The rupee makes its mark.

In a sign Of its increasing role in the global economy, India recently joined the exclusive club of nations whose currencies have their own internationally recognized symbol. (The other currencies are the U.S. dollar, the British pound, the Japanese yen, and the euro, which is the common currency of 16 European nations.) The new rupee symbol was designed by a student at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, whose design was chosen from 3,000 submissions, and earned him a prize of 250,000 rupees (about $5,400). It will also help distinguish India's rupee from others with similar names, like the Nepalese and Pakistani rupee. It can take several years for a currency symbol to be adopted around the world. The next step is a review by the Unicode Consortium, which creates standard computer coding for many of the world's languages. If it passes, you'll soon find the new rupee symbol on keyboards worldwide.

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