India Firm On Currency Identity

[desiman]

India Firm On Currency Identity


27 February 2010,
NEW DELHI - There is no official currency sign or symbol in India. But that would be history, as the government is set to release the symbol of the Indian currency soon. The Indian rupee would shortly be joining the elite league of global currencies like US dollar, British pound, euro and Japanese Yen from this fiscal onwards, the government said Friday.

The government said that the symbol is in the Indian National Language Script (INLS) in form of a visual representation, and is applicable to the standard computer keyboard. Announcing this finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in his budget presentation said the Indian rupee design will represent the historical and cultural ethos of India.

“In the ensuing year, we intend to formalise a symbol for the Indian rupee,” he said. “With this, Indian Rupee will have a clear distinguishing identity,” he pointed out. Unlike a host of global currencies, the Indian Rupee does not have a unique symbol and ‘Rs’ is the abbreviated form which it shares with currencies from Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Seychelles.

While it is not immediately clear what prompted the government to search for a symbol for the Indian currency, top officials in the ministry for finance told Khaleej Times that India’s growing influence on global economy could have prompted the government in taking such a decision.

Other currencies such as the Swiss Franc (CHF) also do not have a symbol of their own. The US shared the dollar ($) symbol with a host of currencies ranging from Australian dollar, to that of Canada and Hong Kong, but this was owing to the origin of the currency that came into existence much before the United States came into being.

Such has been the enthusiasm in India for the currency symbol that the government recently announced a competition to select the sign, where the winning entry for the rupee symbol carried a prize.

The designer of the symbol is believed to have surrendered the copyright to the government.

It is believed that the jury of examiners for the competition consisted seven members drawn from art institutes such as Sir JJ Institute of Applied Art, National Institute of Design, Lalit Kala Akademi, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Art & Culture and officials from the government and the Reserve Bank of India.

India Firm On Currency Identity

 

[desiman]

Distinct identity for rupee soon

Kolkata, Feb. 26

The Indian currency will have an official symbol after 62 years of Independence. The Union Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, in his Budget speech said “We intend to formalise this year a symbol which would capture the country's ethos and culture.”

He said the rupee would join a select club of currencies such as dollar, euro, pound sterling and yen which have a distinct identity.

According to bankers and exporters, this will also mean a symbolic assertion of the country's economic prowess among the comity of currencies.

According to Mr S.K. Goel, CMD of UCO Bank, the symbol may signify a step towards capital account convertibility. “This is, apparently, a signal that India could move to a freely floating rupee in the near future. Full float would mean exporters can bill in rupee and cut out the risk of a fluctuating dollar”, said Mr S. S. Shah Chairman of Eastern Silk.

“The symbol for the rupee will add the much needed recognition to the Indian currency and will be able to bring it at par with the global currencies,” said Mr K. Harihar, Head- treasury, FirstRand Bank. The RBI is likely to announce the adoption of the symbol shortly.

In 2009, the Finance Ministry conducted a competition for designing the graphic symbol of the currency.

Of the five short-listed, one has been chosen for formal unveiling.

The Hindu Business Line : Distinct identity for rupee soon

 

[desiman]

Indian contest for rupee symbol
By Geeta Pandey
BBC News, Delhi

Indian rupee
The rupee is generally shortened to Rs or INR

The Indian finance ministry has begun a public competition to select a design for the symbol of the rupee.

Unlike the major currencies of the world like the dollar, the pound, the yen and the euro, the rupee does not have a globally recognised symbol.

The new symbol would be the "identity of the Indian currency," a finance ministry official told the BBC.

The contest, which closes on 15 April, is open only to resident Indians, a release on the ministry website says.

'Ethos of India'

The rupee is generally shortened to Rs or sometimes the currency is described as INR (Indian rupee).

But, the government says, these are not symbols, they are mere abbreviations for rupee.

To get an internationally-accepted symbol, the finance ministry has invited entries from the public.

"The symbol should represent the historical and cultural ethos of India," the deputy secretary in the finance ministry's coin and currency department, BS Rawat, told the BBC.

"The entries can be in any of the Indian languages. They can even be in English which is also an accepted language of use by the government," Mr Rawat said.

Each entry has to be accompanied by a fee of 500 rupees ($10) and a participant can send a maximum of two entries.

The rules also say that the "symbol should be applicable to the standard [computer] keyboard".

Officials say the winning entry will be chosen by a seven-member jury of experts drawn from various art institutes, the government and India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India.

