Indian contest for rupee symbol

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 recognized symbol.

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.

Guidelines for entries:
"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 short listed 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).

Implementing 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).The contest is open only to resident Indians, a release on the ministry website says. Detailed guidelines on how to prepare the entries have been put up on the finance ministry's website.

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India lauds Obama climate plan but sees concerns

India's chief climate envoy Shyam Saran said on Friday he welcomed President Barack Obama's policy on climate change but warned there would be no global deal if rich nations insisted on emission targets for all.

"There is no doubt that Obama has brought a renewed focus…(but )negotiations at a key Copenhagen climate summit in December would not yield any results if Western nations linked any cut in their emissions to targets accepted by developing countries"Indian prime minister's special envoy on climate change, said in his first comments on Obama's policy speech.

Saran repeated India's stance that it was not in a position to commit to an emissions target.

About 190 countries are trying to craft a broader climate treaty by December to replace the Kyoto Protocol that only binds wealthy nations to emissions targets between 2008 and 2012.

Rich and poor countries remain divided over funds for clean energy investment and technology transfer, as well as new targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions blamed for causing droughts, floods and disease.Developing nations such as India and China -- among the world's worst polluters -- are exempt from adopting emission targets under the Kyoto Protocol because they need to burn fossil fuels to lift massive chunks of their population out of poverty.

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Downturn Creeping Into Asia

Japan’s exports fell by 46 percent in January, and Hong Kong’s economy contracted 2.5 percent in the last three months of 2008, furthering signs that the economic downturn in Asia is set to drag on through this year.

Japan leads recession in Asia:
The Japanese economy was one of the first in Asia to tip into recession since last three months of 2008 as weakness stemming from poor domestic demand was mixed with evaporating demand from overseas. Exports plunged 46 percent from a year earlier and imports dropped 32 percent. Similar sharp declines have been reported recently by China and Taiwan also.

Worsening Yen:
Japan’s export decline was significant from a grim December 2008, when exports fell 35 percent. The yen — whose strength against the dollar has made Japanese goods more expensive for American consumers — has weakened during the last three weeks, trading at around 97 to the dollar on Wednesday, compared with about 89 in early February.
Exporters have continually cited the yen as a main reason for sharply reduced sales that are expected to lead to deep losses this year.


Rest of the Continent:
In Hong Kong, the government said on Wednesday that it expected the economy to shrink 2 to 3 percent in 2009. Elsewhere in the region, South Korea said it would start a $13.2 billion fund to bolster its commercial banks .India had Malaysia have already recorded the slowest growth in at least last seven years.
Much of Asia’s growth in recent years was based on an export boom, allowing the recession in the United States and Europe to spread through a region that had been insulated from the American financial troubles that ignited the current downturn.

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