Influence of Rupee Symbol In

8/8/2019 Influence of Rupee Symbol In

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INFLUENCE OF NEWRUPEE SYMBOL IN

INDIAN ECONOMY

Economic boom

It will become as globally recognised as signs for the dollar, the yen, the pound

and the euro.

Ministers made their final decision at a cabinet meeting after examining a

shortlist of five designs inspired by the letter "R" in the Roman alphabet and "Ra"

from the ancient Devanagari script used in Hindi.

"This establishes the arrival of the Indian currency as a robust currency on an

international platform and I think every Indian should be proud about it,"

AmbikaSoni, the minister for information, told reporters.

"Some of us in the cabinet tried to write it out and it is not difficult at all," she

said.

The rupee is currently referred to by the abbreviations "Rs", "Re" or "INR",

though it remains uncertain whether the new symbol will be widely taken up.

Udaya Kumar, a post-graduate student at the Indian Institute of Technology,submitted the design which beat 3,000 other entries in a national competition to

win a cash prize of 250,000 rupees (5,350 dollars).

"The guidelines asked us to incorporate Indian culture and traditions, and be

suitable for computer keyboards," he told the NDTV news channel. "My design

has a horizontal line which also makes the tricolour of the Indian flag."

The government plans to introduce the symbol on computers shortly and to have

it in regular international use within two years.


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India's economy has experienced rapid growth since liberalisation reforms in the

early 1990s reduced controls on foreign trade and investment, and the country is

widely forecast to become a global superpower.

The Indian government predicts the economy will grow by 8.5 percent this fiscal

year and should hit double-digit expansion within five years.

Residents in the Indian capital New Delhi welcomed the new symbol.

"This is the first time I am seeing it, and it looks good," MuskanDhawan, a 22-

year-old student, told AFP in Connaught Place, a shopping area in the centre of

the city.

"As an Indian I feel proud that we are doing this for our economy to be

recognised abroad," she said.

Other locals said it reminded them of the euro sign, and predicted it would soon

catch on.

"I haven't heard of it before, but as an accountant I think I will have to use it a

lot," said Menu Kumar, 24.

In India's financial capital Mumbai, RitikaMankar, an economist with investment

banking group Execution Noble described the symbol as unique and easily

identifiable.

What does the new Rupee symbol mean to a

layman?

With this, the Indian Rupee has joined the elite club of currencies like US Dollar,

British Pound, Japanese Yen and the Euro, which are the only other four

currencies in the world to have a distinct symbol.

At this juncture, the Government has no plans to print the symbol on currency

notes or coins. It will be included in the Unicode standard and in major scripts of

the world so that is displayed and printed in electronic and print media.

Many luminaries have chorused the view that the new symbol heralds Indias

arrival on the international scene and that the country is now ready to take on

the world. But are we? Is this statement more an aspiration than reality? What

does the new symbol mean to the common man? A reality check is essential.

First, economic progress in grand manner notwithstanding, a recent report by

Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative indicates that there are 421

million multi-dimensionally poor people in eight of the Indian states (Bihar,

Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and

West Bengal) as against 410 million poor people in 26 of the poorest African


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countries.

The study uses different indicators of poverty such as health, housing, education,

nutrition, access to basic services like drinking water, sanitation, cooking fuel

and electricity.

This simply means the common man needs basic things first to be able to

appreciate and participate in Indias ascension to global biggie status.

Second, four currencies before the Indian Rupee opted for unique symbol in

order to distinguish themselves in global financial transactions. These four are

also the most freely convertible currencies in the world today.

Can you think of a major international financial transaction dealt in any other

currency other than these four? Its a rarity. Where does Indian Rupee stack up

here? Indian Rupee is neither treated as a reserve currency nor is it asconvertible as these currencies, which simply means Indian Rupee does not carry

the same weight as the four currencies carrying a symbol today.

There is no doubt that the new Indian Rupee looks classy. It aptly represents our

cultural heritage. But it stops there. Everything else the symbol is intended is

statement of aspiration and seems far away from truth.

If the genius cartoonist R K Laxman was in good health he would have explained

in his typical inimitable style what the new Indian Rupee symbol means to the

common man.

Reflects strength of economy

The Indian rupee will soon have a distinct and identifiable symbol that would

reflect the strength of the over-trillion-dollar economy. The Indian currency will

now join an exclusive club of international currencies the US dollar, the British

pound, the Japanese yen and the euro that have their own symbols.

