New Delhi, Aug. 17 -- The silver rate today moved in the wrong direction, and it moved by exactly one hundred rupees.

Rs.2,49,900 a kilogram, down from Rs.2,50,000 on Sunday. Over the same weekend, the futures contract that number is supposed to descend from went up by nearly three thousand.

Start with the counter. Today silver rate is Rs.249.90 a gram, which is Rs.2,499 for ten grams and Rs.2,49,900 for a kilogram. That is the quote in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Pune and Ahmedabad. The silver rate today in Delhi and the silver rate today in the western metros are, for once, identical to the rupee. The south is not. Chennai, Hyderabad and Kerala all quote Rs.2,549 for ten grams, or Rs.2,54,900 a kilogram, a flat Rs.5,000 premium...