A look at the headlines in the sector:

  1. Vodafone India confirms it is considering a merger with Idea Cellular: Shares of the Aditya Birla Group’s telecom company went up by 27% after the news of the possible tie-up was reported.
  2. Google, Apple and other top US firms are rushing to counter Donald Trump’s immigration curbs: Airbnb has vowed to host asylum seekers for free, while Starbucks says it will hire 10,000 refugees from across the country. 
  3. Sensex ends 33 points lower, Nifty by 9 as markets close Monday on cautious note ahead of Budget Session: Asian markets also closed lower in response to US President Donald Trump’s executive order banning immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations.
  4. Reliance Defence signs contract worth Rs 916 crore with Indian Coast Guard: This is the first time a private sector shipyard has been contracted to design such a ship-class for the Armed Forces.
  5. Piramal finalises $171 million deal to acquire pain management, spasticity drugs from Mallinckrodt LLC: Group Chairman Ajay Piramal said the deal was its seventh pharmaceutical acquisition in the last two years.
  6. Impose the highest penalty on Airtel for misleading ads, Reliance Jio tells Trai: In a letter, the Mukesh Ambani-owned company said its rival’s offer of unlimited calls and free data was a ‘gross violation of extant telecommunication laws’.
  7. Twitter releases two illegal data requests made by FBI: These national security letters violated a 2008 US Justice Department memo that had limited such orders to phone billing records.