Consolidation has become the game for survival in the telecom industry, and after Vodafone-Idea and Reliance Comm-Aircel, Airtel is next in line,  buying Norwegian Telenor's India unit. Bharti Airtel said that it will buy Telenor (India) Communications Pvt Ltd, as part of which it will acquire the Norwegian company's operations in six Indian states. Bharti Airtel reported its lowest profit in four years in the October-December quarter while No. 3 player Idea Cellular posted its first-ever quarterly loss for the same period.

NASA has announced the discovery of seven earth-like planets orbiting a cool dwarf star around 39 light years away from Earth. According to scientists three of the planets are in the 'habitable zone' with the possibility of containing water, breathable atmosphere and life. The planets are much closer to the star compared to our sun, but the star being cooler, would still result in warm but not hot conditions. A cooler star would also result, the scientists said, in a pinker sky, rather than a blue one. 

Stock in spotlight: Asian Oilfield Services, which hit a new 52 week high today after landing a $95 million contract in Nigeria. 

Photo of the day: Two polar bear cubs accompany their mother outdoors in the Aalborg zoo, Denmark. Scanpix Denmark/Reuters