Lover of collapsed MG Rover director paid 1.7-mn pounds for a year’s work

October 7th, 2009 LONDON - Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), the troubled British carmaker, has secured 500 million pounds of new finance, including a 175 million pound loan from the State Bank of India, according to reports Wednesday. Tata Motors-owned JLR, which employs 14,500 people in Britain, has also won a $90 million (57 million pounds) export financing facility with ABC International Bank, the Daily Telegraph said in an online report.

August 11th, 2009 UK fraud office says no MG Rover probeLONDON — The long-running saga of the collapse of luxury car maker MG Rover — and the subsequent investigation into what went wrong — reached a tentative conclusion on Tuesday when Britain's Serious Fraud Office said it didn't intend to pursue a criminal investigation. The collapse of MG Rover, Britain's last major carmaker, in 2005 with the loss of 6,500 jobs was a staggering blow for the country's manufacturing heartland and a headline-making embarrassment for the ruling Labor Party as it fought that year's general election on a platform of economic stability.

July 12th, 2009 LONDON - Jaguar Land Rover, the British carmaker owned by India's Tata Motors, is planning an extended shutdown of its British plants and a new round of layoffs as it tries to deal with the slump in the world car market, a media report said Sunday. The preparation for the shutdown comes days after the company released its new flagship, the latest version of the Jaguar XJ, Sunday Times reported.

July 6th, 2009 British fraud office to investigate MG Rover caseLONDON — Britain's Serious Fraud Office will investigate the collapse of MG Rover following an independent inquiry in to the car marker's demise four years ago, the government said Monday. Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said in a written statement that he had ordered the agency to "consider whether there should be a criminal investigation" in light of the report.

June 27th, 2009 LONDON - Tata Motors has said that more UK job cuts are likely at Jaguar Land Rover, which sent India's largest carmaker to a thumping loss for the year. Tata Motors vice-chairman Ravi Kant said JLR global sales for the 10 months to March fell by 32 percent to 167,000 vehicles from 246,000 the previous year.

May 7th, 2009 LONDON - : Tata Motors, the parent company of Jaguar Land Rover, has said that it will reject a British Government loan guarantee needed to save the troubled British carmaker. A Sky News report said that Jaguar Land Rover received a final offer on a 450 million pound loan from the business department last week, but the Government wanted a 15 percent commission on the loan.

April 30th, 2009 LONDON - The wrangling between the Treasury Department and the Lord Mandelson-led Business Department might delay an 800 million pound emergency package for the Tata owned Jaguar Land Rover. Jaguar Land Rover executives fear that even if they can agree terms with the Treasury for the refinancing it may be months before they receive the cash.

April 29th, 2009 LONDON - Mel Gibson's alleged lover Oksana Grigorieva showed off her explosive curves in saucy new lingerie photoshoot. The 39-year-old Russian beauty, who has a son with James Bond star Timothy Dalton, stripped down to pink undies for a sizzling photo session.

April 3rd, 2009 LONDON - Tata, the Indian owners of Jaguar Land Rover, are seeking 781 million pounds in Government and European loans to safeguard the company's future. Jaguar Land Rover is one of a number of companies looking to tap into the 2.3 billion pounds aid package promised by Lord Mandelson.

March 25th, 2009 LONDON - Ratan Tata, head of Tata Motors, which bought Jaguar Land Rover for more than one billion pounds, has said that the JLR may face huge damages unless the British Government stumps up 500 million pounds worth of loan guarantees. The group is not looking for a cash hand out, but needs government backing to squeeze much-needed working capital out of the UK's frozen banking systems, Sky News quoted Tata, as saying.

March 12th, 2009 LONDON - The British Government has offered a grant of up to 27 million pounds to TATA-owned Jaguar Land Rover for the production of a new 'green' car. According to a Sky News report, the company will make a decision later this year on whether to go ahead with the 400 million pound project at its factory at Halewood on Merseyside.

March 1st, 2009 LONDON - The father of 10-year-old Mohammed Azharuddin, who acted in the Oscar-winning 'Slumdog Millionaire', has asked for more money from the makers of the film after it was revealed that the child would get less than 20,000 pounds for his work. Azharuddin was paid 700 pounds during filming, while another 17,500 pounds has been put into a trust fund which he will get, plus interest, when he is 18.

March 1st, 2009 LONDON - China has come to the aid of beleaguered Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover carmaker with a massive order of 13,000 vehicles. The order, for both Land Rover and Jaguar cars and worth 600 million pounds, was described by Jaguar as 'very significant' and particularly welcome at 'this challenging time'.

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 13th, 2009 LONDON - Ailing British luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover is to axe 450 jobs, including those of 300 managers, as part of a cost-cutting scheme following a 'severe reduction' in demand for new cars, the company said Wednesday. The firm, which was bought by India's Tata group for 1.7 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) last year, employs a staff of 15,000 at plants in Britain.