反对派阻拦印度经济改革法律

AS IT IS 2015-08-11 Opposition¹ Blocks India’s Economic Reform Laws 反对派阻拦印度经济改革法律

In India, government efforts to reform the economy have slowed. The reason: the political opposition is blocking the passage of legislation through parliament.

For more than two weeks, India’s political opposition has blocked action in parliament. Opposition members are demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi dismiss his foreign minister and two state leaders. The targeted officials are accused of corruption².

Mr. Modi’s government has refused to dismiss the ministers, saying the accusations³ have not been proven.

The dispute in parliament has almost ended the government’s hopes of passing legislation related to tax reform and land purchases in the current term.

Dharmakirti Joshi is chief economist⁴ at the ratings agency Crisil in Mumbai. He says these two bills were the centerpiece of the government’s promise to make India an easier place to do business. 

“What is happening in respect to both the bills is that there is delay and dilution⁵ of content. If they don’t get cleared, yes, it will be a hit to the sentiment and it will constraint⁶ growth going ahead,” he said.

The tax reform bill is known as the Goods and Services Tax. It aims to create a single market across India. It would do this by replacing the many different taxes levied⁷ by individual states with a single sales tax.

The land bill would have made it easier for industry to acquire land to put up factories. However, those plans have also been delayed after the opposition denounced them as “anti-farmer.”

Prime Minister Modi is having a difficult time passing laws because his government does not command a majority in the upper house of parliament.

Satish Misra studies Indian politics for the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. He blames the government for not doing enough to build ties with the opposition. 

“They will have to take the opposition on board, only then things will start moving…the government is not willing to concede even an inch to the opposition.”

The political impasse⁸ is affecting the Indian economy. In a recent report, Moody’s said the disputes are hurting business confidence – how business leaders feel about current economic conditions. The credit ratings agency added that the government’s failure to deliver promised reforms could slow growth.

Prime Minister Modi came to power last year on the promise of restoring momentum⁹ to a slowing economy. Growth has picked up, but the rate of change has been slower than expected from a man who many had hoped would change India’s business climate.

Words in This Story

centerpiece – n. the most important part of something

levied – v. the use of legal power to collect taxes

acquire – v. to come to own or have something

impasse – n. a situation where further progress is blocked

deliver – v. to take to a person or place

momentum – n. the strength of force something has when it is moving

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

3 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

4 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

5 dilution   

n.稀释，淡化

参考例句：

• There is no hard and fast rule about dilution.至于稀释程度，没有严格的规定。
• He attributed this to a dilution effect of the herbicide.他把这归因于除草剂的稀释效应。

6 constraint   

n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物

参考例句：

• The boy felt constraint in her presence.那男孩在她面前感到局促不安。
• The lack of capital is major constraint on activities in the informal sector.资本短缺也是影响非正规部门生产经营的一个重要制约因素。

7 levied   

征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税

参考例句：

• Taxes should be levied more on the rich than on the poor. 向富人征收的税应该比穷人的多。
• Heavy fines were levied on motoring offenders. 违规驾车者会遭到重罚。

8 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

9 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。