Five shortlisted entries for the final selection will be awarded a prize of 25,000 rupees ($500) and the winner will take 250,000 rupees ($5,000).

"The final selected symbol will become the property of the government and the designer will have no rights over it any more," Mr Rawat said.

Experts say implementing a new currency symbol can be an expensive exercise.

According to one estimate, when the euro was introduced in 1999 it cost Europe's biggest companies more than $50bn to update their computer systems to deal with the changeover.

"We have not thought about the costs yet," Mr Rawat said. "First, we'll select a symbol and then we'll do the costing," he added.

The contest closes on 15 April at 1300 local time (0730G).

Detailed guidelines on how to prepare the entries have been put up on the finance ministry's website.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Indian contest for rupee symbol

 

[desiman]

For India's Rupee, a New Identity

NEW DELHI -- It has a venerable culture. It has growing economic might. But what India doesn't have is a currency symbol that reflects those things, according to its government, which has launched a public competition to find one.


Unlike other major currencies such as the U.S. dollar, the British pound, the euro and the Japanese yen, the Indian rupee lacks an easily recognizable identification symbol -- a logo to set beside the $, the £, the € and the ¥. It is currently depicted around the world as either "Rs" or "INR" and is designated differently in various Indian languages.

In March, the Finance Ministry called for suggestions for a logo in a nationwide contest. It attracted about 3,000 entries before it closed April 15.

"The Indian economy is growing at a fast rate, and it will get more integrated with the global economy with the passage of time," Govind Mohan, a ministry official, said in an e-mail response to questions about the purpose of the contest. "The symbol would standardise the expression for Indian Rupee in different languages, within and outside the country. It will better distinguish the Indian currency from those countries whose currencies are also designated as Rupee or Rupiah, such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia."

A seven-member jury, including representatives from the government, the central bank and two fine arts colleges, is expected to meet soon to examine the submissions. Mohan said it should take a year to select the symbol. There have been no considerations yet about when it might be adopted or how much that will cost.
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The winning entrant will receive $5,000 and five runners-up will each get $500.

Open, a national weekly English-language newsmagazine, published in its April 10 issue several design suggestions submitted by readers that borrow motifs from ancient Indian scripts or incorporate the Buddhist wheel icon that is also at the center of the national flag. Government officials have not revealed any contest submissions ahead of the judging, but they appear to favor a similar approach.

"The government expects the symbol to convey the historical and cultural ethos of the country," Mohan said.

India's rising global ambitions are also behind the search for a unique currency identity.

After more than four decades of following a planned, socialist economic model, India began in 1991 to cautiously restructure, embracing free-market reforms aimed at attracting foreign investment. The country's emergence as a global hub for information-technology services also contributed to its robust economic growth in the past decade, which has been slowed only by the current financial crisis.

"This is a big brand-building exercise," said Rajesh Jain, vice president at SMC Global Securities, a large brokerage firm in New Delhi. "When it gets a sign, the Indian rupee will aggressively declare to the world, 'I have arrived.' "

For India's Rupee, a New Identity - washingtonpost.com

 

[desiman]

So any ideas guys on how the symbol for the rupee should look like ?

 

[Choppers]

Thread Already Existing

http://www.defence.pk/forums/world-affairs/48560-indian-rupee-get-unique-symbol-2010-11-a.html#post693729

 

[desiman]

Thread Already Existing

is there ? hmm sorry if i missed it

 

[shchinese]

who cares? your currency is not traded in international market, you economy is neglectible

 

[desiman]

who cares? your currency is not traded in international market, you economy is neglectible

LOL not again- no comments lol

 

[xebex]

Desiman, am looking forward to get an update from you on this news. Ive read about the competiton few months back but didnt realize that the government found a winning entry. Anyways cant wait to see the new symbol.

 

[desiman]

Desiman, am looking forward to get an update from you on this news. Ive read about the competiton few months back but didnt realize that the government found a winning entry. Anyways cant wait to see the new symbol.

ill try to keep you updated bro.

 

[gen x]

who cares? your currency is not traded in international market, you economy is neglectible

will you shut your mouth if you can do any good things

and you think peoples care Chinese

 

[sirius]

^^^
just neglect schinese comments he is the biggest troll on pdf

 

[desiman]

^^^
just neglect schinese comments he is the biggest troll on pdf

lol i know thats why i said no comments

 

[hardcore]

i bet he is paid by the cpc to troll here