Alibaba investors added $63 billion to their wealth after Alibaba Co-founder Jack Ma made a public appearance in a video, three months after his last public appearance in October. The stock rose 11% in Hong Kong, marking the biggest stock rally in six months for Alibaba Group Holding. Jack Ma spoke to 100 rural teachers through a video call.

Several users on Wednesday complained that they were facing issues with India's largest broking site Zerodha. They rushed to place orders for the IPOs of Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) and Indigo Paints that opened on Wednesday. "This is not the first time it's happening," a user tweeted, while another complained, "I missed IRFC IPO just because of you Zerodha."

CRED Founder Kunal Shah on Thursday said he has invested an undisclosed sum in OnePlus Co-founder Carl Pei's new venture announced last month. "Carl is working on a new consumer electronics company that I am sure will be a disruptor in the tech industry," Shah said. Pei co-founded OnePlus in 2013 and left the company in October 2020.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Criminal Investigation Departments (CID) of various state police forces will launch investigations against over 20 Chinese lending apps, reported The Economic Times. The Chinese fintech startups include SnapIt Loan, Bubble Loan, Go Cash and Flip Cash. Payment gateways Razorpay and Paytm have also reportedly been told to stop dealing with such companies.

Elon Musk and his singer-girlfriend Grimes were seen partying in Austin, Texas days after the Tesla CEO moved to Texas. US comedians Joe Rogan, Dave Chappelle and others were also seen in the pictures. Earlier, Musk had criticised his former home state California's COVID-19 restrictions that forced Tesla to temporarily shut its factory in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk responded to a game developer, Lyubomir Vladimirov, who tweeted to him for 154 days in a row asking for permission to use the name and logos of his companies. "You can steal our name/logos & we probably won't sue you," the billionaire said. Vladimirov described the game as a "highly technical Mars survival simulator".

The NITI Aayog on Wednesday released the India Innovation Index 2020 where Karnataka retained the top spot among the states. Maharashtra leapfrogged over Tamil Nadu to occupy the second place followed by Telangana, Kerala, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. While Himachal Pradesh topped among NE and hill states, Delhi topped among UTs and city states.

Ant Group's valuation could drop to $108 billion under the draft rules proposed by China, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. The proposals aimed at curbing market concentration in Chinese online payments market could reduce the value of Ant's Alipay service by half, the report stated. Ant Group's valuation was estimated to reach over $320 billion before its $35-billion IPO was suspended.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in a Twitter exchange with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, discussed the prospects of building a tunnel transportation system under the city. "Cars...stuck in traffic generate megatons of toxic gases & particulate, but [The Boring Company] road tunnels under Miami would solve traffic," he wrote. Other Florida state mayors also showed interest in the proposal.

Russia said TikTok has deleted 38% of what it called illegal posts promoting weekend protests aimed at securing the release of Russian President Vladimir Putin's critic Alexey Navalny. However, communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said new calls for Russians to take to the streets were still emerging on the platform. Roskomnadzor added that YouTube had deleted 50% of the posts.

Elon Musk-led SpaceX has purchased two former oil rigs off Texas' coast to convert them into spaceports for launching its Starship rockets, reported NASASpaceflight. Both rigs have been officially renamed as Deimos and Phobos, which are the names of Mars' moons. In June 2020, Musk tweeted about building floating spaceports for "Mars, the Moon & hypersonic travel around Earth".

Tesla is in talks with the Gujarat government to set up a manufacturing facility in the state. "We are hopeful that...Tesla will prefer Gujarat," Additional Chief Secretary of Gujarat Chief Minister's Office told the Economic Times. The state government has assured the company all possible assistance and incentives for setting up base in Gujarat, the official further said.

Data of nearly 3.25 lakh users of Noida-based global cryptocurrency exchange and wallet, BuyUcoin have been leaked, according to independent cybersecurity researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia. The data leaked includes bank details, PAN numbers and passport numbers. The hack has reportedly been executed by hacking group Shiny Hunters, which is also behind the recent data leak at photo editing app Pixlr.

The UK government told TikTok the "strictly confidential" name of the UK's next ambassador to China before the appointment was confirmed, Business Insider reported citing documents. UK's DIT asked a senior TikTok official to be "discreet" about Caroline Wilson's selection as Britain's representative to China. UK lawmakers have said the government now has "serious questions" to answer over this.

"We cannot have our cyber world ruled and governed by private company policies," Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma told Indian Express while speaking at the India Digital Summit 2021. Sharing his views on an Indian app store, he added that if the store is controlled by the government or laws of the country, it does not matter who operates it.

Elon Musk-led SpaceX on Wednesday successfully delivered 60 satellites under its 17th Starlink mission. The Falcon 9 first stage rocket booster was launched and landed for the eighth time, breaking SpaceX's own record for the number of uses of single rocket core. SpaceX aims to provide global broadband coverage from up to 42,000 satellites and has delivered over 1,000 satellites.

Traders' body CAIT said it has received assurances from the government that stringent changes will be made to foreign investment rules for e-commerce. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has told CAIT the government will address concerns about alleged violations of the current rules. Earlier, CAIT had accused Amazon of violating norms of the FDI policy and FEMA.

Story-telling platform Wattpad has been acquired by South Korean conglomerate Naver in a $600 million cash-and-stock deal. Wattpad will continue to operate independently after the acquisition and its Co-founders Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen will lead the company. Naver owns Webtoon, a publishing platform that features comic strips created by users as well as the messaging app Line.

Zomato has reportedly acquired 100% stake in full-stack sports facilities provider Fitso. The deal size is in the range of ₹80-₹100 crore, Entrackr reported. As part of the deal, Fitso Co-founders and the team will join Zomato. Founded in 2015 by three IIT-Delhi alumni, Fitso provides its members access to sport facilities such as football, basketball, cricket and badminton.

E-commerce giant Flipkart has infused ₹175 crore into Myntra, its fashion and lifestyle accessories marketplace arm, reported Entrackr. Last year, Flipkart had invested ₹1,500 crore in Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail for a minority stake of 7.8% and an undisclosed amount in Virat Kohli-backed Universal Sportsbiz (USPL) as well. Flipkart had acquired a majority stake in Myntra in 2014.

Naveen Tewari, who has founded two unicorns in InMobi and Glance, said he believes that entrepreneurs in the country need to be able to say no to the rapid growth, which is a common ask by investors. "We've seen the blitz growth and we know it doesn't mean anything because sustainable growth is what really matters," he added.

Zerodha Co-founder Nithin Kamath on Tuesday said the government should find ways to encourage more Indians to back local entrepreneurs who primarily bank on external investors to start new ventures. Kamath added that he believes more people from his generation will be investing in Indian entrepreneurs. He also said he isn't worried about India creating fewer unicorns than major markets.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Wednesday approved Flipkart's acquisition of a 7.8% minority stake in Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail for ₹1,500 crore. The deal was first announced in October 2020. As part of the deal, Flipkart will also sell and distribute various Aditya Birla Fashion's brands on its e-commerce platforms Flipkart and Myntra.