Private sector lender Bank of Rajasthan (BoR) has finally received shareholders' approval for issue of bonus shares in the ratio of 1 share for every 5 shares held. The approval was received at the bank's annual general meeting held at Udaipur. Further, the bank has also received shareholders' approval for payment of 5% dividend for the year ended March 31, 2008. The shareholders have also approved the re-appointment of P N Bhandari, Magh Raj Calla, K N Bhandari and Sunil Behari Mathur as Directors of the bank.

Two of the largest private banks, HDFC and ICICI, hiked interest rates from August 1.

The rate of interest for fixed deposits has been increased by 75 to 100 basis points. Floating reference rates (FRR) for consumer’s loans were also hiked by 75 basis points. The new FCC will be 14.25 percent. ICICI has stated in a press release that existing customers will not be covered under new interest rates.

Stock market analysts have maintained ‘buy’ rating on ICICI Bank stock with an intraday target of Rs 640.

According to them, interested traders can purchase the stock around Rs 635 with a strict stop loss of Rs 632. If the stock market remains on positive track, the stock pricing becomes more attractive, and reach above Rs 642.
 
Shares of the bank, on Thurday (July 31), closed at Rs 634.85 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The total volume of shares traded at the BSE was 1353189. Current EPS and PE Ratio stood at 36.93 and 17.13 respectively. The share price has seen a 52-week high of Rs 1465 and a low of Rs 515.10 on BSE.

Valencia, Spain  - Spanish bank notes contain the highest concentrations of cocaine in Europe, according to a study made public on Thursday.

Randomly selected Spanish euro notes contained traces of cocaine at an average concentration of 155 microgrammes, according to the study by Valencia University made public in the magazine Trends in Analytical Chemistry.

Cocaine was found not only on notes that had been in direct contact with the drug, but on nearly all notes in circulation, said Miguel de la Guardia, co-author of the study.

He attributed the phenomenon to cross-contamination between bank notes, as well as in money-counting machines in banks.