Indian Rupee to get a new symbol
By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 15 July 2010, 23:22 IST
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New Delhi: The Union Cabinet today approved the new symbol for the Indian rupee which includes both the Devnagiri 'Ra' and the Roman capital 'R' and has two parallel lines running at the top. The parallel lines symbolize the equal to sign. Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Ambika Soni said the Rupee symbol was a nice blend of modernity and Indian culture. "The new symbol reflects and captures the Indian ethos and culture", the cabinet said in a statement. The symbol selected has been designed by an Indian Institute of Technology postgraduate D. Udaya Kumar and was selected from among five short listed symbols. Kumar is with the Department of Design at IIT Guwahati. He explained that the design is based on the Indian Tricolour. "My design is based on the Tricolour with two lines at the top and white space in between. I wanted the symbol for the Rupee to represent the Indian flag. It is a perfect blend of Indian and Roman letters: a capital 'R', and Devnagari 'Ra', which represent rupiya, to appeal to international and Indian audiences" said Kumar. All new notes will now bear the symbol.

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