聽BBC學英文 Learning English - Words in the News

 13 April, 2011 - Published 15:35 GMT

 

India 'telecoms scam' goes to court

 

 

india.JPG  

 

 

India's former telecoms minister has appeared in court over allegations of an almost $40 billion fraud. He is charged with accepting bribes in return for selling mobile phone licences for much less than they were actually worth. Sanjoy Majumder reports:

 

Andimuthu Raja and seven others, including two former bureaucrats, will be produced in a special court, which is expected to hold daily hearings, in one of the most high-profile trials in India. He's been charged with conspiracy, forgery and abuse of power. If convicted, he faces seven years in prison.

 

Mr Raja is accused of selling second-generation mobile phone licenses in 2008, at a fraction of their real value, an action estimated to have cost the government nearly $40 billion in lost revenue. He was forced to resign from the government and was arrested in February and has been in prison since.

 

The telecom scam has badly damaged the reputation of the government, which has been hit by a series of corruption scandals. Last week, wide public protests, led by an anti-corruption crusader, forced it to begin proceedings to strengthen India's anti-graft laws.

 

Sanjoy Majumder, BBC News, Delhi

 

  

Vocabulary

 

bureaucrats
officials who work for governments or other large organisations and follow rules very strictly

 

conspiracy
planning to carry out illegal activities

 

forgery
production of false or fake copies of something valuable (e.g. money or documents)

 

abuse of power
taking advantage of a position of authority in a selfish way

 

a fraction of
a small amount of

 

lost revenue
money which could have been earned

 

scam
illegal or dishonest scheme for making money

 

hit by
badly affected by

 

proceedings
an organised series of events or actions

 

anti-graft laws
regulations preventing powerful people from obtaining money dishonestly

  

*原始網頁可聽音檔:  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2011/04/110418_witn_jordan_mega_page.shtml 

 

 

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