THRISSUR l Saturday l November 21, 2020 l `7.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Axe remdesivir from covid treatment protocol: W.H.O. May still benefit a subgroup of patients The new guidelines come a month after results of WHO’s multi-country Solidarity Trial revealed that the antiviral drug had no significant positive outcome on the chances of survival, the need for a ventilator, or the length of hospital stay in patients with severe Covid-19. The WHO, however, said there could still be a potential small benefit in a subgroup of patients The UN health body said on Friday there’s no evidence that the drug improved the prospects of hospitalised patients Experts divided over its effectiveness ■ ■ Reactions to the WHO trial’s findings have been mixed with many health experts welcoming it while others expressing reservations A recent study by a group of doctors in Bengaluru found that the drug improved patients’ survival chances if given early. A US govtapproved study had also come out with a similar finding in April A24,000 The cost of a course of remdesivir treatment in India CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Actor abduction: HC ‘no’ to court transfer RBI open to letting large E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kochi THE Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed the petition filed by the survivor and the state government seeking to transfer the trial in the actor-abduction and sexual assault case involving actor Dileep to another court. Soon after the pronouncement of the judgment, state public prosecutor Suman Chakravarthy sought to stay the order so as to enable the government to approach the Supreme Court, but the court declined it. With this order, the trial in the case will resume on Monday . Dismissing the pleas, Justice V G Arun observed that the reasons cited by the petitioners seeking transfer of the trial were unsustainable. A mere allegation of apprehension of bias is not enough to accept the plea to transfer the case. The instances pointed out by the petitioners are not sufficient to conclude that the apprehension of bias is reasonable. The prosecution produced the affidavit of the special prosecutor and deposition of the survivor in a sealed cover. The survivor submitted that Special prosecutor may quit With the HC dismissing the request to transfer the actor abduction and rape case trial to another sessions court, the prosecution fears that Special Public Prosecutor A Sureshan may resign from the post. companies own banks she was subjected to cross-examination for nine days by the counsel of eighth accused Dileep and on many occasions, scandalous questions were asked, challenging her credibility and even attacking her character. In spite of the prosecution raising objections against such questions and the mode of examination, the special judge refused to intervene, thereby permitting her to be harassed and vexed, resulting in the survivor breaking down on more occa● More on P5 sions than one.  Regulator feels private lenders will drive future growth; wants to expand banking sector after strengthening supervisory oversight It is time to open up India’s banking sector to allow large companies to own banks, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In its report released Friday, an internal RBI panel headed by RBI Central Board Director P K Mohanty said industrial houses can be allowed to promote banks after the Banking Regulations Act is amended to this effect. The supervisory wing of the regulator must also be strengthened to prevent connected lending and exposures between banks and other financial and non-financial group entities, the internal group report noted. The suggestions are significant as the central bank has in the past been firmly opposed to allowing large corporate entities to own banks. The working group also suggested that large nonbanking financial companies (NBFCs) with asset size of `50,000 crore and above, in- AMMA goes soft on Bineesh. Not to oust now, decides to seek explanation E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kochi Movie by AMMA The ExCom also decided to produce a movie — similar to Twenty-20 — next year to raise funds for the association. The new movie will also be a multi-starrer The insurance cap of AMMA members will be increased from J3 lakh to J5 lakh and accident claim from J10 lakh to J12 lakh THE executive committee of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), which met here under president Mohanlal on Friday, decided against suspending Bineesh Kodiyeri, one of the accused in the Bengaluru drug case. Instead, the association decided to seek an explanation from him. AMMA, however, chose to accept the resignation of actor Parvathy Thiruvoth, who had expressed her intention to leave the organisation last month in protest against the remarks made by secretary Edavela Babu against the survivor in the actor abduction case. Bineesh, son of CPM leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, is a life member of the association, having joined it in 2009. At Friday’s meeting, a majority of members, including Siddique, Rachana Narayankutty cluding those owned by corporate entities, be converted into banks subject to completion of 