Newsmakers: Mallya's regret on Kingfisher, Sensex, Nifty post best weekly gain and more

Jewellers extend pan-India strike till March 7
Jewellers, protesting throughout the country against the government proposal to re-impose 1 per cent excise duty, have decided to extend their strike till March 7, industry body GJF said on Friday. "The excise guidelines which have been drafted for the Gems and Jewellery are not practically implementable and will be detrimental to the survival of the industry. We are expecting positive results from the government, but our agitation and protest continues," All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF) Chairman G V Sreedhar said.

India poised for a quantum leap in infra: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday India is set to take a quantum leap in infrastructure and the government is committed to strengthening it. The Prime Minister unveiled an ambitious Rs 50,800-crore Setu Bharatam project, under which a total of 208 railway crossings will be replaced by rail over bridges (ROBs). As part of the project, 1,500 bridges of the British era will be overhauled at an estimated expenditure of Rs 30,000 crore.

Drop in oil a windfall for Indian economy: IMF
The collapse in global oil prices is a large windfall gain for India and it has made room for more spending on goods and services, the IMF has said. "The collapse in global oil prices is a large windfall gain for India. The windfall has made room for more spending on goods and services, helped improve the external and fiscal positions, and allowed a sharp decline in inflation," Paul Cashin, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) team for India, said.

Sensex, Nifty record best weekly gain since 2011
Extending gains for the fourth consecutive session, the S&P BSE Sensex gained 39 points, while broader CNX Nifty settled below its key 7,500-mark after testing it. The headline indices scuttled between red and green but logged their best weekly gain in more than four years after the government unveiled a fiscally prudent union budget.

Vijay Mallya's sole regret: Kingfisher not flying when oil cheap
With banks going after him to recover unpaid loans given to long-grounded Kingfisher Airlines, beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya remains defiant and says the "only regret" he has that the carrier is not flying when the oil price has dipped so low. "I have no regrets as such. Perhaps the only regret is that Kingfisher Airlines is not flying today when the oil price is so low," Mallya said.