Chapter 1 (Economics)
Development
What is development? Mention any two features.
Development is a comprehensive term which includes increase in real per capita
income, improvement in living standard of people, reduction of poverty, illiteracy, crime
rate, etc.
Features –
Different persons have different developmental goals.
Income is major component of development.
What is national income?
National income is defined as the total value of all the goods and services produced
within the country plus net income coming from abroad.
State the criteria used to compare the different countries by the Human Development
Report published by United Nations Development Programme.
Per capita income.
Life expectancy at birth
Literacy rate and other basic necessities like clean drinking water and sanitation.
Which is new area of knowledge in which scientists, economists, philosophers and
other new area of knowledge in which scientists, economists, philosophers and other?
Sustainable development.
What is meant by human development?
It is the process of enlarging people's freedoms, choices and opportunities by improving
their well-being so that they can lead to purposeful and creative life. It is about the real
freedom for ordinary people to decide who to be, what to do, and how to live.
What are the indicators of human development?
Primarily national income and per capita income are the indicators of human
development, but it includes many other elements like consumption, health,
environment, education, freedom, security, non- violent atmosphere etc.
Which organisation measures HDR? What are the main indicators of HDR?
UNDP is the organisation that measures HDR/HDI. The main indicators od HDR/HDI are -
Educational Level
Health Status
Per capita income
Mention any four characteristics of development?
Different people have different developmental goals.
Income is the most important feature of development but along with income people
also seek good health, peace, literacy and equal treatment.
What may be development for one may not be development for other, it may be
destruction for others.
People look at mixed goals for the purpose of development.
What are the characteristics of a developed country?
They have a high per capita income for example as per World Development Reports,
brought out by the World Bank. Countries with per capita income of US$ 63,400 per
annum and above in 2023, are called high income or rich countries and those with per
capita income of about US$ 2400 or less are called low-income countries.
India comes in the category of low middle income countries because its per capita
income in 2023 was just about US$10030 per annum.
The rich countries, excluding countries of Middle East and certain other small countries,
are generally called developed countries.
In what respect is the criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development
different from the one used by World Bank?
UNDP World Bank
UNDP has taken World Bank has taken per
education, health, life capita income as the
expectancy, and other base for economic
important components as development.
the base for development
It is a broader concept as It is a narrow concept as
it takes into account all it takes into account only
the important aspects of the income as the base,
human development
UNDP has ranked World bank has divided
countries based on the countries into low,
different components of upper and high income
development. For countries. India comes
example India has been under lower middle
ranked 132 as on 2021-22 income group.
out of 189 countries
Why is the issue of sustainability important for economic development?
It cares for the needs of future generation.
It promotes an efficient use of natural resources.
It lays emphasis on quality of life.
It provides solution for long run.
What is the limitation of per capita income as the criteria of development?
Per capita income is the average income of whole country which has to be variable from
individual income.
It takes into account only the economic aspect of life and ignores the social aspect of
life.
Per capita income ignores aspects like education, health, life expectancy, sanitation etc.
It also ignores criterions like peace, Pollution, environment, democracy etc.
Example – Punjab has a higher per capita income then Kerala but it has been ranked
lower on Human Development Index as Punjab is far behind then Kerala in literacy rate
and has a higher infant mortality ratio.
Rich Countries according to World Bank – Per capita income more than US$63,400.
Poor Countries according to World Bank – Per capita income Lower than US$2400 as per
the data of 2023.
What is PCI? Where is it used?
PCI is per capita income which is calculated by dividing the national income of a country
by total population.
It is used to compare different countries.
World Bank has divided countries into rich or low income countries on the basis of per
capita income.
What may be development for one may not be development for others. Explain with
examples?
The statement is true that what may be development for one may not be development
for others like -
Development for a landless labourer means more wages on the contrary development
for a land owing farmer is cheap labour i.e. less wages to cheap labourer.
Development for general public means cheap and constant electricity which is possible
through construction of dams but people residing there will loose their habitat.
What do you mean by national development? What are the aspects covered under
national development?
Development is a comprehensive term which includes increase in real per capita
income, improvement in living standard of people, reduction of poverty, illiteracy, crime
rate, etc.
It covers aspects like –
Use of resources in fair and just manner.
The programmes and policies which can benefit a large number of people are
implemented under this programme.
Under national development, countries focus more on infrastructure which includes
education, health and other social activities.
Besides income what are the other attributes to compare economic development?
Besides income health status and education level of people have to compared for
economic development which includes –
Infant Mortality Ratio(IMR) – The number of children that die before the age of 1 year
as a proportion of 1000 live children born in that particular year in a particular area.
Literacy Rate – It is calculated as the proportion of literate population in the seven years
and above age group.
Net Attendance Ratio – This is the total number of children of age group 14 and 15
attending school as a percentage of total number of children in the same age group.
Life Expectancy – It is the measure of average time a person is going to live based on its
birth, current age and other demographic factors including gender.
What do you mean by Infant Mortality Rate? Suggest few measures that can keep
infant mortality rate low.
The number of children that die before the age of 1 year as a proportion of 1000 live
children born in that particular year in a particular area.
Better Medical Facilities
Medial Camps in rural areas.
Hospitals in every localities
Measures that ensure proper nutrition to all the pregnant mothers.
Highlight any three advantages of Public facilities. Explain with examples?
It is the cheapest way to provide basic services collectively.
Most of the poor people survive only because of public facilities.
Services like police, education, transport etc become affordable only if they are a part of
public facilities.
Examples –
Education – Rich as well as poor require access to good education.
Public Distribution system – PDS is another which helps in providing food security to the
people.
Transportation – Transport facilities like Railways, Government Road transport etc
become affordable only because they are a part of public facility.
What is the criterion used to determine undernourishment in adults?
The criterion used to determine undernourishment in adults is Body Mass Index(BMI).
TO calculate it the weight of a person is measured in kg. Then height is measured in
metres and the weight is divided by square of height.
If the result is below 18.5, the person is said to be undernourished and if it is above 25
the person is said to be overweight.