India’s Currency Ban Under Fire One Year Later
时间:2019-01-03 作者:英语课 分类:2017年VOA慢速英语(十一)月
It’s been a year since India’s government banned the use of high-value paper money. That decision is being heavily criticized by some individuals and groups.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi – who ordered the action in November 2016 – has repeatedly defended his decision. The move removed India’s 500 and 1,000 rupee notes from use.
Modi has said the ban was necessary to fight corruption 1 and target “black money.” Black money is a term used to describe undeclared wealth that is not taxed. He said the move was also intended to get rid of fake currency and reduce terror financing.
The ban affected 2 about 86 percent of the country’s currency. It led to huge cash shortages for nearly two months. Millions of people stood in long bank lines to get cash for their daily needs.
About 75 percent of India’s workforce 3 depends on the country’s cash economy for employment.
Some critics say the ban greatly harmed India’s economy at a time when it was experiencing healthy growth. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called the move “reckless.”
Singh recently spoke 4 out against the ban again, saying that “nowhere in the world has any democracy undertaken such a coercive move.” He said the measure was hurting small and medium businesses across the country.
The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy is a Mumbai-based think tank. It estimated that about 1.5 million jobs were lost in the first four months of 2017 following the currency ban.
But government officials recently declared the year-old policy a success and celebrated 5 the anniversary as “anti-black money day.”
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Facebook the country’s dependence 6 on cash had fallen by nearly 3.89 trillion rupees. He also said the cash to Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, rate dropped from 12 to 9 percent over the past year.
The finance ministry 7 said the policy led to about 5.6 million new taxpayers 8 being added. And the Reserve Bank of India said new data showed that digital money transactions tripled.
But the opposition 9 Congress party held demonstrations 10 in major cities to protest what they believe is a failed policy. “It has ruined the lives of millions of hard-working Indians,” the party’s Vice 11 President Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter.
The policy also affects people in neighboring Nepal. There, thousands of migrant workers held old currency notes that could not be exchanged before the date to do so passed.
Nepalese officials are currently seeking help from India to provide a way to exchange the nearly 55 million in Indian currency notes held by its citizens.
I’m Bryan Lynn.
Words in This Story
intend – v. to plan or want to do (something): to have (something) in your mind as a purpose or goal?
rid – v. to cause (someone or something) to no longer have or be affected by (someone or something unwanted)?
fake – adj. not true or real
currency – n. ?the money that a country uses: a specific kind of money?
cash – n. ready money; paper money and coins
data – n. facts or information used usually to calculate, analyze 12, or plan something
digital – adj. using or characterized by computer technology?
reckless – adj. doing something dangerous and not caring about what might happen
coercive – adj. using force to persuade people to do things they are unwilling 13 to do
transaction – n. a deal involving the buying or selling of something
- 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。
- She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
- His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
- A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
- A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。
- They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
- The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
- He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
- The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。
- Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
- He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。
- They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
- We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。
- Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
- She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。
- 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。
- Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
- The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。
- He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
- They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
- We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
- The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。