The new symbol, which is a blend of the Devanigiri Ra' and roman R', has been

designed by Bombay IIT post-graduate Mr D. Udaya Kumar and approved by the

Union Cabinet today. Mr Kumar's design was selected from amongst 3,000

entries received in a public competition. The entries were evaluated by a jury

headed by the RBI Deputy Governor.

Showcasing strength

It's a big statement on the Indian currency.. It would lend a distinctive character

and identity to the currency and further highlight the strength and robustness of

the Indian economy as also a favoured destination for global investments, Ms

AmbikaSoni, Information & Broadcasting Minister, told reporters after a Cabinet

meeting.


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Ms Soni also said that the State Governments would be impressed upon to

encourage the use of the new Rupee symbol and proactively promote its use.

The symbol would better distinguish the Indian currency from those countries

whose currencies are also designated as Rupee or Rupiah, such as Pakistan,

Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, she added.

The Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee said in a statement that India's

currency will now have a distinct identity that will be internationally recognised

at par with other international currencies like dollar, pound and yen.

The symbol will not be embossed or printed on currency notes or coins. There

will have to be changes to the software packages and keyboards to ensure

widespread usage of the symbol.

Unicode standard

Software industry experts feel that adoption of the new rupee symbol could take

up to 18-24 months. As a first step, the new symbol will have to be included in

the Unicode standard an international encoding scheme used to uniquely

identify characters.

The symbol will also be included in the Indian standard Indian script Code for

Information Interchange (ISCII). The ISCII specifies various codes for Indian

languages for processing on computers along with keyboard layouts.

Ms Soni said that the encoding of the symbol in Indian standards is likely to take

about six months.

After encoding of the symbol in the Unicode Standard and National Standard, the

Nasscom will approach software development companies for incorporating the

rupee symbol in their software, as a new programme or as an update. This will

enable computer users worldwide to use the symbol even if it is not embedded

on the keyboards. (much like the euro symbol, which is not embedded in the

keyboards in use in India).

When contacted, a Microsoft spokesperson said that Once the Unicode

consortium gives its nod and vendors get notification of the same, we can

include the new symbol in the next release.

For incorporating the symbol in the keyboards to be manufactured in India, the

Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology (MAIT) will ask its

members to make changes in the production process after the Bureau of Indian

Standard (BIS) notifies the symbol as the keyboard standard.


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Once the standards are frozen, it will take us one quarter to integrate the

changes in the hardware, said a spokesperson from HCL Infosystems, a

computer maker.

A TVS Electronics official said that the company would just take a month to get

the new keyboards ready (either through a new key or conversion of a functionalkey into a Rupee key).

With a new symbol, the issue of full capital accountconvertibility will be revived again

Evoking national spirit and international attention the Indian rupee attained a new avatar in itsnew symbol. A distinct identity with a blend of the Devanagri Ra' and Roman R', the Indiancurrency will be joining the elite club of the U.S. dollar, the European euro, the British poundsterling and the Japanese yen.

This would distinguish the Indian currency from its neighbouring countries' Pakistan,Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia similarly known rupee or rupiah.

While declaring the intention of the government to have a symbol for the Indian rupee, UnionFinance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had stated in his last budget presentation that: Weintend to formalise a symbol for the Indian rupee, which reflects and captures the Indian

ethos and culture.

With this, Indian rupee will join the select club of currencies such as the U.S. dollar, Britishpound sterling, euro and the Japanese yen that have a clear distinguishing identity.

Political dimension

The growth story of India is intact and many would be interested in correlating the newsymbol with its economic growth and ambition to become an economic super power.

However, the introduction of the new symbol is having a political dimension. While PranabMukherjee spoke about ethos of the country in Parliament, it was definitely, on the largestdemocracy of the world. As compared to other Asian powers, especially China, India'sstrength lies in its democracy.

This new symbol is also considered as a step towards internationalisation of Indian rupee.

While the U.S. dollar, the British pound, the euro and the Japanese yen are widely tradedcurrencies, Indian rupee is only partially convertible.

Further, majority of world's currencies are also floating. Convertible currencies are defined as

currencies that are readily bought, sold and converted without the permission from a central


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bank or government entity. The Indian rupee is only partially convertible as the central bankcontrols the international investments flowing in and out of the country.

