Class 10 Economics Chapter 3 Question Answers - Understanding Economic Development

Short Answer Type Questions (3 Marks)
Q1: (i) What is development? Mention any two features of development.
(ii) What is national income? [CBSE 2009 (D)]
(iii) What is per capita income? [CBSE Sept. 2011]
Or
Define the term, ‘average income.’ [CBSE 2008, 2009 (D)]
Ans: (i) Development is a comprehensive term which include increase in real per capita income, improvement in living standard of people, reduction in poverty, illiteracy, crime rate, etc.
Features
(a) Different persons have different developmental goals.
(b) Income is a major component of development.
(ii) National income is defined as the total value of all the goods and services produced within a country plus net income coming from abroad.
(iii) When the total national income is divided by the total population, it is called the per capita income.
Per Capita Income = National Income / Population

Q2: (i) State the criteria used to compare the different countries by the Human Development Report published by the United National Development Programme (UNDP).
(ii) Which is the new area of knowledge in which scientists, economists, philosophers and other social scientists are working together?
(iii) What is meant by Human Development? [CBSE Sept. 2011, 2012]
(iv) What is Sustainable Development? [CBSE Comp. (D) 2008, 2009 (F), Sept. 2011]
(v) Which organisation measures HDR? Mention any three major indicators of / HDR. [CBSE Sept. 2012]
Ans: (i) Per capita income, life expectancy at birth, literacy rate and other basic necessities like clean drinking water, sanitation etc.
(ii) Sustainability of development.
(iii) It is the process of enlarging people’s choices as well as raising the level of wellbeing so that they can lead a purposeful and a creative life. Though the national income and the 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.
(iv) Sustainable Development is that process of economic development which aims at maintaining the quality of life of both the present and the future generations without harming the natural resources and environment.
(v) UNDP :
(a) Educational level
(b) Health status
(c) Per capita income

Q3: (i) Mention any two important aspects of our lives other than income. [CBSE 2008 (D)]
(ii) How can we achieve our hopes and possibilities in the present world ? [CBSE Comp. (D) 2008]
(iii) What is ‘Public Distribution System ’ (PDS) ? [CBSE Sept. 2011] [CBSE2009 (F) Sept. 2010]
(iv) Mention two developmental goals of landless rural labourers. [CBSE Comp. (O) 2008]
(iv) Why has Kerala a higher Human Development Index than Punjab in spite of low per capita income?
[CBSE 2009 (F) Sept. 2011]
Ans: (i) Health and Education.
(ii) Through Democratic political process.
(iii) It is a system through which the Government distributes ration to the poor at a reasonable rate through the ration shops.
(iv) (a) More days of work and better wages.
(b) Quality education for the children.
(v) (a) Because it has low infant mortality rate, (b) It has higher literacy rate.

Q4: Mention any four characteristics of development. [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]
Ans: (i) Different people have different developmental goals.
(ii) What may be development for one may not be development for the other. It may be destructive for the other.
(iii) Income is the most important component of development, but along with income, people also seek equal treatment, good health, peace, literacy, etc.
(iv) For development, people look at mixed goals.

Q5: Describe any three features of developed country. [CBSE 2013, 14]
Ans: (i) As per the World Bank Report 2012 any country with per capita income of US$ 12,276 per annum and above is termed as rich or developed country. ‘
(ii) Such countries have high literacy rate.
(iii) Most of the people of these countries are engaged in service sector.

Q6: What is PCI? Where it is used?
Ans: PCI is Per Capita Income. It is calculated by dividing the National Income of the country by population.
Uses:
(i) It is used to compare different countries.
(ii) The World Bank has divided the countries into rich or low income countries on the basis of per Capita income.

Q7: What are the development goals of the following :
(i) Labourer (ii) Rich farmer (iii) Trader
Ans: 

• more days of work better wages
• low price food grains
• cheap labour
• less taxes
• cheap labour

Q8: ‘What may be development for one may not be development for the other.’ Explain by giving examples. [CBSE Sept. 2012]
Or
With the help of an example show two groups who may have different notions of development. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Ans: It is true that development for one may not be development for the other.
(i) More wages means development for a worker, but it can go against the entrepreneur.
(ii) A rich farmer or trader wants to sell foodgrains at a higher price but a poor worker wants to purchase it for low prices.
(iii) Construction of a dam means more and cheap power, but people, who will lose their habitat will demonstrate.
(iv) To get more electricity, the industrialists may want more dams. But this may submerge the agricultural land, and disrupt the lives of the people.

Q9: What is national development? What are the aspects covered under the national development? [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Ans: National development is a comprehensive term which includes improvement in living standard of the people, increase in per capita income, providing social amenities like education, medical care, social services, etc. to the citizens of the country.
(i) Under national development, a country uses its resources in a fair and just way.
(ii) Under this only those programmes and policies are implemented which would benefit a large number of people.
(iii) Under national development, countries focus more on social infrastructure which includes education, health and other social services.

Q10: What contributes to the human development?
Ans: There are many economic as well as non-economic factors which contribute to the human development.
(i) Living a long and a healthy life.
(ii) To have education, information and knowledge.
(iii) Enjoying a decent standard of living.
(iv) Enjoying basic fundamental rights like freedom, security, education, etc.
(v) To have equality and enjoyment of human rights.

