Britain to invest 150 million pounds in Bihar

September 19th, 2009 LONDON - After a five-month delay, the British government has announced a 10 million pound loan to Tata Motors to support the production of electric cars in Britain. The loan, sanctioned way back in April, has been awarded under the automotive assistance programme to help the company manufacture the Tata Indica Vista four-seat electric car.

September 4th, 2009 Coca-Cola to invest $200 million in VietnamATLANTA — Coca-Cola Co. says it plans to invest an additional $200 million in Vietnam in the next three years.

July 30th, 2009 BAE loses 70 million pounds in H1LONDON — BAE Systems PLC, Europe's largest defense contractor, posted a loss for the first half of the year, as demand fell for land vehicles and the company wrote off the value of some assets. However, the company said Thursday it expects "good growth" for the full year amid an increase in military spending as it also benefits from continued weakness of the British pound against the U.S.

July 29th, 2009 UK lending growth slows in JuneLONDON — Net lending to individuals in the United Kingdom rose by 400 million pounds ($655 million), a drop of 100 million pounds from the six-month average, the Bank of England said Wednesday. Net mortgage lending rose by 300 million pounds, the same as in May but only a third of the April gain and consumer credit rose by 100 million pounds.

May 14th, 2009 LONDON - Former Spice girl Victoria Beckham's Hermess Birkin bag collection is said to be worth 1.5 million pounds. Victoria reportedly owns 100 bags of the classic design, which retail at an astonishing $6,000 (about 4,000 pounds) to $7,000 (about 4,700 pounds) each, reported femalefirst.co.uk.

May 8th, 2009 What British lawmakers boughtSome of the items claimed on expenses by British lawmakers, according to the Daily Telegraph: Horse manure for garden, 10 pounds ($15.06) Yucca plant, 9.99 pounds ($15.04) Two cans of chicken and turkey cat food, 78 pence ($1.18) Chocolate Santa, 59 pence ($0.89) Two elephant-shaped lamps, 134.30 pounds ($202.24) Potato peeler, 4.50 pounds ($6.79) Eyeliner, 2.50 pounds ($3.76) Wine rack, 14.99 pounds ($22.57) Reusable plastic bag, Ikea, 5 pence ($0.07) Ice cube tray, 1.50 pounds ($2.26) Visits by mole catcher, 35 pounds ($52.82) per quarter, 140 pounds ($210.81) per year Piano tuning, 40 pounds ($60.23) Footstool, 199 pounds ($299.64) Visit by pool maintenance man, 98.63 pounds ($148.51) Visits by rat catcher, 199 pounds ($299.67) per quarter, 796 per year ($1,200) Pizza cutter, 3 pounds ($4.53)

April 12th, 2009 LONDON - Carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is in 'advanced talks' with British ministers, a banking syndicate and owner Tata Motors on a 800 million pound loan that could help save 15,000 jobs, a newspaper reported Sunday. The Sunday Times quoted unnamed sources as saying negotiations were at a delicate stage, and hinged on whether JLR could provide sufficient loan security to the government and a banking syndicate led by the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB.

March 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The European Commission (EC) has committed a further 2 million euro (Rs.134 million) to assist with rehabilitation activities for flood victims in Bihar, in its third financial contribution for the cause, EUAsiaNews reports. The EC humanitarian aid for Bihar now totals 6.5 million euro (Rs.434 million) since the Kosi River embankment collapsed in neighbouring Nepal last August causing heavy flooding in the area.

February 22nd, 2009 PATNA - Nobel laureate Amartya Sen Saturday urged industrialists from the Jain community to invest at Pawapuri in Bihar where Lord Mahavira, Jainism's founder, attained enlightenment. 'They should invest for its development,' Sen told reporters here.

February 14th, 2009 PATNA - Disillusioned at no response from NRIs to investing in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Sunday described the annual Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas as a 'picnic'. 'It is nothing but a picnic.

February 2nd, 2009 LONDON - India and Britain Tuesday announced six million pounds of funding for large-scale science and technology collaboration between their universities and institutions. The three collaborations will be funded jointly by Research Councils UK (RCUK), a government-funded body, and the Indian Department of Science of Technology.

January 30th, 2009 LONDON - British pop star Robbie Williams has rewarded himself with a pay packet of 5.5 million pounds. Thesun.co.uk reports that Williams has paid himself for not doing anything the past year.

January 29th, 2009 LONDON - British singer Robbie Williams is back in Britain after being in Los Angeles for some time now. The secretive singer was seen leaving a bicycle shop in Swindon in Britain, reports thesun.co.uk.

January 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) is set to invest over $600 million for the development of assets of Imperial Energy, in addition to its acquisition price of $2.1 billion, said a company official Monday. ONGC acquired Imperial Energy after more than 97 percent of its shareholders had approved the deal last December.

December 30th, 2008 LONDON - Tax filings for Madonna's charitable Ray of Light Foundation have revealed that the pop diva donated over two million pounds to religious groups in one year alone. The filings show that a total of 1.75 million pounds were given to the Kabbalah Centre of Los Angeles alone, reports Dailymail.co.uk.