Mallya’s London flight

Mumbai, Aug. 17: Vijay Mallya-led Kingfisher Airlines plans to launch its international operations on September 3 with a direct Bangalore-London flight. “The countdown has begun. We are all set to fly to London from Bangalore on September 3,” a Kingfisher Airlines official said. The airline has already secured permission to fly to 13 overseas destinations. Kingfisher has plans to launch flights to the US, the UK, the UAE, Singapore, Thailand, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Hong Kong.

Vodafone buy

London, Aug. 17: Vodafone has completed the acquisition of a 70 per cent stake in Ghana Telecom for $900 million. The stake was bought on a debt-free, cash-free basis.

Bank stir

New Delhi, Aug. 17: Regular banking services in public sector banks may get affected on August 18 and 20 as employee unions have threatened a strike on these two days to protest the merger of the State Bank of Saurashtra with the State Bank of India. While officers of the SBI and its seven associate banks have threatened a stir tomorrow, employees of other PSU banks have called for an agitation on August 20.

Trai directive

New Delhi, Aug. 17: Trai has directed GSM operators, including Bharti, Idea, BSNL and Vodafone, to provide interconnection to Reliance Communications’ GSM network immediately and report compliance by August 21.

Asean trade

New Delhi, Aug. 17: Having wrapped up long-drawn negotiations on free trade agreement for merchandise goods with Asean, India will push for greater market access for services and investment in the 10-nation Southeast Asian trading bloc.

Gas cost

New Delhi, Aug. 17: Power and fertiliser firms will shell out at least 30 per cent more from January 2009 for the gas they buy from Petronet LNG as the supplier RasGas of Qatar has jacked up the price.

Air India move

New Delhi, Aug. 17: Air India has undertaken a major route rationalisation programme that will see the airline withdrawing flights to Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur and restructuring operations to New York, Toronto, Bangkok and Dhaka, in a move to check losses .