印度议员：应对奢华婚礼征税10%

前不久，河南汤阴发生了一起新郎为高额彩礼在新婚之夜锤死新娘的惨案，就在惨案发生前后，河南多地出台文件划定“彩礼指导标准”，目的是杀杀农村的高价彩礼风。无独有偶，日前印度一名议员也提出对奢华婚礼征税，以遏制婚礼浪费这一普遍问题，缓解穷人的婚礼负担。

An Indian lawmaker wants her compatriots to stop spending so much money on weddings.
印度的一名议员希望她的同胞不要在婚礼上砸这么多钱。

Ranjeet Ranjan, a member of parliament from the eastern state of Bihar, plans to introduce a bill designed to curb excessive wedding expenses in India.
来自印度东部比哈尔邦的一名议员兰吉特•兰詹计划提出一项议案来抑制印度过多的婚礼花费。

The proposal, should it become law, would require families that shell out more than 500,000 rupees ($7500) on nuptials to donate 10% of the money spent to a special government fund. The money raised would be used to help poorer families pay for their own weddings.
这项提案如果成为法律，它将要求每户婚礼花费超过50万卢比（7500美元）的家庭捐出10%的钱给一项政府特别基金。募集的资金将用来帮助贫穷的家庭支付婚礼费用。

The bill would also authorize the government to "fix the limit of guests and relatives and number of dishes to be served" in order to prevent food wastage.
法案将让政府有权“限制参加婚礼的宾客亲友的人数和菜量”以防止食物浪费。

"In our country there are so many million people who don't have two meals to eat everyday, and even they have to get their children married," Ranjan said in an interview on Thursday.
兰詹16日在一次访谈中说：“在我们的国家还有数不清的人每天连两顿饭都吃不上，而他们还要支付儿女的婚礼费用。”

The lawmaker did not elaborate on how wedding spending would be monitored. But one of her representatives said that "police and other officials" will enforce the rules.
这位议员没有详细说明将如何监管婚礼花费。不过她的一位代表说“警察和其他官员”将执行相关法规。

Weddings are a huge industry in India, with an estimated 10 million taking place each year. It's not uncommon for Indian parents to start saving for their children's weddings decades in advance.
婚礼在印度是个大产业，每年举行的婚礼估计可达1000万场。在印度，父母们提前几十年为孩子的婚礼存钱并不少见。

The ceremonies are often lavish, multiple-day affairs, with many costing thousands -- sometimes millions -- of dollars. Guest lists run into the hundreds and can even stretch into the thousands.
婚礼通常持续数天，极为奢华，很多婚礼都是花费数千——有时是数百万——美元。婚礼邀请的宾客多达数百人，甚至数千人。

"You won't believe how much they spend, just one lunch will cost 2 million rupees ($30,000)," Ranjan said. "Many middle-income families do not have a lot of money, but because of Indian society they feel the need to put on a display."
兰詹说：“你都不敢相信他们居然花了这么多钱，仅仅是一顿午饭就能花掉200万卢比（3万美元）。许多中等收入家庭并没有很多钱，但因为身处印度社会他们觉得有必要撑撑场面。”

Those who can, do. A Bangalore-based mining baron, for example, reportedly spent around $75 million on Brazilian samba dancers and bouncers (among other things) for his daughter's wedding in November.
那些有钱的，婚礼肯定会大花特花。有一个班加罗尔的矿业巨头去年11月给女儿操办婚礼，据说在巴西桑巴舞者和保镖上就花了约7500万美元。

Ranjan aims to introduce her bill in early March during the ongoing session of parliament.
兰詹计划在三月初印度议会开会期间提出这一议案。