VOA标准英语2010年-India's Software Industry Slams Ban by

India has criticized a ban imposed by the U.S. state of Ohio on outsourcing of government projects to offshore¹ locations. India feels this signals the rise of protectionist sentiment in the U.S.

The global recession had reduced the flow of outsourcing work from companies based in Western countries to Indian Information Technology (IT) companies. But in the past year, the industry has recovered from the slowdown and posted good profits.

However a recent ban imposed in the state of Ohio on off shoring of government IT and back office projects has raised fresh worries. This means that American companies which outsource work to overseas locations cannot bid for state government projects. Ohio governor Ted² Strickland said that sending work abroad deprives the state of employment opportunities.

The ban by Ohio does not directly affect India's software sector³, which mostly earns its revenues from large private sector companies.

However, India says the measure violates the practice of free trade, and has slammed the step as discriminatory.

A senior government minister, Kamal Nath, says the challenge for India is to face the rise of protectionism.  

"Outsourcing is an economic issue," he said. "It is not something they do us as a favor. U.S. companies to remain competitive must be able to outsource.' 

India says it will raise its concerns at a high-level trade policy meeting between the two countries to be held in Washington later this month. 

The Indian industry fears that calls for a ban on sending jobs overseas could spread to other states in the U.S. which is facing high unemployment.

Those worries intensified⁴ after President Barack Obama recently said that for years tax breaks have encouraged companies to create jobs in other nations. He said he proposes to expand tax credit to firms for research and innovation done in the U.S.

Kris Gopalakrishnan, who heads India's second largest IT company, Infosys, says only a brisk global recovery will ease worries about the loss of jobs.  

"The medium to long term solution obviously is the global economy improving, unemployment coming down," said Gopalakrishnan.

The $60 billion Indian IT industry earns nearly two-thirds of its revenues from companies based in the United States.

The industry has flourished by doing a variety of work such as accounting⁵, payroll⁶ or software development for many of the world's biggest companies. India's vast pool of skilled software engineers whose salaries are far lower than those in the U.S. or Europe make it possible to do the work for a fraction of the cost in the West.
 

1 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

2 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

3 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

4 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

6 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。