ECONOMICS

Chapter 1: Development

1. Development of a country can generally be determined by

(i) its per capita income
(ii) its average literacy levels
(iii) health status of its people
iv) all the above
Answer: (iv) all the above

2. Which of the following neighbouring countries has better performance in terms

of human development than India?
(i) Bangladesh
(ii) Sri Lanka
(iii) Nepal
(iv) Pakistan
Answer: (ii) Sri Lanka

3. Assume there are four families in a country. The average per capita income of
these families is Rs 5000. If the income of three families is Rs 4000, Rs 7000 and Rs
3000 respectively, what is the income of the fourth family?
(i) Rs 7500
(ii) Rs 3000
(iii) Rs 2000
(iv) Rs 6000
Answer: (iv) Rs 6000
Explanation:
Let x be the income of the fourth family.
So, according to the question, (4000 + 7000 + 3000 + x) ÷ 4 = 5000
14000 + x = 5000 × 4
x = 20000 – 14000 = 6000 Rupees

4. What is the main criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different
countries? What are the limitations of this criterion, if any?
World Bank classifies different countries on the basis of the per capita income or
the average income of a person in the country. It is calculated by dividing the
total income of the country by the population of the country.
The limitations of the criterion are:
 It does not give any information about the distribution of the average
income among the people in a country.
 It ignores important factors like literacy rate, infant mortality rate,
healthcare, etc. which play a crucial role in the development of a country.
 It does not tell anything about the population of the country.
5. In what respects is the criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development
different from the one used by the World Bank?

The criterion used by UNDP is different from the one used by the World Bank. While
World bank only uses per capita income for measuring the development of a
country UNDP besides considering per capita incomes, compares countries on
the basis of the educational level of the people, healthcare facilities and infant
mortality rate which are important in improving the quality of life and making the
citizens more productive.

6. Why do we use averages? Are there any limitations to their use? Illustrate with
your own examples related to development.

We use averages as they are useful for comparing differing quantities of the same
category. There are limitations of calculating averages because this does not give
any information about the distribution of a things between people. For example,
the per capita income does not show the distribution of income. It does not show
the percentage of the poor in the population. For an example, if a country has
very high per capita income then we can’t say that citizens
living in that country are very rich because we are not knowing about the
distribution of wealth in that country. Some people might be richer while other
people are very poorer in that country.

Example: refer NCERT text page 9

7. Kerala, with lower per capita income has a better human development ranking
than Haryana. Hence, per capita income is not a useful criterion at all and should
not be used to compare states. Do you agree? Discuss.

No, I do not agree with the statement that per capita income is not a useful
criterion at all. But per capita income alone should not be used to measure
development. Factors such as health status, education level, and Net Attendance
Ratio are also crucial for overall human development. However, if we are
interested in comparing only the production and income generated of two or
more states then per capita income can be used as a criterion for measuring
development.

8. Find out the present sources of energy that are used by the people in India.
What could be the other possibilities fifty years from now?
The present sources of energy used by people in India include firewood, coal,
petroleum, crude oil and natural gas. The other possibilities fifty years from now
could be using solar energy, wind energy, nuclear energy, geothermal energy,
hydrogen energy, tidal energy, wave energy, hydroelectric energy, biomass
energy, etc., as source of energy for varied purposes. This is because the current
usage of sources of energy have shown signs of exhaustion. It is believed that if
we continuously use these sources of energy their stock will not last for more than
50 years.

9. Why is the issue of sustainability important for development?

Sustainable development is a development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the needs of future generations. The issue of sustainability
is important for development because if the natural resources are not used
carefully, they may not be available for future generations. It ensures
development in relation to future needs. If the available resources are misused it
will ultimately result in a lack of development of the country. Thus, sustainability is
the capability to use resources judiciously and maintain the ecological balance.

10. “The Earth has enough resources to meet the needs of all but not enough to
satisfy the greed of even one person”. How is this statement relevant to the
discussion of development? Discuss.
The statement, “The Earth has enough resources to meet the needs of all but not
enough to satisfy the greed of even one person” is completely relevant in terms
of the development of a country because both resources and development go
hand in hand. For the sustainability of development, the maintenance of
resources is very crucial. All the natural resources are non-renewable and will
exhaust if not used cautiously. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the people to use
them only to meet their needs and not to satisfy their greed. If natural resources
are not used wisely now, the future generations may not be able to use them to
meet their needs.

11. List a few examples of environmental degradation that you may have
observed around you.
A few examples of environmental degradation that we can observe around us
are: Air pollution, Water pollution, Deforestation, Soil Erosion, Falling levels of
ground water, Ozone depletion, Noise pollution.