Technology giant Microsoft has launched a new fund to invest in companies working on solutions to bring affordable Internet access to underserved markets.

The fund is part of Microsoft's Affordable Access Initiative (AAI), which invests in last-mile access technologies, cloud-based services and applications and business models that can reduce the cost of Internet access and help more people affordably get online.

In order to tackle attrition among its employees base, online eCommerce marketplace Flipkart has sold a marginal stake in its employee trust fund to some high net worth individuals (HNIs) for around Rs 180-240 crore. Such a move was aimed at talent retention by the company. This initiatives gives employees who are holding stock options, a way to monetize them, as per an ET report. Normally, they wouldn’t be able to do so in absence of a listing.

In an emailed statement, Flipkart spokesperson said that, “At Flipkart, we believe the reason for our remarkable growth has been our people who have demonstrated immense ownership and have consistently gone way beyond the call of duty. The employee trust is a structure to facilitate employee liquidity across all levels depending on the amount of vested options. This is a repeatable structure and we do intend to use it as we go along at least on an annual basis.”

Gold jumped 1 per cent on Monday as investors sought safety in the metal following Friday’s deadly attacks in Paris and as equities fell.

Spot gold rose 0.8 percent to $1,092.10 an ounce by 0242 GMT. US gold futures rose more than 1 percent to a session high of $1,093.

India's largest realty firm DLF today said it has got fair trade regulator CCI's approval for the joint venture with Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC, which is investing Rs 1,990 crore in two projects here.

The realty firm would use this fund to boost cash flow and reduce debt, which stood at Rs 22,520 crore as on September 30.

Markets have made a smart recovery from day’s low and are trading firm after the announcement of WPI numbers for the month of October which came in at -3.8%.

Further, buying demand among banks and capital goods has also helped the indices to maintain the trend.

Shares of GMR Infrastructure have surged nearly 9% to Rs 13 on the BSE after the company posted a sharp decline of 42% in the consolidated net loss for the September quarter quoting at Rs 399 crore on the back of better operating margins from power plants and robust traffic growth in airports.

The company had reported a net loss of Rs 610 crore in the same period last year, according to the filing in the BSE.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has projected an 8 percent growth rate for India next year and pushed for a grand alliance of solar-rich nations, even as he sought a united stand of humanity against terrorism in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris.

In his intervention at the G20 working session in this Mediterranean city in Turkey on "Inclusive Growth: Global Economy, Growth Strategies, Employment and Investment Strategies", Modi said India was likely to grow at 7.5 percent this year and achieve a growth rate of 8 percent-plus next year.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is keen to cash in on spectrum sharing and trading. The state-run telecom firm is also in talks with private telcos for intra-circle roaming (ICR) agreements to share its passive infrastructure.

BSNL expects to earn Rs 300-400 crore a year through ICR arrangements starting the next financial year. Along with spectrum sharing, revenue expectations will go much higher, its chairman and managing director Anupam Shrivastava told Business Standard.

Coal India (CIL), the government-owned near-monopolist in the sector, is to build 15 washeries across its various subsidiaries, through private companies under a build and operate model.

CIL currently owns 17 washeries, five for coking coal (used by the steel and cement industries) and 12 for non-coking (for producing electricity). Of the new ones, six are to handle coking coal and the other nine the other. The cumulative washing capacity is estimated at 112 million tonnes (mt), said senior CIL officials.

While deregulation of fuel prices had led to a gradual re-opening of retail outlets by dealers of Reliance Industries (RIL), a closure of several of these could again be in the offing.

In the past six-odd months, almost 1,000 RIL dealerships had reopened retail outlets (ROs); there had been 1,400 filling stations at one time and all had to close. However, uncompetitive commissions by RIL on petrol and diesel sales has meant dealers making losses, of Rs 25,000-30,000 a month, they allege. They're asking for a rise in the commission to match those given by government-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs).

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