Long Answer Type Questions (5 Marks)
Q11: What is the main criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different countries? What are the limitations of this criterion? [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Or
Explain the meaning of the term ‘Rich Countries’ and ‘Low Income Countries’ according to the World Development Report of 2006. What is India’s position in this respect? [CBSE 2013]
Ans: The World Development Report, 2012, brought out by the World Bank has given the following criteria in classifying countries :
(i) Rich or High income countries : Countries with the per capita income of US $12276 per annum and above in 2010, are called rich countries.
(ii) Poor or Low income countries: The countries with the per capita income of US $ 1005 or less, are called low income countries.
India comes in the category of low middle income countries because its per capita income in 2010 was just US $1340.4 per annum. The rich countries, excluding countries of Middle East and certain other small countries, are generally called the developed countries.
Limitations :
(i) It covers only the economic aspect ignoring peace, health, environment, education, longevity, etc.
(ii) The method does not provide us the distribution of income.

Q12: Compare India and Sri Lanka on the basis of any three indicators of the Human Development Index for 2004. [CBSE 2009 (O), Sept. 2012]
Ans: (1) Per capita income : The per capita income of Sri Lanka is higher than that of India. The per capita income of India is about $ 3285, whereas it is around $ 5170 for Sri Lanka.
(2) Life expectancy at birth : Life expectancy at birth in Sri Lanka is also higher as compared to India. In Sri Lanka, the life expectancy is around 75.1 whereas in India it is about 65.8.
(3) Literacy rate : Literacy rate in Sri Lanka is also higher than India. It is 90.6 in Sri Lanka whereas it is 62.8 in India.

Q13: Why are the countries of the Middle East not called ‘developed’ inspite of high per capita income ?[CBSE Sept. 2010]
Ans: (i) These are small countries.
(ii) The gap between rich and poor is very high,
(iii) Though per capita income in Middle East countries is very high but there is unequal distribution of wealth.
(iv) These countries have high per capita income due to oil production. So they have only one major source of income.
(v) The World Development Report brought out by the World Bank has excluded these countries from the list of developed countries.

Q14: Highlight any three advantages of public facilities. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Ans: (i) Public facilities is the cheapest way to
provide basic services collectively.
(ii) Most of the poor people survive only because of public facilities.
(iii) There are many services like police, education, transportation, etc., which become affordable only if
they are part of public facilities.

Q15: Why are public facilities needed for the development of the country ? Explain four public facilities. [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2012]
Ans: 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.

Q16: Explain common, different and conflicting goals by giving appropriate examples. [CBSE 2012]
Ans: Development goals may be common, different or conflicting.
(i) Common goals : There are some needs which are common to all like income, freedom, equality, security, respect, friendship, etc.
(ii) Different goals : Development or progress does not mean the same thing for every individual. Each individual has his own idea of development. For example, development for a farmer might be better irrigation facilities; for an unemployed youth it may mean better employment opportunities, etc.
(ii) Conflicting goals : What may be development for some, may become destruction for some others. For example, industrialists may want dams for electricity but such dams would displace the natives of the region.

Q17: Mention any four aspects of comparison notions of development between different countries. [CBSE 2010, 14]
Or
Explain three attributes for comparing nations development between different countries. [CBSE 2010]
Or
What are the two basic criteria used for comparing an underdeveloped country with developed one ? [CBSE 2010]
Or
Give examples to prove that there are other important developmental goals than income. [CBSE 2012]
Ans: Development of a country can generally be determined by: per capita income; average literacy level; and health status of its people.
(i) Per Capita Income means average income generated by each person in a given group of people. Its limitation is that it does not show the disparities among the people of the group. ‘
(ii) Amount of literacy achieved is also a measure of development. Literacy rate measures the proportion of literate population in the 7 and above age group. The more the people are educated, the more developed the group is.
(iii) Health indicators are Infant Mortality Rate, Birth Rate, etc. Lower the amount of Infant Mortality Rate, higher is the rate of people being healthy. ,
(iv) Net Attendance Ratio is also the indicator of economic development of a nation. It is the total number of children of age group 6-10 attending school as a percentage of total number of children in the same age group,
(v) Life Expectancy at birth denotes average expected length of life of a person at the time of birth. Higher the life expectancy at birth, higher is considered the development of a nation.

Q18: How is BMI used to determine the undernourishment of a person ? Explain. [CBSE 2013]
Ans: (i) One way to find out if adults are undernourished is to calculate what nutrition scientists call Body Mass Index or BMI.
(ii) In order to calculate, first of all the weight of the person in kg is taken. Then, the height in metres is measured. The weight is divided by the square of the height.
(ii) If this figure is less than 18.5, then the person would be considered undernourished. However, if this BMI is more than 25, then a person is overweight.

Q19: What is the criterion to determine if adults are undernourished? [CBSE 2013]
Ans: (i) The criterion to determine if adults are undernourished is Body Mass Index, popularly known as BMI.
(ii) In order to calculate it, first the weight of the person in kg is taken. Then, we take height in meters. The weight is divided by the square of the height.
(iii) If this figure is less than 18.5, then the person would be considered undernourished. However, if this BMI is more than 25, then a person is overweight.

Q20: What is meant by ‘Overusing a Resource’ ? Explain with examples. [CBSE 2013]
Ans: (i) ‘Overusing a Resource’ means more uses of the resource than it is replenished by the nature.
(ii) Let us consider groundwater. It is an example of renewable resources. These resources are replenished by nature. However, even these resources may be overused. In the case of groundwater, if we use more than what is being replenished by rain then we would be overusing this resource.
(iii) This is what Indian states have done. For example, farmers of Punjab have overused the groundwater. This has lead to lowering of the water table.