Thursday, September 8 2005 15:28 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India yesterday (Sept 7, 2005) said it would soon be issuing upgraded Rs 50 denomination banknotes with improved security features, but there would be no change in its size, colour, design or images.

Some of the portraits in the new currency notes, bearing the signature of RBI Governor Y V Reddy, would be printed in intaglio, an engraved design, which makes it easy for the visually impaired to identify it.

"The portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, the Reserve Bank seal, guarantee and promise clause, Ashoka Pillar emblem on the left, RBI Governor's signature and identification mark for the visually impaired are printed in intaglio (in raised prints). And have been made more prominent by raising the depth," an RBI statement said in New Delhi.

The notes would also have a machine-readable security thread that would give out an yellow glow when kept under ultraviolet light.

Besides, it would have an electrolyte watermark in the watermark window, where the denomination 50 would appear alongside the Mahatma Gandhi portrait.

An Omron anti-copying feature (tiny yellow circles in the right hand margin) and see-through register are other features of the new notes.

The new series 2005 banknotes with the enhanced security features would be released shortly, the Bank said adding that the banknotes issued earlier would continue to be legal tender.