With a new symbol, the issue of full capital account convertibility would be revived again.However, the recent global financial crisis again proved that India would not be able to take

such risks though one may say this as a weakness for the Indian currency in the global arena.

The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh in a speech at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) onMarch 18, 2006, referred to the need to revisit the subject of capital account convertibility.He had said: Given the changes that have taken place over the last two decades, there ismerit in moving towards fuller capital account convertibility within a transparentframeworkI will therefore request the Finance Minister and the Reserve Bank to revisit thesubject and come out with a road map based on current realities. Y. V. Reddy, the thenGovernor of RBI, in consultation with the government, appointed on March 20, 2006, acommittee to set out the road map towards fuller capital account convertibility.

Capital flows

Volatile capital flows have been a central issue during the recent financial crisis, whichsurfaced around 2007-08, and continue to be so now as the crisis is ebbing. Emerging marketeconomies (EMEs) saw a sudden stop and reversal of capital flows during the crisis as aconsequence of global deleveraging.

India has followed a consistent policy on capital account convertibility in general and oncapital account management in particular. Our position is that capital account convertibilityis not a standalone objective but a means for higher and stable growth. We believe our

economy should traverse towards capital convertibility along a gradual path the path itselfbeing recalibrated on a dynamic basis in response to domestic and global developments. Post-crisis, that continues to be our policy. We will continue to move towards liberalising ourcapital account, but we will revisit the road map to reflect the lessons of the crisis, D.Subbarao, Governor, RBI, stated recently.

Correlation

The recent crisis has clearly been a turning point in the world view on capital controls.

The Asian crisis of the mid-90s demonstrated the risk of instability inherent in a fully opencapital account. Even so, the intellectual orthodoxy continued to denounce controls on capitalflows as being inefficient and ineffective. The recent crisis saw, across emerging economies,a rough correlation between the extent of openness of the capital account and the extent ofadverse impact of the crisis. Surely, said Dr. Subbarao this should not be read as adenouncement of open capital account, but a powerful demonstration of the tenet that

premature opening hurts more than it helps.

Notably, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a policy note in February this yearthat reversed its long held orthodoxy. The note has referred to certain circumstances inwhich capital controls can be a legitimate component of the policy response to surges in

capital flows'.


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Now that there is agreement that controls can be desirable and effective' in managing capitalflows in select circumstances. The Indian rupee is likely to remain a partially convertiblecurrency, at least in the near future as Dr. Subbarao put it: How emerging market economiesmanage the impossible trinity the impossibility of having an open capital account, a fixedexchange rate and independent monetary policy is going to have an impact on their

prospects for growth, price stability and financial stability.

Historically under the British Raj Indian rupee was fully convertible. While many starved andfamines hit the country, a small section was buying palaces and other assets in Europe.

Impacts on Indian & Foreign Economy

This new symbol is also considered as a step towards internationalisation of Indian rupee.

For the Indian rupee, which has grown in stature since economic and financial sector reformsstarted in 1991, the new symbol comes at a time when it is in robust health. While manymajor currencies, particularly the euro, have been battered by the storm in financial markets,the rupee, controlled by the Reserve Bank of India, has remained steady. From an exchangerate of 17.5 against the US dollar in 1990, when the country faced a severe balance of

payment crisis, the rupee is today at 46.21 against the dollar. India's foreign exchangereserves are now at $279 billion, a stark contrast to March 1990, when the $3.96 billion ofreserves were sufficient only for three weeks worth of imports.

It has been twisted to recognise the growing economic linkages between India and the worldand to more emphasize the power and strength of the Indian economy as a privileged goal forglobal investments.

The Indian rupee is trying to connect itself with the top four or five currencies and thusexemplify its supremacy in world economics. The brand bent has to be sold properly, both toIndians and the world. The rebranding is a sign of the bigger aspiration of India.

1. It could increase foreign investment in India.

2. It denotes the strength of Indian economy.

3. It may be new tax would be imposed on branches or subsidiaries or both of Indian andother foreign banks in the UK.

4. Provoked by the growing influence of the Indian economy in the global arena, reflectingthe Indian ethos and culture.

5. The symbol should be applicable to standard keyboard in whole world.

6. It is unfortunate that India is always represented with Hindi everywhere. It will please to


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position India as a multilingual country and give due credit to other Indian languages also byhelp of Indian rupee symbol Ra.

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Influence of Rupee Symbol In

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