
The Indian government sponsored a competition to design a currency symbol for the Indian Rupee, heralding its role as an important player in the world economy, backed by a 1.2 trillion dollar (or thereabouts) GDP. The new "brand" will differentiate India's currency from other countries who also use rupees. The winner, pictured above, was approved by the Cabinet last Friday, a combination of a roman 'R' and the Devanagri 'Ra' (below), by IIT graduate D Udaya Kumar.
Though the symbol will not be printed on the currency, it will be included in the Unicode Standard, facilitating easy use by both electronic and print media. According to India's Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, the symbol will be adopted within six months inside india, and 18-24 months in the rest of the world.
Read more about the symbol here.

D Udaya Kumar. Photo: Daiji World.
Comments
man the old one looked so much better... the world has lost all of its taste in good design. I mean ytf dont the top bars chop off on the same angle?
What 'old one'? The shown examples are the variation of the same symbol... like two different fonts. And the angle of the top bar, is called 'Shiro-rekha' in devnagari typography. And it is at an angle because it is supposed to be, as per rules of the script. I don't think you are equipped well enough to comment on world's design tastes.