Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question. What is Life Expectancy at birth ?
Answer : Life Expectancy at birth refers to an average number of years a person is expected to live at the time of his birth.

Question. When is a person considered undernourished ?
Answer : When the BMI or Body Mass Index is less than 18.5 then the person is considered undernourished.

Question. Define the term Literacy Rate. 
OR
What is Literacy Rate ?
Answer : Literacy Rate measures the proportion of literate population in the 7 and above age group.

Question. Correct the following statement and rewrite.
Infant Mortality Rate indicates the number of children that die before the age of two years.
Answer : Infant Mortality Rate indicates the number of children that die before the age of one year.

Question. Mohit is 28 years of age, has 65 kg of body weight and is 1.4 meters tall. Calculate his BMI. Find out whether he is under nourished or over weight. Why?
Answer : BMI = Weight (kg) / (Height)2mtr
= 65 /(1.4)2 = 33.16.

His BMI is 33.16. He is over weight because his BMI is more than 25. 3.

Question. What is UNDP?
Answer : United Nations Development Programme.

Question. How many countries are included in HDI ranking?
Answer : 188 countries are included in HDI ranking.

Question. When is a person considered overweight ?
Answer : When the BMI or Body Mass Index is more than 25 then the person is considered overweight.

Question. What have the scientists warned of about the development ?
Answer : A number of scientists since the second half of the twentieth century have been warning that the present type, and levels, of development are not sustainable.

Question. What are renewable resources ?
Answer : Renewable resources are those resources which are generally replenished by nature as the rivers, ponds,crops and plants etc.

Question. State any two goals of development other than income.
(a) Job Security
(b) Better working condition
(c) Opportunity to learn

Short Answer Type Questions

Question. Why do different persons have different notions of development. Explain. OR Why do people’s development goals vary ? Explain with examples.  How can two persons have different development goals?
Answer : (i) It is because the life situations of different people are different.
(ii) People seek things that are most important for them or which can fulfill their aspirations or desires.
(iii) For example : The developmental goals of a boy from a rich urban family would be to get admission in a reputed college, whereas the developmental goals of a girl from a rich urban family would be to get as much freedom as her brother.

Question. In what respects is the criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development different from the one used by the World Bank ?
Answer : The basic difference between the criterion used by the World Bank compare to United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is that the World Bank uses the narrow concept while UNDP uses the broad concept of development. The World Bank uses the per capita income criterion to measure the development among the countries while the UNDP uses a combination of the educational levels of the people, their health status and per capita income to compare level of development among countries. So UNDP uses more comprehensive criteria in comparison to that of World Bank to classify countries on the basis of development.

Question. ‘‘Conflicting goals can be developmental goals.’’ Elaborate with examples.
Answer : (i) At times, two persons or group of persons may seek things which are conflicting.
(ii) A girl expects as much freedom and opportunity as her brother, and that she also shares in the household work.
(iii) Similarly, to get more electricity, industrialists may want more dams. But this may submerge the land and disrupt the lives of people, who are displaced, such as the tribal.

Question. Explain inferences which have been drawn by comparing the development levels of Maharashtra, Kerala and Bihar.
Answer : Following inferences can be drawn by comparing the development levels of Maharashtra, Kerala and Bihar:
(i) per capita income is not the appropriate criteria to compare development of different regions.
(ii) Government must improve healthcare facilities to bring down Infant Mortality Rate.
(iii) Government must develop better educational and public amenities.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question. Why do we use averages ? Are there any limitations to their use ? Illustrate with your own examples related to development.
Answer : An average refers to a value which is calculated on the basis of per unit of something. If we take the example of Income than average income will refer to total income per person of a country. It is calculated by dividing the total income of a country by its total population. It is also called per capita income. The biggest limitation of an average is that this value is very much influenced by the extreme values in the distribution. So, the very high or very low values may influence the average in such a manner which may present a false picture of some phenomena. For example, a group of 4 persons may have annual incomes of ` 5 lakhs (first person), ` 1 lakh (second person), ` 60 thousand (third person) and ` 40 thousand (fourth person). Their total income becomes ` 7 lakhs while their average income is ` 1.75 lakhs per person. Now this average figure does not represent the true picture of earning of any of the member. But averages are easy to calculate and are easily understandable. When calculated over a large number of people, this figure may represent the picture close to the reality. That is why World Bank uses the average income as a parameter to classify the countries into the rich or poor countries and developed and developing countries.

Question. How is the development of a country measured ?
Answer : The concept of development differs from person to person. So there is always a possibility of difference of opinion on the concept of development. Similarly there are various ways in which the development of a country is measured. Following are the various ways :
(i) Total Income Criterion : For comparing countries, their total income is considered to be one of the most important attributes. It is a general thought that countries with higher income are more developed than those with less income. This is based on the understanding that more income results into more of all those things that the human beings need. Whatever people want for the fulfillment of their needs, they will be able to buy with greater income. So total income is one way of measuring the development of the country.
(ii) World Bank or Per Capita Income Criterion : Total income of a country cannot be considered a useful measure since, the countries have different size of populations, and comparing total income will not tell us what an average person is likely to earn. A country with high income and low population may be better than a country with high income and high population. As the welfare of a country depends on the average earning of a person, we compare the average income or per capita income which is the total income of the country divided by its total population to measure the development of a country. World Bank uses this criterion to measure the development of a country.
(iii) UNDP Criterion : UNDP uses a broader concept of development. The per capita income is a simple criterion which is easy to calculate and understand. But it is not a comprehensive measure of human development. It only reflects the average income per person of the country. But there are two limitations with this criterion. The first limitation is that this criterion is very much influenced by the extreme upper and lower values and fails to represent the level of equality of income. Secondly, it does not represent the other indicators of quality of life like level of health and education which are equally or rather more important objectives for human development. So, the UNDP uses a criterion which is a combination of the educational levels of the people, their health status and the per capita income of the countries to compare the level of development among countries. So, UNDP uses more comprehensive criteria to classify countries on the basis of development.

Question. How is income not a reliable indicator of development ?
Answer : Total income of a country cannot be considered a completely reliable indicator of development since it does not tell about what a person in that country has. Since, the countries have different size of population, and the total income does not tell us what an average person is likely to earn. A country with high income and low population may be better than a country with high income and high population. As the consumption of a person depends on the average earning of a person, we compare the average income or per capita income which is the total income of the country divided by its total population to measure the development of a country. Another factor that the concept of income both the total income or the per capita income do not clarify the distribution of income among the people of the country (X) with very high total and per capita income and high income inequality is worse than a country (Y) with normal total income and per capita income and with equitable income distribution among the common people in country (Y). The country (Y) will have better life in comparison to that of the country (X).

Question. “Average income is useful for comparison but it may hide disparities.” Support the statement with suitable arguments. 
Answer : Average income height this part is this can be provided by the following.
(i) average income hide disparties in case there is no equitable distribution of income Example of a small population have a very high income the total income as well as the average income rises hiding disparties is about the actual situation.
(ii) average income do not indicate rising standard of living as a development depend on non material two factors like a freedom equality respect just etc.
(iii) average income do not tell us about a d i as it depend on health and educational status else.