Understanding Economic Development Chapter 1 Development

D.

all the above

B.

Sri Lanka

D.

Rs. 6000

Total income of four families = 5000 x 4 = 20000
Total income of three families = 4000 + 7000 + 3000 = 14000
Income of the fourth family = 20000-14000 = 6000

The main criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different countries:

Countries with per capita income of US$ 12616 per annum and above in 2012, are called rich countries and those with per capita income of US$ 1035 or less are called low-income countries. India comes in the category of low middle income countries because its per capita income in 2012 was just US$ 1530 per annum. The rich countries, excluding countries of Middle East and certain other small countries, are generally called developed countries.

Limitations :

Limitations of this criterion are that while average income is useful for competition, it does not tell us how this income is distributed among people. A country may have more equitable distribution. People may be neither very rich nor extremely poor. But in another country with same average income, one person may be extremely rich, while others may be very poor. So, the method of average income does not give correct picture of a country.

This criterion hides disparities among people.

UNDP ( United Nations Development Programme) compares countries on the basis of educational level of people, their health status and per capita income per annum while the criterion used by World Bank is merely that of per capita income or average income for measuring development.

In short, Human Development criterion is used by UNDP whereas only economic development by the World Bank.

Averages are used only to get an idea of the income per individual within a specified time period.

Yes, because ‘averages’ are useful for comparison but they hide disparities.

For example, let us consider the two countries, A and B. For the sake of simplicity, we have assumed that they have only five citizens each. We can represent this situation in the following table :

Table : Comparison of two countries

Here we see that inspite of a large disparity in distribution of income among citizens of the “B” country, the average is worked out of same amount i.e., Rs. 10,000. Poor citizens are receiving only Rs. 500 each while one among them is earning Rs. 48,000 per month. Thus, country “B” is achieving only economic development while it apears from almost equal figures for each citizens of country “A” that there is honoured human development. People therefore, would like to settle in country “A” instead of country “B”.

Some Comparative Datas on Punjab and Kerala.

I do agree in full with it.

Discussion:

(i) No doubt Kerala’s per capita income is lower than Punjab as given in table. But the other factors such as infant mortality rate per 1,000 (year 2003) is 11 in Kerala while it is 49 in Punjab. It indicates health facilities are neglected in Punjab.

(ii) Another criterion of net attendence ratio is also more favourable in Kerala than Punjab.

(iii) Total literacy rate of Kerala is also more favourable than Punjab.

The present sources of energy that are used by the people of India are electricity, coal, crude oil, cowdung and solar energy.

Possibilities after fifty years: India will face crisis of some sources of energy such as petroleum and petroleum products. Even today, India depends on imported oil from abroad because she does not have enough stock till date. The rising prices of oil and its related articles are becoming a burden for everyone. India will have to use solar energy as a main source of energy or she will have to find out new alternatives.

Sustainable development means that a development should meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

The issue of sustainable development has emerged from rapid industrialisation of the world in the past century. It is felt that the economic growth and industrialisation have led to reckless exploitation of natural resources. Sustainability promotes a rational use of natural resources.

The earth has enough non-renewable resources to meet our present and future needs for development if we use them in an economic manner. But, if we use them recklessly in the greed of rapid economic development, our world may become a vast waste land.

Consequences of environmental degradation do not respect national or state boundaries; this issue is no longer region or nation specific. Our future is linked together.

The reckless exploitation of resources which are limited in stock may lead to their exhaustion.The reckless use of fossil fuels and minerals may disturb the balance in nature. Therefore, it is necessary to use resources judiciously and adopt the environment friendly strategies of development.

The few examples of environmental degradation that we have observed around us are: 

(i) Falling levels of ground water

(ii) Depletion of the ozone layer.

(iii)Forests are being cut down, wild animals and livestock are being hunted.

(i) In view of per capita income, Sri Lanka is at the top while Myanmar is at the bottom.

(ii) As far as life expectancy at birth is concerned, Sri Lanka is at top and Myanmar is at bottom.

(iii) As far as literacy rate for 15 + yrs. population is concerned, Sri Lanka is at the top and Bangladesh is at the bottom.

(iv) As far as gross enrolment ratio for three levels is concerned, Sri Lanka is at the top and Pakistan is at the bottom.

(v) As far as HDI rank in the world is concerned, Sri Lanka is at top and Nepal is at the bottom.

(i) The nutritional level of people of Kerala is quite higher than the people of Madhya Pradesh. Their ratio of the under-nourished is less than that of Madhya Pradesh.

Kerala has only 22% male and 19% female adults living undernourished whereas percentage of undernourished in Madhya Pradesh is 43% adult males and 42% adult females 

(ii) There is enough food in the country, even then 40% of the people in the country are undernourished because:

(a) A large number of people are so poor that they cannot afford nutritious food. There is lack of educational and health facilities in many parts of the country. 

(b) In most of the states, the Public Distribution System (PDS) does not function properly and the poor people cannot get cheap food items.

(a) Three classes of Economic Activities :

(i)Primary activities

(ii) Secondary activities

(iii)Tertiary activities.

(b) Four factors of Production :

(i)Land

(ii)Labour

(iii)Capital

(iv)Enterprise

(c)Four important issues concerning the State:

(i)Alleviation of poverty

(ii)Population control

(iii)Sustainable resource utilisation

(iv)Health and family welfare.

