The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) students on Wednesday decided to call off their 139-day-old strike saying their protest will continue till the issue of appointment of Gajendra Chauhan was resolved. The FTII student association said they have decided to return to academics from immediate effect. “we are returning to academics from today itself. However we will continue to raise issue which we have been raising since 139 days,” said Vikas Urs, representative of FTII students association.The students said although they have decided to resume classes, their fight against the government will only grow from here on.

Centre bans import of human embryos
The government has banned the import of human embryos, a move that is likely to affect the surrogacy business in India. The Union health ministry issued a notification on the ban on Tuesday, solicitor general Ranjit Kumar told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.The decision came almost two weeks after the top court suggested to the government to put on hold the import of human embryos as India has become an international hub for commercial surrogacy. Agreeing with the contention of the petitioner, advocate Jayashree Wad, that surrogacy was a business with an annual worth of at least $445 million, a bench of justices Ranjan Gogoi and NV Ramana said on October 15 there should be a law to regulate the practice.

Hindu Sena leader Vishnu Gupta detained in Kerala House beef case
Delhi Police detained Hindu Sena leader Vishnu Gupta on Wednesday for allegedly making a “false complaint” about beef being served at Kerala House, hours after chief minister Oommen Chandy asked the Prime Minister to act against policemen who conducted a “raid” on the state guest house. Gupta was detained in Tilak Nagar area on Wednesday morning.

Volkswagen posts $3.85 billion Q3 loss on emissions scandal
Volkswagen AG posted a €3.48 billion ($3.85 billion) third-quarter loss, its first in more than 15 years, and said full-year earnings will come in significantly below last year’s level amid the diesel emissions scandal.The operating loss, which compared with a €3.23 billion profit a year ago, was wider than the €3.27 billion deficit estimated on average by 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The cheating scandal accounted €6.7 billion in special costs in the third quarter, more than the €6.5 billion it originally set aside, the Wolfsburg, Germany-based company said Wednesday. Sales rose 5.3% to €51.49 billion.

Cutting sugar can improve health in 10 days
Controlled sugar consumption without reducing calories can make overweight children healthier in 10 days, claims research. Researchers examined 43 obese children in the age group of 9-19 with at least one chronic metabolic condition. Their sugar intake was restricted for nine days and they were given food, snacks and beverages free from added sugar. On the 10th day, the sugar level reduced from 28% to 10%, while fructose level came down from 12% to 4%. “The study shows that sugar is metabolically harmful not because of its calories or its effects on weight; rather sugar is metabolically harmful because it’s sugar,” said the study’s lead author Dr. Robert Lustig. The research was published in the journal Obesity.

Hay Group to nurture 100 startups from India
Global management consultancy Hay Group will help 100 selected entrepreneurs transform their startups into successful companies of the future. Under the Hay Group's NextBig100 programme, founders and leaders of startups can look forward to insights, guidance, mentoring and coaching, which will help them move from being a startup to a full grown organisation. The NextBig100 participants will have access to Hay Group experts, who advise and support them on all their 'talent and growth challenges'. Hay Group organised parallel city chapter events in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi wherein startups from the NextBig100 programme were taken through leadership development and mentoring sessions and experience sharing by senior leaders of Microsoft, InMobi, Snapdeal and Hay Group.

Global temperatures to rise by 3 degrees Celsius
Global temperatures will increase by around 3 degrees Celsius, despite current efforts to cut emissions and to limit the temperature increase to below 2 degrees Celsius, researchers have found. An assessment by European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) shows that current climate commitments submitted by 155 countries for The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP21, would increase global temperature by around 3 degrees Celsius.

Income Tax department for better monitoring of complaints
In yet another directive aimed at enhancing taxpayer services, the Income Tax department has asked its customer care centres to effectively monitor email-based complaints of assesses and diligently send them to tax officers. Under the new instructions, the Aaykar Sampark Kendras (ASK) have been asked to forward emails received from the taxpayers to range in-charges who will subsequently send it to jurisdictional Assessing Officers (AOs)

Ministry blocking info on Karnataka grasslands issue
The Central Information Commission (CIC) has pulled up Environment Ministry for withholding information related to construction work in the ecologically- sensitive Amrut Mahal Kaval grasslands in Karnataka citing national security. The major part of the area in Chitradurga district of Karnataka, which forms the habitat of the Great Indian Bustard, a bird nearing extinction, has been given to ISRO and Indian Institute of Science for building their facilities.

The RTI applicant had sought from Environment Ministry details of the ongoing projects in the region and whether the directives of NGT regarding conservation of the grasslands were being followed. The applicant also wanted to know whether any further land from the region was allocated despite NGT order, among others. When the applicant, Davis George Thomas, did not get a satisfactory reply, he approached CIC.

Sensex ends 204 points down; Nifty holds 8,150
Extending losses for the third consecutive session, the domestic markets ended sharply lower in trade on Wednesday, as investors remained cautious ahead of the conclusion of the US Federal Reserve's meeting later in the day and the expiry of monthly derivatives contracts back home this week. The market ended with severe losses. The Sensex wass down 213.68 points or 0.8 percent at 27039.76 and the Nifty slipped 61.70 points or 0.7 percent at 8171.20. About 1161 shares advanced, 1489 shares declined, and 186 shares were unchanged.