Economics- Ch-1-Development
1. What is development? What are two aspects of development?
• Development is such a situation that can fulfil the aspiration or Desire of people. It is the
progress or improvement in the lifestyle of the people.
• Two aspects of development are:
(a) Different person can have different development goals.
(b) What may be development for one may not be development for the others.
2. How do different people have different developmental goals? Explain with examples.
• People have different developmental goals because they come from different backgrounds.
• For example, a developmental goal for a farmer might be better irrigation facilities, while for an
unemployed youth it may mean employment opportunities.
3. What is average income or per capita income?
• When the total national income is divided by the total population, it is called the per capita
income.
• Per Capita Income = National Income / Population
4. Explain the three components of the Human Development Index.
The three components of the Human Development Index are:
• It includes the level of development of a country.
• It indicates how far a country has traveled and how far it has yet to travel to achieve high
ranks in matters such as the per capita income of the people.
• It includes important welfare elements such as life expectancy, literacy, educational level of
people, and health status.
5. Suggest any three ways to maintain Body Mass Index.
The three ways to maintain Body Mass Index (BMI) are:
• It is important to exercise at least 60-90 minutes most days of the week.
• Stay hydrated and eat a balanced diet.
• Avoid fast food and oily food.
6. ‘Money cannot buy all the goods and services that one needs to live well.’ Explain.
• Money or material things that one can buy with it is one factor on which our life depends. But
the quality of our life also depends upon non-material things like equal treatment, freedom,
security, respect of others, etc.
• Money cannot buy us a pollution free environment, unadulterated medicines, peace, etc.
• There are many facilities like schools, colleges, parks, hospitals which an individual cannot
afford. All these are to be provided by the government/society.
• Money possessed by an individual even can not provide us a type of government which take
decisions for the welfare of the common people.
7. Define the following terms: (i) IMR (ii) Literacy Rate (iii) NAR
(i) Infant Mortality Rate (or IMR) indicates the number of children that die before the age of
one year as a proportion of 1000 live children born in that particular year.
(ii) Literacy Rate measures the proportion of literate population in the 7 years and above age
group.
(iii) Net Attendance Ratio is the total number of children of age group 6-10 years attending school
as a percentage of the total number of children in the same age group.
8. Why are public facilities needed for the development of the country ? Explain four public
facilities.
Public facilities play very important role in the development of a country as these include education,
health, transportation, banking which are the base for any kind of development.
(i) Education : Education is the most important public facility which is required both by the rich
as well as the poor.
(ii) Public Distribution System (PDS) : Public distribution system is another important facility
which plays an important role in providing food security to the people.
(iii) Transportation : Many transport facilities like railway, airways, waterways, banking become
affordable only if they are provided collectively.
9. What is meant by sustainable development? Explain it by taking the case study of water.
(i) Sustainable development is the development of a country or world not only at present, but the
development which is to be continued and maintained for future generations.
(ii) For example, groundwater is a natural resource which is replenished by nature. People of a
particular generation must use water in such a way that people of future generation may also be
able to use groundwater. People should not overuse and degrade the quality of water so that
water is exhausted or if it remains, it is contaminated to such an extent that it becomes
unusable for people of future generations.
10. "Sustainability of development is a crucial aspect in present times". Support the statement
with examples.
It is felt that the economic growth and industrialisation have led to reckless exploitation of natural
resources. Sustainability promotes a rational use of natural resources.
(i) Currently, reckless exploitation of non-renewable natural resources is going on. Since the
stock of natural resources like oil and minerals is limited, development should not take place
at the cost of these scare natural resources as they are not renewable in the near future.
(ii) Ground water is an example of renewable resource. But if we use more than what is
replenished by nature, then we would be overusing this resource.
(iii) Once the non-renewable resources would be exhausted, we would not be able to use them in
future. So, using the resources judiciously will help in maintaining the sustainability of
development of our ecosystem.
(iv) Economic development is a continuous process. Resources are to be used in such a way that
they are not exploited. At the same time, development should not harm the environment.