The characteristics of development:

(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.

It is a system through which the government distributes ration to the poor at a reasonable rate through the ration shops.

Advantages:

(i) The people get essential goods at subsidised price.

(ii) BPL families have not to bear the wrath of markets.

The aspirations or goals of farmers:

(i) Sufficient rain at the proper time.

(ii) The prosperous farmers in the village to provide the food grains in case of failure of rains.

(iii) The government to provide the loans at cheap rates in case of any calamity like drought etc.

BMI or Body Mass Index is calculated by taking the following three steps:

Step No. 1:Weight of person in kg and height in metres is taken.

Step No. 2:Divide the weight by the square of the height.

Step No. 3:f BMI < 18.5, then person is undernourished.

If BMI > 25, then person is overweight.

Different persons have different notions of development because life scenario of persons are different. Some persons are poor and some are rich. They think about those things which are most important to them. Poor person will think about his basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter. He cannot think about costly things like car. On the other hand, a rich person think of having another luxurious car. Thus people have different notions of development and think according to their life situations.

It is appropriate to say that environmental degradation is not just a national issue. It is no longer region or nation specific. Development has caused a high degree of environmental degradation in many countries. When the ‘tsunami’ hit the South and South-East Asian coasts, various countries of the world came forward to help the victims. The ice in the Arctic and Antarctic is melting because of increased emission of green house gases into the atmosphere. This may cause floods and inundate low lying areas like Bangladesh and the Maldives.

The reason:

Health: People of a country or human resource available there is the most valuable wealth. Number of the people is not so vital as their’s being in good health. If a nation wants to be powerful, nation should be very careful about the health of the people comprising physical, mental and spiritual (intuitive) health-all at a place viz. at and within each individual.

Education: Education is second important factor after health. Education moderate behaviour of every person. It extracts the best of an individual. Better the education, the better will be the population of the country.

Developed Countries:

(i) These countries have high per capita income.

(ii) The standard of living of the people is high.

(iii) For example, USA, UK, Japan etc.

Underdeveloped Countries:

(i) These countries have low per capita income.

(ii) The standard of living of the people is low.

(iii) For example, Nepal, Pakistan etc.

Exhaustion of natural resources:

If the natural resources such as minerals are used indiscriminately, they will be exhausted. For example, if people in the world continue to use crude oil in the present manner, it will run out of stock in next 43 years. Then there are countries like USA which are using their military and economic power to get maximum oil from other countires. India is dependent on other countries for oil and spending a lot of foreign exchange on its import.

Measures for solving this problems : In view of the above problems, steps should be taken for the sustainability of development.

(i) Natural resources like crude oil should not be used indiscriminately.

(ii) Alternate modes of energy i.e., solar energy or wind energy and others should be used so that a part of limited natural resources may be preserved for future generations.

(iii) There should be planned and judicious use of natural resources.

(i) Per capital income, life expectancy and education.

(ii)3,139$

(iii) Sri Lanka

The other goals:

(i)People desire regular work, better wages, and decent price for their crops or other products that they produce.

(ii)In other words, they want more income. Besides seeking more income, oneway or the other, people also seek things like equal treatment, freedom, security, and respect of others.

(iii)They resent discrimination.

(a) In Punjab state, people enjoy a higher standard of living.

(b) In Kerala state people are more health conscious.

(c) Kerala is more developed state as it has more facilities such as health care and education.

Public facilities mean facilities common to all people living in a certain areas.

Public facilities:

(i)Education facility 

(ii)Health care facility.

D.

Poverty Rate

C.

$ 825 or less

D.

Income

A.

national income and per capita income

C.

The formula used for measuring average or per capita income of a country is :

(a) total population x total income of the country

(b) total population + total income of the country

(c)

(d)

D.

Different castes

D.

34

B.

7 and above age group

C.

Discrimination at work place

D.

All of these

B.

Sri Lanka

D.

All of these

C.

4943

A.

Per Capita Income

D.

 High levels of income and better quality of life

C.

 The developmental goals that people have is only about higher income

A.

Renewable resources

B.

UNDP

D.

46 years

C.

Raised wages

D.

 All the above

C.

 Income

B.

Rs. 4000

D.

 Per Capita Income

C.

More days of work and better wages

B.

 by dividing the national income by the total population of a country

C.

 it has adequate provision of basic health and educational facilities

B.

High Technological development

B.

The number of children that die before the age of one year as a proportion of 1000 line children

A.

India

C.

Body Mass Index

A.

Kerala

C.

Pollution free environment

A.

Per capital income

D.

It measures the proportion of literate population in the 7 and above age group

A.

before the age of one year as a proportion to 1000 live births in that particular year

A.

Average Income

D.

All the above

B.

To get as much freedom as her brother gets

Most loans from informal lenders carry a very high interest rate and do little to increase the income of the borrowers. Thus, it is necessary that banks and cooperatives increase their lending particularly in the rural areas, so that the dependence on informal sources of credit reduces.

 Secondly, while formal sector loans need to expand, it is also necessary that everyone receives these loans. It is important that the formal credit is distributed more equally so that the poor can benefit from the cheaper loans.