10 years of operations. This could benefit industrial houses such as Aditya Birla, Bajaj, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Sons that already have large NBFCs with more than a decade of operations. Back in the 1990s, when RBI doled out its first set of licences for private banks, it had left out industrial houses. However, the P K Mohanty panel, whose brief was to review the extant ownership Se s a Sen @ New Delhi and Honey Rose, were vocal in demanding Bineesh’s ouster. However, K B Ganesh Kumar and Mukesh — both Left MLAs — countered it, saying the bylaw should be followed in the case. They also referred to the criticism the association had faced for suspending Dileep after being accused in the actor abduction case, without seeking his explanation. ● More on P5 The final decision will be taken based on the recommendations of the disciplinary committee. The general body’s approval is needed to oust a member — Edavela Babu, AMMA secretary Higher promoter stake l Promoters’ stake be raised to 26% from the current 15% over 15 years, the report suggested l It also recommended minimum initial capital requirement for licensing new banks be doubled to `1,000 crore for universal banks and enhanced to`300 crore from `200 cr for small finance banks Big setback for Joseph, HC rules Jose faction is official Kerala Cong (M) Arrested DMK’s Youth Wing matter of allocation of symbols to political parties has alIn a major setback for the Ker- ready been upheld by the Suala Congress (M) P J Joseph preme Court. faction, which is part of the The court observed that as UDF in the state, the Kerala there is no statutory provision High Court on Friday dis- regulating the allocation of missed the petitions symbols to political challenging the Elecparties and candition Commission of dates in elections, the India’s order declarduty and power to do ing the group led by so would vest with Jose K Mani as the ofthe EC. Under the cirficial party and grantcumstances, the court ing it the official ‘Two is not inclined to acL e av e s ’ s y m b o l . Big boost to cept the arguments Joseph has decided to Jose faction raised by the petitionfile an appeal before ers, it said. the division bench of The High Court’s The EC applied the order has come the High Court on ‘test of majority’ in as a major boost t h e n u m e r i c a l Monday . While dismissing to Jose K Mani as strength of rival the petition filed by well as the LDF in groups, both in the Joseph and others, the run-up to the legislative and organJustice N Nagaresh local body polls, isational wings of the said the conclusions reports Abhilash party. To decide the Chandran. P4 arrived at by the Elecmajority in the ortion Commission (EC) ganisational wing, were based on the materials the commission prepared a list available before it. Hence, it of 305 common names in the cannot be said to be perverse. lists submitted by either side. The court cannot, in the exer- The commission held that the cise of the jurisdiction under list of 305 is undisputed. Based Article 226 of the Constitution, on this, the commission found interfere with the finding of that the group led by Jose is the commission. the KC(M) and is entitled to The EC submitted that the use its name and its reserved commission’s power in the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Kochi Husband’s income data just an RTI question away Secy Udhayanidhi Stalin held Citing Covid protocol violation, the leader was arrested for launching a 100day campaign tour at his ancestral village of Thirukkuvalai on Friday. He was released later. Addressing the public as part of his campaign ‘Vidiyalai Nokki Stalinin Payanam’ Udhayanidhi Stalin said the DMK will surely score a big win when I witness the huge welcome. P5 K a n u S a r d a @ New Delhi Back in action A leopard walks inside its cage at the Thiruvananthapuram zoo. The parks and zoos in the state are witnessing a rise in domestic tourist inflow following their opening a week ago | vincent pulickal Door-to-door survey as Delhi ramps up response E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Amid continuing surge in Covid-19 cases, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday sought to enforce pandemic discipline by meeting representatives of market associations and seeking their cooperation, while assuring he does not want to shut the markets down. He urged the representatives to provide masks for free to shoppers not wearing them. Parallelly, the gover nment sought to wield the stick, as it provided legal backbone to the penalty of a whopping `2,000 it intends to slap on those flouting the mask norm. To do so, Lt Governor Anil Baijal approved a proposal to amend the Delhi Epidemic Disease Management of Covid-19 Regulations 2020, to insert the penalty . Meanwhile, the Delhi government has begun a door-toActive cases door survey to identify people having Covid symptoms. The massive exercise is expected to be completed in five days and cover over 57 lakh people. In all, 6,608 new cases were detected in Delhi that is already witnessing a third Covid wave, taking the cumulative cases to 5,17,238. Also, 118 deaths were reported in a 24-hour span. The air quality too continued to be Discharged Deaths 4,43,794 84,28,409 