With an effort to promote the Indian startup ecosystem, Microsoft for Startups has launched a new initiative called ‘Highway to a Hundred Unicorns’ that aims to empower startups with mentoring and technology support for enterprise readiness. As part of this initiative, Microsoft will engage with innovators and entrepreneurs through a series of outreach programmes across tier 2 cities. The American tech major will work closely with state governments to strengthen the startup ecosystems in each state.

The Initial Public Offering (IPO) of the state-run Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will open for subscription on September 30 with a price band of Rs 315-320 per share. A total of 1.6 lakh equity shares have been reserved for the employees, a company statement said, adding that all the proceeds from the sale will go to the selling shareholder.

India on Wednesday reiterated that its stance on Pakistan's efforts to combat terrorism has not changed and urged Islamabad to take concrete steps to tackle the menace.

"Our position on how the matter has to be addressed has been answered in the past and there is no change in that position." MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

Any extension given to a corporate entity by extending the debt instrument’s maturity needs to be considered a ‘default’ for the purpose of valuation, according to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The norm was laid out in a circular issued on Tuesday night, a day before Essel Group announced that lenders had granted it more time to repay its dues.

Essel group promoters have decided to concentrate on selling their non-media assets rather than looking for further dilution of their shareholding in Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) through a stake Their current shareholding in ZEEL is 24 per cent.

The move comes with the promoters getting the much-needed extension of up to six months to pay their dues from most of the mutual funds. The deadline to return the money ended in September.

Apollo Hospitals, the country’s largest chain in the segment, says it will join the Ayushman Bharat programme in tier-II and tier-III cities.

In metropolitan cities, however, it will continue to stay away till the government programme raises the rates for surgery and treatment.

Private lender YES Bank on Wednesday said it has received strong interest from various investors on its plans to raise capital as the lender approaches the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for approval to increase the bank’s authorised share capital.

“The bank has received strong interest from multiple foreign as well as domestic private equity and strategic investors for this capital raise and remains firmly on course to raising growth capital subject to the necessary approvals,” it said in a regulatory filing.

Ford Motor Co. is set to transfer most of its assets in India to a joint venture with Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. after failing to make meaningful inroads for more than two decades in the world’s fourth-largest automobile market, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India on Wednesday reduced the prices of select models by Rs 5,000 (on ex-showroom prices).

These models include all variants of Alto 800, Alto K10, Swift Diesel, Celerio, Baleno Diesel, Ignis, Dzire Diesel, Tour S Diesel, Vitara Brezza and S-Cross, MSI said in a statement.

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is in discussions will the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) for bringing in greater efficiency in the sector by reducing the cost of road construction and improving quality in the long run.

It is learnt that the authority would engage with all the IITs for conducting studies and finding efficient and innovative solutions to highway building by way of technology.

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