Eco ch 1 DEVELOPMENT

 Textbook Questions 

4.Q.What is the main criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different countries? What are the limitations of this criterion, if any?

Answer: 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:

1.It does not give any information about the distribution of the average income among the people in a country.

2. It ignores important factors like literacy rate, infant mortality rate, healthcare, etc. which play a crucial role in the development of a country

3. This system hides disparities among people.

Q5 In what respects is the criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development different from the one used by the World Bank?

Ans.

1. The criterion used by World Bank: The average income, i.e. per capita income is the main criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different countries.

2.According to the World Development Report 2019 , published by the World Bank, countries with per capita income of $ 49300 per annum and above  called rich or developed countries. On the other hand, countries with per capita income of $2500 or less are called low-income countries.

3.The UNDP compares countries based on HDI  ie., on the educational levels of the people, their health status and per capital income or average income.

4.Human Development Index used by UNDP is better because it is a wider indicator in which besides per capital income, health and education are also included

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

Answer: We use averages as they are useful for comparing differing quantities of the same category. This does not show the distribution of things between people. There are limitations of calculating averages because this does not give any information about the distribution of a thing 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.

Q7.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.

Ans. 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. This is true because 

1. The literacy rate, infant mortality rate, healthcare facilities, etc. are better in Kerala in comparison to Haryana.

2. The per capita income is only calculated by calculating the average income of the state, irrespective of any other factor.

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?

Ans. 

1 The present sources of energy used by people in India include firewood, coal, petroleum, crude oil and natural gas. 

2 The other possibilities fifty years from now can be using solar energy and wind energy as a source for various energy forms. This is because the current usage of sources of energy may result in the loss of these resources for future generations.

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

Ans. Sustainable development maybe defined as development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs.

Features:

i) It is linked to sustainability since it has to be maintained for future generations.

ii) Resources are need to be used wisely so that they can be replenished. For example, if trees are cut they should also be re-planted and allowed to grow.

iii) Overuse of resources which exhaust them. For example, petroleum. If it is used indiscriminately, it will soon get finished and future generations will have nothing left in their hands.

iv) If development is not sustainable, it will give rise to environmental degradation and become a global problem.

v) People must be protected against pollution, thereby ensuring their quality of life and health.

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 disseusion of development? Discuss.

Ans. Development not just depends on the economic factors of a country, but is also dependent on resources that are available for the people of a country to use. 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 natural resources are non-renewable resources. 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 for their needs, which will result in the downfall of development of a country.

11. List a few examples of environmental degradation that you may have observed around you.

Ans. A few examples of environmental degradation that we can observe around us are:

1) Pollution caused by vehicles and the excess use of fuels in vehicles.

ii) Industrial waste collected in residential areas and discarded into water bodies

iii) Deforestation

iv) Mining

v) Soil Erosion

The increased pollution in the environment has resulted in global warming and depletion of glaciers and the atmospheric conditions.

12. For each of the items given in Table 1.6, find out which country is at the top and which is at the bottom.

Ans. i) As per table 1.6, Sri Lanka tops in all the four categories. It has the highest Gross National Income, Life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling of people aged 25 and above and HDI rank in the world.

ii) Nepal has the lowest Gross National Income among the given countries.

iii) Pakistan has the least Life Expectancy at birth and ranks the lowest HDI rank in the world among the given countries.

iv) Mean years of schooling of people aged 25 and above is the lowest for Myanmar and Nepal.