Protestas en India

Activistas en India protestan por el alza de los combustibles.

Fuel protests in India

Protests against the higher cost of fuel are continuing in India for a second day. Now, the Indian Prime Minister has called on politicians to spend less, so the money saved can be put to use for the country's poor. Karishma Vaswani reports from Mumbai.

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The Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, is calling it a moral duty. He's advised his government ministries to cut costs with the savings going to help the poor. The plan is to cut spending by as much as 1.4 billion dollars. The austerity measures include trimming back on overseas trips by bureaucrats, and a ban on meetings and conferences at five star hotels.

The belt tightening comes as India's government was criticised by voters and opposition parties for raising the price of fuel more than was expected earlier in the week. Angry consumers have taken to the streets in the states of West Bengal and Kerala. Indian TV channels are reporting that protests have also broken out in Tamil Nadu and Indore.

Acknowledging that the fuel price rise was a deeply unpopular move, Indian officials are hoping the austerity measures will signal to voters that the government is doing its part too. The country's governing coalition party faces a number of elections this year and a national one before May next year. Whether India's voters are convinced that the government is sincere will likely be reflected in the polling booth.

Karishma Vaswani, BBC, Mumbai

 Listen to the words

a moral duty
una obligación o un deber moral

The austerity measures
Las medidas austeras

trimming back on overseas trips
reducción en los viajes al extranjero

The belt tightening
Literalmente significa "El ajuste del cinturón" y es una metáfora para indicar ajustes económicos

taken to the streets
(consumidores enojados) salieron a las calles (a protestar)

broken out in
(protestas) han estallado (en Tamil Nadu e Indore)

a deeply unpopular move
una medida profundamente impopular

doing its part
(el gobierno) también está haciendo su parte

in the polling booth
en los centros de votación

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