A shocking incident of fake currency notes came forward, when officials of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), along with sleuths of Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday evening raided the currency chest of the State Bank of India at Domariyaganj near the border with Nepal.

SBI currency chest, from where the cash for all the local branches is distributed, had the sum total of Rs 70 lakh missing. The racket was exposed during the raid at SBI currency chest.

“This racket has been thriving with the connivance of the bank staff, which was clearly found to be involved in clandestine replacement of notes with fake currency,” reported Additional Director General of Police, Brij Lal.

Frankfurt - The European Central Bank (ECB) is set to leave its benchmark refinancing rate on hold at 4.25 per cent Thursday, analysts predict, as it faces up to the twin economic threats of surging inflation and slumping growth.

This comes after firing off a warning shot at its meeting at the start of July to ward off resurgent inflation by lifting borrowing costs in the 15-member eurozone by 25 basis points.

But since then while signs have emerged of a pickup in inflation, the economic gloom surrounding the eurozone is starting to deepen as new grim economic numbers continue to roll in.

At 4.1 per cent, inflation in the eurozone is more than double the ECB's target of "close to, but just below 2 per cent."

Frankfurt - Germany's second biggest bank, Commerzbank AG, reported Wednesday a higher-than-forecast 6.4-per-cent rise in second-quarter net profit despite fresh write-downs resulting from the global financial crisis.

The Frankfurt-based bank said the rise in net quarterly profit to 817 million euros (1.3 billion dollars) was helped along by a tax gain.

However, the bank, which has been weighing up a merger with cross- town rival Dresdner, also went on to warn that tough market conditions could make mean that 2008 earnings could come in lower than last year.

Karvy Stock Broking Limited has maintained ‘Buy’ rating on ICICI Bank stock with an in

London - Britain's Northern Rock mortgage lender, which was nationalized in the wake if the credit crisis, reported losses of 585 million pounds (1.17 billion dollars) Tuesday for the first six months of 2008.

The Newcastle-based bank, which was taken under "temporary" government control in February, said most of the loss came from the charges it took to cover losses from struggling mortgage borrowers.

However, Northern Rock also paid back a loan of 9.4 billion pounds from the Bank of England, reducing the amount owed to 17.5 billion pounds. The figures published Tuesday relate to the period from January up to the end of June.

Country's leading credit rating agency ICRA Limited (ICRA) has informed that it has signed MOU with Canara Bank.