Language stew

But if language unites in Kerala, the story in Belgaum is more anxiety causing in Dilli. The Centre's stand that Marathi-majority Belgaum should remain a part of Karnataka has naturally got tempers high in Maharashtra.


Meanwhile, Karnataka has got a Maharashtra company to build a new secretariat building in Belgaum, which subtly underlines its claim to the city. Linguistic jingoism and politics always make a potent mix, and with the political class always ready to stoke the fires of regional pride, this stew is likely to continue simmering for some time.

Sign of the times
Its designer is off to Guwahati to join the IIT's design faculty, but the Indian rupee has decided to climb into the mega league of major currencies ufffd dollar, euro, pound sterling and yen ufffd with a unique identification symbol.u00a0 The symbol selected by the Union Cabinet from among five short-listed designs, reflects the Devnagari (Hindi) alphabet standing for "R" with two lines, in accordance with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's wish for a symbol which reflects the Indian ethos and culture.

Interestingly, the decision to have a monetary symbol was taken only last year. The idea is to distinguish the Indian rupee from other "rupee" nations like Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. But it may take some time before it is adapted for computer keyboards, even if software experts say that incorporating the new symbol will not be much of a challenge.

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