kannur l Saturday l NOVEMBER 21, 2020 l `7.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Axe remdesivir from covid treatment protocol: W.H.O. The UN health body said on Friday there’s no evidence that the drug improved the prospects of hospitalised patients May still benefit a subgroup of patients Experts divided over its effectiveness 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 ■ ■ 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 RBI ready to let large companies launch banks Regulator feels pvt lenders will drive future growth, wants to expand banking sector S e s a S e n @ New Delhi 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 sug- gested that large non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) with asset size of `50,000 crore and above, including 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 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. Actor abduction: HC no to court transfer E x p r e ss N e w s S e 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 actorabduction 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. 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. HC rules Jose faction is official Kerala Cong (M) EPL club Sheffield United Calicut Quartz’ new owner E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @Kochi Big boost to Jose faction The High Court’s order has come as a major boost to Jose K Mani as well as the LDF in the run-up to the local body elections. P4 The survivor submitted that she was subjected to cross-examination for nine days by the counsel of eighth accused Dileep and on many occasions, scandalous questions were asked, even attacking her character. Despite the prosecution raising objections against such questions and the mode of examination, the judge refused to intervene, thereby permitting her to be harassed, resulting in the survivor breaking down on more occa● More on P5 sions than one.  E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e In a major setback for the Kerala Congress (M) P J Joseph faction, which is part of the UDF in the state, the Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed the petitions challenging the Election Commission of India’s order declaring the group led by Jose K Mani as the official party and granting it the official ‘Two Leaves’ symbol. Joseph has decided to file an appeal before the division bench of the High Court on Monday . While dismissing the petition filed by Joseph and others, Justice N Nagaresh said the conclusions arrived at by the Election Commission (EC) were based on the materials available before it. Hence, it cannot be said ● More on P4 to be perverse. 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 @Kozhikode 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 CEO Abdullah ● More on P3 Al-Ghamdi.  AMMA not to oust Bineesh for time being E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Kochi THE executive committee of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), which met here under president Mohanlal on Friday de, cided 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 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 ● More on P5 the case.