1,32,162 fresh goals @Kozhikode ENGLISH Premier League Club Sheffield United have taken over Kozhikode-based I-League Second Division side Calicut Quartz and rebranded it as Kerala United FC. United World Group, the umbrella firm holding Sheffield, said in a statement that it envisages to make Kerala United a competitive, community focused football club playing at the highest level possible in Indian football. “Kerala is known to be the heart of Indian football and when it comes to passion and support, no fan base in India comes close to their love for the beautiful game. Our focus will be on cementing and strengthening the foundations of the club, building an academy and developing homegrown players,” said United World Group CEO Abdullah Al-Ghamdi. The club revealed its logo, the great hornbill which is also the state’s official bird. Sheffield United is owned by Saudi Prince Abdullah bin Musa’ad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who also has stakes in Al Hilal United Club of the UAE, Beer- poor with smog choking the city’s lungs. Neighbouring Haryana recorded its highest single-day spike with 3,104 people testing positive. In Maharashtra, the fresh case count is now averaging 5,000 as compared to 2,000-2,500 last week. Wary of a second wave, Mumbai’s schools and colleges will not open till Dec 31. They were earlier slated to reopen on Nov 23. With a steady uptick in fresh cases in Gujarat, night curfew has been imposed in Surat, Rajkot and Vadodara, in addition to Ahmedabad. If you suspect your estranged husband is concealing the size of his gross inc o m e t o avo i d p ay i n g maintenance, just file a Right to Information (RTI) application with the income tax department to ferret out the data. The central information panel recently upheld the right of a spouse to get the data through the RTI mechanism. The order came as a huge relief for women, as in most matrimonial disputes, husbands understate their income, but are called out in court due to lack of proof. The order came on an appeal filed by Rahmat Bano of Jodhpur wherein the commission rejected the I-T department’s spin of her being a third party to block information. The CIC also rubbished the argument that seeking such information is out of the ambit of the RTI Act. It directed Jodhpur’s I-T department to provide the data to Bano within 15 days. The order came days after the SC tightened the rules regarding grant of maintenance in matrimonial cases. E X PRESS REA D Sheffield is Calicut Quartz’s new owner, Kerala Utd name E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e guidelines and corporate structure for Indian private sector banks, said private banks will be crucial for the future growth of the banking sector, which is currently dominated by government-owned lenders. Fourteen licences for universal banks have been issued in the private sector since 1993, out of which only 10 are operational now. While private banks recorded sustained growth over the years, there’s a long way to break into the global top 100. Currently only the govern, ment-owned State Bank of India figures among the top 100 global banks by size. Large private banks including ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have sizes lower than that of Spanish Banco de Sabadell, which ranks 100th. RBI has sought comments from stakeholders on the internal group’s report by January 15, 2021, after which it will P10 take a final call.  schot VA of Belgium and Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia. Kerala United will be led operationally by local managers in alignment with the philosophy and vision of the United Group, the statement said. P Haridas, who owned Calicut Quartz FC and is also the president of the Kozhikode District Football Association, said a Premier League club coming to the state will bring major changes to Kerala football. Company director Akshay Das P said: “We’re looking for an overall development in the state, especially in Malabar.” Established in 1976, Quartz FC remained an amateur club till 2011. The club played in ILeague Second Division in 2012. They finished runners-up in the 2018 Kerala Premier League. Sheffield, nicknamed The Blades due to the region’s history of steel production, was formed in 1889. It was a founder member of the EPL. Sivasankar files bail plea in High Court KOCHI: M Sivasankar, the main accused in the gold smuggling case, filed bail plea before the High Court on Friday. He stated that the ED failed to unearth any evidence to substantiate its findings that he had called up Customs officers to clear the diplomatic baggage. Swapna’s audio clip: Cops not to start probe T’Puram: The state police have reportedly received legal advice to not initiate a probe into the complaint regarding an alleged voice clip of Swapna Suresh. It said probe will not be feasible as it has been proved that the incident was not reported in the jurisdiction of prisons department. Dissidence resonates in BJP office-bearers’ meet T’Puram: The factional feud in the BJP state unit found its resonance in the state office-bearers’ meet held in Kochi on Friday. Senior leader Sobha Surendran stayed away from the meet despite newlyappointed Kerala ‘prabhari’ C P Radhakrishnan urging her to attend.