7 billion of inflows, driven by strong ETF inflows of $1.1 billion,” the report said.

“Emerging market flows-India has seen strong inflows of $1.7 bn in March, followed by Taiwan and Brazil,” it added.
The report also noted that allocations to India and China constitute more than one-third of the average Asia fund portfolio (excluding Japan).

“Allocation to India by Asia ex-Japan funds has marginally decreased to 13.6 per cent,” the report said.

“Allocation by Asia ex-Japan ETF funds to India increased to 9.6 per cent from 9.1 per cent in the previous month,” it added.

EPF members will now only be required to submit a self-declaration for applying for an advance payment from their deposits in case of their
own illness, or of their dependents.

According to an EPF Organisation announcement on Friday, differently abled members will also get advance on the basis of self-declaration.

A member will no longer be required to submit any medical certificate or any other certificate or document or proforma whatsoever to avail
advances under paragraph 68-J or under paragraph 68-N of EPF Scheme 1952.

The Ministry of Labour & Employment has amended Paragraph 68-J and Paragraph 68-N of Employees’ Provident Fund Scheme, 1952, and It will come into force from the date of its publication in the official Gazette. According to it, a member would only be required to submit a
self-declaration, which has already been included in the composite claim form, to avail advances under the EPF Scheme in case of their
illness or of their dependents. There are similar concessions for the differently-abled members.

This is in continuation of initiatives taken by EPFO as part of the next phase of its e-governance reforms with a view to make the services of
EPFO available to its stakeholder in an efficient and transparent manner.

An administrative order was issued on 20 February 2017 in the matter of Introduction of Composite Claim Forms (Aadhar and Non-Aadhar ) to replace existing Claim Forms No. 19, 10C & 31 and Forms No. 19 (UAN), 10C(UAN) & 31 (UAN). EPFO has since implemented Universal Account Number (UAN) for its subscribers.

It is now possible for subscribers, who have seeded their UAN with Aadhar Number and Bank account details, to submit claim forms directly to EPFO without the attestation of employers.

The 11th annual CMS-India Corruption Study released on Thursday indicated that in the last three years there has been a significant decline in corruption levels and the amount of bribes citizens have to pay to public servants for getting work done. 

Releasing the report, Bibek Debroy, member of the NITI Aayog, said small ticket corruption is declining but big ticket corruption is on the rise and most of it is linked to electoral reforms.  He also said with the government 'sreforms on cash transactions and real estate sector, next year's report by CMS will throw up more interesting numbers. 

 "The total amount paid by households across 20 states and 10 public services as bribe is estimated to be Rs 6,350 crore in 2017 as against Rs 20,500 crore in 2005," the CMS report said. 

In the last one year, households experiencing corruption in public services was higher in Karnataka at 77 per cent followed by Andhra Pradesh 74 per cent, Tamil Nadu with 68 per cent, Maharashtra 57 per cent, Jammu and Kashmir with 44 per cent and Punjab with 42 per cent. 

One of the findings of the report is that in most states the bribe amount ranges between Rs 100-500. The lowest is Rs 10 and the highest being Rs 50,000 to get things done through public service officials. 

The report said households experiencing corruption was relatively higher in Police (34 per cent), followed by Land/housing (24 per cent), judicial authorities (18 per cent) and tax department (15 per cent). 

A special CBI court on Friday dismissed the central agency's plea seeking cancellation of YSR Congress chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's bail in cases related to alleged quid pro quo investments in his companies.

The CBI had last month sought cancellation of Jagan's bail alleging that he had violated the conditions by trying to influence a crucial prosecution witness.

The investigating agency had in its petition before the principal special judge submitted that case witness and former Chief Secretary P Ramakanth Reddy, during his interview to a newspaper and a TV channel owned by Jagan, made “unwarranted observations and comments contradictory to the statements” given before CBI.

The CBI also said that Reddy's statements were found to be detrimental to greater extent to the prosecution cases pending against Jagan and others.

After hearing the arguments and counter arguments, the court, which had earlier reserved its order, dismissed the CBI's plea on Friday.

Jagan was present in the court.

Meanwhile, the court on Friday also allowed Jagan's petition seeking permission to visit New Zealand with his family for 15 days.

In the FIR registered in 2011, the CBI had alleged that investments were made by various companies in Jaganmohan Reddy's firms as quid pro quo for various favours bestowed on them during the tenure of his father late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh between 2004 and 2009.

These investments were quid pro quo for government favours such as land allotments, licences, etc, the CBI charged.

Jagan, thus, amassed huge wealth misusing the office of his late father, the probe agency alleged.

Several former ministers and bureaucrats are also named as accused in the cases.

The CBI had alleged in the FIR that investors had put money in the companies owned by Jagan at a premium which was a bribe in return for favours doled out to firms by his father and the then chief minister YSR Reddy.

Jagan, an MLA from Andhra Pradesh, was released from a jail in Hyderabad in September 2013 after being in prison for 15 months following his arrest in the case by CBI in May 2012.

While granting bail to Jagan, the special CBI court had then ordered him not to directly or indirectly induce or influence the witnesses.

He was also asked to be present before the court during the proceedings in the case.

The central probe agency has filed 11 charge sheets in connection with the cases and the trial is going on before the CBI court.